#1 DALE MURPHY

AND THE #1

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

IS....DALE MURPHY

ATLANTA BRAVES 1976-1990

An easy choice for the Braves player of the decade and my all-time favorite Brave. Two-time MVP, multi-gold glove winner, 398 Home Runs and two many big hits to recount all of them here.

September 8, 1982 The Dodgers at the Braves with the Dodgers 1/2 game ahead in the standings. A wild affair in which neither L. A. starter Bob Welch or Phil Niekro has very much. Dale Murphy clubs a three-run homer to tie the game at 5. The game continues to be a slugfest and goes into extra inning tied at 11. In the bottom of 11th, Murphy comes up with Claudell Washington on second and singles in the winning run off of Steve Howe.

If there was a rally to be had by the Braves during the 80's, Murphy was usually the man behind it.

A glass of milk I drink in your honor!

1980 TOPPS

1981 DONRUSS

1982 TOPPS

1983 TOPPS

1984 DONRUSS

1985 TOPPS

1986 FLEER

 1987 FLEER

1988 TOPPS

1989 UPPER DECK

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have gone through the two decades I've wanted to for this blog and it has brought back a lot of memories. So I guess I'm done, right? Maybe. I did find one of the things I liked best about going through the players was going through the more obscure ones. This made me curious about those years before I followed the Braves...those pre-history years of the late 60's when the team was new and I cared more about playing in mud than watching baseball.

So I'm considering taking a look at these players next year. I'll just have to think on it.

And I realize with the nature of blogs, I may only be talking to myself, but so be it.

And if I do decide to do the 60's, I might even find out
who these guys are!

#2 CHRIS CHAMBLISS

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#2 CHRIS CHAMBLISS

ATLANTA BRAVES 1980-1986

Chambliss 1981 O-Pee-Chee

After spending the 70's in the American League, 1st baseman Chris Chambliss came over to the Braves in 1980 and was a good player for several years. He never killed you with his numbers, but a sure handed fielder, clutch hitter and team leader. He had his best Brave year in 1982, when he hit 20 homers and knocked in 86 for the division winners. 

Chris's only grand slam of the 1982 season was a shot off Joe Beckwith and the Dodgers in the first inning of that game giving the Braves a 4-0 lead. Those were the Braves only runs of that game, which turned into an ugly 9-4 loss, part of the bad streak the Braves had where they lost 19 of 21 and saw there record go from 61-37 to 63-56. The team went from being 9 games up to 4 games behind during that slide. Somehow the team righted itself and came back to when the division and Chambliss was a big part of that.

His final major league homer was on August 13, 1986, a game-winning three run bottom of the ninth shot off Goose Gossage of the Padres.

1987 Chambliss after his last season
with the Braves

#3 CLAUDELL WASHINGTON

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#3 CLAUDELL WASHINGTON
ATLANTA BRAVES 1981-1986

I wasn't expecting Claudell to rate so highly on this list when I started it, but he really was a very consistent player and leader for the team during the early 80's. Some power, good speed, pretty good average hitter and good fielder. He was also the only Brave to hit over .300 during the Braves NCLS in 1982 against the Cardinals. I think he also knocked in a run in the real first game of that series that was washed away by rain and washed away to history (Unfairly).

Thanks to baseball reference.com I was able to track down the game I went to where the Braves played the Cubs and Claudell homered for the only run of that game. The game was played on April 30, 1982. His homer was off Doug Bird of the Cubs and Steve Bedrosian and Gene Garber combined for the shutout. The game lasted only two hours and put the Braves at 16-5 for the season and kept them in first place. Just as importantly, I was able to leave the stadium at a decent enough hour to go by the local pub for a frothy pitcher of fine ale! 

Cheers, Claudell!

Claudell 1983 Fleer

#4 BOB HORNER

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#4 BOB HORNER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1978-1986

1983

I really didn't know where to rate Horner on this list. #4 may be a little high, but at the start of the decade, he would have been my favorite to be at the top of the list at the end of the decade.

Horner continued the 80's much like he did in the late 70's with a 35 homer year in 1980.  He slacked off to 15 home runs in 1981, but in that strike shortened season, it seemed like everyone had an off year. He was a big part of the Braves division winning 1982 season, hitting 32 home runs. But then problems with injuries really started to come around. He played in only 104 games in 1983 and missed almost all of the 1984 season. He did have 27 homer seasons in 1985 and 1986, but went to play in Japan the season after that.

Always a streaky hitter, Bob's most memorable game from the 80's was his four home run game against the Expos on July 6, 1986. It was not a sign of things to come and Bob's major league career was for the most part all over at the end of that season.

Bob batting during his 4-homer game in 1986

I never really knew what to make of this
1980 Braves Illustrated cover.
Is Bobby Cox supposed to be the
Wicked Witch and Bob Horner
supposed to be Dorothy?

#5 PHIL NIEKRO

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#5 PHIL NIEKRO

ATLANTA BRAVES 1966-1983, 1987

1983 TOPPS Phil Niekro

Phil Niekro was the one player who was with the Braves while I was growing up that just seemed to always be on the team. And most of those teams weren't very good. The 80's started up like the 70's with Phil leading the league in losses for the fourth straight year in 1980. He only won seven games during the strike shortened 1981 season. Then in 1982, he put together one of his best seasons, going 17-4 and leading the league in winning percentage at the age of forty-three. His 1980's highlight is easy for me. During the stretch run to the division title in 1982, Niekro pitched against the Padres on October 1, 1982 during the final series of the season. He pitched brilliantly, throwing a three-hit shutout. But the best part is when he came to bat in the eight leading 1-0 and the willy veteran slugged a mighty two-run homer off of Eric Show sealing the victory. I still remember being at the neighborhood pub and everyone standing and cheering after Phil's shot.

Phil was released (prematurely) after the next season only to come back and be an all-star in the American league and notch his 300th victory as a member of the evil Yankees. 

Phil came back to the Braves for a farewell pitching appearance in 1987.

He went into the Hall of Fame as a Brave in 1997.

1988 Score card commemorates
Phil's last major league appearance
from 1987.

#6 RICK MAHLER

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#6 RICK MAHLER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1979-1988, 1991

Rick Mahler, 1983

Not that it's saying much, but Rick Mahler was the best overall starting pitcher for the Braves during the decade. I didn't look it up, but his 79 wins for the decade has got to be the gold standard for that era.

His best year was probably 1985 when he won 17 games. He led the league in losses the following year with 18. 

Rick may have pitched his best career game on opening night of the 1982 season, a two-hit shutout against the Padres. He followed that up with a five-hit shutout against Houston on April 11. Those were the only two shutouts for Rick from that season.

Rick also pitched shutouts for the Braves on opening day in 1985 and 1987. The three career opening day shutouts was a National League record.

I remember Rick as being a pretty good hitter, but when I looked it up, his only career home run came against the Dodgers on June 23, 1982. That home run came off future Braves closer Alejandro Pena.

He did play in a World Series as a member of the Reds in 1990.

Rick played briefly for the Braves in 1991, winning his final major league game on July 29, 1991 against the Pirates.

Rick died in 2005 at the age of 51.

Rick Mahler, 1987

#7 GENE GARBER

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#7 GENE GARBER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1978-1987

Gene Garber, 1983
Coming off his career year in '82

Gene Garber spent ten seasons of his long career as a Brave, which included 557 games in relief. The sidearm specialist had his best season in 1982 with thirty saves and eight wins. Gene got his thirtieth and final save of that season in game 161 against San Diego on October 2, 1982. It was the Braves final win of the season and enough to beat out the Dodgers by a game. 

Gene Garber, 60's rookie
proving he didn't always
have the beard

#8 BRUCE BENEDICT

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#8 BRUCE BENEDICT

ATLANTA BRAVES 1978-1989

"Bruuuuuuce!"

Things I think of when I think of Bruce Benedict

1. Whenever Bruce came to the plate, stadium announcer Marshall Mann would always emphasize his first name, "Bruuuuuuuce."

2. Brave announcer Skip Caray would always call him "Eggs" Benedict.

3. He always seemed to knock in a run on a bloop single early in the game during the Braves best 80's seasons.

4. He was good at an interview and quick with a quip, such as telling a group of umpires during the exchange of lineup cards that of all the umpires he had ever known, this group was certainly among them.

5. 1983, when Bruce had his best season, hitting .298.

6. Bruce only had 18 career homers, but the biggest was probably a grand slam off Fernando Valenzuela and the Dodgers on September 9, 1982 during the thick of a pennant race.

