1983 Atlanta Braves season

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1983  Atlanta Braves
League National League
Division West
Ballpark Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
City Atlanta
Record88–74 (.543)
Divisional place2nd
Owners Ted Turner
General managers John Mullen
Managers Joe Torre
Television WTBS
Superstation WTBS
Radio WSB
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, John Sterling)
  1982 Seasons 1984  

The 1983 Atlanta Braves season was the 18th season in Atlanta along with the 113th overall.

Contents

Offseason

Regular season

The 1983 season was one of hope for the Braves of Atlanta. The previous season they had won 89 games and advanced to the playoffs before succumbing to the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive games. This was a season to prove that the 1982 National League West Division champions were no fluke.

Atlanta opened the season April 4 in Cincinnati. The Braves grabbed an early 3–0 lead in the game only to lose it 5–4. Atlanta promptly won 13 of its next 15 games and found themselves in first place with a 13–3 record. This included a seven-game winning streak after the opening day loss and a five-game winning streak that finished the 13–2 stretch. It appeared the Braves were no flukes after all. They were off to another great start and fans were hopeful that their Braves would win another NL Western Division Championship.

There was a stretch in late May and early June when Atlanta won seven of eight games to improve their mark to 34–17. However, they were in second place and trailed the Dodgers by 1+12 games. On June 5 the Braves lost 8–3 to the Cardinals but remained 1+12 games behind Los Angeles. On June 7 the Dodgers were in Atlanta for a three-game series. LA lost the opener 4–1 to Pascual Perez and their lead over the Braves was a mere half game. LA however bounced back to defeat the Braves twice, 11–5 and 4–2, expanding their lead over the Braves to 2+12 games. On June 22 the Braves had slipped to 39–29 and were 4+12 games behind LA. Atlanta had posted a 5–12 record from June 8 to 22.

This began to change for the Braves however. They won 10 of 12 games from June 24 to the All-Star Break. That streak moved them into first place all by themselves on July 4 with a 49–31 record and a one-game lead over the Dodgers. It was the best record in all Major League Baseball. It appeared the Braves were for real after all.

Second Half

The Braves were 61–37 on Sunday, July 24, coming off a 12–4 rout of Philadelphia. Atlanta had a 4+12-game lead in their division. It was also the second consecutive season the Braves had started 61–37. In 1982, the Braves lost 19 of their next 21 games after the 61–37 start. In 1983, it was hoped they would do better.

On Monday Atlanta blew a ninth-inning 4–1 lead to the Mets to slip to 61–38. On Tuesday the Braves lost 2–1 to the Mets in ten innings on a homer by Mookie Wilson. The Braves were 61–39 and already fans on WSB radio were complaining about another Braves collapse. However, the Braves won three of their next four to go to 64–40 and a six-game lead in the Western Division on July 30. On Thursday August 4 Atlanta routed the San Francisco Giants 8–1 to raise their record to 67–42. It was the first time since coming to Atlanta in 1966 that the Braves were 25 games above the .500 mark. The Braves also had a 6+12-game lead. However, on Friday and Saturday the Dodgers beat Atlanta 2–1 and 4–2 to reduce the lead to 4+12. The Braves salvaged the final game of the series with a 5–2 win on Sunday, upping their lead back to 5+12 games.

The Braves were 71–46 on Saturday, August 13, after beating the LA Dodgers 8–7 on a Bob Watson come -from- behind homer in the bottom of the ninth. The Braves were 6+12 games ahead of the Dodgers at this point and things were looking good for them. Braves fans were extremely enthusiastic and confident.

The next day the Braves lost 5–4 to the Dodgers and then on Monday August 15 they not only lost 4–0 to the San Diego Padres but they lost their cleanup hitter Bob Horner to a season-ending wrist injury. Horner was batting .303 with 20 homers at that point. His loss would prove to be a disaster for the Braves.

After Horner's injury the Braves spiraled down and were soon overtaken by the Dodgers. On August 29 the Braves slipped into second place behind LA with a 7–5 loss to the Chicago Cubs. This loss was the first of six straight. Overall, the Braves lost nine of ten games from August 25 to September 3, going from 75–51 and two games ahead to 76–60 and 3+12 out. On Sunday September 11 the Braves led Los Angeles 6–3 going into the bottom of the ninth. They were two games behind and were in position to cut the Dodger lead to one game. However, LA rallied to win 7–6, and their lead was three games over the Braves.

Atlanta trailed by as much as 5+12 games (September 23) following an 11–2 blowout at the hands of the Dodgers. The Braves were 82–70 at this point and were 11–24 since Watson's dramatic home run in August. Atlanta beat the Dodgers the next two games 3–2 and 7–1 to cut their deficit to 3+12 games. After splitting a two-game series with San Francisco, the Braves won two of three from the Houston Astros, and, with three games left in the season, the Braves were three games out. Atlanta lost to the San Diego Padres 3–2 on Friday night to fall four games out, eliminated from the playoffs. The Braves finished three games behind the Dodgers. It was a season of extreme excitement followed by profound disappointment.

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 9171.56248324339
Atlanta Braves 8874.543346344240
Houston Astros 8577.525646363941
San Diego Padres 8181.5001047343447
San Francisco Giants 7983.4881243383645
Cincinnati Reds 7488.4571736453843

Record vs. opponents


Sources:
TeamATLCHCCINHOULADMTLNYMPHIPITSDSFSTL
Atlanta 5–712–611–77–117–58–47–56–69–99–97–5
Chicago 7–54–85–76–67–119–95–139–95–74–810–8
Cincinnati 6–128–45–137–114–87–56–66–69–910–86–6
Houston 7–117–513–56–128–49–34–86–611–712–62–10
Los Angeles 11–76–611–712–67–57–511–16–66–12–15–139–3
Montreal 5–711–78–44–85–78–108–10–18–108–48–49–9
New York 4–89–95–73–95–710–86–129–96–65–76–12
Philadelphia 5-713–56–68–41–1110–8–112–611–75–75–714–4
Pittsburgh 6–69–96–66–66–610–89–97–119–36–610–8
San Diego 9–97–59–97–1112–6–14–86–67–53–911–76–6
San Francisco 9–98–48–106–1213–54–87–57–56–67–114–8
St. Louis 5–78–106–610–23–99–912–64–148–106–68–4

Notable transactions

Roster

1983 Atlanta Braves
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

OutfieldersManager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader

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

PosPlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
C Bruce Benedict 134423126.298243
1B Chris Chambliss 131447125.2802078
2B Glenn Hubbard 148517136.2631270
SS Rafael Ramírez 152622185.297758
3B Bob Horner 104386117.3032068
LF Brett Butler 151549154.281537
CF Dale Murphy 162589178.30236121
RF Claudell Washington 134496138.278944

Other batters

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

PlayerGABHAvg.HRRBI
Jerry Royster 9126863.235330
Terry Harper 8020153.264326
Bob Watson 6514946.309637
Randy Johnson 8614436.250117
Biff Pocoroba 5512032.267216
Mike Jorgensen 574812.25018
Gerald Perry 273914.35916
Brad Komminsk 19368.22204
Larry Owen 17172.11801
Matt Sinatro 7122.16702
Ken Smith 30122.16712
Albert Hall 1080.00000
Paul Runge 582.25001
Brook Jacoby 480.00000
Paul Zuvella 350.00000

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Craig McMurtry 36224.21593.08105
Pascual Pérez 33215.11583.43144
Phil Niekro 34201.211103.97128
Len Barker 633.0133.8221
Bob Walk 13.2007.364

Other pitchers

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

PlayerGIPWLERASO
Rick Camp 40140.01093.7961
Pete Falcone 33106.2943.6359
Ken Dayley 24104.2584.3070
Rick Behenna 1437.1334.5817

Relief pitchers

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

PlayerGWLSVERASO
Steve Bedrosian 70910193.60114
Terry Forster 5632132.1654
Gene Garber 434594.6045
Donnie Moore 432363.6741
Tony Brizzolara 141013.5417
Rick Mahler 100005.027
Tommy Boggs 50005.685
Jeff Dedmon 500013.503

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Eddie Haas
AA Savannah Braves Southern League Bobby Dews
A Durham Bulls Carolina League Brian Snitker
A Anderson Braves South Atlantic League Rick Albert
Rookie Pulaski Braves Appalachian League Buddy Bailey
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro González

Notes

  1. "Luis Gomez Stats".
  2. Jay Buhner at Baseball Reference
  3. Paul Assenmacher at Baseball Reference
  4. "Len Barker Stats".

References