Atlanta Braves Ranked: Greatest Teams since 1990
Since the Atlanta Braves franchise made its way to Georgia in 1966, the organization has captured one World Series title, five NL pennants, and made 22 playoff appearances.
The oldest operating professional sports franchise in America, however, has not always enjoyed a reputation of storied success and winning ways. For this reason, we’re taking a deeper dive from arguably the greatest era in Atlanta Braves baseball history: the dynasty of the 1990s, up to today’s club in 2021.
Historic teams like the 1914 Miracle Braves, and legendary ballplayers like Aaron, Niekro, and Spahn set the stage for the unique story of the Braves, but the modern-day clubs of the ’90s and beyond painted the picture of true dominance for a franchise that had been searching for success in several decades prior.
Of course, rankings are subjective and could be compiled based on a number of metrics.
Which team do you consider to be the greatest?
5. The 1995 Braves, (90-54)
The 1995 Braves brought the long-awaited World Series championship to Atlanta in the season of the MLB strike, and still remains the city’s sole title.
This team didn’t provide quite the firepower of some other notable Braves teams of the 90’s, but the group stitched together a 20-5 run before the All-Star break that helped capture the newly aligned NL East title by 21 games over the second-place Phillies and Mets.
The postseason run for the Braves proved to be a relatively easy one. The club defeated the Colorado Rockies (3-1) in the NLDS, and later swept the Cincinnati Reds (4-0) in the NLCS before capturing the World Championship over the Cleveland Indians (4-2).
Greg Maddux claimed his fourth straight Cy Young award, leading the league in ERA (1.63) and wins (19), and Marquis Grissom won a Gold Glove in center field.
Breakout seasons from Javy Lopez (.315 BA, 14 HR) and Ryan Klesko (.310 BA, 23 HR) helped propel the offense alongside David Justice, Fred McGriff and 23-year-old Chipper Jones.
The rest of the Maddux-led rotation was rounded out by Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery, and Kent Mercker.
4. The 2003 Braves, (101-61)
This Atlanta Braves club provided one of the most powerful lineups in league history, finishing the season first in the NL in runs (907), hits (1608), BA (.284), and HR (235). The club’s home run total was the most in franchise history.
Led by Javy Lopez (.328 BA, 43 HR, 109 RBI), the Braves had six players with 20+ home runs, and four players with a batting average over .300.
Gary Sheffield and Andruw Jones both came close to the 40-homer mark. These two sluggers, along with Lopez and Chipper Jones all eclipsed 100+ RBIs, and Sheffield finished top-5 in NL MVP voting.
However, this Braves rotation did not nearly stack up against its predecessors, as it consisted of aging arms opposite of what Braves teams were traditionally known for.
While Greg Maddux led the way in his final season in Atlanta, the arms behind him consisted of Russ Ortiz, Mike Hampton, Horacio Ramirez, and Shane Reynolds. None of these arms ended the season with an ERA under 3.80.
Despite injuries slightly limiting John Smoltz, he set a major league record with 35 saves tallied before the All-Star Break. His 45 saves by year’s end were enough to finish second in the majors, and he provided a stellar 1.12 ERA from the closer role.
The Braves finished 10 games ahead of the second-place Florida Marlins to claim their 9th consecutive division title.
Heading into the postseason, this club looked poised for a World Series run tied for the leagues highest win total, but two dominant outings from Chicago Cubs starter Kerry Wood helped eliminate the Braves in the NLDS (3-2).
3. The 1993 Braves, (104-58)
Heading into 1993, the Atlanta Braves looked to improve on their 98-64 finish from the year prior, and capture their third consecutive NL pennant.
The club acquired reigning Cy Young winner Greg Maddux in the offseason, adding to what was already considered the most dominant pitching staff in the NL and immediately became heavy favorites to win their long-awaited World Series title.
What was expected to be a walk in the park for Atlanta instead became what is generally regarded as the last great pennant race before playoff expansion.
The abruptly dominant San Francisco Giants quickly became a threat to the Braves’ NL West title, and a fight to the finish emerged in which only one team could punch their ticket to the postseason.
A slow start stifled the Braves and the Giants quickly propelled into first place for the first couple months of the season. But after acquiring Fred McGriff in mid-July, the Braves lineup gained the steam it needed to launch to a 51-17 finish to the season, and capture the division title by one game.
