Boston Braves History

Miracle Braves

• Prior to being called the Braves, the club, which entered the National League in 1876, had been known as the Red Caps, the Beaneaters, the Doves and the Rustlers. Upon leaving Boston, the Braves moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and from there to the current location in Atlanta. Just 2 years after being named the Braves, the 1914 club won the pennant. The Braves were actually in last place as late as July 18, 1914, but then took off, with pitchers Lefty Tyler, Dick Rudolph and Bill James getting most of the starts. The team passed the Giants on September 2nd and won going away, posting a 94 and 59 record and winning the league by 10 1/2 games. Rudolph was 27 and 10 and James went 26 and 7. Future Hall of Famer Rabbit Maranville had a team high with 78 runs batted in. The Braves met the heavily favored Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series. Rudolph beat the As 7 to 1 in the opener and James shut them out by a 1 to 0 count on just 2 hits. The "Miracle" Braves completed the sweep, winning a thrilling 12-inning affair, by the score of 5 to 4, and the fourth game 3 to 1 as Rudolph once again won.

1935

• The Braves' fortunes quickly turned after the 1914 title as the team failed to contend again for a pennant from 1917 through 1947. During this span, the Braves posted some miserable records, but none worse than the 1935 team which went an incredible 38 and 115. The club finished more than 61 games in back of National League pennant winner Chicago and had 4 pitchers that lost at least 15 games, including Ben Cantwell, who was a wretched 4 and 25. However, this team was known for being the last stop of Babe Ruth, who had joined the club after his illustrious career with the Yankees. Ruth only played until June before retiring for good, but in one of his last games, he clobbered 3 home runs in Pittsburgh, the last one the longest ball ever hit at Forbes Field.

1948

• The Braves won its last pennant while in Boston in 1948 by relying on the pitching of Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain. The pair combined for 39 wins and gave rise to the saying "Spahn and Sain and 2 days of rain," which meant "let those 2 pitch and hope the next 2 games are rained out so they can skip the other pitchers and pitch again." Spahn was 24 and 15, hurling 315 innings and 3rd baseman Bob Elliott led the hitters with 100 runs batted in. Boston won the league by 6 1/2 games over the Cardinals and met the Cleveland Indians in the Series. The Braves won Game One 1 to 0 with Sain besting Bob Feller, but lost the next 3 games. In Game 5, Elliott smashed 2 home runs in an 11 to 5 triumph but Cleveland ended the Braves' dream in Game 6, taking a 4 to 3 win and the title.

Wally Berger

• Wally Berger was perhaps the greatest hitter the Boston Braves had. He collected at least 100 runs batted in 4 times, including his rookie season of 1930 when he also hit 38 home runs. The lifetime .300 hitter had one of baseball's most extraordinary seasons in 1935 playing for the 113 loss team. Despite having no protection from other hitters in the line-up, the right-handed batter had 34 home runs and 130 runs batted in to lead the National League in both categories. So inept was the rest of the line-up that the next highest RBI total was 42, belonging to utility infielder Randy Moore and Ruth's 6 home runs were the 2nd highest number in the club. Berger was traded to the Giants in 1937 after hurting his shoulder in 1936; the 4-time All-Star was never the same player after his injury.

Bob Elliott

• Another underappreciated slugger was Bob Elliott, who the Braves obtained from Pittsburgh after the 1946 season ended. Elliott, who had 3 seasons in Pittsburgh with at least 100 runs batted in, duplicated this feat while with the Braves, even winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1947. That year he has 113 RBI and hit .317. Elliott wound up with 1,195 RBI over 15 years; he died tragically at the age of 49 from a ruptured blood vessel in his windpipe.