#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