1986 Atlanta Braves season

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1986 Atlanta Braves
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record72–89 (.447)
Divisional place6th
Other information
Owner(s)Ted Turner
General manager(s)Bobby Cox
Manager(s)Chuck Tanner
Local televisionWTBS
Superstation WTBS
Local radioWSB
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, John Sterling)
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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 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
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 Records
  • v
  • t

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
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[]

Roster[]

1986 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers
  • 20 Bruce Benedict
  •  9 Ozzie Virgil

Infielders

Outfielders Manager
  •  7 Chuck Tanner

Coaches

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
Billy Sample 92 200 57 .285 6 14
Claudell Washington 40 137 37 .270 5 14
Ted Simmons 76 127 32 .252 4 25
Paul Runge 7 8 2 .250 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
David Palmer 35 209.2 11 10 3.65 170

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

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

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." Sun-Sentinel, June 10, 1986. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
  5. ^ a b 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[]

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