LARRY WHISENTON

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#50 LARRY WHISENTON

ATLANTA BRAVES 1977-1982

Almost all of Larry Whisenton's career contributions as a major leaguer came as a role player and pinch-hitter during the Braves division winning year of 1982. During the 70's, Larry had only thirteen hits over three seasons. I'll just call his most significant hit of the decade his first one on September 26, 1977, an RBI pinch-hit single off future Brave Bo McLaughlin of Houston.

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This is the final post for this season. I've learned or re-learned a lot of minutiae about the Braves from this decade for better or for worse. And I have enjoyed the journey. I do know when I start the 80's list of players, I'm just going to list everybody because including every single player that wore a Brave uniform is half the fun. 

I miss the 70's already, but am looking forward to looking at the 80's.

See you (assuming there is anyone out there) next spring training!

In the meantime, feel free to partake in
the consumption of your favorite beverage.

JIM WESSINGER

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#49 JIM WESSINGER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1979

Yet another player whose time in the majors was so brief, you would miss it if you blinked. Middle infielder Jim played in 10 games for the Braves in 1979. Seven at-bats. No hits. Did draw a walk on August 14, 1979 and came around to score on a Bob Horner home run in a blow out loss to the Mets. But good eye on that at-bat, Jim!

PETE VARNEY

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#48 PETE VARNEY

ATLANTA BRAVES 1976

I realize the TOPPS card above is photo-shopped, but Pete never had a real Braves card. 

Pete Varney came over to the Braves from the White Sox during the middle of the 1976 season for Blue Moon Odom. Blue Moon only pitched in eight games with the Sox before his career ended. Varney went 1-10 at the plate in his Brave career, so I guess you could call that trade a wash.

Varney's only career Brave hit and last of his overall career was a single off of John D'Aquisto of the Giants on September 6, 1976. 

Prologue: Pete went to Harvard and played in the famous Harvard-Yale game of 1968 when Harvard came back to beat Yale 29-29. 

Epilogue: Pete later became the head baseball coach at Brandeis where he successfully coached for over thirty years.

I've really got to see this one again.

MIKE THOMPSON

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#47 MIKE THOMPSON

ATLANTA BRAVES 1975

I feel a little bad about the whole Mike Thompson career record thing. During his four year career, Mike's ERA was 4.86. Not an awe inspiring number, but not the worst off all-time. However, his career record of one win and fifteen losses is certainly among the worst career records of all-time. Mike was 1-6 as a rookie for the Senators, 0-3 as a Cardinal and 0-6 as a Brave. He probably pitched his best game as a Brave on July 21, 1975 giving up only a run in five innings. The Braves did win that game, but they won because of a late rally, giving the win to reliever Mike Beard. Thompson had a couple of other games where he pitched well but got very little run support. 

His only major league win was as a member of the Senators when he pitched 8 2/3 innings of shutout ball against the Angels on August 14, 1971. I don't normally list non-Brave games here, but I felt like emphasizing the positive for Mike.

MARV STAEHLE

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#46 MARV STAEHLE

ATLANTA BRAVES 1971

Utilityman Marv Staehle (That spelling of his last name still looks wrong to me!) spent only the last of his seven major league seasons as a Brave. He went 4 for 36 for a .111 average for that season. His lone Braves RBI was on his final major league at-bat where he singled in Hank Aaron on June 12, 1971. But despite the start of a potential hot streak, Marve never had another major league at-bat.

In the tradition of fellow Brave Rick Kester, Marv appeared on not one, not two, but three! separate TOPPS rookie cards!

ELIAS SOSA

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#45 ELIAS SOSA

ATLANTA BRAVES 1975

Some alphabetic poetic justice for this list in that Sosa follows Ray Sadecki, who both came to Atlanta from St. Louis in the 1975 Ron Reed trade. Sosa had some good seasons as a reliever in his 600 game, eight team career. His 43 game Brave career was pretty so-so (no pun intended) as he won two games and saved two in Atlanta, his last save being a scoreless ninth at Houston on July 5th to preserve a victory for Ray Sadecki.

