MEMORABLE BRAVES MOMENTS OF THE 1970's

(1977)

"17 LOSSES IN A ROW ISN'T AS BAD AS IT SOUNDS...WELL...IT IS PRETTY BAD"

BRAVES LOSE 17 IN A ROW! YET TED TURNER DECLARES HIMSELF KING OF THE WORLD ON MAY 11!

 (April 23-May 12, 1977) 

When one thinks of the Braves and  "the streak" you may think of the 13 games in a row the team won in 1982 to begin the season on the way to rare division title. Or if you want to stay in the 70's you may think of Gene Garber's dramatic strike out of Pete Rose in 1978 to end Rose's 44-game hitting streak. But when I think of Braves streaks, I think of the Braves epic 17 game losing streak near the beginning of the 1977 season.

1976, the first year under Ted Turner's ownership and under the managerial reins of Dave Bristol, ended in a disappointing 94 game, last place finish.

The 1977 season started off much better. During the first 13 games of the season, the Braves were 8-5. Game 13 even culminated in an exciting two-run ninth that led the Braves to a big win over one of the best Los Angeles Dodgers teams. They were only a game and a half behind the Dodgers at that point. Could this be a year that the Braves actually might compete with the Reds or the Dodgers?

The answer came quickly. The Braves lost the next two games to the Dodgers including a 16-6 drubbing. This was followed by a 23-9 shellacking from the Reds, which featured a 12 run inning and put the Braves at .500. Two more losses to the Reds put the Braves under .500. But this was the Dodgers and the Reds. Things would have to look up, after that right? 

Wrong.

It was off to St. Louis, where the Braves were swept, including an 8-0 shutout in the final game.

Then the Pirates came to town. The Braves lost the first game by 10 runs. The Braves came close in the second game behind an 11-inning complete game from Phil Niekro, but came up a run short. In the finale, they were once again shutout 8-0.

11 losses in a row! The season was quickly spiraling out of control. Thank goodness, there were three against the Cubs..but three losses later, the streak had hit 14.

I'm closing my eyes now as we go back to Pittsburgh. The Braves pitching is very good the first couple of games. This included a nice outing by Don Collins, who I don't remember. They may have asked the crowd for volunteers to pitch and took Don out of the stands. Unfortunately, the Pirates pitching was better and the losing streak had reached 16 games!

This is when tragedy and farce began to intermix as Ted Turner sent Bristol on aassignment and Ted took over as manager himself! Ted just threw Niekro out there and left him (which is frankly what many Braves managers did in the seventies, anyway). Niekro gave up only two runs, but it was enough for the Pirates to beat the Braves 2-1. 

The commissioner's office didn't like Turner's turn at manager and Vern Benson managed the next game for the still absent Dave Bristol. Not only did the Braves have a 17-game losing streak, but the Pirates were on an 11-game winning streak. Benson started Max Leon in one of his only 13-career starts. Leon held the Pitates to one run over seven innings (and also knocked in three runs. Career game for Max? I'd say so.)

So, the law of averages went the Braves way and the streak was over by 6-1 score.

Bristol took back over the next day and the team went on to a 101 loss last place finish, thirty-seven games behind the Dodgers.

Max Leon
Braves hero of May 12, 1977