Sunday, November 30, 2014

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.


Saturday, November 29, 2014

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.

Friday, November 28, 2014

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)



Thursday, November 27, 2014

BOB JOHNSON

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#27 BOB JOHNSON
ATLANTA BRAVES 1977

I primarily remember Bob Johnson as a member of the Pirates World Series team in 1971. I usually try to dig up a picture of these players with the Braves, but I had so many of Bob's '71 TOPPS card, this is the forever image I have of the guy.

His fifteen game Braves career in 1977, were the last fifteen games he pitched in the majors. He never won, saved or even started during any of those games and finished the season with a 7.25 ERA.

There is one more image I have of Bob. In my scapbook of Brave newspaper articles from 1972, I have this one below of Bob being felled by a Ralph Garr line drive.


I couldn't remember if Bob got up to pitch any more that game since I didn't have the full article, but thanks to Baseball Reference, I can now verify that it did knock Johnson out of that May 10, 1972 game in the second inning. Phew! Glad to straighten that one out at last!

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

LARRY JASTER

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#26 LARRY JASTER
ATLANTA BRAVES 1970, 1972

The picture above is probably Larry's career Brave highlight, a left jab to the chin of Willie Davis during a 10-1 Dodger win on April 19, 1970.

Larry had a pretty good beginning to his career, winning 11 games at age 22 for the 1966 Cardinals. By the time he reached the Braves in 1970, his career was already pretty much over. He won one game in 1970, and added one more win on September 8, 1972, despite giving up three walks and two hits in 1.2 innings in that game.

Larry Jaster is one of only two twentieth century players listed in Baseball Reference that ever attended my alma mater, Georgia State University. Marvelous "Marv" Rackley who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 40's was the other. 

Come on! Only two? And Jaster didn't even finish at Georgia State!

Apparently there is a current pitcher for the Phillies named David Buchanan who attended Georgia State. Keep 'em flyin' big blue!

David Buchanan
I wouldn't normally include a 21st century player's picture
on this blog, but I'll make an exception for a former Georgia State pitcher.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

LARRY HOWARD

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#25 LARRY HOWARD
ATLANTA BRAVES 1973

First of all, Larry Howard was NOT one of The Three Stooges.

He did have eight at-bats at the tail end of his career with the Atlanta Braves. 
His only hit? A single off of Vincente Romo on June 23, 1973. Maybe not one for the history books, but there it is anyway.

In looking for a picture of Larry Howard,
I predictably kept coming up with Three Stooges pictures.
That's Larry Fine, Moe Howard and Shemp Howard for the uninitiated.







Monday, November 24, 2014

RON HERBEL

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#24 RON HERBEL
ATLANTA BRAVES 1971

I do have a memory of some of the the twenty-five games that Ron pitched for the Braves during the last year of his career. Ron didn't win any games for the Braves, but did pitch 5 2/3 innings in relief on July 19th, 1971 at the first game I ever attended in person, an 11-8 loss to the Giants. In his final game as a Brave on September 19th, he gave up five runs to the Dodgers in 1.1 innings of work. It was also the last major league appearance of his nine year career.

On the plus side, I like the fact that in the card above Ron had a rather professorial, if team neutral, air about him.

Still team neutral but still professorial,
Ron lead the league in games pitched in 1970.
Ron died in 2000 at the age of 62.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

STEVE HARGAN

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#23 STEVE HARGAN
ATLANTA BRAVES 1977

I do remember curly haired Steve Hargan during his brief tenure with the Braves. I didn't remember that Atlanta was his last major league stop in an eleven year big league career. He won 87 major league games, though none of them were with the Braves.

The closest Steve ever came to winning a game with Atlanta was on June 28, 1977. He pitched seven strong innings against the Dodgers and left the game with a 2-1 lead only to have his bullpen lose the game for him. I mentioned this game a few days ago as it featured the only career Atlanta Brave home run by Ed Goodson.

Steve did get on a TOPPS league leader card by winning the Bronze medal
 in the 1966 A. L. ERA sweepstakes.
There was no TOPPS card for most A. L. shutouts in 1967,
but Steve finished with the Gold in that category



Saturday, November 22, 2014

JIM HARDIN

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#22 JIM HARDIN
ATLANTA BRAVES 1972

Pitcher Jim Hardin won 18 games for the 1968 Orioles, which was by far his career year. 
I also think it's interesting he was on the 1969 and 1970 Orioles World Series teams, yet didn't make a post-season appearance either year!