RAY SADECKI

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#44 RAY SADECKI

ATLANTA BRAVES 1975

When I started following baseball, Sadecki was a Met. I still think of him that way mostly because of his really boss 1971 Action Topps card below. It really is one of my favorites from my favorite set. But I also recently read David Halberstam's book 1964 about the Cardinals-Yankees World series of that year where hot shot young pitcher Ray Sadecki and his 20 win season helped the Cardinals eventually take that World Series.

What I'm having trouble remembering is Ray's time with the Braves. Atlanta acquired Ray from the Cardinals in the Ron Reed trade in 1975 (this was Ray's second tenure with the Cardinals, he also had a second tenure for the Mets at the end of his career.) and Ray won two games for the Braves, including going eight innings for the win on July 5, 1975 against the Astros.

DICK RUTHVEN

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#43 DICK RUTHVEN

ATLANTA BRAVES 1976-1978

I left Dick Ruthven off my original 100 list because I remembered him expressing joy when he was traded from the Braves to the Phillies in 1978. That's a no-no for making my list. Atlanta did get Gene Garber from the Phillies in that trade, so it actually proved to be a good swap for the Braves.

During Dick's time in Atlanta, he did have ten wins at the all-star break in 1976 and made the all-star team. He slumped the rest of that season and ended the season leading the league in losses with 17. His best game of that season was a complete game shutout against the Padres and that seasons Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones on August 4, 1976. Ruthven also had two hits in that game.

In Ruthven's defense, he did get to play in the World Series after being traded to the Phillies, so it may have all been for the best.

BOB PRIDDY

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#42 BOB PRIDDY

ATLANTA BRAVES 1969-1971

Bob spent the last couple of seasons of his 9 year career with the Braves. Never a big winner (24-38 career record), Bob did manage to save 12 games during his time with the Braves. He also gets bonus points (As does Steve Barber, Ron Herbel and Tom House) for pitching in the first game I ever went to against the Giant on July 19, 1971. Bob was the losing pitcher in that game, but the participation is what's important in this case.

His best game as a Brave may have been on August 12, 1970, when he relieved a struggling Phil Niekro and pitched six innings and gave up only one hit and picking up the victory against the Expos.

I had so many copies of Bob' 1971 TOPPS card that I feel obligated to show a picture of the back of it in addition to the front.

Card emphasized that Bob ranked highly in the 1970 NL Fireman Derby.
And I still loved when the race for the most saves
was referred to as a "Fireman Derby!"

MILT PAPPAS

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#41 MILT PAPPAS

ATLANTA BRAVES 1969-1970

There are a lot of players that played on several teams and made one brief stop in Atlanta that I still consider Braves (Examples-Felix Millan is a Brave not a Met, Ron Reed is a Brave, not a Phillie, Gary Matthews is a Brave, not a Giant, Phillie or Cub). But I got to admit, I think of Milt Pappas as more of a Cub than anything (Even though a majority of his lifetime wins came for Baltimore). Milt had sixteen years of double digit wins on his way to a career total of 209. His best Brave game and one of only two wins he had in an Atlanta uniform during the 70's was a complete game 4-2 win over Juan Marichal and the Giants on May 19, 1970. He was traded to the Cubs about a month later.

His two innings of work for the Braves in the 1969 playoffs was the only post season appearance Milt made during his seventeen year career.

Perhaps if his 1970 card had been a lower number
I might have had one in my possession and thought
of Milt as a Brave.

But the fact that his 1971 card seemed to be in
every pack sealed his impression on me forever
as a Cub.

JIM PANTHER

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#40 JIM PANTHER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1973

During Jim's first major league season, he had a teammate named Reggie Jackson. During his second year, his manager was Ted Williams. In his third and final year, he had a teammate named Hank Aaron. When you look at it that way, his career seems pretty successful, if you can overlook his 7-13 career record.

He won only two games during his year with the Braves, the last one on July 16, 1973 that also featured the only career save of Jimmy Freeman! (I debated if that last sentence warranted an exclamation mark and I just decided to go for it.)

Despite playing those three years in the majors, Jim Panther never had his own TOPPS baseball card.

