1983 Atlanta Braves season

1983 Atlanta Braves
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium
CityAtlanta
Record88–74 (.543)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersTed Turner
General managersJohn Mullen
ManagersJoe Torre
TelevisionWTBS
Superstation WTBS
RadioWSB
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, John Sterling)
← 1982 Seasons 1984 →

The 1983 Atlanta Braves season was the 18th season in Atlanta along with the 113th overall.

Offseason

  • March 29, 1982: Luis Gomez was released by the Atlanta Braves.[1]

Regular season

The 1983 season was one of hope for the Braves of Atlanta. The previous season they had won 89 games and advanced to the playoffs before succumbing to the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive games. This was a season to prove that the 1982 National League West Division champions were no fluke.

Atlanta opened the season April 4 in Cincinnati. The Braves grabbed an early 3–0 lead in the game only to lose it 5–4. Atlanta promptly won 13 of its next 15 games and found themselves in first place with a 13–3 record. This included a seven-game winning streak after the opening day loss and a five-game winning streak that finished the 13–2 stretch. It appeared the Braves were no flukes after all. They were off to another great start and fans were hopeful that their Braves would win another NL Western Division Championship.

There was a stretch in late May and early June when Atlanta won seven of eight games to improve their mark to 34–17. However, they were in second place and trailed the Dodgers by 1+1⁄2 games. On June 5 the Braves lost 8–3 to the Cardinals but remained 1+1⁄2 games behind Los Angeles. On June 7 the Dodgers were in Atlanta for a three-game series. LA lost the opener 4–1 to Pascual Perez and their lead over the Braves was a mere half game. LA however bounced back to defeat the Braves twice, 11–5 and 4–2, expanding their lead over the Braves to 2+1⁄2 games. On June 22 the Braves had slipped to 39–29 and were 4+1⁄2 games behind LA. Atlanta had posted a 5–12 record from June 8 to 22.

This began to change for the Braves however. They won 10 of 12 games from June 24 to the All-Star Break. That streak moved them into first place all by themselves on July 4 with a 49–31 record and a one-game lead over the Dodgers. It was the best record in all Major League Baseball. It appeared the Braves were for real after all.

Second Half

The Braves were 61–37 on Sunday, July 24, coming off a 12–4 rout of Philadelphia. Atlanta had a 4+1⁄2-game lead in their division. It was also the second consecutive season the Braves had started 61–37. In 1982, the Braves lost 19 of their next 21 games after the 61–37 start. In 1983, it was hoped they would do better.

On Monday Atlanta blew a ninth-inning 4–1 lead to the Mets to slip to 61–38. On Tuesday the Braves lost 2–1 to the Mets in ten innings on a homer by Mookie Wilson. The Braves were 61–39 and already fans on WSB radio were complaining about another Braves collapse. However, the Braves won three of their next four to go to 64–40 and a six-game lead in the Western Division on July 30. On Thursday August 4 Atlanta routed the San Francisco Giants 8–1 to raise their record to 67–42. It was the first time since coming to Atlanta in 1966 that the Braves were 25 games above the .500 mark. The Braves also had a 6+1⁄2-game lead. However, on Friday and Saturday the Dodgers beat Atlanta 2–1 and 4–2 to reduce the lead to 4+1⁄2. The Braves salvaged the final game of the series with a 5–2 win on Sunday, upping their lead back to 5+1⁄2 games.

The Braves were 71–46 on Saturday, August 13, after beating the LA Dodgers 8–7 on a Bob Watson come -from- behind homer in the bottom of the ninth. The Braves were 6+1⁄2 games ahead of the Dodgers at this point and things were looking good for them. Braves fans were extremely enthusiastic and confident.

The next day the Braves lost 5–4 to the Dodgers and then on Monday August 15 they not only lost 4–0 to the San Diego Padres but they lost their cleanup hitter Bob Horner to a season-ending wrist injury. Horner was batting .303 with 20 homers at that point. His loss would prove to be a disaster for the Braves.

After Horner's injury the Braves spiraled down and were soon overtaken by the Dodgers. On August 29 the Braves slipped into second place behind LA with a 7–5 loss to the Chicago Cubs. This loss was the first of six straight. Overall, the Braves lost nine of ten games from August 25 to September 3, going from 75–51 and two games ahead to 76–60 and 3+1⁄2 out. On Sunday September 11 the Braves led Los Angeles 6–3 going into the bottom of the ninth. They were two games behind and were in position to cut the Dodger lead to one game. However, LA rallied to win 7–6, and their lead was three games over the Braves.

Atlanta trailed by as much as 5+1⁄2 games (September 23) following an 11–2 blowout at the hands of the Dodgers. The Braves were 82–70 at this point and were 11–24 since Watson's dramatic home run in August. Atlanta beat the Dodgers the next two games 3–2 and 7–1 to cut their deficit to 3+1⁄2 games. After splitting a two-game series with San Francisco, the Braves won two of three from the Houston Astros, and, with three games left in the season, the Braves were three games out. Atlanta lost to the San Diego Padres 3–2 on Friday night to fall four games out, eliminated from the playoffs. The Braves finished three games behind the Dodgers. It was a season of extreme excitement followed by profound disappointment.