5. He spent all 12 years in the majors as an Atlanta Brave. I don't know if that is a record, as in"Most career seasons as an Atlanta Brave without ever sullying yourself by playing for another team." Okay, Chipper Jones. but other than Chipper Jones...

Bruce did put on a Met uniform
as a coach, but clearly it just
doesn't look right on him.

#9 GLENN HUBBARD

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#9 GLENN HUBBARD

ATLANTA BRAVES 1978-1987

Some may scoff at Hubbard's 1984 Fleer
Card with the snake, but I kind of like it.

Any list of favorite Braves players of the 80's has to have diminutive but hard-nosed 2nd baseman Glenn Hubbard in the top ten. Glenn was a mainstay at second for the Braves for ten years. Though only a .245 hitter during his career with the Braves, Glenn seemed to come up with an awful lot of big hits for the team. 

In a game at St. Louis on July 20, 1982, Hubbard hit a three-run homer against the Cards in the first inning staking the team to a 5-0 lead. But Rick Mahler gave up 6 to the Cardinals in the bottom of that inning!. But the Braves rallied in to win in the later innings, fueled by a sacrifice fly by Glenn Hubbard.

Glenn's best statistical year was 1983, when he had career highs in homers (12), RBI's (70) and hits (136).

He spent his last couple of years in Oakland, where he did get to play in a World Series.

Hubbard also spent many years after his playing days as the Braves first base coach.

Totally unnecessary note: Two Atlanta star players of the 80's, Glenn Hubbard and Dominique Wilkins were born in Germany. I think it's safe to say they were both born there just passing through.

But my favorite card of all-time will always
be the 1966 TOPPS Don Mossi for obvious
reasons. 

#10 PASCAL PEREZ

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#10 PASCUAL PEREZ

ATLANTA BRAVES 1982-1985

Pascual Perez was probably the Braves best starting pitcher during the couple of years during the early 80's when the Braves were actually pennant contenders, winning 15 and 14 games during his two best Braves seasons. He slumped badly in 1985, finishing 1-13 and his career as a Brave was over.

Pascual was also a colorful character who earned the nickname "I-285" for getting lost on the Atlanta expressway before coming to a game on August 19, 1982. Having driven it many times, I really couldn't fault him for that. Pascual rebounded from that night on August 20th by pitching 9 2/3 innings in a game that the Braves won in the bottom of the 10th.

Sadly, Perez was killed during a robbery attempt in 2012 at the age of 55.

#11 BRETT BUTLER

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#11 BRETT BUTLER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1982-1983

Brett Butler 1983

Popular up and coming lead-off man Brett Butler had a rough first season for the Braves in 1982, hitting .218. But he really started coming into his own in 1983, hitting .281 and leading the league in triples. So then the Braves....traded him to Cleveland for Len Barker in one of the worst trades the team ever made.

Brett went on to have a long career with several teams, amassing more than 2,300 hits and over 500 stolen bases.

I'm still shaking my head over that trade.

#12 JERRY ROYSTER

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#12 JERRY ROYSTER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1976-1984, 1988

1982 TOPPS Jerry

Jerry Royster did a lot during his long stay with the Braves. Infielder, outfielder, starter, pinch-hitter-he did a little of everything. Jerry hit .295 during the Braves 1982 division winning season and seemed to come up with big hit after big hit that season. 

Jerry left the team after 1984, only to return to the Braves in his final major league season of 1988. He got his final major league hit for the team on August 31, 1988.

Note to Baseballreference.com: Please take Jerry's profile picture of Jerry as a Yankee immediately! He only played 18 games for the evil empire! Jerry is a Brave, dammit! A Brave!

1983 Donruss Jerry

#13 RICK CAMP

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#13 RICK CAMP

ATLANTA BRAVES 1977-1985

Rick Camp 1982

Rick Camp of Trion, Georgia spent his entire big league career as an Atlanta Brave. He had a couple of good seasons as a closer, saving 22 games in 1980. He was converted to a starter in 1982, when he won 11 games during the Braves division winning season. Unfortunately, his only post season game was pretty ugly: one inning, four earned runs, 36.00 ERA.

