#64 MIKE MCQUEEN

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S

#64 MIKE McQUEEN

ATLANTA BRAVES 1970-1972

I have a really inflated Mike McQueen's baseball importance. In 1971, the first year I followed baseball, Mike posted a nice 4-1 record. That's it. That's apparently enough to put him at #64 on this favorite player list. If his name had been Steve McQueen, I probably would have even put him higher. I also had several copies of the 1971 Topps baseball card above. 

In 1972, Mike lost all five of his decisions for the Braves and never won another major league game. Career highlight is probably a complete game victory in the second to last game of the 1970 season against National League champion Cincinnati.

#65 DICK DIETZ

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S

#65 DICK DIETZ

ATLANTA BRAVES 1973

Dick Dietz's career year was 1970 with the Giants where he knocked in 107 runs and made the All-Star team. But for the purposes of this blog, we need only look at his last year in the majors, 1973. He was a very good pinch-hitter for the Braves that year, batting .295 in 141 at-bats. His highlight of 1973 was a two-run homer off of Jerry Koosman to lead the Braves to a 2-0 win against the Mets. 

But what I remember most about Dick Dietz's year with the Braves was beyond his control. In 1973, Hank Aaron was approaching Babe Ruth's Home Run record, but at this point of his career, Aaron only started two out of three games. During any of those games that Aaron didn't start when there was a pinch-hitting situation, the crowd yelled for manager Ed Mathews to send in his old teammate Hammerin' Hank. But more often than not, Mathews sent up Dick Dietz. And of course, Dick would get booed. Not because the crowd disliked Dietz, he just wasn't Hank Aaron. I just remember feeling bad for him.

Dick died in Clayton, Ga. in 2005 at the age of 63.

#66 JOEY MCLAUGHLIN

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S

#66 JOEY MCLAUGHLIN

ATLANTA BRAVES 1977, 1979

Joey McLaughlin made a pretty good impression in 1979, his only full season with the Braves, posting a 2.48 ERA. His most memorable game to me was his July 1, 1979 save of a game at Dodger stadium giving the Braves a most improbable three game sweep. He had such a good 1979 season, that he made great trade bait the next season as part of the Chris Chambliss trade with Toronto.

Funny stat: In Joey's first major league appearance, he gave up five earned runs in 1/3 of an inning. After that game, his career ERA was 135.00. Maybe Joey doesn't find that such a funny stat.

#67 GEORGE STONE

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S

#67 GEORGE STONE

ATLANTA BRAVES 1967-1972

George Stone's best Braves year was probably his 13-10 season during the Braves NL West winning season of 1969.  Career Brave highlights include a NINE-hit shutout against the Big Red Machine on June 26, 1971. 

He was traded to the Mets in 1973 along with Felix Millan for Gary Gentry and Danny Frisella.  The Braves finished in 5th place that year and the Mets went to the World Series. (Braves bad 70's trade number...I 've lost track)

#68 LEE LACY

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S

#68 LEE LACY

ATLANTA BRAVES 1976

I would have thought Lee Lacy spent more time with the Braves than 50 games. Maybe it seems that way because he had such a long career in the National League (16 seasons).  He came over to the Braves from the Dodgers in the Dusty Baker trade (Bad Braves trade #1) and returned to the Dodgers the following year for Mike Marshall (Bad Braves trade #2). 

#69 JUNIOR MOORE

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S

#69 JUNIOR MOORE

ATLANTA BRAVES 1976-1977

Junior Moore only got much playing time for the Braves much in 1977 (112 games) and yet, I seem to remember him pretty well, which shows that 1977 must have been an impressionable baseball year for me. Though why a 101 loss season would be so impressionable I haven't figured out yet. Junior's first major league homer came on May 25, 1976 off Tom Griffin in San Diego on the top of the 12th inning. So Junior won the game right? No, the Braves gave up two runs in the bottom of the 12th and lost. Anyway, you got to like any adult who goes by the name Junior as a surname.

#70 BARRY BONNELL

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S

#70 BARRY BONNELL

ATLANTA BRAVES 1977-1979

Good glove man Barry Bonnell hit .300 during his rookie season of 1977.  Barry's first major league home run was a grand slam off the Giants and Randy Moffit on June 5, 1977.  Decent power, decent speed, but best remembered by me as the second best Mormon player on the Braves behind Dale Murphy during that time. In fact, in 1977 Barry may have been a little better than Murph. Barry was originally traded to the Braves by the Phillies in the Dick Allen trade, which really wasn't that bad since Dick Allen wasn't going to play for the Braves anyway. He was traded away from the Braves in 1979 to Toronto in the Chris Chambliss trade.