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 91 71 .562 — 48‍–‍32 43‍–‍39
Atlanta Braves 88 74 .543 3 46‍–‍34 42‍–‍40
Houston Astros 85 77 .525 6 46‍–‍36 39‍–‍41
San Diego Padres 81 81 .500 10 47‍–‍34 34‍–‍47
San Francisco Giants 79 83 .488 12 43‍–‍38 36‍–‍45
Cincinnati Reds 74 88 .457 17 36‍–‍45 38‍–‍43

Record vs. opponents

1983 National League record

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 — 5–7 12–6 11–7 7–11 7–5 8–4 7–5 6–6 9–9 9–9 7–5
Chicago 7–5 — 4–8 5–7 6–6 7–11 9–9 5–13 9–9 5–7 4–8 10–8
Cincinnati 6–12 8–4 — 5–13 7–11 4–8 7–5 6–6 6–6 9–9 10–8 6–6
Houston 7–11 7–5 13–5 — 6–12 8–4 9–3 4–8 6–6 11–7 12–6 2–10
Los Angeles 11–7 6–6 11–7 12–6 — 7–5 7–5 11–1 6–6 6–12–1 5–13 9–3
Montreal 5–7 11–7 8–4 4–8 5–7 — 8–10 8–10–1 8–10 8–4 8–4 9–9
New York 4–8 9–9 5–7 3–9 5–7 10–8 — 6–12 9–9 6–6 5–7 6–12
Philadelphia 5-7 13–5 6–6 8–4 1–11 10–8–1 12–6 — 11–7 5–7 5–7 14–4
Pittsburgh 6–6 9–9 6–6 6–6 6–6 10–8 9–9 7–11 — 9–3 6–6 10–8
San Diego 9–9 7–5 9–9 7–11 12–6–1 4–8 6–6 7–5 3–9 — 11–7 6–6
San Francisco 9–9 8–4 8–10 6–12 13–5 4–8 7–5 7–5 6–6 7–11 — 4–8
St. Louis 5–7 8–10 6–6 10–2 3–9 9–9 12–6 4–14 8–10 6–6 8–4 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1983 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
C Bruce Benedict 134 423 126 .298 2 43
1B Chris Chambliss 131 447 125 .280 20 78
2B Glenn Hubbard 148 517 136 .263 12 70
SS Rafael Ramírez 152 622 185 .297 7 58
3B Bob Horner 104 386 117 .303 20 68
LF Brett Butler 151 549 154 .281 5 37
CF Dale Murphy 162 589 178 .302 36 121
RF Claudell Washington 134 496 138 .278 9 44

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 Royster 91 268 63 .235 3 30
Terry Harper 80 201 53 .264 3 26
Bob Watson 65 149 46 .309 6 37
Randy Johnson 86 144 36 .250 1 17
Biff Pocoroba 55 120 32 .267 2 16
Mike Jorgensen 57 48 12 .250 1 8
Gerald Perry 27 39 14 .359 1 6
Brad Komminsk 19 36 8 .222 0 4
Larry Owen 17 17 2 .118 0 1
Matt Sinatro 7 12 2 .167 0 2
Ken Smith 30 12 2 .167 1 2
Albert Hall 10 8 0 .000 0 0
Paul Runge 5 8 2 .250 0 1
Brook Jacoby 4 8 0 .000 0 0
Paul Zuvella 3 5 0 .000 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
Craig McMurtry 36 224.2 15 9 3.08 105
Pascual Pérez 33 215.1 15 8 3.43 144
Phil Niekro 34 201.2 11 10 3.97 128
Len Barker 6 33.0 1 3 3.82 21
Bob Walk 1 3.2 0 0 7.36 4

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
Rick Camp 40 140.0 10 9 3.79 61
Pete Falcone 33 106.2 9 4 3.63 59
Ken Dayley 24 104.2 5 8 4.30 70
Rick Behenna 14 37.1 3 3 4.58 17

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
Steve Bedrosian 70 9 10 19 3.60 114
Terry Forster 56 3 2 13 2.16 54
Gene Garber 43 4 5 9 4.60 45
Donnie Moore 43 2 3 6 3.67 41
Tony Brizzolara 14 1 0 1 3.54 17
Rick Mahler 10 0 0 0 5.02 7
Tommy Boggs 5 0 0 0 5.68 5
Jeff Dedmon 5 0 0 0 13.50 3

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Eddie Haas
AA Savannah Braves Southern League Bobby Dews
A Durham Bulls Carolina League Brian Snitker
A Anderson Braves South Atlantic League Rick Albert
Rookie Pulaski Braves Appalachian League Buddy Bailey
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro González

Notes

  1. ^ "Luis Gomez Stats".
  2. ^ Jay Buhner at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Paul Assenmacher at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ "Len Barker Stats".

References