1980 Atlanta Braves season

1980  Atlanta Braves
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
City	Atlanta
Record	81–80 (.503)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Ted Turner
General managers	John Mullen
Managers	Bobby Cox
Television	WTBS/Superstation WTBS
Radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
←  1979 Seasons 1981  →

The 1980 Atlanta Braves season was the 15th season in Atlanta along with the 110th season as a franchise overall.

Offseason

• November 20, 1979: Relief pitcher Al Hrabosky signed as a free agent.
• December 5, 1979: Barry Bonnell, Pat Rockett, and Joey McLaughlin were traded by the Braves to the Toronto Blue Jays for Chris Chambliss and Luis Gómez. ^[1]
• December 6, 1979: Adrian Devine and Pepe Frías were traded by the Braves to the Texas Rangers for Doyle Alexander, Larvell Blanks and $50,000. ^[2]

Regular season

On August 6, umpire Jerry Dale ruled that Braves shortstop Rafael Ramírez did not step on second base while turning a double play. Manager Bobby Cox argued the call and confronted Dale while tobacco juice streamed out of his mouth. Cox was accused of spitting on the umpire. ^[3]

Phil Niekro became the only pitcher in the history of the National League to lead the NL in losses for four consecutive seasons. ^[4]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Houston Astros	93	70	.571	—	55‍–‍26	38‍–‍44
Los Angeles Dodgers	92	71	.564	1	55‍–‍27	37‍–‍44
Cincinnati Reds	89	73	.549	3½	44‍–‍37	45‍–‍36
Atlanta Braves	81	80	.503	11	50‍–‍30	31‍–‍50
San Francisco Giants	75	86	.466	17	44‍–‍37	31‍–‍49
San Diego Padres	73	89	.451	19½	45‍–‍36	28‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

1980 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	8–4	2–16	7–11	11–7	5–7	3–9	5–7	11–1	12–6	11–6	6–6
Chicago	4–8	—	7–5	1–11	5–7	6–12	10–8	5–13	8–10	4–8	5–7	9–9
Cincinnati	16–2	5–7	—	8–10	9–9	3–9	8–4	7–5	6–6	15–3–1	7–11	5–7
Houston	11–7	11–1	10–8	—	9–10	5–7	8–4	3–9	7–5	11–7	11–7	7–5
Los Angeles	7–11	7–5	9–9	10–9	—	11–1	7–5	6–6	6–6	9–9	13–5	7–5
Montreal	7–5	12–6	9–3	7–5	1–11	—	10–8	9–9	6–12	10–2	7–5	12–6
New York	9–3	8–10	4–8	4–8	5–7	8–10	—	6–12	10–8	1–11	3–9	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	13–5	5–7	9–3	6–6	9–9	12–6	—	7–11	8–4	6–6	9–9
Pittsburgh	1–11	10–8	6–6	5–7	6–6	12–6	8–10	11–7	—	6–6	8–4	10–8
San Diego	6–12	8–4	3–15–1	7–11	9–9	2–10	11–1	4–8	6–6	—	10–8	7–5
San Francisco	6–11	7–5	11–7	7–11	5–13	5–7	9–3	6–6	4–8	8–10	—	7–5
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	7–5	5–7	5–7	6–12	9–9	9–9	8–10	5–7	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1980: Ken Dayley was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 1980 Major League Baseball draft. ^[5]
• July 1, 1980: Bill Haselrig (minors) was traded by the Braves to the New York Mets for Randy Johnson. ^[6]
• August 8, 1980: Larvell Blanks was released by the Braves. ^[7]

