The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are members of the National League (NL) East division in Major League Baseball (MLB). Since the franchise started as the Boston Red Stockings (no relationship to the current Boston Red Sox team) in 1871, the team has changed its name several times and relocated twice. The Braves were a charter member of the NL in 1876 as the Boston Red Caps, and are one of the NL's two remaining charter franchises (the other being the Chicago Cubs). [1] In baseball, the head coach of a team is called the manager, or more formally, the field manager. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. [2] [3] The Braves franchise has employed 45 managers. [4]
The franchise's first manager was Hall of Famer Harry Wright, who managed the team for eleven seasons. [5] Frank Selee was the next manager to have managed the team for eleven seasons, with a total of twelve with the formerly named Boston Beaneaters. [6] The formerly named Boston Braves made their first postseason appearance under George Stallings in 1914, winning the World Series that year. [7] Several other managers spent long tenures with the Braves. Bill McKechnie managed the Braves from 1930 to 1937, while Casey Stengel managed the team from 1938 to 1942. [8] [9] The franchise was known as the Boston Bees from 1936 to 1940, and was again named the Boston Braves until 1952. Stengel also managed the Braves in 1943. [9]
From 1943 to 1989, no managerial term lasted as long as five complete seasons. The Braves were managed by Billy Southworth from 1946 to 1949, and again from 1950 to 1951. Southworth led the team into the 1948 World Series, which ended the Braves' 34-year postseason drought; the World Series ended in a losing result for the Braves. In 1953, the team moved from Boston to Milwaukee, where it was known as the Milwaukee Braves. Its first manager in Milwaukee was Charlie Grimm, who managed the team from mid-season of 1952 to mid-season of 1956. Fred Haney took over the managerial position after Grimm, and led the team to the World Series in 1957, defeating the New York Yankees in a game seven to win the series. [10]
In 1966, the team moved from Milwaukee to its current location, Atlanta. Its first manager in Atlanta was Bobby Bragan, who managed the team for three seasons earlier in Milwaukee. Lum Harris was the first manager to have managed the team in Atlanta for more than four seasons. Harris led the team into the NL Championship Series (NLCS) in 1969, but failed to advance into the World Series. Joe Torre was the next manager to manage the Braves into the postseason, but like Harris, led the team into the NLCS with a losing result. [10] Bobby Cox was the manager of the Braves from 1990 till 2010. Under his leadership the Braves made the postseason 15 times, winning five National League championships and one World Series title in 1995. [11] Cox has the most regular season wins, regular season losses, postseason appearances, postseason wins and postseason losses of any Braves manager. [4] He was named NL Manager of the Year three times, in 1991, 2004 and 2005. [12]
After Cox retired upon the conclusion of the 2010 season, Fredi González was hired to take over as manager.
Several managers have had multiple tenures with the Braves. John Morrill served three terms in the 1880s as the Braves manager, while Fred Tenney, Stengel, Bob Coleman, Southworth, Dave Bristol and Cox each served two terms. Ted Turner and Vern Benson's term each lasted only a single game, as they were both interim managers between Bristol's tenures.
