The 1987 Atlanta Braves season was the 117th in franchise history and their 22nd in Atlanta. The team introduced new uniforms this season harkening back to the 1950s, which, with a slight change made in 2019, continue to be the team's uniforms to this day, replacing their pullover jersey/beltless pants combo worn since 1980.[1][2][3]
| 1987 Atlanta Braves | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | |
| City | Atlanta | |
| Record | 69–92 (.429) | |
| Divisional place | 5th | |
| Owners | Ted Turner | |
| General managers | Bobby Cox | |
| Managers | Chuck Tanner | |
| Television | WTBS Superstation WTBS | |
| Radio | WSB (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, John Sterling) | |
| ||
Offseason
edit- November 17, 1986: Chuck Hensley was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[4]
- November 17, 1986: Trench Davis was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[5]
- February 2, 1987: Luis Leal was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Damaso Garcia to the Atlanta Braves for Craig McMurtry.[6]
Regular season
edit- May 1, 1987: Houston Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan hit a home run off of Braves pitcher Charlie Puleo.[7]
- August 17, 1987: Tom Glavine made his major league baseball debut.[8] It was against the Houston Astros and Glavine was the starting pitcher. Glavine pitched 3.2 innings and allowed 10 hits and six earned runs. Glavine allowed 5 bases on balls and recorded one strikeout.[9]
- September 27, 1987: 48-year old Phil Niekro is signed by the Braves for one final major league start against the San Francisco Giants. Niekro had been released by the Toronto Blue Jays almost a month earlier. He pitches three innings, giving up six hits and 5 runs in a 15-6 loss.
Season standings
edit| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 46–35 | 44–37 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 84 | 78 | .519 | 6 | 42–39 | 42–39 |
| Houston Astros | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 47–34 | 29–52 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 73 | 89 | .451 | 17 | 40–41 | 33–48 |
| Atlanta Braves | 69 | 92 | .429 | 20½ | 42–39 | 27–53 |
| San Diego Padres | 65 | 97 | .401 | 25 | 37–44 | 28–53 |
Record vs. opponents
editSources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 6–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 3–9 | |||||
| Chicago | 5–6 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 6–12 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 6–6 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 | |||||
| Houston | 10–8 | 4–8 | 5–13 | — | 12–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 5–7 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 6–12 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 3–9 | |||||
| Montreal | 9–3 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 11–7 | |||||
| New York | 5–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 13–5 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–9 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 8–10 | 5–13 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 5–7 | 14–4 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–11 | |||||
| San Diego | 12–6 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 | |||||
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 13–5 | — | 7–5 | |||||
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
edit- April 1, 1987: Graig Nettles was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[10]
- April 3, 1987: John Mizerock was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[11]
- May 5, 1987: Doyle Alexander was signed as a free agent by the Braves.[12]
- June 2, 1987: Mike Stanton was drafted by the Braves in the 13th round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 10, 1987.[13]
- July 25, 1987: Joe Boever was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Randy O'Neal.[14]
- August 12, 1987: Doyle Alexander was traded by the Braves to the Detroit Tigers for John Smoltz.[12]
Roster
edit| 1987 Atlanta Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
editBatting
editStarters by position
editNote: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg.= Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Ozzie Virgil | 123 | 429 | 106 | .247 | 27 | 72 |
| 1B | Gerald Perry | 142 | 533 | 144 | .270 | 12 | 74 |
| 2B | Glenn Hubbard | 141 | 443 | 117 | .264 | 5 | 38 |
| 3B | Ken Oberkfell | 135 | 508 | 142 | .280 | 3 | 48 |
| SS | Andrés Thomas | 82 | 324 | 75 | .231 | 5 | 39 |
| LF | Ken Griffey | 122 | 399 | 114 | .286 | 14 | 64 |
| CF | Dion James | 134 | 494 | 154 | .312 | 10 | 61 |
| RF | Dale Murphy | 159 | 566 | 167 | .295 | 44 | 105 |
Other batters
editNote: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Hall | 92 | 292 | 83 | .284 | 3 | 24 |
| Rafael Ramírez | 56 | 179 | 47 | .263 | 1 | 21 |
| Graig Nettles | 112 | 177 | 37 | .209 | 5 | 33 |
| Ted Simmons | 73 | 177 | 49 | .277 | 4 | 30 |
| Jeff Blauser | 51 | 165 | 40 | .242 | 2 | 15 |
| Gary Roenicke | 67 | 151 | 33 | .219 | 9 | 28 |
| Bruce Benedict | 37 | 95 | 14 | .147 | 1 | 5 |
| Ron Gant | 21 | 83 | 22 | .265 | 2 | 9 |
| Paul Runge | 27 | 47 | 10 | .213 | 3 | 8 |
| Darryl Motley | 6 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Trench Davis | 6 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Bell | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Fischlin | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
Starting pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zane Smith | 36 | 242.0 | 15 | 10 | 4.09 | 130 |
| Rick Mahler | 39 | 197.0 | 8 | 13 | 4.98 | 95 |
| David Palmer | 28 | 152.1 | 8 | 11 | 4.90 | 111 |
| Doyle Alexander | 16 | 117.2 | 5 | 10 | 4.13 | 64 |
| Tom Glavine | 9 | 50.1 | 2 | 4 | 5.54 | 20 |
| Pete Smith | 6 | 31.2 | 1 | 2 | 4.83 | 11 |
| Kevin Coffman | 5 | 25.1 | 2 | 3 | 4.62 | 14 |
| Phil Niekro | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 0 |
Other pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Puleo | 35 | 123.1 | 6 | 8 | 4.23 | 99 |
| Randy O'Neal | 16 | 61.0 | 4 | 2 | 5.61 | 33 |
| Larry McWilliams | 9 | 20.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.75 | 13 |
| Marty Clary | 7 | 14.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.14 | 7 |
Relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Acker | 68 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 4.16 | 68 |
| Gene Garber | 49 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 4.41 | 48 |
| Jeff Dedmon | 53 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3.91 | 40 |
| Paul Assenmacher | 52 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5.10 | 39 |
| Ed Olwine | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.01 | 12 |
| Joe Boever | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 18 |
| Chuck Cary | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.78 | 15 |
| Steve Ziem | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.71 | 0 |
Farm system
editNotes
edit- ^ "Braves Uniforms | Atlanta Braves". MLB.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ Bell, Demetrieus (January 20, 2019). "Atlanta Braves Make Subtle But Strong Changes To Their Uniforms". forbes.com. Forbes. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ Radom, Todd (June 13, 2013). "1987-the Year that MLB's Uniforms Stepped Backwards". toddradom.com. Todd Radom. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "Chuck Hensley Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Trench Davis Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Luis Leal Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Nolan Ryan Career Home Runs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Tom Glavine". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Box Score of Game played on Monday, August 17, 1987 at Astrodome". www.baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Graig Nettles Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "John Mizerock: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- ^ a b "Doyle Alexander". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Mike Stanton". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ "Joe Boever Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
- ^ Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-96-371897-6.
References
edit- 1987 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference