Who are the greatest Atlanta Braves of all time?
With plenty of options available, we pick are the greatest ten Atlanta Braves of all time.
The Atlanta Braves have a storied franchise history and we are fortunate enough to have one of the greatest selection of past players of all time to choose from to form this list.
To drive that point home, let’s go ahead and list some players that fell just short of making this list. Keep in mind that most of these players would easily be in the top ten on most other franchise lists.
- Fred McGriff
- Javy Lopez
- Freddie Freeman
- Bob Horner
- And even the great Dale Murphy was not included on this top 10 list.
Now for this lists, we went ahead and included all players from franchise history and did not just limit it to the Atlanta Braves. We went ahead and included players that played in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta… and in one case: all three cities.
Let’s go ahead and get to the rankings.
10. Kid Nichols
The very first player on our list is a player who died before many of us were born. Kid Nichols numbers and stats are nothing short of impressive. 362 wins and an ERA under 3 for his career.
His WAR for his career ended up at 116.1. Over a full season of wins for a playoff team.
The argument could be made that Nichols pitching in the late 19th century helped him as pitch counts weren’t even a recognition in the olden days, however you can not deny that Nichols averaging over 350 innings pitched a season is anything less than impressive no matter the time period.
The fact that a pitcher like Kid Nichols is only number ten on this list shows you how good the Braves franchise has produced great players.
9. Andruw Jones
Just like Dale Murphy, Andruw Jones has been recently connected to Cooperstown, and just like Murphy, I expect Andruw will probably never make it. However, unlike Dale Murphy, I would vote for Andruw Jones if I had a vote.
The reason for that is simple. Not only was he the best outfielder in terms of defense during his time in the game, he is in my mind one of the best ever.
It certainly helps that he was also an extremely talented hitter who amassed 368 home runs in his Atlanta Braves tenure. Of the ten players on this list, Andruw is actually the only one who’s number is not retired by the Atlanta Braves. I have a sneaking suspicion that will change soon.
8. John Smoltz
John Smoltz was not the best of the ‘big three’ (obviously so by my ranking here) but he was my favorite of the group. Perhaps the biggest sign that Smoltz was really good, is the fact he was an All Star and finished sixth in the Cy Young voting in 2007 when he was 40 years old.
One thing that John Smoltz had going for him was he was perhaps the best of the big three in the 1990’s when it came to October baseball. Smoltz was usually more dominant than not when the games mattered even more than normal.
Along with all the other accolades he earned over his career, it’s important to remember that Smoltz was the best closer in the game for a 4 year run early in this decade.
7. Phil Niekro
Phil Niekro sometimes gets overlooked in my opinion when mentioning the greatest pitchers of all time. With a career WAR of 95.9, over 300 wins, and over 3000 career strikeouts, he should be mentioned.
Amazingly, over the course of his 24 year career, Niekro never won a Cy Young award (finished 2nd in 1969). That was not enough to keep him out of both the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame and the major league Hall of Fame (member of the class of 1997).
The most amazing stat of Niekro’s career certainly has to be his ERA of 1.87 in 1967 as he pitched over 200 innings. Reasons like that are why Phil Niekro sits at seven on this all time list.
6. Eddie Mathews
Of course, the lone player to play in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta will be on this list. Of course, it does not hurt that Eddie Mathews was an extraordinary baseball player as well. A WAR of just under 100 and over 500 career home runs is just proof of that.
Mathews is the reason that no other player in Atlanta Braves history will wear 41 as his number is retired.
To much surprise, Mathews never really won any awards other than being a twelve time all star and he did earn two world series championships (Milwaukee in 1957; Detroit in 1968).
Of course with numbers like that mentioned earlier, it is easy to see why he was elected into the Hall of Fame. As for now, Mathews will sit sixth on the all time list for the Atlanta Braves.
5. Tom Glavine
If he never did anything else, Tom Glavine almost earned this spot on the list based solely on his pitching during the 1995 World Series against the Cleveland Indians. As we all know though, he did much, much more during his illustrious career.
A 305 game winner (254 with the Atlanta Braves) and a two time Cy Young winner, Tom Glavine was able to make a career off of living just on the outside edge of the plate. None of this even mentions the fact he may very well be one of the best hitting pitchers of all time. And remember, “chicks dig the long ball“.
4. Warren Spahn
If you were to ask me who is the best left handed pitcher of all time, my answer would probably be Warren Spahn. A 99.7 career WAR is just further proof of that. 363 career wins is a major accomplishment.
One does have to wonder though, what his numbers would entail if World War II did not interrupt his playing days. Due to the war, he missed the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons.
To add onto that, consider this, he was 42 in 1963 when he was an all star pitcher with an ERA of 2.60. Lastly, how many players ever last 17 seasons? Not many, but Warren Spahn not only played more than that, he was elected to be an all star 17 times!!
Very easy to see why he is in the top four of all time with the Atlanta Braves.
3. Greg Maddux
Greg Maddux is the second best pitcher of all time (I give the first spot to Nolan Ryan), and he would be even higher than three on this list if he would have pitched a few more seasons for the Atlanta Braves.
What much else can be said about Maddux that has not been said over the years already. The movement on his pitches must have been devastating for him to rack up over 3300+ career strikeouts despite not having a fastball that sat much more than 91 or 92 mph.
Let’s just recap a couple of quick career highlights for Maddux.
- Four time Cy Young winner
- Eighteen time gold glove winner!!
- 4 time ERA title winner
Those are just mindblowing. Greg Maddux was phenomenal.
2. Chipper Jones
The career lifelong Atlanta Braves great Chipper Jones earns the number two spot in these rankings. Chipper could simply do it all as perhaps the best switch-hitter of all time.
He obviously had the power as he belted over 400 career home runs. He played very good defense, and with a lifetime batting average of .303, he was very consistent with the bat as well. In fact, as a lefty: .303. As a right-hander: .304.
No one else has hit .300 from both side of the plate. Ever.
Maybe we do not realize how fortunate we were as Braves fans, that the organization took a slight chance and selected Chipper Jones with the first pick in the 1990 draft. Where would we be as an organization if they did not make that selection?
Editor’s Note: theAthletic (subscription required) is running a series on the Top 100 players of all-time. Chipper is their 54th selection.
[For further reference/comparison/argument: Phil Niekro was #83; Warren Spahn #49; Eddie Mathews just appeared today at #46]
1. Hank Aaron
Who did you think was going to be number one in these rankings? Of course it’s the best home run hitter of all time, “The Hammer” Hank Aaron.
Where do you start to explain the greatness of Hank Aaron? You could literally start with just about anything. A career WAR of 143 is simply astounding. How he was not the first ever player to be voted unanimous into the Hall of Fame is something I will never understand.
Hank Aaron was a twenty-five time all star!!
It was not all the time a home run either for Aaron, he was just a couple hundred hits shy of 4,000 for his career. How he only won one MVP award in his time is again, something else I will never understand.
Most RBI ever. Most total bases ever. .928 lifetime OPS. 3 Gold Gloves. World Series Champion.
For as good as every single one of these players on this list were, the easiest thing to do was put Hank Aaron at the top spot.
Next. Where Did They Go?. dark
So that’s our list for the best Atlanta Braves of all time. Let us know in the comment section below if you would add anyone or if you would change anything.