1979 Atlanta Braves
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium
CityAtlanta
Record66–94 (.413)
Divisional place6th
OwnersTed Turner
General managersBill Lucas, John Mullen
ManagersBobby Cox
TelevisionWTCG
RadioWSB
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
Seasons

The 1979 Atlanta Braves season was the 109th season for the franchise and their 14th in Atlanta.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 9071 0.559 — 48–32 42–39
Houston Astros 8973 0.549 1½ 52–29 37–44
Los Angeles Dodgers 7983 0.488 11½ 46–35 33–48
San Francisco Giants 7191 0.438 19½ 38–43 33–48
San Diego Padres 6893 0.422 22 39–42 29–51
Atlanta Braves 6694 0.412 23½ 34–45 32–49

Record vs. opponents

1979 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta—4–86–127–1112–61–94–87–54–86–1211–74–8
Chicago8–4—7–56–65–76–128–109–96–129–38–48–10
Cincinnati12–65–7—8–1011–76–68–48–48–410–76–128–4
Houston11–76–610–8—10–87–59–35–74–814–47–116–6
Los Angeles 6–127–57–118–10—6–69–33–94–89–914–46–6
Montreal9–112–66–65–76–6—15–311–77–117–57–510–8
New York8–410–84–83–93–93–15—5–138–10–14–88–47–11
Philadelphia5-79–94–87–59–37–1113–5—8–109–36–67–11–1
Pittsburgh8–412–64–88–48–411–710–8–110–8—7–59–311–7
San Diego12–63–97–104–149–95–78–43–95–7—8–104–8
San Francisco7–114–812–611–74–145–74–86–63–910–8—5–7
St. Louis8–410–84–86–66–68–1011–711–7–17–118–47–5—

Death of GM Bill Lucas

On May 5, 1979, the Braves were staggered by the sudden death, at 43, of the club's general manager, Bill Lucas. The first African-American general manager in Major League Baseball, and the highest-ranking black executive in the game at the time of his death, he had been stricken at home May 2 with a massive cerebral hemorrhage, after watching a Braves' road-game victory on television.[4]

Lucas had been the Braves' top baseball operations official since September 17, 1976, and on his watch the team introduced players who would be integral parts of its early 1980s contending teams—such as Dale Murphy, Bob Horner and Glenn Hubbard. During Lucas' term, the club had also hired Bobby Cox for his first term (1978–81) as manager. Lucas had been a player and executive with the Braves since 1957; his sister, Barbara, also was the former wife of Hall of Famer and Braves' legend Henry Aaron.[5]

Lucas was succeeded May 16 by John Mullen, 54, a vice president with the Houston Astros since 1967 but previously a longtime member of the Braves' management team in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Mullen would serve as the Braves' general manager until his replacement, by Cox, in October 1985.[6]

Notable transactions

Roster

1979 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

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
CBruce Benedict7620446.225015
1BDale Murphy104384106.2762157
2BGlenn Hubbard9732575.231329
3BBob Horner121487153.3143398
SSPepe Frías140475123.259144
LFJeff Burroughs11639789.2241147
CFRowland Office12427769.249237
RFGary Matthews156631192.3042790

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
Jerry Royster154601164.273351
Barry Bonnell12737597.2591245
Joe Nolan8923057.248421
Mike Lum11121754.249627
Darrel Chaney6311719.162010
Eddie Miller2711335.31005
Charlie Spikes669326.280321
Biff Pocoroba283812.31604
Larry Whisenton13379.24301
Bob Beall17152.13301
Mike Macha6132.15401
Brian Asselstine8101.10000
Jim Wessinger1070.00000

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
Phil Niekro44342.021203.39208
Eddie Solomon31186.07144.2196
Rick Matula28171.18104.1567
Tony Brizzolara20107.1695.2864
Larry McWilliams1366.1325.5632
Tommy Boggs312.2026.391

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
Mickey Mahler26100.05115.8571
Preston Hanna624.1112.9615

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 Garber68616254.3356
Craig Skok441323.9830
Adrian Devine403203.2422
Joey McLaughlin375352.4840
Bo McLaughlin371104.8945
Larry Bradford211020.9511
Rick Mahler150006.1412
Frank LaCorte60007.566
Jamie Easterly400013.503

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Tom Burgess
AA Savannah Braves Southern League Eddie Haas
A Greenwood Braves Western Carolinas League Al Gallagher
Rookie Kingsport Braves Appalachian League Gene Hassell
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro González

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Awards and honors

League leaders

Notes

  1. ↑ Brook Jacoby at Baseball-Reference
  2. ↑ Mike Davey at Baseball-Reference
  3. ↑ Dave Campbell at Baseball-Reference
  4. ↑ The Associated Press, May 8, 1979
  5. ↑ Bryant, Howard, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron. New York: Random House, 2010, page 446
  6. ↑ Baseball America Executive Database
  7. ↑ Buzz Capra at Baseball-Reference
  8. ↑ Paul Runge at Baseball-Reference
  9. ↑ Brett Butler at Baseball-Reference
  10. ↑ 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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