en 1977 Atlanta Braves season

1977 Atlanta Braves
1977 Atlanta Braves
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
City	Atlanta
Record	61–101 (.377)
Divisional place	6th
Owners	Ted Turner
General managers	Bill Lucas
Managers	Dave Bristol (games 1–29, 32–162); Ted Turner (game 30); Vern Benson (game 31)
Television	WTCG; (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
Radio	WSB; (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren)

The 1977 Atlanta Braves season was the 107th season for the franchise and their 12th in Atlanta. The team finished in last place in the six-team National League West with a record of 61–101, 37 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves hit a major league-leading seven grand slams.^[1]

All Braves home and away games were broadcast on WTCG-TV which during the offseason, under its owner Ted Turner, became the pioneer superstation in the United States and thus making the Braves the first MLB team to have its games telecast to millions of television viewers around the country aside from the national broadcasts on ABC and NBC which had been the case before the team's opening series of the season.^[2]

The 1977 Braves had the fewest Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of any team in a single season in MLB history, at -10.0.^[3]

Offseason

November 17, 1976: Gary Matthews was signed by the Braves as a free agent.
December 9, 1976: Carl Morton, Adrian Devine, Ken Henderson, Dave May, Roger Moret, and $250,000 were traded by the Braves to the Texas Rangers for Jeff Burroughs.^[4]

Regular season

Turner's one-day reign as manager

Midway through the 1977 season, with the Braves mired in a 16-game losing streak, owner Ted Turner sent Dave Bristol on a 10-day "scouting trip" and took over as his own manager. This only lasted for one game (a 2–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates) before National League president Chub Feeney ordered Turner to give up the reins, citing major league rules which forbid managers or players from owning stock in a team. After the Braves broke the skid under third-base coach Vern Benson, Bristol—who had spent the time at his offseason home in Andrews, North Carolina—was given his old job back for the remainder of the season.^[5]

Notable events

September 15, 1977 - Dale Murphy hits two home runs in an 8–7 win over the San Diego Padres, the first home runs of his major league career.

Season standings

v
t
e
NL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	98	64	.605	—	51‍–‍30	47‍–‍34
Cincinnati Reds	88	74	.543	10	48‍–‍33	40‍–‍41
Houston Astros	81	81	.500	17	46‍–‍35	35‍–‍46
San Francisco Giants	75	87	.463	23	38‍–‍43	37‍–‍44
San Diego Padres	69	93	.426	29	35‍–‍46	34‍–‍47
Atlanta Braves	61	101	.377	37	40‍–‍41	21‍–‍60

Record vs. opponents

1977 National League record v t e Sources: [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	—	5–7	4–14	9–9	5–13	6–6	7–5	2–10	3–9	11–7	8–10	1–11
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	6–6	6–6	10–8	9–9	6–12	7–11	7–5	9–3	7–11
Cincinnati	14–4	5–7	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	10–2	8–4	3–9	11–7	10–8	5–7
Houston	9–9	6–6	13–5	—	9–9	8–4	6–6	4–8	4–8	8–10	9–9	5–7
Los Angeles	13–5	6–6	8–10	9–9	—	7–5	8–4	6–6	9–3	12–6	14–4	6–6
Montreal	6–6	8–10	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	10–8	7–11	7–11	5–7	6–6	12–6
New York	5–7	9–9	2–10	6–6	4–8	8–10	—	5–13	4–14	6–6	7–5	8–10
Philadelphia	10-2	12–6	4–8	8–4	6–6	11–7	13–5	—	8–10	9–3	9–3	11–7
Pittsburgh	9–3	11–7	9–3	8–4	3–9	11–7	14–4	10–8	—	10–2	2–10	9–9
San Diego	7–11	5–7	7–11	10–8	6–12	7–5	6–6	3–9	2–10	—	8–10	8–4
San Francisco	10–8	3–9	8–10	9–9	4–14	6–6	5–7	3–9	10–2	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	11–1	11–7	7–5	7–5	6–6	6–12	10–8	7–11	9–9	4–8	5–7	—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

April 30, 1977: Mike Marshall was purchased from the Braves by the Texas Rangers.^[7]
June 7, 1977: Larry Owen was drafted by the Braves in the 17th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.^[8]

Roster

1977 Atlanta Braves

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

20 Larry Whisenton

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Biff Pocoroba	113	321	93	.290	8	44	3
1B	Willie Montañez	136	544	156	.287	20	68	1
2B	Rod Gilbreath	128	407	99	.243	8	43	3
3B	Junior Moore	112	361	94	.260	5	34	4
SS	Pat Rockett	93	264	67	.254	1	24	1
LF	Gary Matthews	148	555	157	.283	17	64	22
CF	Rowland Office	124	428	103	.241	5	39	2
RF	Jeff Burroughs	154	579	157	.271	41	114	4

^[9]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Jerry Royster	140	445	96	.216	6	28	28
Barry Bonnell	100	360	108	.300	1	45	7
Darrel Chaney	74	209	42	.201	3	15	0
Tom Paciorek	72	155	37	.239	3	15	1
Vic Correll	54	144	30	.208	7	16	2
Brian Asselstine	83	124	26	.210	4	17	1
Cito Gaston	56	85	23	.271	3	21	1
Joe Nolan	62	82	23	.280	3	9	1
Dale Murphy	18	76	24	.316	2	14	0
Craig Robinson	27	29	6	.207	0	1	0
Larry Whisenton	4	4	1	.250	0	1	0
Rob Belloir	6	1	0	.000	0	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Phil Niekro	44	330.1	16	20	4.03	262
Dick Ruthven	25	151.0	7	13	4.23	84
Andy Messersmith	16	102.1	5	4	4.40	69
Eddie Solomon	18	88.2	6	6	4.57	54
Mickey Mahler	5	23.0	1	2	6.26	14