Atlanta Braves 1991-2010(Part 2)

In the past 20 years, there haven’t been alot of teams that have had more regular season success than the Atlanta Braves. On Tuesday, I ranked the Atlanta Braves teams 20-11 of the last 20 years. Listed below is the top 10 Braves teams of the past 20 years. Enjoy and feel free to disagree!

To recap:

20. 2008//19. 2006// 18. 2009// 17. 2007// 16. 2005// 15. 2001// 14. 1991// 13. 2000 //12. 2004//11. 1996

Top 10-

10. Braves 2010- Had I realized this team was about to get swept, I may have dropped them to #11 but I can still make a case for #10. This pitching staff reminds me alot of the early staffs in the fact that they will keep you in every game. They have a tremendously deep bench. They have an outside shot at 95 wins if their DEF doesn’t get in the way.

9. Braves 1994- This was a strike shortened season that never officially ended. That’s a good thing because the Braves may have lost their divisional win streak in ’94 with the Expos dominating the East that year. It’s tough to tell how this season would have turned out but this team was already 22 games over. 500 after only 114 games.

8. Braves 1992- The 1992 Atlanta Braves team may have been the turning point in the history of this franchise in ATL. They proved that 1991 was not a fluke and went back to the World Series. The 1992 staff had 4 guys with at least 30 starts and all of them had an ERA under 3.40.

Braves won the World Series in 1995.

7. Braves 1997- The ’97 team won 101 games and they did something well that most Braves fans are accustomed to…they stole bases. They had 3 players with 20+ steals(Chipper, Lofton, and Andruw Jones(pre-fatness)).

6. Braves 2002- At the end of the season, they won the NL East by 19 games. That’s absurd. They won 101 games with a dominating staff(as usual in the 90’s for the Braves) that only allowed 565 runs which is 3rd fewest during this span.

5. Braves 1995- We start entering rarefied air when we talk about the top 5 Braves teams of the last 20 years. It is difficult trying to figure out where to put the 1995 Braves since they are the only team to actually win a championship. They were the best team in baseball in 1995 and won 90(strike shortened-Thanks DP-) games but I’m not sure they are that good in comparison with all the 100 wins Braves teams in the last 20 years. That being said, their pitching only allowed 540 runs.

4. Braves 2003- The ’03 Atlanta Braves probably had the best offense of any team during this span. 907 runs!!! They had 4 players with an OPS+ of 115 or more. They won 1o1 games but their pitching staff and offense failed them in the divisional round losing 3-2 to the Cubs.

3. Braves 1999- When it comes to the top 3 teams, you start splitting very fine hairs. The ’99 team made the World Series but got swept by the bloody Yanks. They won 103 games and their best player was Andruw Jones at a 7 WAR.

2. Braves 1993- The #2 team is the ’93 Braves. They were pretty close to a complete package. They allowed the 2nd fewest runs during this span and only used 13 pitchers the entire year. The Braves were very lucky this year(and a few others) to remain relatively injury free.

1.Braves 1998- Even though this team failed to reach the World Series, they had the best Atlanta Braves team of the past 20 years. 106 wins is out of this world and they did both at the plate and on the mound. The Braves had 4 players with 30+ HR’s(Javy, Galarraga, Chipper, and Andruw) and had 3 pitchers with a sub-3 ERA(Some guys named Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz). Can you imagine facing this team? Half the lineup can crush the ball into the next stratosphere and if you make a mistake, you have to try and get it back vs. 3 HOF’s. Good luck with that.

Hope everyone enjoyed this list. It was great to look back through these lineups and see all the names of the past. Feel free to tell me where you think I messed up.

Atlanta Braves from 1991 to 2010(Part 1)

I decided to take on a small endeavor and rank all of the Atlanta Braves teams from 1991-2010. Since 2010 isn’t over, I will be placing them in the spot I think they belong. I will do this list in two parts; the first part will be Braves teams 20-11 and the finale will be the top 10 Braves teams of the past 20 years. I hope you enjoy and feel free to disagree.

20. Braves 2008- They were a rather dreadful bunch by year only. That roster playing to their current ability might score 875-900 runs. The roster included Prado, Chipper, Teixeira, McCann, Infante, Kelly Johnson, and Escobar. Unfortunately, some of those players were a year or two early and the pitching was awful. Overall, the team had a -25 run differential.

19.Braves 2006- The 2006 Braves were bad not because of their bat but because of their performance on the mound. They allowed more runs(805) that season than any other Braves team in the last 20 years.

18. Braves 2009- You may not look at last year as the 3rd worst in 20 years but that’s because 2008 was so bad. It’s going to be hard to win a division or WC when your best player is Yunel Escobar at a 5.5(WAR).

17. Braves 2007- No real secret that the last 4 Braves teams would be at the bottom of my list considering they hardly sniffed 1st place. Scott Thorman started at 1st base for the majority of that season. Enough said.

16. Braves 2005- This team won the NL East with 90 wins but had only two quality starters in Smoltz and Hudson who had respected ERA+’s of 139 and 121. Andruw Jones hit a whopping 51 HR’s but that was the only highlight from the offensive side of things.

15. Braves 2001- This team managed to win the East and go to the NLCS with a mere 88 wins. Age played a small factor with this team as it was the 3rd oldest lineup(30.4) and 2nd oldest pitching staff(31.1) in the last 20 years.

14. Braves 1991- All the magic started with the 1991 “Worst to First” team. Even though they went to the W.S they got almost no production out Greg Olsen, Sid Bream, or Rafael Belliard. Also worth noting, they had the 2nd youngest pitching staff during this 20 year span.

13. Braves 2000- The 2000 Braves team won 95 game but got swept in the LDS. Bobby Cox did a great job this season of combining so many pieces. The Braves sent 47 different players to the plate in 2000 which is the 2nd most of any team in the 20 year span.

12. Braves 2004- This team won 96 but again lost in the LDS(a theme for the Braves teams in the 2000’s). This team got pretty even production throughout the order with 7 players having an OPS over. 800(min 350 PA’s). It’s downfall was the lack of an ace to shutdown the opponent(Smoltz was in the bullpen).

11. Braves 1996- Sigh, this team was probably our best chance at winning a 2nd World Series. Up 2-0 against the Yankees and up 6-0 in Game 4 before blowing it in extra innings. They needed more production out of their middle infield with Blauser batting .245 and Lemke having an OPS+ of 67.

The Top 10 Braves teams of the past 20 years will be posted on Thursday. Enjoy!!!!

A Modest Proposal

The Problem:

The Boston Red Soxs have a record of 72 – 54, which is good for third place in the American League East. And we all know that third place isn’t good enough to make the playoffs. But doesn’t it seem weird that a team with the fourth highest winning percentage in the league won’t make the playoffs? Boston could finish the season as the third best team in the American League, better than the AL Central and AL East division winners, and miss October baseball only because the AL East is too good.

What about the Orioles? How can they possibly compete in a division that holds The Yankees, Red Soxs, Rays, and Blue Jays? How about the National League central? Is it fair that The Cardinals and Reds get to beat on an extra team? That they get to play the Pirates and Cubs more than the Padres and Braves?

Adrian Beltre has hit .323/.363/.559/.922 with 23 HRs this season.

The Solution:

Get rid of divisions, they’re stupid. Everyone in each league plays each other the same amount and the top four teams go to the playoffs. It also gets rid of the wild card bullshit. From a MLBN/ESPN money standpoint, it prevents over saturation of baseball rivalries (like New York and Boston coverage every other week) and makes them more enjoyable, and will create new rivalries like Cardinals vs. Braves.

Baseball used to be like this, back when baseball made sense.