1979 Atlanta Braves season

1979  Atlanta Braves
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
City	Atlanta
Record	66–94 (.413)
Divisional place	6th
Owners	Ted Turner
General managers	Bill Lucas, John Mullen
Managers	Bobby Cox
Television	WTCG
Radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
←  1978 Seasons 1980  →

The 1979 Atlanta Braves season was the 109th season for the franchise and their 14th in Atlanta.

Offseason

• January 9, 1979: Brook Jacoby was drafted by the Braves in the 7th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. ^[1]
• February 22, 1979: Mike Davey was purchased from the Braves by the Seattle Mariners. ^[2]
• March 31, 1979: Dave Campbell was traded by the Braves to the Montreal Expos for Pepe Frías. ^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	90	71	0.559	—	48–32	42–39
Houston Astros	89	73	0.549	1½	52–29	37–44
Los Angeles Dodgers	79	83	0.488	11½	46–35	33–48
San Francisco Giants	71	91	0.438	19½	38–43	33–48
San Diego Padres	68	93	0.422	22	39–42	29–51
Atlanta Braves	66	94	0.412	23½	34–45	32–49

Record vs. opponents

1979 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	4–8	6–12	7–11	12–6	1–9	4–8	7–5	4–8	6–12	11–7	4–8
Chicago	8–4	—	7–5	6–6	5–7	6–12	8–10	9–9	6–12	9–3	8–4	8–10
Cincinnati	12–6	5–7	—	8–10	11–7	6–6	8–4	8–4	8–4	10–7	6–12	8–4
Houston	11–7	6–6	10–8	—	10–8	7–5	9–3	5–7	4–8	14–4	7–11	6–6
Los Angeles	6–12	7–5	7–11	8–10	—	6–6	9–3	3–9	4–8	9–9	14–4	6–6
Montreal	9–1	12–6	6–6	5–7	6–6	—	15–3	11–7	7–11	7–5	7–5	10–8
New York	8–4	10–8	4–8	3–9	3–9	3–15	—	5–13	8–10–1	4–8	8–4	7–11
Philadelphia	5-7	9–9	4–8	7–5	9–3	7–11	13–5	—	8–10	9–3	6–6	7–11–1
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	4–8	8–4	8–4	11–7	10–8–1	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	11–7
San Diego	12–6	3–9	7–10	4–14	9–9	5–7	8–4	3–9	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	7–11	4–8	12–6	11–7	4–14	5–7	4–8	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	8–10	11–7	11–7–1	7–11	8–4	7–5	—

Death of GM Bill Lucas

On May 5, 1979, the Braves were staggered by the sudden death, at 43, of the club's general manager, Bill Lucas. The first African-American general manager in Major League Baseball, and the highest-ranking black executive in the game at the time of his death, he had been stricken at home May 2 with a massive cerebral hemorrhage, after watching a Braves' road-game victory on television. ^[4]

Lucas had been the Braves' top baseball operations official since September 17, 1976, and on his watch the team introduced players who would be integral parts of its early 1980s contending teams—such as Dale Murphy, Bob Horner and Glenn Hubbard. During Lucas' term, the club had also hired Bobby Cox for his first term (1978–81) as manager. Lucas had been a player and executive with the Braves since 1957; his sister, Barbara, also was the former wife of Hall of Famer and Braves' legend Henry Aaron. ^[5]

Lucas was succeeded May 16 by John Mullen, 54, a vice president with the Houston Astros since 1967 but previously a longtime member of the Braves' management team in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Mullen would serve as the Braves' general manager until his replacement, by Cox, in October 1985. ^[6]

Notable transactions

• April 3, 1979: Buzz Capra was released by the Braves. ^[7]
• June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft
  • Paul Runge was drafted by the Braves in the 9th round. ^[8]
  • Brett Butler was drafted by the Braves in the 23rd round. Player signed June 11, 1979. ^[9]