Game log

1980 Game Log (81–80)
April (6–11) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 1 April 9 @ Reds 0–9 Pastore (1–0) Niekro (0–1) 51,774 0–1 2 April 11 @ Reds 0–6 (6) LaCoss (1–0) McWilliams (0–1) 12,902 0–2 3 April 12 @ Reds 4–5 Hume (1–0) Hrabosky (0–1) 11,839 0–3 4 April 13 @ Reds 0–5 Leibrandt (1–0) Niekro (0–2) 32,996 0–4 5 April 14 @ Astros 4–5 Sambito (1–0) Garber (0–1) 15,017 0–5 6 April 15 @ Astros 2–6 Niekro (1–0) McWilliams (0–2) 15,712 0–6 7 April 17 Reds 1–4 Pastore (2-0) Niekro (0–3) 15,742 0–7 8 April 18 Reds 3–0 Matula (1–0) Leibrandt (1–1) 5,624 1–7 9 April 19 Reds 1–6 Bonham (1–0) Alexander (0–1) 9,684 1–8 10 April 20 Reds 3–5 Tomlin (2–0) Bradford (0–1) Hume (1) 8,002 1–9 11 April 22 Padres 3–2 (10) Hrabosky (1–1) Shirley (0–1) 4,710 2–9 12 April 23 Padres 2–1 Matula (2–0) Jones (1–2) Hrabosky (1) 4,166 3–9 13 April 24 Padres 8–7 Garber (1–1) Fingers (2–1) 4,498 4–9 14 April 25 Expos 8–7 (11) Bradford (1–1) Bahnsen (0–1) 6,929 5–9 15 April 26 Expos 3–4 Grimsley (1–1) Niekro (0–4) Fryman (2) 13,705 5–10 16 April 27 Expos 6–3 McWilliams (1–2) Sanderson (1–2) Hrabosky (2) 12,917 6–10 – April 28 @ Padres Postponed (rain); Makeup: June 28 – April 29 @ Padres Postponed (rain); Makeup: September 21 17 April 30 @ Padres 1–2 Rasmussen (1–2) Matula (2–1) Shirley (3) 9,018 6–11
May (11–15) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record 18 May 1 @ Padres 3–4 Shirley (1–1) Camp (0–10 12,131 6–12 19 May 2 @ Pirates 6–1 Niekro (1–4) Rooker (2–2) 11,476 7–12 20 May 3 @ Pirates 3–1 (10) Hrabosky (1–1) Jackson (2–1) 34,104 8–12 21 May 4 @ Pirates 4–13 Bibby (4–0) Boggs (0–1) 14,358 8–13 22 May 5 @ Phillies 1–7 Carlton (5–1) Matula (2–2) 26,165 8–14 23 May 6 @ Phillies 5–10 Ruthven (2–2) Alexander (0–2) Noles (2) 25,302 8–15 – May 7 @ Phillies Postponed (rain); Makeup: July 25 24 May 9 Astros 5–4 McWilliams (2–2) Forsch (4–1) Bradford (1) 11,111 9–15 25 May 10 Astros 2–3 (11) LaCorte (2–0) Garber (1–2) Sambito (3) 13,798 9–16 26 May 11 Astros 7–4 Niekro (2–4) Niekro (4–2) 10,871 10–16 27 May 13 Phillies 7–3 Alexander (1–2) Lerch (0–5) Camp (1) 10,146 11–16
Legend:       = Win       = Loss       = Postponement Bold = Braves team member

Roster

1980 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 33 Doyle Alexander 40 Tommy Boggs 34 Larry Bradford 37 Rick Camp 26 Gene Garber 49 Preston Hanna 39 Al Hrabosky 42 Rick Mahler 29 Rick Matula 27 Larry McWilliams 35 Phil Niekro		Catchers 20 Bruce Benedict 15 Bill Nahorodny 11 Joe Nolan  4 Biff Pocoroba Infielders 16 Larvell Blanks 10 Chris Chambliss  9 Luis Gómez  5 Bob Horner 17 Glenn Hubbard 47 Rafael Ramírez  1 Jerry Royster 14 Chico Ruiz		Outfielders 30 Brian Asselstine  7 Jeff Burroughs 22 Gary Cooper 19 Terry Harper 28 Mike Lum 36 Gary Matthews 45 Eddie Miller  3 Dale Murphy 46 Charlie Spikes		Manager  6 Bobby Cox Coaches 23 Tommie Aaron 48 Cloyd Boyer 10 Bobby Dews  8 John Sullivan

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	120	359	91	.253	2	34
1B	Chris Chambliss	158	602	170	.282	18	72
2B	Glenn Hubbard	117	431	107	.248	9	43
SS	Luis Gómez	121	278	53	.191	0	24
3B	Bob Horner	124	463	124	.268	35	89
LF	Jeff Burroughs	99	278	73	.263	13	51
CF	Dale Murphy	156	569	160	.281	33	89
RF	Gary Matthews	155	571	159	.278	19	75

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	123	392	95	.242	1	20
Larvell Blanks	88	221	45	.204	2	12
Brian Asselstine	87	218	62	.284	3	25
Rafael Ramírez	50	165	44	.267	2	11
Bill Nahorodny	59	157	38	.242	5	18
Mike Lum	93	83	17	.205	0	5
Biff Pocoroba	70	83	22	.265	2	8
Terry Harper	21	54	10	.185	0	3
Charlie Spikes	41	36	10	.278	0	2
Chico Ruiz	25	26	8	.308	0	2
Joe Nolan	17	22	6	.273	0	2
Eddie Miller	11	19	3	.158	0	0
Gary Cooper	21	2	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	40	275.0	15	18	3.63	176
Doyle Alexander	35	231.2	14	11	4.20	114
Tommy Boggs	32	192.1	12	9	3.42	84
Rick Matula	33	176.2	11	13	4.58	62
Larry McWilliams	30	163.2	9	14	4.95	77

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
Rick Camp	77	6	4	22	1.91	33
Gene Garber	68	5	5	7	3.83	51
Larry Bradford	56	3	4	4	2.44	32
Al Hrabosky	45	4	2	3	3.62	31
Preston Hanna	32	2	0	0	3.18	35
Rick Mahler	2	0	0	0	2.45	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Fred Hatfield
AA	Savannah Braves	Southern League	Eddie Haas
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Al Gallagher
A	Anderson Braves	South Atlantic League	Sonny Jackson
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Pedro González

Awards and honors

• Phil Niekro, Roberto Clemente Award

League leaders

• Phil Niekro, National League leader, Losses ^[4]

Notes

1. Chris Chambliss page at Baseball Reference
2. Doyle Alexander page at Baseball Reference
3. Sports Illustrated, "Thumbing his Way back home" by Thomas Lake, July 26, 2010, p. 49
4. 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
5. Ken Dayley page at Baseball Reference
6. Randy Johnson page at Baseball Reference
7. Larvell Blanks page at Baseball-Reference

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.
• 1980 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference