1986 Atlanta Braves season

1986  Atlanta Braves
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
City	Atlanta
Record	72–89 (.447)
Divisional place	6th
Owners	Ted Turner
General managers	Bobby Cox
Managers	Chuck Tanner
Television	WTBS Superstation WTBS
Radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, John Sterling)
←  1985 Seasons 1987  →

The 1986 Atlanta Braves season was the 116th in franchise history and their 21st in Atlanta.

Offseason

• November 13, 1985: Randy Johnson was released by the Braves. ^[1]
• December 6, 1985: Miguel Sosa (minors) was traded by the Braves to the New York Yankees for Billy Sample. ^[2]
• March 5, 1986: Rick Cerone, David Clay (minors), and Flavio Alfaro (minors) were traded by the Braves to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ted Simmons. ^[3]

Regular season

The Braves shutout the Montreal Expos, 6–0 in their season opener, but were 7–12 at the end of April, 6+1⁄2 games out of first. Atlanta won 17 of their first 25 games in the month of May, improving their record to 24–20 May 27. They were tied for second and were 1+1⁄2 games out of first.

On June 24 the Braves dropped into fourth place with a 34–36 record. They were in fourth place, 4+1⁄2 games out of first. Atlanta won seven of their next eight games to surge back into contention on July 3. Atlanta was 41–37 and in third place, 1+1⁄2 games out of first. The Braves promptly lost 20 of their next 25 games and fell into the cellar, 46–57, 12+1⁄2 games out of first. After a 12–5 run put them within 10+1⁄2 games of the lead, the Braves fizzled and faded down the stretch, losing their last five games to finish in last place with a 72–89 record, 23+1⁄2 games out of first.

The strong play of the Braves in the first half of the season was partly attributed to "The Bomb Squad", a group of six veterans who provided clutch hitting of the bench. The members of "The Bomb Squad" were: Ted Simmons, Chris Chambliss, Omar Moreno, Billy Sample, Bruce Benedict, and Andres Thomas. ^[4] The name for the group was coined during spring training by Simmons in an effort to create unity among the bench players (Simmons, Moreno, and Sample were in their first season with the Braves).

• July 6, 1986: In an 11-8 loss to the Montreal Expos, Bob Horner hit four home runs in one game. Horner became the second player in the 20th century (Gil Hodges was the first in 1950) to hit four home runs in one game in his home park. ^[5] He became the first player since Ed Delahanty to hit four home runs in a losing game. ^[5]

Season standings

v t e NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Houston Astros	96	66	0.593	—	52–29	44–37
Cincinnati Reds	86	76	0.531	10	43–38	43–38
San Francisco Giants	83	79	0.512	13	46–35	37–44
San Diego Padres	74	88	0.457	22	43–38	31–50
Los Angeles Dodgers	73	89	0.451	23	46–35	27–54
Atlanta Braves	72	89	0.447	23½	41–40	31–49

Record vs. opponents

1986 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	9–3	6–12	5–13	10–8	4–7	4–8	4–8	5–7	12–6	7–11	6–6
Chicago	3–9	—	5–7	4–8	6–6	8–10	6–12	9–8	7–11	6–6	6–6	10–7
Cincinnati	12–6	7–5	—	4–14	10–8	7–5	4–8	7–5	10–2	9–9	9–9	7–5
Houston	13–5	8–4	14–4	—	10–8	8–4	5–7	6–6	6–6	10–8	9–9	7–5
Los Angeles	8–10	6–6	8–10	8–10	—	5–7	3–9	5–7	8–4	6–12	8–10	8–4
Montreal	7–4	10–8	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	8–10	11–7	4–8	5–7	9–9
New York	8–4	12–6	8–4	7–5	9–3	10–8	—	8–10	17–1	10–2	7–5	12–6
Philadelphia	8-4	8–9	5–7	6–6	7–5	10–8	10–8	—	11–7	6–6	9–3	6–12
Pittsburgh	7–5	11–7	2–10	6–6	4–8	7–11	1–17	7–11	—	8–4	4–8	7–11
San Diego	6–12	6–6	9–9	8–10	12–6	8–4	2–10	6–6	4–8	—	8–10	5–7
San Francisco	11–7	6–6	9–9	9–9	10–8	7–5	5–7	3–9	8–4	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	7–10	5–7	5–7	4–8	9–9	6–12	12–6	11–7	7–5	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1986: Pascual Pérez was released by the Braves. ^[6]
• June 2, 1986: Ben McDonald was drafted by the Braves in the 27th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign. ^[7]
• June 30, 1986: Claudell Washington and Paul Zuvella were traded by the Braves to the New York Yankees for Ken Griffey, Sr. and Andre Robertson. ^[8]
• July 6, 1986: Duane Ward was traded by the Braves to the Toronto Blue Jays for Doyle Alexander. ^[9]