But Rick is best remembered by many for his performance on July 4, 1985 at Atlanta Stadium in what is know by many (and me) as the Rick Camp game. A wild game against the Mets that was 8-8 at the end of nine innings. The Mets scored two in the 13th, but the Braves came back to tie in the bottom of that inning. It was also a game that had several rain delays and by the time Rick Camp came into the game, he was the seventh Brave pitcher. Camp gave up a run to the Mets in top of the 17th and the Braves made two out in the bottom of that inning. Rick Camp had to hit for himself as the Braves were out of pinch-hitters. Rick was one of the worst hitters in the game, having only eight hits at that point for his entire eight-year career. Met pitcher Tom Gorman got two strikes on Camp before Camp got a hold of the next pitch and incredibly lifted it over the left field wall for a game tying home run!

The story really stops there, as the Mets hit Camp hard in the 18th, scoring five runs on their way to a 18-13 victory that ended at about four in the morning to a very, very late fireworks display.

Rick finished his major league hitting career with 13 hits and  a .075 average.

Rick died at the age of 59 in Rydal, Ga.

Rick Camp about to unload on July 4, 1985

#14 GERALD PERRY

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#14 GERALD PERRY

ATLANTA BRAVES 1984-1989

Gerald Perry 1984

Gerald Perry was the Braves solid first baseman from 1983 until the end of the decade. His best season may have been 1987, when he hit a career high 12 homers and stole 42 bases! He also made the all-star team in 1988, a season he hit .300.

Gerald's hitting highlight during his All-Star season was a 5-5 outing against the Pirates on June 1, 1988.

Gerald in one of those late 80's
Diamond King cards

#15 STEVE BEDROSIAN

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#15 STEVE BEDROSIAN

ATLANTA BRAVES 1981-1985, 1994-1995

Steve "Bedrock" Bedrosian 1982 TOPPS

Bedrosian  was a pretty good reliever for the Braves during his first three seasons (19 saves in 1983) before being unsuccessfully transitioned into a starting role in 1985. His 7-15 record of that season led to his trade to the Phillies, where he won a Cy Young Award in 1987. He finished his career for the Braves in 1995.

Steve "Bedrock" Bedrosian 1995 TOPPS

#16 RAFAEL RAMIREZ

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#16 RAFAEL RAMIREZ

ATLANTA BRAVES 1986-1988

Rafael's 1981 FLEER card was probably
not his most shining moment

The shortstop portion of the fairly steady Atlanta Braves infield of the early to mid 80's, along with Chris Chambliss, Glenn Hubbard and Bob Horner. His stats were deceptive defensively. He led the league in errors at the shortstop position every year between 1981 and 1985. But he also ranked highly in the league in double plays started at short and putouts at short during that same time. He did cover a lot of ground, getting to some balls that the slow-footed third baseman Horner couldn't reach.

One of Rafael's biggest games was a two-homer performance on September 24, 1982 against Dave Dravecky and the Padres.

But then again, Brooks Robinson's 1958
TOPPS card ain't so hot either

#17 TOMMY GREGG

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#17 TOMMY GREGG

ATLANTA BRAVES 1988-1992, 1997

1989 Tommy Gregg Upper Deck

Tommy never put up big stats, but he was a hard-nosed player who was a bright spot for the Braves in 1989 and 1990. Injuries curtailed his career, as his contributions for the Braves during the World Series seasons was minimal. Tommy also came back with the Braves in 1997 and participated in the post-season that year.

I associate Tommy with the 1989 season and remember his career game on April 18th of that year, going 5 for 5 including the game winning hit in the bottom of the 11th. I hereby declare April 18th Tommy Gregg day for every major league season! Who's with me?

1989 Tommy Gregg Sticker!

#18 TERRY HARPER

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1980'S

#18 TERRY HARPER

ATLANTA BRAVES 1980-1986

The seven year Brave career of Douglasville, Georgia native Terry Harper was highlighted by a very productive 1985 season in which he hit 17 homers and knocked in 72 runs. Terry also caught a ball, I believe in 1982, in which he had it in his glove for three steps and dropped it as he was taking it out. The play was ruled a non-catch and caused quite a rhubarb at the time. Terry also injured himself waving a runner home from third base. Sort of like fellow Brave Brian Asselstine, Terry's potential was cut severely by injuries.

One of Terry's best games was the famous July 4, 1985, 19-inning extravaganza when Terry went five for ten, including a homer in the 13th inning in a game known as "The Rick Camp game." I'll look more closely at that game when I come to the Rick Camp entry.

This entry just happened to come up on the thirtieth anniversary of that game for what it's worth.

Terry rounds the bases in the 13th inning of
"The Rick Camp Game."