1977 Atlanta Braves season

The 1977 Atlanta Braves season was the 107th season for the franchise and their 12th in Atlanta. The team finished in last place in the six-team National League West with a record of 61–101, 37 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves hit a major league-leading seven grand slams.[1]

1977 Atlanta Braves
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record61–101 (.377)
Divisional place6th
Other information
Owner(s)Ted Turner
General manager(s)Bill Lucas
Manager(s)Dave Bristol (games 1–29, 32–162)
Ted Turner (game 30)
Vern Benson (game 31)
Local televisionWTCG
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
Local radioWSB
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren)
< Previous season     Next season >

All Braves home and away games were broadcast on WTCG-TV which during the offseason, under its owner Ted Turner, became the pioneer superstation in the United States and thus making the Braves the first MLB team to have its games telecast to millions of television viewers around the country aside from the national broadcasts on ABC and NBC which had been the case before the team's opening series of the season.[2]

Offseason

Regular season

Turner's one-day reign as manager

Midway through the 1977 season, with the Braves mired in a 16-game losing streak, owner Ted Turner sent Dave Bristol on a 10-day "scouting trip" and took over as his own manager. This only lasted for one game (a 2–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates) before National League president Chub Feeney ordered Turner to give up the reins, citing major league rules which forbid managers or players from owning stock in a team. After the Braves broke the skid under third-base coach Vern Benson, Bristol—who had spent the time at his offseason home in Andrews, North Carolina—was given his old job back for the remainder of the season.[4]

Notable events
  • September 15, 1977 - Dale Murphy hits two home runs in an 8–7 win over the San Diego Padres, the first home runs of his major league career.

Season standings
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 9864 0.605 — 51–30 47–34
Cincinnati Reds 8874 0.543 10 48–33 40–41
Houston Astros 8181 0.500 17 46–35 35–46
San Francisco Giants 7587 0.463 23 38–43 37–44
San Diego Padres 6993 0.426 29 35–46 34–47
Atlanta Braves 61101 0.377 37 40–41 21–60

Record vs. opponents
1977 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —5–74–149–95–136–67–52–103–911–78–101–11
Chicago 7–5—7–56–66–610–89–96–127–117–59–37–11
Cincinnati 14–45–7—5–1310–87–510–28–43–911–710–85–7
Houston 9–96–613–5—9–98–46–64–84–88–109–95–7
Los Angeles 13–56–68–109–9—7–58–46–69–312–614–46–6
Montreal 6–68–105–74–85–7—10–87–117–115–76–612–6
New York 5–79–92–106–64–88–10—5–134–146–67–58–10
Philadelphia 10-212–64–88–46–611–713–5—8–109–39–311–7
Pittsburgh 9–311–79–38–43–911–714–410–8—10–22–109–9
San Diego 7–115–77–1110–86–127–56–63–92–10—8–108–4
San Francisco 10–83–98–109–94–146–65–73–910–210–8—7–5
St. Louis 11–111–77–57–56–66–1210–87–119–94–85–7—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster
1977 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

Starters by position

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

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB
CBiff Pocoroba11332193.2908443
1BWillie Montañez136544156.28720681
2BRod Gilbreath12840799.2438433
3BJunior Moore11236194.2605344
SSPat Rockett9326467.2541241
LFGary Matthews148555157.283176422
CFRowland Office124428103.2415392
RFJeff Burroughs154579157.271411144

[8]

Other batters

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

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB
Jerry Royster14044596.21662828
Barry Bonnell100360108.3001457
Darrel Chaney7420942.2013150
Tom Paciorek7215537.2393151
Vic Correll5414430.2087162
Brian Asselstine8312426.2104171
Cito Gaston568523.2713211
Joe Nolan628223.280391
Dale Murphy187624.3162140
Craig Robinson27296.207010
Larry Whisenton441.250010
Rob Belloir610.000000

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 Niekro44330.316204.03262
Dick Ruthven251517134.2384
Andy Messersmith16102.1544.4069
Eddie Solomon1888.2664.5754
Mickey Mahler523126.2614

[8]

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
Buzz Capra45139.16115.36100
Max León3181.2443.9744
Don Collins4070.2395.0927
Preston Hanna1760264.9537
Jamie Easterly2258.2246.1437
Frank LaCorte14371811.6828
Steve Hargan1636.2036.8718
Joey McLaughlin360015.000

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
Dave Campbell6506133.0542
Rick Camp5463104.0051
Duane Theiss171106.537
Steve Kline160016.6410
Mike Davey160025.067
Bob Johnson150107.2516
Mike Marshall41009.006
Mike Beard40009.641
Larry Bradford20003.381

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Tommie Aaron
AA Savannah Braves Southern League Gene Hassell
A Greenwood Braves Western Carolinas League Bobby Dews
Rookie Kingsport Braves Appalachian League Bob Didier
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro González

Awards and honors

League leaders

Notes
  1. "Team Batting Event Finder: 1977, All Teams, Home Runs, With Runners on 123". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  2. "Atlanta TV goes national via satellite" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. December 20, 1976. p. 24. Retrieved September 20, 2018 – via American Radio History.
  3. Carl Morton page at Baseball Reference
  4. Hannon, Kent. Benched from the Bench. Sports Illustrated, 1977-05-23.
  5. http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1977&t=ATL
  6. Mike Marshall page at Baseball Reference
  7. Larry Owen page at Baseball Reference
  8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ATL/1977.shtml
  9. 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
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