He signed as a free agent with the Braves in 1972 and posted a 5-2 record with the team. His best game as a Brave seems to be his 3-2 complete game win over the Pirates on July 7, 1972. He also hit a home run on June 28, 1972 off of Fred Norman of the Padres.


Jim Hardin died in a plane crash in 1991 at age 47.

Friday, November 21, 2014

JIMMIE HALL

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#21 JIMMIE HALL
ATLANTA BRAVES 1970

I honestly knew very little about Jimmie Hall before seeing that he had a 33 home run rookie season with the Twins in 1963. This total is still in the top fifteen rookie totals of all-time and is the same number Earl Williams would hit with the Braves in his 1971 rookie season.

Jimmie's home run totals seemed to taper off each year after that impressive beginning until he was pretty much a utility player by the late 60's. And then, as often seems to be the case for players on the downside of their career, Jimmie finished his career with the Braves in 1970. He hit two more homers that year, off Clay Carroll and Dave Giusti respectively, before being released at the end of the year.

"A 33 home run rookie season does not a Hall of Fame career make. "
I believe Jimmie Hall said that...or maybe it was Earl Williams
...or maybe it was Jose Canseco.


Thursday, November 20, 2014

ED GOODSON

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This card is an Internet creation and is not an
actual part of the TOPPS set
#20 ED GOODSON
ATLANTA BRAVES 1975

I remember Ed Goodson as mostly a pinch hitter and sometime starter for the San Francisco Giants during the early 70's. He was traded to the Braves in 1975 for Craig Robinson, which probably won't make anyones list under the heading of "biggest baseball trades of the 1970's." Ed only hit .211 during his 76 at-bat Brave career. He did manage one home run off of Gary Nolan of the Reds on September 26, 1975. He finished his career with the Dodgers and even had an at-bat in the 1977 World Series.

This card is also an Internet creation and is not an 
actual part of the TOPPS set

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

TONY GONZALEZ

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#19 TONY GONZALEZ
ATLANTA BRAVES 1969-1970

I didn't follow the Braves in 1970, but if I did I'm sure I would have included Tony Gonzalez on my 100 list. The Braves got the veteran player from the Padres in 1969 for the pennant run. He was a key acquisition, knocking in fifty runs and batting .294 in a little over half a season with the team. And they won the division! And Tony did great in the playoffs, hitting a home run off of Tom Seaver in game one of the playoffs for the first post season home run in Atlanta Braves history. He hit .357 for that series. If the rest of the team had played up to Tony's level, the Braves might have played the Orioles in the 1969 World Series.

Tony was sold to the Angels midway through the 1970 season.

Even though I never remember seeing Tony play for the Braves,
I did have several copies of his 1970 TOPPS card.

Tony Gonzalez of the Atlanta Falcons-
No relation to Tony Gonzalez of
the Atlanta Braves


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

GARY GENTRY

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#18 GARY GENTRY
ATLANTA BRAVES 1973-1975

Gary Gentry came over to the Braves from the Mets in the ill-advised Felix Millan trade in 1972. Gary's first game for the Braves was a nice complete game victory over San Diego on April 11, 1973, but he won only three more games games as a starter that year and was never really effective after that. If the Mets had only sent Nolan Ryan to the Braves instead of Gary Gentry...I wonder. Gary did appear to have very thick, lustrous hair in the picture above for what it's worth. 




Monday, November 17, 2014

AUBREY GATEWOOD

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#17 AUBREY GATEWOOD
ATLANTA BRAVES 1970

I couldn't find a picture of Aubrey Gatewood in a Brave uniform, so I have to settle for this 1965 TOPPS card of Aubrey seemingly about to break into a chuckle. Aubrey  pitched in relief  for the Angels between 1963-1965 before resurfacing with the Braves in 1970. 

Aubrey did all right in his first two games with the Braves, but in the third game while facing the Giants, Aubrey gave up a two singles, two walks, a triple, had two players reach on errors and then he hit Hit-By-Pitch legend Ron Hunt. 0.1 innings pitched and six runs. Only one of the runs was earned, buy Aubrey's major league career was over.