Furthermore, MVP-caliber seasons from Ron Gant and David Justice allowed the lineup to somewhat match the prestige of the dominant rotation the Braves possessed.
Maddux won the Cy Young in his first season in Atlanta, and Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Steve Avery all contributed sufficient campaigns to land them spots on the NL All Star team.
This Braves pitching staff ranked first in a number of categories, including wins, ERA, runs allowed, and home runs allowed.
Perhaps more notably, the Braves defense was stellar. They ranked first in defensive efficiency and first in runs allowed per game by almost 0.5 runs.
Despite the magical regular season finish, the Braves run ended when they met the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS, and fell 4-2.
2. The 1997 Braves, (101-61)
According to baseball writer and statistician Bill James, this 1997 Atlanta Braves pitching staff is ranked the greatest in baseball history.
The entire staff, even beyond the dominant starting rotation, had an ERA 32% lower than league average. This staff led the league in wins (101), shutouts (17), ERA (3.18), runs allowed (581), home runs allowed (111), and issued the fewest walks (450).
Only one member of the starting rotation had an ERA over 3.00 (John Smoltz, 3.02), but Smoltz did lead the team in innings pitched with 256.
Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Denny Neagle rounded out the rest of the starters, posting ERAs of 2.20, 2.96, and 2.97. This shaped up to be one of the most commanding and well-rounded starting rotations the modern-day league had ever seen.
Shifting our focus to the batting lineup, Braves then GM, John Schuerholz, pulled off an interesting trade in the offseason prior that sent OFs David Justice and Marquis Grissom to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for OF Kenny Lofton and RP Alan Embree.
The Braves seemed to get the short end of the deal immediately, as David Justice had a career year for the Indians (and helped them get to the World Series). However, Schuerholz had something craftier up his sleeve.
Lofton was entering his FA year and Embree was a solid bullpen arm that had an excellent year for the Braves in ’97 (2.54 ERA, 1.22 WHIP).
The Braves had the flexibility to let Lofton walk after his excellent one-year tenure in Atlanta because Schuerholz had someone waiting for his shot at a starting job in the bigs, 20-year-old Andruw Jones.
In the decade to come, Jones quickly proved to be the long-term replacement the Braves needed for Justice, all while adding an accomplished bullpen arm in Embree, landing an All-Star season from Lofton, and establishing the financial flexibility to add another big bat the upcoming offseason.
That year Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff, Javy Lopez, and Lofton led a lineup that ranked third in BA and runs scored, and second in home runs and SLG%.
The club boasted seven all-stars, and was home to four Hall of Famers (Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz) and one with a strong case to be inducted in the coming years (Andruw Jones).
But as the pattern of the 90s persists, the ’97 Braves came up short during the NLCS, where they fell to the Florida Marlins (3-2)… yes, thanks to the “Eric Gregg game”.
1. The 1998 Braves, (106-56)
Arguably the most complete Atlanta Braves team since 1990 comes in at number one in my rankings. A team that boasted a franchise record 106 wins displayed one of the most prolific offenses and profound pitching staffs of the century.
The Braves captured their fourth consecutive NL East title, this year by 18 games over the New York Mets. ESPN writer David Schoenfield listed this Braves team as one of the best teams in MLB history to not win a title.
The Braves sent six players to the All-Star Game, including two who were voted starters (SS Walt Weiss and 3B Chipper Jones).
Andres Galarraga’s team-leading 44 home runs ranked fifth in the NL, and he was one of four Braves players with 30+ homers. Three Braves players eclipsed the 100+ RBI mark, and four possessed an OPS over .850.
Aside from the prolific offense the Braves displayed, their rotation was nothing short of spectacular.
Tom Glavine was awarded his second-career Cy Young Award, and the staff ranked first in almost every major pitching category. They are the only team in MLB history to have all five starters eclipse 150 strikeouts.
Despite Glavine capturing the MLB’s most prestigious pitching award of the year, Greg Maddux produced an MLB-best 2.22 ERA that was the third-lowest of his extraordinary career. John Smoltz rounded out the “Big 3” that all delivered ERAs under 3.00.
Next. Luke Jackson: NL All-Star?. dark
Despite having what seemed like everything the Braves needed to capture another World Series title, the club swept the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS (3-0), then ultimately fell to the San Diego Padres in the NLCS (4-2).