But during my futile Internet search for one, I did find a reproduction of this lobby card from The Pink Panther Strikes Again.

GARY NEIBAUER

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#39 GARY NEIBAUER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1969-1973

When I included Mike McQueen on my 100 favorite player list and excluded Gary Neibauer, I began to wonder if I got the two players mixed up. I had several Neibauer baseball cards in the early seventies, including the ones pictured here. I hadn't realized the Braves traded Neibauer to the Phillies in 1973 only to release him a later that year. That trade sent Andre Thornton to the Braves and would have been a great trade if they hadn't turned around and traded Andre for Joe Pepitone!

His best major league win (of four) appears to be on September 18, 1971, when he gave up only one run to the Dodgers in 6 innings of relief work.Gary also hit his only major league home run off Randy Jones of the Padres on August 4, 1973.

I remember Didier and Neibauer,
but don't remember highly respected batting coach
Walt Hriniak ever playing for the Braves.

JULIO NAVARRO

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#38 JULIO NAVARRO

ATLANTA BRAVES 1970

Julio Navarro pitched all but one of his career 130 major league games in relief. He hadn't pitched in the majors since 1966 when he got called up with the Braves in 1970. No decisions during his Atlanta tenure, but one save on July 10. 1970 against the Big Red Machine and struck out Johnny Bench late in the game to preserve the victory.

Additional stat: Julio pitched 532 career minor league games (winning 146)  between the years 1955 and 1971. 

Julio's rookie card

IVAN MURRELL

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#37 IVAN MURRELL

ATLANTA BRAVES 1974

When the Braves got Ivan Murrell in 1974, I remembered that I had several copies of Ivan's 1971 TOPPS card (below) in my collection. I'm not sure why this was a cause for optimism after his acquisition as Ivan was at the tail end of his career when he joined the Braves. Ivan hit two home runs as a Brave, the last as a pinch hitter off Ramon Hernandez of the Pirates on July 20, 1974.

Ivan passed away at the age of 63 in 2006.

ROGER MORET

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#36 ROGER MORET

ATLANTA BRAVES 1976

I knew through the magic of baseball cards that Roger (or Rogelio according to some cards) had two very good seasons with the Red Sox, a 13-2 season in 1973 and a 14-3 season in 1975. So I hoped for the best when he came to Atlanta in 1976. Unfortunately, he won only three games as a Brave, the best win being a complete game 9-1 win over the San Diego Padres on June 1, 1976.

Roger famously went into a catatonic state before he was scheduled to pitch a game as a member of the Detroit Tigers in 1978. He recovered, but his career ended shortly after that.

I do like the fact that he looks quite happy in the Braves pictures I have posted here.

BO McLAUGHLIN

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#35 BO McLAUGHLIN

ATLANTA BRAVES 1978

I remember when the Braves got Bo McLaughlin from the Astros for Frank Lacorte. It seemed like a good trade at the time, as Lacorte was never very good with the Braves, but Lacorte proceeded to have a couple of good seasons with the Astros and McLaughlin only won one game for the Braves. That stat surprised me when I looked it up. I remember McLaughlin pretty well...tall...curly hair...I really thought he won more than once for the Braves! But that's it. His only win was for the Braves was in a relief appearance against the Astros on September 19, 1979 against the Astros and Frank LaCorte! I wonder if the McLaughlin for LaCorte swap is the only major league trade between players where both have a name with a lower case second letter and upper case third letter. But I'm not wondering too hard. 

McLaughlin may be best known to some baseball fans as the guy who had his cheekbone and eye-socket broken by a Harold Baines line drive while Bo was a member of the A's.

I really want to know what Bo
is looking at in this picture

MIKE MARSHALL

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#34 MIKE MARSHALL

ATLANTA BRAVES 1976-1977

I didn't include Mike in my original 100 list because of the fact he was so disenchanted with being a Brave during his less than two full year stay here. He is primarily remembered as the iron man reliever with the Expos and Dodgers during the early 70's who led the league in games three years in a row including a record 106 appearances in 1974. His most single famous major league moment is probably his pick-off of Oakland A's designated runner Herb Washington in the second game of the 1974 World Series preserving the Dodgers only win of that series.

