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1966 Atlanta Braves season

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1966 Atlanta Braves
LeagueNational League
BallparkAtlanta Stadium
CityAtlanta
Record85–77 (.525)
League place5th
OwnersWilliam Bartholomay (chairman)[1]
General managersJohn McHale, Paul Richards
ManagersBobby Bragan   52–59 (.468)
Billy Hitchcock   33–18 (.647)
TelevisionWSB-TV
RadioWSB
(Larry Munson, Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton, Dizzy Dean)
← 1965 Seasons 1967 →

The 1966 Atlanta Braves season was the first for the franchise in Atlanta, and 96th overall, following their relocation from Milwaukee, where the team had played the previous 13 seasons. The Braves finished their inaugural year in Atlanta in fifth place in the National League with a record of 85–77, ten games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves played their first season of home games at Atlanta Stadium. The home attendance for the season was 1,539,801, sixth in the ten-team National League.[1]

Offseason

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Regular season

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  • July 3, 1966: Tony Cloninger became the first National League player—and, as of 2022, the only pitcher—to hit two grand slams in one game.[4]
  • September 11, 1966: Rookie pitcher Pat Jarvis of the Braves became the first of 5,714 strikeout victims of Nolan Ryan's career.[5]

Opening day

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The Atlanta Braves' first-ever game was played at home, at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, on Tuesday, April 12, 1966, against the Pittsburgh Pirates before 50,671 fans.[6] Braves' starting pitcher Cloninger, a 24-game winner in Milwaukee in 1965, pitched a 13-inning complete game but absorbed a hard-luck, 3–2 loss.[7][8][9] With the game tied at one in the top of the 13th, future hall of famer Willie Stargell hit a two-out, two-run home run to put Pittsburgh ahead 3–1. Atlanta catcher Joe Torre hit his second solo homer of the game to narrow the deficit to one run, but the Pirates held on to win. Earlier, in the fifth inning, Torre had hit the first homer in Atlanta's major league history.[6][9]

Starting lineup

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29 Felipe Alou CF
41 Eddie Mathews     3B
44 Hank Aaron RF
43 Rico Carty LF
15 Joe Torre C
19 Denis Menke SS
  9 Lee Thomas    1B
  2 Frank Bolling 2B
40 Tony Cloninger P

Season standings

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 67 .586 — 53‍–‍28 42‍–‍39
San Francisco Giants 93 68 .578 1½ 47‍–‍34 46‍–‍34
Pittsburgh Pirates 92 70 .568 3 46‍–‍35 46‍–‍35
Philadelphia Phillies 87 75 .537 8 48‍–‍33 39‍–‍42
Atlanta Braves 85 77 .525 10 43‍–‍38 42‍–‍39
St. Louis Cardinals 83 79 .512 12 43‍–‍38 40‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds 76 84 .475 18 46‍–‍33 30‍–‍51
Houston Astros 72 90 .444 23 45‍–‍36 27‍–‍54
New York Mets 66 95 .410 28½ 32‍–‍49 34‍–‍46
Chicago Cubs 59 103 .364 36 32‍–‍49 27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

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1966 National League record

Sources: [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD NYM PHI PIT SF STL
Atlanta — 7–11 10–8 14–4–1 7–11 14–4 11–7 7–11 8–10 7–11
Chicago 11–7 — 6–12 5–13 8–10 8–10 5–13 6–12 6–12 4–14
Cincinnati 8–10 12–6 — 4–14 6–12 10–7 10–8 8–10 7–10 11–7
Houston 4–14–1 13–5 14–4 — 7–11 7–11 7–11 4–14 6–12 10–8
Los Angeles 11–7 10–8 12–6 11–7 — 12–6 11–7 9–9 9–9 10–8
New York 4–14 10–8 7–10 11–7 6–12 — 7–11 5–13 9–9 7–11
Philadelphia 7-11 13–5 8–10 11–7 7–11 11–7 — 10–8 10–8 10–8
Pittsburgh 11–7 12–6 10–8 14–4 9–9 13–5 8–10 — 7–11 8–10
San Francisco 10–8 12–6 10–7 12–6 9–9 9–9 8–10 11–7 — 12–6
St. Louis 11–7 14–4 7–11 8–10 8–10 11–7 8–10 10–8 6–12 —


Front-office and managerial turnover

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The Braves' first year in Atlanta featured an unusual amount of management churn in both the front office and dugout. On June 28, it was announced that Paul Richards, a veteran former MLB manager and general manager, would join the team as a roving troubleshooter in its farm system.[10] The Braves were then a disappointing 34–42 (.447) and in eighth place in the ten-team National League. Braves president and GM John McHale remarked that Richards, 57, was poised to assume greater responsibilities within the Atlanta organization if called upon,[10] leading to speculation that he would replace embattled field manager Bobby Bragan. More than a quarter-century earlier, in 1938, Richards had begun his management career as the successful player-manager of the minor league Atlanta Crackers.