Roster

1979 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 50 Tommy Boggs 34 Larry Bradford 43 Tony Brizzolara 38 Adrian Devine 45 Jamie Easterly 26 Gene Garber 49 Preston Hanna 42 Frank LaCorte 24 Mickey Mahler 39 Rick Mahler 29 Rick Matula 32 Bo McLaughlin 50 Joey McLaughlin 27 Larry McWilliams 35 Phil Niekro 48 Craig Skok 37 Eddie Solomon		Catchers 20 Bruce Benedict 11 Joe Nolan  4 Biff Pocoroba Infielders 25 Bob Beall 15 Darrel Chaney  9 Pepe Frías  5 Bob Horner 17 Glenn Hubbard 28 Mike Lum 31 Mike Macha  3 Dale Murphy  1 Jerry Royster 16 Jim Wessinger		Outfielders 30 Brian Asselstine  2 Barry Bonnell  7 Jeff Burroughs 36 Gary Matthews 14 Eddie Miller 22 Rowland Office 46 Charlie Spikes 18 Larry Whisenton		Manager  6 Bobby Cox Coaches 23 Tommie Aaron 48 Cloyd Boyer 10 Bobby Dews  8 Alex Grammas

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Bruce Benedict	76	204	46	.225	0	15
1B	Dale Murphy	104	384	106	.276	21	57
2B	Glenn Hubbard	97	325	75	.231	3	29
3B	Bob Horner	121	487	153	.314	33	98
SS	Pepe Frías	140	475	123	.259	1	44
LF	Jeff Burroughs	116	397	89	.224	11	47
CF	Rowland Office	124	277	69	.249	2	37
RF	Gary Matthews	156	631	192	.304	27	90

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Jerry Royster	154	601	164	.273	3	51
Barry Bonnell	127	375	97	.259	12	45
Joe Nolan	89	230	57	.248	4	21
Mike Lum	111	217	54	.249	6	27
Darrel Chaney	63	117	19	.162	0	10
Eddie Miller	27	113	35	.310	0	5
Charlie Spikes	66	93	26	.280	3	21
Biff Pocoroba	28	38	12	.316	0	4
Larry Whisenton	13	37	9	.243	0	1
Bob Beall	17	15	2	.133	0	1
Mike Macha	6	13	2	.154	0	1
Brian Asselstine	8	10	1	.100	0	0
Jim Wessinger	10	7	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Phil Niekro	44	342.0	21	20	3.39	208
Eddie Solomon	31	186.0	7	14	4.21	96
Rick Matula	28	171.1	8	10	4.15	67
Tony Brizzolara	20	107.1	6	9	5.28	64
Larry McWilliams	13	66.1	3	2	5.56	32
Tommy Boggs	3	12.2	0	2	6.39	1

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mickey Mahler	26	100.0	5	11	5.85	71
Preston Hanna	6	24.1	1	1	2.96	15

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Gene Garber	68	6	16	25	4.33	56
Craig Skok	44	1	3	2	3.98	30
Adrian Devine	40	3	2	0	3.24	22
Joey McLaughlin	37	5	3	5	2.48	40
Bo McLaughlin	37	1	1	0	4.89	45
Larry Bradford	21	1	0	2	0.95	11
Rick Mahler	15	0	0	0	6.14	12
Frank LaCorte	6	0	0	0	7.56	6
Jamie Easterly	4	0	0	0	13.50	3

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Tom Burgess
AA	Savannah Braves	Southern League	Eddie Haas
A	Greenwood Braves	Western Carolinas League	Al Gallagher
Rookie	Kingsport Braves	Appalachian League	Gene Hassell
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Pedro González

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Awards and honors

League leaders

• Phil Niekro, National League leader, Losses ^[10]

Notes

1. Brook Jacoby at Baseball-Reference
2. Mike Davey at Baseball-Reference
3. Dave Campbell at Baseball-Reference
4. The Associated Press, May 8, 1979
5. Bryant, Howard, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron. New York: Random House, 2010, page 446
6. Baseball America Executive Database
7. Buzz Capra at Baseball-Reference
8. Paul Runge at Baseball-Reference
9. Brett Butler at Baseball-Reference
10. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 348, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN   978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1979 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference
• Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac