BOSTON BRAVES

The Braves have the distinction of being the longest active franchise in baseball, tracing their roots back to the Boston Red Caps, a National League team created in 1876. Over the next thirty-seven years, the team was also known as the Beaneaters, the Doves, and the Rustlers, before settling on the Braves in 1912.

The Beaneaters dominated the National League in the 1890's, winning four pennants. Many of their stars bolted to the upstart American League in 1901, leaving Boston with a team so bad and out of contention it boggles the mind. During the ten seasons from 1903-1912, the Braves finished 32, 51, 54, 66, 47, 36, 55, 50, 54 and 52 games out of first place.

They made a modest move to fifth the next year, setting the stage for the 1914 "Miracle Braves" — an incredible chapter in baseball lore. Mired in last place on July 18, 1914, the Braves suddenly went on a winning binge, led by sparkplug shortstop Rabbit Maranville. They won thirty-four of forty-four games, climbing over every team in the league, finally surpassing the first place Giants on September 8. When the season ended, the Braves had put ten games between themselves and second place New York. They capped off their "Miracle" season with a four game sweep of the heavily favored Philadelphia Athletics.

The Braves returned to the second division for the next three decades, finally returning to respectability under manager Billy Southworth who had guided the great Cardinal teams of the early '40s. The Braves won the 1948 pennant, mostly on the back of two great pitchers, Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain ("Spahn and Sain and two days of rain" was the Braves rallying cry). They lost the World Series to the Indians.

For the next four years, the Braves lost games, money, and fans to the Red Sox, prompting owner Lou Perini to move the team to Milwaukee for 1953, the first shift of a major league franchise since 1903. The Braves closed out a seventy-seven year run in Boston with a 5-5 tie against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field on September 28, 1952. They left Boston with two World Championships and ten pennants.

MILWAUKEE BRAVES

Milwaukee had a charter American League franchise in 1901. It finished last and moved to St. Louis to become the Browns. Milwaukee fans had supported minor league baseball enthusiastically, and when the Braves came to town they turned out 1.8 million strong for the 1953 season. The Braves inaugurated their Milwaukee stay with a 2-0 win over the Reds on April 13, 1953.

The team developed into a National League powerhouse in the 1950's with the bats of Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews leading a powerhouse team that also included Joe Adcock and Del Crandall. Spahn, Lew Burdette and Bob Buhl gave the Braves a solid rotation. They won back-to-back pennants in 1957-58, and played in two exciting World Series. In 1957, the Braves rallied from a 3-1 deficit in games to beat the Yankees, and in 1958, they built a 3-1 lead in games, only to have the Yankees turn the tables and win three in a row.

Milwaukee fans seemed to grow bored with the Braves. Attendance dropped and the team owners announced a move to Atlanta for the 1965 season. Because they still had one year left on their Milwaukee Stadium lease, the city threatened to sue. With the lawsuit hanging over their heads, the Braves stayed put for one more season. They drew only 555,000 for that last year. Some crowds were under a thousand, including their last game on September 27, when only eight-hundred twelve playing spectators saw them lose to the Phillies 4-1.

ATLANTA BRAVES

The population shift to the southeast had made Atlanta an attractive destination for the Braves, and they began the Atlanta chapter of their history with a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh on April 12, 1966.

They may not have been happy with that result, but they were happy to move into Fulton County Stadium, a place that came to be known as a home run haven. Eight Braves wound up in double figures in home runs their first year in Atlanta; in 1973, the Braves became the only team with three forty home run hitters (Dave Johnson 43, Darrell Evans 41, Hank Aaron 40); and Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record there in April, 1974. Aaron was amazingly consistent during his career, averaging 33.1 homers during twelve seasons in Milwaukee and 33.5 homers per year for the decade he played in Atlanta.

The Braves combined that power with the pitching of Phil Niekro to win the first National League West crown in 1969. With Niekro at the helm again, this time supported by the bats of Dale Murphy and Bob Horner, the Braves took the West again in 1982. The Braves lost both National League Championship Series, to the Mets and Cardinals respectively.

After a downturn in the late 1980's the Braves rode a great pitching staff to the head of the pack in 1991. Pitchers such as Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery and Greg Maddux have been supported by a cast of sluggers including David Justice, Ron Gant, Gary Sheffield, Fred McGriff, Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones.

At the time of this writing, no one has knocked the Braves from their first-place perch. They have won their division every year since 1991 (minus the unfinished 1994 season when they were in second), an unprecedented run of regular season success. It has been dampened by the team's lack of post-season success, as they have managed only one World Championship, which they earned over Cleveland in 1995.