Years | the corresponding Major League Baseball season |
WPct | Winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games managed |
PA | Postseason appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the postseason |
PW | Postseason wins: number of wins this manager has accrued in the postseason |
PL | Postseason losses: number of losses this manager has accrued in the postseason |
Pen | Pennants: number of pennants (league championships) won by the manager |
WS | World Series: number of World Series victories achieved by the manager |
† or ‡ | Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (‡ denotes induction as manager) |
# [a] | Manager | Years | Wins | Losses | WPct | PA | PW | PL | Pen | WS | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Harry Wright † | 1871–1881 | 254 | 187 | .576 | — | — | — | 6 | — | [5] |
2 | John Morrill | 1882 | 45 | 39 | .536 | — | — | — | — | — | [13] |
3 | Jack Burdock | 1883 | 30 | 24 | .556 | — | — | — | — | — | [14] |
— | John Morrill | 1883–1886 | 208 | 176 | .541 | — | — | — | — | — | [13] |
4 | King Kelly † | 1887 | 49 | 43 | .533 | — | — | — | — | — | [15] |
— | John Morrill | 1887–1888 | 82 | 81 | .503 | — | — | — | — | — | [13] |
5 | Jim Hart | 1889 | 83 | 45 | .648 | — | — | — | — | — | [16] |
6 | Frank Selee ‡ | 1890–1901 | 1,004 | 649 | .607 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 1 | [6] |
7 | Al Buckenberger | 1902–1904 | 186 | 242 | .435 | — | — | — | — | — | [17] |
8 | Fred Tenney | 1905–1907 | 158 | 295 | .348 | — | — | — | — | — | [18] |
9 | Joe Kelley † | 1908 | 63 | 91 | .409 | — | — | — | — | — | [19] |
10 | Frank Bowerman | 1909 | 22 | 54 | .289 | — | — | — | — | — | [20] |
11 | Harry Smith | 1909 | 23 | 54 | .299 | — | — | — | — | — | [21] |
12 | Fred Lake | 1910 | 53 | 100 | .346 | — | — | — | — | — | [22] |
— | Fred Tenney | 1911 | 44 | 107 | .398 | — | — | — | — | — | [18] |
13 | Johnny Kling | 1912 | 52 | 101 | .340 | — | — | — | — | — | [23] |
14 | George Stallings | 1913–1920 | 579 | 597 | .492 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | [7] |
15 | Fred Mitchell | 1921–1923 | 186 | 274 | .404 | — | — | — | — | — | [24] |
16 | Dave Bancroft † | 1924–1927 | 249 | 363 | .407 | — | — | — | — | — | [25] |
17 | Jack Slattery | 1928 | 11 | 20 | .355 | — | — | — | — | — | [26] |
18 | Rogers Hornsby † | 1928 | 39 | 83 | .320 | — | — | — | — | — | [27] |
19 | Emil Fuchs | 1929 | 56 | 98 | .364 | — | — | — | — | — | [28] |
20 | Bill McKechnie ‡ | 1930–1937 | 560 | 666 | .457 | — | — | — | — | — | [8] |
21 | Casey Stengel ‡ | 1938–1942 | 326 | 431 | .430 | — | — | — | — | — | [9] |
22 | Bob Coleman | 1943 | 21 | 25 | .456 | — | — | — | — | — | [29] |
— | Casey Stengel ‡ | 1943 | 47 | 60 | .439 | — | — | — | — | — | [9] |
— | Bob Coleman | 1944–1945 | 107 | 140 | .433 | — | — | — | — | — | [29] |
23 | Del Bissonette | 1945 | 25 | 34 | .424 | — | — | — | — | — | [30] |
24 | Billy Southworth ‡ | 1946–1949 | 313 | 256 | .550 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | [31] |
25 | Johnny Cooney | 1949 | 20 | 25 | .444 | — | — | — | — | — | [32] |
— | Billy Southworth ‡ | 1950–1951 | 111 | 102 | .521 | — | — | — | — | — | [31] |
26 | Tommy Holmes | 1951–1952 | 61 | 69 | .469 | — | — | — | — | — | [33] |
27 | Charlie Grimm | 1952–1956 | 341 | 285 | .544 | — | — | — | — | — | [34] |
28 | Fred Haney | 1956–1959 | 341 | 231 | .596 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | [35] |
29 | Chuck Dressen | 1960–1961 | 159 | 124 | .562 | — | — | — | — | — | [36] |
30 | Birdie Tebbetts | 1961–1962 | 98 | 89 | .524 | — | — | — | — | — | [37] |
31 | Bobby Bragan | 1963–1966 | 310 | 287 | .519 | — | — | — | — | — | [38] |
32 | Billy Hitchcock | 1966–1967 | 110 | 100 | .524 | — | — | — | — | — | [39] |
Int | Ken Silvestri | 1967 | 0 | 3 | .000 | — | — | — | — | — | |
33 | Lum Harris | 1968–1972 | 379 | 373 | .504 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | [40] |
34 | Eddie Mathews † | 1972–1974 | 149 | 161 | .481 | — | — | — | — | — | [41] |
35 | Clyde King | 1974–1975 | 96 | 101 | .487 | — | — | — | — | — | [42] |
36 | Connie Ryan | 1975 | 9 | 18 | .333 | — | — | — | — | — | [43] |
37 | Dave Bristol | 1976–1977 | 78 | 113 | .408 | — | — | — | — | — | [44] |
38 | Ted Turner | 1977 | 0 | 1 | .000 | — | — | — | — | — | [45] |
39 | Vern Benson | 1977 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | — | [46] |
— | Dave Bristol | 1977 | 52 | 79 | .397 | — | — | — | — | — | [44] |