Roster

1986 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 38 Jim Acker 37 Doyle Alexander 30 Paul Assenmacher 49 Jeff Dedmon 26 Gene Garber 38 Joe Johnson 42 Rick Mahler 29 Craig McMurtry 31 Ed Olwine 46 David Palmer 45 Charlie Puleo 43 Steve Shields 34 Zane Smith 39 Cliff Speck 40 Bruce Sutter 48 Duane Ward		Catchers 20 Bruce Benedict  9 Ozzie Virgil Infielders 10 Chris Chambliss 11 Bob Horner 17 Glenn Hubbard 36 Brad Komminsk 24 Ken Oberkfell 16 Rafael Ramírez 12 Paul Runge 23 Ted Simmons 14 Andrés Thomas		Outfielders 22 Ken Griffey  1 Albert Hall 19 Terry Harper 18 Omar Moreno  6 Darryl Motley  3 Dale Murphy 28 Gerald Perry 5,6 Billy Sample 15 Claudell Washington		Manager  7 Chuck Tanner Coaches 50 Tony Bartirome 52 Alex Monchak 53 Russ Nixon 33 Johnny Sain 48 Bob Skinner  8 Willie Stargell

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	Ozzie Virgil	114	359	80	.223	15	48
1B	Bob Horner	141	517	141	.273	27	87
2B	Glenn Hubbard	143	408	94	.230	4	36
3B	Ken Oberkfell	151	503	136	.270	5	48
SS	Andrés Thomas	102	323	81	.251	6	32
LF	Ken Griffey	80	292	90	.308	12	32
CF	Dale Murphy	160	614	163	.265	29	83
RF	Omar Moreno	118	359	84	.234	4	27

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
Rafael Ramírez	134	496	119	.240	8	33
Terry Harper	106	265	68	.257	8	30
Billy Sample	92	200	57	.285	6	14
Bruce Benedict	64	160	36	.225	0	13
Claudell Washington	40	137	37	.270	5	14
Ted Simmons	76	127	32	.252	4	25
Chris Chambliss	97	122	38	.311	2	14
Gerald Perry	29	70	19	.271	2	11
Albert Hall	16	50	12	.240	0	1
Darryl Motley	5	10	2	.200	0	0
Paul Runge	7	8	2	.250	0	0
Brad Komminsk	5	5	2	.400	0	1

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
Rick Mahler	39	237.2	14	18	4.88	137
David Palmer	35	209.2	11	10	3.65	170
Zane Smith	38	204.2	8	16	4.05	139
Doyle Alexander	17	117.1	6	6	3.84	74
Joe Johnson	17	87.0	6	7	4.97	49

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
Jim Acker	21	95.0	3	8	3.79	37
Craig McMurtry	37	79.2	1	6	4.74	50
Charlie Puleo	5	24.1	1	2	2.96	18

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	61	5	5	24	2.54	56
Paul Assenmacher	61	7	3	7	2.50	56
Jeff Dedmon	57	6	6	3	2.98	58
Ed Olwine	37	0	0	1	3.40	37
Bruce Sutter	16	2	0	3	4.34	16
Cliff Speck	13	2	1	0	4.13	21
Duane Ward	10	0	1	0	7.31	8
Steve Shields	6	0	0	0	7.11	6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Roy Majtyka
AA	Greenville Braves	Southern League	Jim Beauchamp
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Buddy Bailey
A	Sumter Braves	South Atlantic League	Brian Snitker
Rookie	Pulaski Braves	Appalachian League	Grady Little
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Pedro González
Rookie	Idaho Falls Braves	Pioneer League	Rod Gilbreath

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Richmond, Pulaski ^[10]

Notes

1. Randy Johnson at Baseball-Reference
2. Billy Sample at Baseball-Reference
3. Ted Simmons at Baseball-Reference
4. "Atlanta`s `Bomb Squad` No Flop." Archived March 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Sun-Sentinel, June 10, 1986. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.258, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
6. Pascual Pérez at Baseball-Reference
7. Ben McDonald at Baseball-Reference
8. Ken Griffey at Baseball-Reference
9. Doyle Alexander at Baseball-Reference
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

References

• 1986 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference
• Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac