It’s getting pretty impressive, but just how good is this current Atlanta Braves winning streak?
Eleven games in a row (and as of this June 16 update, it’s now fourteen!). This win streak has certainly helped get our Atlanta Braves back into a position to threaten the Mets (with 15 head-to-head games remaining against them). But how good is it, really?
It might not surprise you that the longest regular-season win streak in the history of modern baseball is much longer than that: a 22-game wipeout of the American League by Cleveland’s 2017 squad. That club went on to win 102 games, but fell in the playoffs during their first-round divisional series.
2 other teams have streaks of at least 20 games: the 2002 Oakland A’s (20) and 1935 Cubs (21).
The surprising part, though, might be this: in the last 150 years of organized major league baseball, there have only been 52 streaks lasting 14 games or longer.
The Braves already have four entries on that list. With a schedule including matchups with the Nationals and Cubs this week… there’s a fair chance that they could etch their fifth tally on that chart.
In the meantime, here’s the historical record of what these 2022 Braves are now chasing in terms of their own franchise records:
14 straight for the Boston Beaneaters
The year was 1883. This was a team destined to win the National League — the only major league in existence back then* — with a record of 63-35.
From August 30th of that season (8 games) until May 21st of the next year (6 more games), the Beaneaters won every game they played… 14 in a row.
Alas, the 1884 team was steamrolled themselves, finishing 10.5 games behind despite a sparkling 73-38-5 record. The Providence Grays won 3/4ths of their games. Together, the two teams dominated the 8-team league.
But this was a streak broken up by the end of a season — if you want to look at it that way. No matter… we have longer streaks coming up to talk about.
* – As has been noted by others, the American Association operated from 1882-1891. It was a ‘major league’, and operated — however unstably — as a rival to the National League. Beginning in 1884, a World Series was played between the champions of each league.
Fast forward 129 years
The 2013 Braves also won 14 straight games… twice requiring extra innings to keep the streak going. The victims included the Marlins, Nationals, Phillies, Cardinals, and Rockies — the latter of which was outscored in a 3-game stretch 29-5… and those games were in Atlanta.
This club featured Brian McCann, Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, and it was the year of batting champion Chris Johnson. The Upton brothers were both in the house, and the pitching rotation included names like Medlen, Minor, Maholm, Teheran, and Hudson… supported by 50-save closer Craig Kimbrel.
That team finished in first place with a 96-66 record, but fell in the NLDS.
15 straight for Chipper’s team
The modern-day record-long win streak for this franchise belongs to the 2000 Atlanta Braves and their previous generation of stars, including Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Rafael Furcal, Javy Lopez, and Andres Galarraga. Current broadcaster Brian Jordan was also on that team. This also ranks as the longest streak with the team calling Atlanta their home.
The pitching was led by Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine with added support from Kevin Millwood, and John Burkett; with Andy Ashby and Terry Mulholland at the back end. John Rocker saved 41 games that season.
From April 16th through May 2nd, they ripped through California and Pennsylvania teams: the Dodgers — twice — the Padres, Phillies, Pirates, and then tacked on one more against Milwaukee to complete the run.
Like the 2013 team, a pair of extra-inning games were needed to secure this streak.
Alas, this was another club that fell in the first round of the playoffs, despite a 96-66 regular-season record.
The franchise’s longest streak.
17 games. That’s what the Boston Beaneaters managed to pull off between September 18th and October 2nd, back in 1891. In case you’re curious, when they lost their next game, that marked the end of the 1891 season.
This team finished in first place with a record of 87-51-2, winning the pennant. Again, this was another season that pre-dated the World Series, so a celebration was still in order.
Two interesting footnotes to this streak:
Technically, it could be considered a streak of either 18 or 19 games. On September 16th, the Beaneaters beat the Chicago Colts. The next day, they tied the Pirates. Then they reeled off the actual win streak 17 in a row.
So while the win streak was properly cast as 17 games, their unbeaten streak was 19 games… or perhaps 18 wins in between losses. Your mileage may vary.
Secondly, when play began on Saturday, September 5th, the Boston team was 7 games out of first place.
Aided by the streak, they finished the year on an incredible 25-4-1 run that vaulted them into first place… winning the flag by 3.5 games over a Colts team that only managed a 16-12-1 record over the same stretch of games.
HONORABLE MENTION
The 1982 Atlanta Braves started the season with a 13-0 record. Then they lost their next 5 games before picking themselves back up again!
Ultimately, they finished in first place with a record of 89-73, though fell in the NLCS to the Cardinals.
So this week
This week begins our 2022 Atlanta Braves to see the Nationals and Cubs.
The Nationals (23-39) were swept by Miami last week, but came back to back up on a floundering Milwaukee club, 2 games to 1. They will have Stephen Strasburg out for his second start after returning from a long stint on the Injured list.
The Cubs (23-36) are flailing… losing 6 in a row and 7 of 8, and now facing the Padres for 4 games before Atlanta arrives. The Yankees have really beaten them up, too.
It will take some work (it always does), but there’s at least a chance for this Braves team to continue this run long enough to make the list of the all-time streaks. Let’s see what happens.