Note: Aubrey was the only player with the first name of "Aubrey" to play in the 20th century. That is, of course, unless you want to argue that the year 2000 was part of the 20th century in which case he would have to share the honor with Aubrey Huff.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

JOHN FULLER

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#16 JOHN FULLER
ATLANTA BRAVES 1974

2,427 minor league at-bats before John Fuller finally got his chance to play in 1974. After making outs in his first two major league at-bats, he gets one more chance in the ninth against Randy Moffitt. And John lines the first pitch for a single off Billie Jean King's brother and....that's the end of John Fuller's playing career. But on the bright side, a .333 career average is better than most Hall of Famers! Right?

And John's sideburns speak for themselves.


Saturday, November 15, 2014

JIMMY FREEMAN

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#15 JIMMY FREEMAN
ATLANTA BRAVES 1972-1973

In 19 career games over two seasons, Jimmy posted a rather inflated 6.87 ERA. His best game by far would seem to be an eight inning, two run game against the Dodgers giving Jimmy his second and final major league win on September 2, 1973.

Note: It's interesting that so many of the players with a brief major league history have their shining major league moments in the month of September.

Note 2: Jimmy Freeman shares a rookie card with Charlie Hough, who ended up pitching twenty-three more seasons in the majors than Jimmy.

Note 3: Jimmy did give up a Home Run to Frank Robinson in that September 2nd game and it's still weird for me to think of Robinson as ever being a Dodger.

Sorry, Frank Robinson still doesn't seem right
in a Dodger uniform 


Friday, November 14, 2014

WENTY FORD

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#14 WENTY FORD
ATLANTA BRAVES 1973

I realize when you look at his name real fast the first image that may go through your head is of Yankee Hall of Famer Whitey Ford. Wenty's career was a bit shorter than Whitey's, consisting of four games in 1973. But Wenty did something Whitey was unable to do. 

Whitey faced Juan Marichal of the Giants in Game 4 of the 1962 World Series, and the Yankees lost.

Fast forward to Septemeber 10, 1973. Wenty Ford is starting in his first major league game. He faces the Giants and....Juan Marichal. The Braves knock out the future Hall-of-Famer and Wenty Ford pitches nine innings as the Braves rout the Giants 10-4. So feel free to bring this up in conversation. Say something like "Did you know that Whitey Ford's team lost the only time he ever faced Juan Marichal yet Wenty Ford's team beat Juan Marichal the only time they ever faced each other?" They may look at you with a confused expression, but be confident in your recitation of obscure baseball facts!

Sadly, Wenty died in an automobile accident in 1980 at the age of only 33.




Thursday, November 13, 2014

MIKE EDEN

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#13 MIKE EDEN
ATLANTA BRAVES 1976

Mike Eden was such an obscure Brave, that I couldn't find any picture of Mike in a Braves uniform anywhere on the Internet. My God! I found Dave Cheadle and Al Autry as Braves and I can't even find one Mike Eden? Though I admit to liking his K Food Stores minor league card very much.

Mike had a lifetime major league average of .080 with two hits in twenty-nine at bats. His finished his career as a Brave with zero hits in eight at bats. But he did get his only career RBI as a Brave on a ground out against Houston on September 15, 1976.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

BRUCE DAL CANTON

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 #12 BRUCE DAL CANTON
ATLANTA BRAVES 1975-1976

Bruce is probably best known to Atlanta fans as being the Braves pitching coach during the late 1980's. 

As a player, Bruce played on four different teams during his eleven year major league career, often in middle relief. His two year stint as a Brave pitcher resulted in a record of 5-12.

Bruce got his 51st and final major league win on July 11, 1976 when the Braves came from seven runs behind to beat the Mets on the famous "Wedlocks and Headlocks" night. In my opinion, he couldn't have picked a better night to get his final major league win.

Pitching coach, 1988


Bruce died in 2008 at the age of 67.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

TERRY CROWLEY

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#11 TERRY CROWLEY
ATLANTA BRAVES 1976

Yes, I remember Terry Crowley. A good reserve player for those great Baltimore teams of 1970 and 1971. He also played for Baltimore during the 1979 World Series. I believe the only player other than Terry that played for the Orioles in the 1970 and 1979 Series was Jim Palmer. And in between this he played for the 1975 World Champion Reds! 