His career Braves highlight? It was probably his first appearance as a Brave on June 25, 1977. He recorded a save in that game and recorded five more that year. He pitched four games in 1978 before the disgruntled Mr. Marshall was sold to the Texas Rangers.

JERRY MADDOX

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#33 JERRY MADDOX

ATLANTA BRAVES 1978

Arizona State had a lot of players that achieved at least some degree of major league success during the 1970's: Sal Bando, Alan Bannister, Floyd Bannister, Hubie Brooks, Duffy Dyer, Larry Gura, Reggie Jackson, Lerrin LaGrow, Ken Landreaux, Rick Monday, Kenny Randle, Craig Swan and of course Braves slugger Bob Horner. But the guy that preceded Horner at third at ASU and set a NCAA record with 20 homers in a season? That would be Jerry Maddox, who also played in the majors for the Braves. But not for long. Fourteen at-bats. Three hits. One career RBI. That's his entire major league career. A bit disappointing, but not everyone can be Duffy Dyer.

MIKE MACHA

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#32 MIKE MACHA

ATLANTA BRAVES 1979

Let us now recount every major league hit off the bat of Mike Macha. The first was an RBI single off of Steve Mura of the Padres on April 22, 1979. The second was a single off of Pete Vuckovich of the Cardinals on April 23, 1979. That's it. Two hits in twenty-one career at-bats for a .095 career average. Not trying to rag on Mike but he did have more career errors (5) than career hits (2).

Mike does get extra points for playing on a team
named after the great Italian director.

LEW KRAUSSE

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#31 LEW KRAUSSE

ATLANTA BRAVES 1974

Lew spent the last season of his fourteen year career with the Braves. Lew's best game for Atlanta was almost certainly on August 23, 1974, when he gave up only one hit in six innings in a 6-0 Braves win against the Mets. It proved to be the 68th and last win of Lew's career.

A couple of Lew's TOPPS cards I remember getting out of packs or trading for are the two listed below. I find that once you have a card as a kid, the images are burned onto your mind forever.

STEVE KLINE

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#30 STEVE KLINE

ATLANTA BRAVES 1977

I had forgotten Steve Kline ever played for the Braves. I remember him mostly from having his 1971 TOPPS card below. 

Steve spent most of his career in the early seventies as a starter, but during his comeback year for the Braves he made all sixteen of his appearances in relief, recording his only career save on July 2, 1977 by pitching a scoreless 13th inning against Houston.

I had to do a double take when I saw Steve's pitching line for his final major league game on July 24, 1977. He didn't get anyone out, but didn't give up a walk, a hit, or balk or allow a runner to reach base on an error. What? He apparently came in with the bases loaded and a 2-0 count on Jim Fregosi. He proceeded to pitch ball three and four to Fregosi and walking in the winning run. The walk was charged to the previous pitcher Eddie Solomon. Stats can be weird sometimes.

RON KLINE

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#29 RON KLINE

ATLANTA BRAVES 1970

Ron Kline spent only the last season of his seventeen year career for the Braves and then for only five games. Atlanta was the ninth and final stop of his nomadic career. Career highlights included leading the American League in saves in 1965 and leading the National League in losses (if you want to call it a highlight) in 1956 and 1958 with Pittsburgh.

The highlight of Ron's brief Brave career was a save for Phil Niekro against the Cubs on May 11, 1970. 

I couldn't find a picture of Ron in a Braves uniform, but I do remember my brother having the 1962 TOPPS card above. Below is Ron's rookie card from 1953.

Ron passed away in 2002 at the age of 70.

RICK KESTER

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 #28 RICK KESTER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1968-1970

Just wondering two things about the three year major league career of Rick Kester.

#1 He pitched in twenty-one career games and the Braves record in those games was 0-21. Is that some kind of record? (Rick's career record was 0-0)

#2 Rick appeared on not just one, not just two, but three different TOPPS rookie cards. Is that some kind of record? (Especially for a pitcher who never won a major league game)