Remembering the 1993 Atlanta Braves race to the playoffs
The Atlanta Braves have a history of making game-changing deals at the mid-season trade deadline. This deal has had the biggest impact by far.
July 19, 1993. The St. Louis Cardinals shut out the Atlanta Braves on this date, 4-0.
This setback aside, the Braves weren’t playing badly, mind you. At 53-41, they were still a well-respected club after two straight appearances in the World Series.
But they were also looking up at the Giants in the NL West standings. In fact, being 9 full games behind, they needed binoculars to see where San Francisco was perched.
Things changed on this day, however. John Schuerholz decided that he couldn’t wait any longer to make a move… and there was a willing team.
The San Diego Padres were conducting a fire sale of sorts. They had already sent Gary Sheffield — and his $3.1 million salary — to the Marlins. In that trade, the Pads at least were able to get back one name of note… Trevor Hoffman.
But they weren’t done selling, either: on July 19, the Braves and Padres agreed to send a $4.3 million contract to Atlanta… that contract belonged to Fred McGriff.
In retrospect, this deal was laughably lopsided: McGriff led the league in homers the previous season. He won the ’92 Silver Slugger. He was 6th in MVP voting.
The three players Atlanta gave San Diego in return played less than 5 major league seasons for the Padres… combined. One of them had a career .231 batting average. Another threw just 35 major league innings. The third never cracked the majors.
But Atlanta caught fire — both literally and figuratively — when McGriff arrived. July 20 was the day that the Fulton County stadium’s press box caught fire.
But once McGriff walked out onto the field as a member of the Braves, a very good team turned into an unstoppable force.
Let’s step through that history.
A Torrid Pace
Starting on July 20 and continuing for the rest of the season, Atlanta went 51-17… going from a .564 clip to an unbelievable .750 pace. No other team in baseball won more than 45 games during that span.
Even so, the front-running Giants didn’t exactly fold their tent and go home: they played .603 baseball down the stretch… and that’s what set the stage for the wildest division race finish in recent memory.
After that loss to the Cards, Atlanta reeled off 8 wins in their next 10 games and 11 of 14. But the gap to the Giants still stood at 7.5 games after August 1st.
This continued all the way through August 22nd… a 7.5 games lead for the Giants. Then things starting clicking into high gear for the Braves.
The Braves had a 3 game series in San Francisco from August 23-25. The first game went to Atlanta by a 5-3 count as Atlanta got to the Giants’ starter early for 3 runs and Steve Avery pitched a complete game while driving in a run of his own.
The next day saw Tom Glavine go 7 strong innings in a 6-4 triumph for the Braves.
The finale then became a bigger challenge for the Giants as Greg Maddux was on the hill for Atlanta. The Braves’ offense scored early and often against Bill Swift and routed the division leaders 9-1.
Atlanta left town 4.5 games out of first and never trailed in the entire series.
That was only the start
The second real kick in the teeth for San Francisco that season came from September 6th through the 15th: they played 8 games and won none of them.
Over that same 10-day time period, Atlanta went 7-2, which included a 3-2 record in five 1-run games.
But this was a total reversal of fortune between the two teams, and now — in mid-September — the Braves held a lead of 3.5 games.
That didn’t last… and it came because the Giants quickly realized the desperate situation they had put themselves in. After the 15th, they only lost three more games for the rest of the season.
That certainly helped their cause, but the Braves only lost 5 games of their own after September 15. Unfortunately, that was enough to crack open the door for the Giants to get back into the race.
The Last Week
Timing is everything. Atlanta had an off-day on the 27th of September and then lost the opener of a series against Houston the next day. That, combined with Giant wins on both dates brought the two teams back together in a tie for first place after the 28th.
Five games remained on the regular season schedule. Atlanta had 2 more against Houston before hosting the Rockies; the Giants had one more against the same Colorado squad before having to travel to Dodger stadium for four games.
In the end, it’s hard to suggest which opponent had the upper hand. On the 29th, the Giants fell to the Rockies while Atlanta beat Houston… giving the Braves a temporary 1-game lead.
That was reversed on the 30th when Atlanta lost the final game against Houston 10-8 when a 3-run 9th inning comeback fell short. In Los Angeles, the Giants held on for a 3-1 victory that was helped out by 3 Dodger errors and 2 unearned runs.
3 games left… Braves and Giants all tied at 101 wins apiece.
October 1st and 2nd saw close wins for the Giants, leading to the possibility of a 4-game road sweep over their arch-rivals. Back in Atlanta, the Braves were taking care of business against an expansion Rockies team that was simply over-matched by the Braves in 7-4 and 10-1 outcomes.
Game 162 might have had more drama for two division leaders with 103 wins going in, but two factors were at work:
- The Giants-Dodgers game started just after the Braves-Rockies game ended.
- The Dodgers were having none of this drama thing.
The Braves jumped out to a 4-0 lead early and cruised to a 5-3 win with contributions from all over the lineup as Tom Glavine won his 22nd game of the year. It was a season sweep of the Rockies: Atlanta won all 13 games against them that year…. but none more important than this last one.
That win allowed the team to relax and watch the contest out West … which quickly turned to the Georgian’s favor.
The Dodgers scored twice in the third inning, once in the 4th, and when San Fran managed to post a tally in the 5th, LA responded with 3 more in the bottom of that frame. It was 6-1 and Kevin Gross was shutting down their fellow Californians.
The Dodgers continued to add runs until the final read 12-1. That loss, coupled with the Braves victory, gave Atlanta the division title and sent the second-best team in baseball home — without a playoff berth.
Fast-forward to 2022
The Braves have put themselves into a precarious position, though it’s not entirely without remedy. To win the NL East, they almost certainly must sweep the Mets this weekend.
Any other scenario requires help from the Nationals early next week.
If they pull this off, Atlanta would end the weekend with 100 wins and create a very similar scenario to that from 1993… except that both they and the Mets will be playing on after the regular season ends.
Nonetheless, it would be another epic comeback — in this case a deficit of 10.5 games — being overcome to win a division.
The trick is that this time, there is no margin for error whatsoever. This offense must get itself ready to score against some of the toughest pitching in the National League… and that could even include Sandy Alacantara next week.
Next. Just put him anywhere in the lineup. dark
Let’s all watch together and see if more history can be made this weekend.