1983 Atlanta Braves

While doing some research on this team, I found the following quote on the wikipedia page.."It was a season of extreme excitement followed by profound disappointment." I think this sums it up. The Braves were coming off of winning the NL West in 1982 and started out very strong in 1983. They had a 5 1/2 game lead as late August 15. That was a key date in this season, as that is when they lost slugger Bob Horner for the season, and collapsed to finish second in the NL West.

Also of note is 1983 was the last season (well, until a token appearance in 1987) in a Braves uniform for Phil Niekro. The knuckleball pitcher had been a Brave since 1964, when the team was still known as the Milwaukee Braves. That '64 team included Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, and a 43 year old pitcher you may have heard of named Warren Spahn. Spahn could trace his career back to the 1942 Braves, who were then known as the Boston Braves.

Best player: Dale Murphy...by a mile

Best pitcher: Craig McMurtry

All-Stars: Bruce Benedict, Glenn Hubbard, Dale Murphy, Pascual Perez

Rookie Card of the Year: Craig McMurtry...a true first year player with a card in the Topps Traded set. He led the starters in ERA to go with 15 wins. He was second in the Rookie of the Year vote to Darryl Strawberry. This was his best season in the majors. He was out after 1990 with a career playing for the Braves and Rangers, and then had a cup of coffee with the 1995 Astros. Another highlight of his career is that he gave up home run #1 to all time home run leader Barry Bonds.

Other Rookie Cards: Joe Cowley, Carlos Diaz (listed under players on new teams), Randy Johnson, Ken Smith, Larry Whisenton (listed under retired players)...Whisenton appeared on the Braves prospects card all the way back in 1979, but did not receive his own card until the 1983 Topps set. He was done in the majors after 1982. Carlos Diaz was traded in mid-September of 1982 from the Braves to the Mets for Tom Hausman. He got into 4 late games with the Mets in 1982. His rookie cards are in the 1983 sets, with Donruss showing him as an Atlanta Brave and Fleer showing him as a New York Met.

First Brave cards: Pete Falcone, Tom Hausman (listed under retired players), Terry Forster, Mike Jorgensen, Pascual Perez

Most interesting non-Topps card: Matt Sinatro was a catcher who may best be described as a career third string catcher. His career stretches from 1981 to 1992, but he never played more than 37 games in a season, that coming with the 1982 Braves. His rookie card is in the 1982 Donruss set. He appears again in the 1983 Donruss set. He would not appear again on a baseball card until the 1990 Topps Traded set when he was a member of the Mariners. Under the White Sox, I mused about Jerry Hairston going 6 years without a card appearance, but Sinatro ties him with 6 years with no cards, and considering his next card comes in a traded set, you might add another 1/2 to Sinatro. Under the White Sox comments, readers gave examples of players who went longer.

Starters

__	TO	521	C	Bruce Benedict	ATL
__	TO	792	1B	Chris Chambliss	ATL
__	TO	624	2B	Glenn Hubbard	ATL
__	TO	439	SS	Rafael Ramirez	ATL
__	TO	50	3B	Bob Horner	ATL
__	TO	364	LF	Brett Butler	ATL
__	TO	760	CF	Dale Murphy	ATL
__	TO	235	RF	Claudell Washington	ATL
__	TO	26	IF	Jerry Royster	ATL

Starting Pitchers

__	TT	69	SP	Craig McMurtry	ATL
__	TT	84	SP	Pascual Perez	ATL
__	TO	410	SP	Phil Niekro	ATL
__	TO	314	SP	Ken Dayley	ATL

Relief Pitchers

__	TO	157	CL	Steve Bedrosian	ATL
__	TT	33	RP	Terry Forster	ATL
__	TO	207	RP	Rick Camp	ATL
__	TT	31	RP	Pete Falcone	ATL
__			RP	Donnie Moore
__	TO	255	RP	Gene Garber	ATL

Other Players

__	TO	339	OF	Terry Harper	ATL
__	TO	572	1B	Bob Watson	ATL
__	TO	596	3B	Randy Johnson	ATL
__	TO	676	C	Biff Pocoroba	ATL
__	TT	51	UT	Mike Jorgensen	ATL
__			UT	Gerald Perry
__			OF	Brad Komminsk
__			C	Larry Owen
__	DO	622	C	Matt Sinatro	ATL
__	FL	148	1B	Ken Smith	ATL
__			OF	Albert Hall
__			2B	Paul Runge
__			3B	Brook Jacoby
__			SS	Paul Zuvella
__			RP	Rick Behenna
__			SP	Len Barker
__			RP	Tony Brizzolara
__	TO	76	RP	Rick Mahler	ATL
__	TO	649	RP	Tommy Boggs	ATL
__			RP	Jeff Dedmon
__	TO	104	SP	Bob Walk	ATL