So the question is-When exactly did he play for the Braves? Answer: He was acquired from the Reds in 1976 and had six at-bats for the Braves before being released. The Orioles (apparently unlike the Braves) still recognized his value and picked him up and he spent seven more years for the O's.

I also like Terry's baseball card below with Thurman Munson.

Monday, November 10, 2014

DON COLLINS

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#10 DON COLLINS
ATLANTA BRAVES 1977

The 1977 Braves season represented ninety percent of Lyons, Georgia native Don Collins's major league career. His stats for that season: 40 games, a 3-9 record, and a 5.02 ERA. The odd thing about Don to me is that I can barely remember him and I watched a lot of games in 1977! Maybe I'm just suppressing an unpleasant memory.

It's a little hard to pick out his statistically best game of that season. Nothing really stands out. Let's just go with a six inning, two run start against a tough Dodger team on June 27, 1977. The Braves lost the game 2-1, but that one wasn't Don's fault.   

Sunday, November 9, 2014

AL CLOSTER

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#9 AL CLOSTER
ATLANTA BRAVES 1973

I'm not sure what to say about Al Closter. He pitched only the last four games of his twenty-one game major league career with the Braves. Al's biggest opportunity in Atlanta was to try to save a game for Phil Niekro on September 19, 1973, but as was usually the case when the Dodgers faced the Braves in the 70's, the Dodgers came back to win. Al pitched only one more major league inning after that before his career was over.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

DAVE CHEADLE

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#8 DAVE CHEADLE
ATLANTA BRAVES 1973

If you blinked in 1973, you probably missed the major league career of Dave Cheadle. Two games. Two innings. One loss. 18.00 ERA. On the bright side, Dave did strike out Pete Rose and get Joe Morgan on a ground out during his brief career.

Dave passed away in 2012 at the age of 60.

Friday, November 7, 2014

DON CARDWELL

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#7 DON CARDWELL
ATLANTA BRAVES 1970

I'm sure if you had asked Don Cardwell his career highlight, he would probably have said his no-hitter for the Cubs against the Cardinals in 1960. I watched the last inning of that game on YouTube, which I admit I found to be kind of cool.

Don only spent the last fourteen games of his fourteen year career with the Braves and interestingly his last win as a starting pitcher was a three-hit shut-out against the same Cubs he threw a no-hitter for ten years earlier. There's a bit of symmetry there if you look hard enough.

I definitely had one (if not more) of Don's 1970 baseball card below.


Don passed away in 2008 at the age of 72.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

MIKE BEARD

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#6 MIKE BEARD
ATLANTA BRAVES 1974-1977

On the plus side, Mike Beard was 4-0 with the Braves in 1975. On the down side, Mike blew three saves that year without recording one. Statistically, his best game appears to be the August 2, 1975 game in San Diego where he pitched a scorless 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th to secure a win.

He never won another major league game after 1975.



I seem to remember Skip Caray pointing out that it was interesting that Mike Beard didn't have a beard.
I also think it's interesting that ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard doesn't have a beard, though that observation has no baseball connection that I know of.

Frank Beard (center)

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

BOB BEALL

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#5 BOB BEALL
ATLANTA BRAVES 1975, 1978-1979

I felt kind of bad that I left Bob Beall off my original 100 list even though he really only had any playing time at all in 1978. He had 45 of his career 54 hits that year as well as his only home run, a pinch hit job against Silvio Martinez of the Cardinals on August 26, 1978. I remember during the times he played first, he seemed awfully small for the position, though Baseball Reference lists him at a very generous 5'11. I also remember him going after a fly ball in Dodger stadium (I think) where he went over the outfield railing and seemed to disappear into the stands. Sadly, he didn't catch the ball, but I don't think he was seriously injured either.


Bob Beall is also not to be confused with the similarly named and bespectacled long-time Pirate hurler Bob Veale.



Tuesday, November 4, 2014

DUSTY BAKER

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#4 DUSTY BAKER
ATLANTA BRAVES 1968-1975

The reason I left a player of Baker's caliber off my original 100 is because he expressed such happiness after being traded away from the Braves. That's just a no-no for making my list. 

Dusty made the All-Star team as a Brave in 1972 when he hit for a career best .321. In 1973, he set career high marks for RBI's (99) and runs scored (101).

He did get to play in three World Series after being traded to the Dodgers in 1976, but that's neither here nor there.


Has got to be one of the few rookie cards
with three future all-stars on it.