On August 9, with the Braves still mired in the second division at 52–59 (.468), 12+1⁄2 games behind and in seventh place,[11] fourth-year skipper Bragan was dismissed and replaced by bench coach Billy Hitchcock,[12][13] like Richards a former teammate of McHale's with the Detroit Tigers. Hitchcock's hiring would pull the Braves out of their tailspin, and they won 33 of 51 games (.647), advancing to fifth place. But Richards was indeed destined to rise within the Atlanta organization. On August 31, he was named director of player personnel at both the Major and minor-league levels, effectively becoming general manager of baseball operations without the formal title, which McHale temporarily retained.[14] Four months later, McHale resigned from the Braves to join the office of Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert, and on January 11, 1967, Richards was formally named Braves' general manager. He would serve in the post through June 1, 1972.[15]

National transactions

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Roster

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1966 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Joe Torre 148 546 172 .315 36 101
1B Felipe Alou 154 666 218 .327 31 74
2B Woody Woodward 144 455 120 .264 0 43
SS Denis Menke 138 454 114 .251 15 60
3B Eddie Mathews 134 452 113 .250 16 53
LF Rico Carty 151 521 170 .326 15 76
CF Mack Jones 118 417 110 .264 23 66
RF Hank Aaron 158 603 168 .279 44 127

Other batters

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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
Frank Bolling 75 227 48 .211 1 18
Gene Oliver 76 191 37 .194 8 24
Gary Geiger 78 126 33 .262 4 10
Lee Thomas 39 126 25 .198 6 15
Mike de la Hoz 71 110 24 .218 2 7
Félix Millán 37 91 25 .275 0 5
Ty Cline 42 71 18 .254 0 6
Sandy Alomar Sr. 31 44 4 .091 0 2
John Herrnstein 17 18 4 .222 0 1
Marty Keough 17 17 1 .059 0 1
Lee Bales 12 16 1 .063 0 0
Bill Robinson 6 11 3 .273 0 3
George Kopacz 6 9 0 .000 0 0
Ed Sadowski 3 9 1 .111 0 1
Adrian Garrett 4 3 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Tony Cloninger 39 257.2 14 11 4.12 178
Ken Johnson 32 215.2 14 8 3.30 105
Denny Lemaster 27 171.0 11 8 3.74 139
Wade Blasingame 16 67.2 3 7 5.32 34
Pat Jarvis 10 62.1 6 2 2.31 41
Joey Jay 9 29.2 0 4 7.89 19
Ron Reed 2 8.1 1 1 2.16 6
Charlie Vaughan 1 7.0 1 0 2.57 6

Other pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dick Kelley 20 81.0 7 5 3.22 50
Hank Fischer 14 48.1 2 3 3.91 22
Don Schwall 11 45.1 3 3 4.37 27

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Clay Carroll 73 8 7 11 2.37 67
Chi-Chi Olivo 47 5 4 7 4.23 41
Ted Abernathy 38 4 4 4 3.86 42
Phil Niekro 28 4 3 2 4.11 17
Billy O'Dell 24 2 3 6 2.40 20
Arnold Umbach 22 0 2 0 3.10 23
Jay Ritchie 22 0 1 4 4.08 33
Dan Schneider 14 0 0 0 3.42 11
Herb Hippauf 3 0 1 0 13.50 1
Cecil Upshaw 1 0 0 0 0.00 2

Farm system

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See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Bill Adair
AA Austin Braves Texas League Hub Kittle
A Kinston Eagles Carolina League Andy Pafko
A West Palm Beach Braves Florida State League Buddy Hicks
A Yakima Braves Northwest League Eddie Haas
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Tom Saffell

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Austin

Notes

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  1. ^ a b "Bartholomay claims vindication as Braves pass million and half". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. September 29, 1966. p. 17, part 2.
  2. ^ Jesse Gonder at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Tom Seaver at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 259, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  5. ^ Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
  6. ^ a b c [1]Retrosheet box score: 1966-4-12
  7. ^ Thisted, Red (April 13, 1966). "Braves' Atlanta debut a 3-2 flop". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 2, part 2.
  8. ^ Kuechele, Oliver E. (April 13, 1966). "Stargell's home run in 13th ruins Braves' Dixie debut". Milwaukee Journal. p. 2, part 18.
  9. ^ a b "Braves defeated in Atlanta debut". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. April 13, 1966. p. 33.
  10. ^ a b [2]The Associated Press, June 26, 1966
  11. ^ "Baseball in a nutshell". Milwaukee Sentinel. August 9, 1966. p. 2, part 2.
  12. ^ "Hitchcock plans changes". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. August 10, 1966. p. 2, part 2.
  13. ^ Wolf, Bob (August 10, 1966). "'Impulsive' best describes brash Bobby; orange drink costs him $100 and job". Milwaukee Journal. p. 2, part 21.
  14. ^ [3]United Press International August 31, 1966
  15. ^ [4]Baseball America Executive Database
  16. ^ Marty Keough at Baseball Reference
  17. ^ Frank Thomas is place on waivers
  18. ^ Bobby Cox at Baseball Reference
  19. ^ Cubs, Atlanta trade again
  20. ^ Al Santorini at Baseball-Reference

References

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