40 | Bobby Cox ‡ | 1978–1981 | 266 | 323 | .452 | — | — | — | — | — | [11] |
41 | Joe Torre ‡ | 1982–1984 | 257 | 229 | .529 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | [47] |
42 | Eddie Haas | 1985 | 50 | 71 | .413 | — | — | — | — | — | [48] |
43 | Bobby Wine | 1985 | 16 | 25 | .390 | — | — | — | — | — | [49] |
44 | Chuck Tanner | 1986–1988 | 153 | 208 | .424 | — | — | — | — | — | [50] |
45 | Russ Nixon | 1988–1990 | 130 | 216 | .376 | — | — | — | — | — | [51] |
— | Bobby Cox ‡ | 1990–2010 | 1,883 | 1,386 | .576 | 14 | 64 | 63 | 5 | 1 | [11] |
46 | Fredi González | 2011–2016 | 434 | 413 | .512 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | [52] |
47 | Brian Snitker | 2016–present | 646 | 509 | .559 | 6 | 24 | 21 | 1 | 1 | [53] |
Totals | 11,025 | 10,876 | .503 | 29 | 107 | 105 | 10 | 5 |
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The Braves were founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1871, as the Boston Red Stockings. The club was known by various names until the franchise settled on the Boston Braves in 1912. The Braves are the oldest continuously operating professional sports franchise in North America.
In Major League Baseball, the Manager of the Year Award is an honor given annually since 1983 to two outstanding managers, one each in the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner is voted on by 30 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Each submits a vote for first, second, and third place among the managers of each league.[a] The manager with the highest score in each league wins the award.
In baseball, the field manager is the equivalent of a head coach who is responsible for overseeing and making final decisions on all aspects of on-field team strategy, lineup selection, training and instruction. Managers are typically assisted by a staff of assistant coaches whose responsibilities are specialized. Field managers are typically not involved in off-field personnel decisions or long-term club planning, responsibilities that are instead held by a team's general manager.
Joseph Paul Torre is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseball officer from 2011 to 2020. He is also a former player, manager, and television color commentator. Torre ranks fifth all-time in MLB history with 2,326 wins as a manager. With 2,342 hits during his playing career, Torre is the only major leaguer to achieve both 2,000 hits as a player and 2,000 wins as a manager. From 1996 to 2007, he was the manager of the New York Yankees, and guided the team to six American League (AL) pennants and four World Series championships.
Robert Joe Cox is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cox played for the New York Yankees and managed the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. He is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He recorded a 100-win season six times, a record matched only by Joe McCarthy.
Frank Gibson Selee was an American Major League Baseball manager in the National League (NL). In his 16-year Major League career, he managed the Boston Beaneaters (1890–1901) and Chicago Orphans / Cubs (1902–1905), winning 1,284 games. Selee managed the Beaneaters during their 1890s run of five NL championships. His 1892 and 1898 teams each won 100 games, becoming the first teams to ever achieve the mark in baseball history ; their 102 wins in each season would not be surpassed by a National League team until 1902. After joining the Orphans, he helped build the team that would become the Cubs dynasty of the 1900s. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Joseph Vincent McCarthy was an American manager in Major League Baseball, most renowned for his leadership of the "Bronx Bombers" teams of the New York Yankees from 1931 to 1946. The first manager to win pennants with both National and American League teams, he won a total nine league pennants and seven World Series championships – the latter is a record tied only by Casey Stengel. McCarthy was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957. He recorded a 100-win season six times, a record matched only by Bobby Cox. McCarthy's career winning percentages in both the regular season (.615) and postseason are the highest in major league history. His 2,125 career victories rank ninth all-time in major league history for managerial wins, and he ranks first all-time for the Yankees with 1,460 wins.
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