Atlanta Braves greatest all-time home run hitters
player. 17. . . . darrell evans. 17
Braves all-time home run hitters – No. 17: Darrell Evans
131 HR
It took a while before Darrell Evans was ready to become a professional baseball player.
He was drafted five times between 1965 and 1967 before a team managed to get his signature on a contract: the Cubs, Yankees, Tigers, and Phillies were all unsuccessful. The (Kansas City) A’s managed to finally win his favor as a 7th rounder.
Even after that, Evans proved elusive: by 1968, the A’s had moved to Oakland, but Evans was left exposed in the Rule 5 draft and the Atlanta Braves selected him that Winter.
Because of his youth and Rule 5 status, Evans didn’t play much early on, debuting in just 12 games in both the 1969 and 1970 seasons.
By 1972, he became the full-time third baseman and stayed at either that position or first base into his last Atlanta season in 1976… well, almost his last Atlanta season.
When you think of third basemen, the word “power” usually comes up as it’s traditionally been a position where a big hitter plays. Evans had that capability on occasion.
In 1973, he belted out 41 home runs as part of a trio of Braves teammates who reached that 40-homer milestone: Evans, Hank Aaron, and Davey Johnson.
But Evans was entering his prime at his age 26 season that year. Yet he wasn’t able to match that – or even reach 30 dingers again – until a 36-year-old in 1983 when he hit exactly 30 with San Francisco.
He went on to club 40 as a 38-year-old Detroit Tiger in 1985, then 29 and 34 more in the following seasons.
Evans made a return visit to Atlanta in 1989 as he turned 42 years old. In 107 games, he hit just .207, but also managed to swat 11 more dingers.
That raised Evans’ home run count as an Atlanta Brave to 131: one more than Fred McGriff and good for the 17th position on this list of all-time Braves power men.