Qualifier: players will be classified under one position even if they played at more than one.

Fred McGriff:

Five-time All-Star first baseman Fred McGriff was an outstanding midseason acquisition by the Atlanta Braves in 1993. McGriff batted over .300 with a 1.000-plus OPS over his first two years with the Braves. Then in 1995, he homered twice in the World Series to help bring Atlanta it’s latest championship. McGriff racked up 2,490 hits, 493 home runs and 4,458 total bases with a .377 on-base percentage in his 19-year career. He has been on the Hall of Fame ballot in each of the last two years, receiving about 20 percent of the vote each time.

Joe Adcock:

Former All-Star Joe Adcock joined the Braves in Milwaukee in 1953 and spent the next ten years with the team. Adcock was consistently one of the best power hitters in the National League, slugging .511 over 1,207 games as a Brave. He ranks sixth in franchise history with 239 home runs including a career-high 38 in 1956 and a four-homer game in 1954. Adcock won a World Series with the Braves in 1957 and was a big part of their 1958 pennant team. He maintained a 130 OPS+ (league average is 100) and was worth 26.6 wins above replacement (WAR) for the Braves.

Fred Tenney:

Fred Tenney spent a franchise record 1,556 games at first base when the team played in Boston. Tenney was a great player on both sides of the game and an on-and-off player/manager. From 1894 to 1911, he maintained a .300 batting average with a .376 OBP and 111 OPS+. He racked up 2,231 hits, 1,278 runs and 42.8 WAR in 17 Major League seasons and his 260 stolen bases in Boston remain one of the top five totals in Braves history.

Andres Galarraga:

Five-time All-Star Andres Galarraga was Atlanta’s power-hitting first baseman from 1998 to 2000. After an outstanding 1998 season in which he batted .305, belted 44 home runs and drove in 121 RBI, Galarraga faced the ultimate adversity as he battled lymphoma. His return to the field in 2000 yielded another 100 RBI season, his final All-Star appearance and the NL Comeback Player of the Year award. Galarraga retired from baseball in 2004 with career totals of 2,333 hits and 399 home runs.

Earl Torgeson:

Earl Torgeson was a great lefty first baseman and a complete player who was one of the best at getting on base in an era before the value of OBP was truly recognized. Spending his first six Major League seasons with the Boston Braves, Torgeson batted .265 with 478 walks against 294 strikeouts in 720 games. He ranked in the top ten in walks six times and stolen bases seven times. As a Brave, he posted a .385 OBP and 122 OPS+.

Honorable mentions: Orlando Cepeda, John Morrill, Chris Chambliss and Tommy Tucker.

Sources:

Atlanta Braves Team History & Encyclopedia, Baseball-Reference.com

More from this contributor:

Atlanta Braves top five catchers

Boston Red Sox top five catchers

Chicago Cubs top five catchers

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November 15, 2011 – International League (IL) Gwinnett Braves
Lawrenceville, GA – Former Gwinnett Braves right-hander Craig Kimbrel received the 2011 National
League Rookie of the Year award in an announcement made Monday by the Atlanta Braves. A dominant
closer for the G-Braves in 2010 that fulfilled the same role with Atlanta in 2011, Kimbrel secured all 32
first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in becoming the seventh Atlanta
Braves player to win the award all-time.

Kimbrel edged teammate and fellow former G-Brave Freddie Freeman, who earned 21 second-place
votes and seven third-place votes.

Kimbrel, 23, set a Major League rookie record with 46 saves in 2011, going 4-3 with a 2.10 ERA (18 ER
in 77.0 IP) and 127 strikeouts in 79 appearances. Major League opponents hit just .178 against him in
his first full professional season. In 2010, he went 4-0 with one save and a 0.44 ERA in 21 outings for the
Braves, but did not qualify for Rookie of the Year voting.

Originally drafted by the Braves in the third round in 2008 out of Wallace State Community College (AL),
Kimbrel pitched two scoreless outings with Gwinnett in 2009 and enjoyed breakout success with the G-
Braves in 2010. He went 3-2 with 23 saves and a 1.62 ERA (10 ER in 55.2 IP) in 48 International League
outings that season. Kimbrel shared the club’s “Most Outstanding Pitcher” of 2010 award with right-
hander Stephen Marek.

Kimbrel is the first Braves player to win the award since Rafael Furcal in 2000 and the first unanimous NL
Rookie of the Year selection since Albert Pujols of St. Louis in 2001.

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by

By Mark Bowman, from MLB.com

Atlanta Braves

ATLANTA — Brian McCann endured one of the worst six-week stretches of his career after returning from the disabled list in August. But his late-season slide did not keep him from becoming the first player to win five Silver Slugger Awards while playing for the Braves.

McCann joined rare company Wednesday when it was announced he won his fifth career Silver Slugger Award. It marks the fourth consecutive year the Braves catcher has been bestowed with this honor, which is given to the top offensive performer at each position in both the National and American Leagues.

With just six full Major League seasons under his belt, the 27-year-old McCann becomes the sixth catcher to win at least five Silver Slugger Awards. The others are Mike Piazza (10), Ivan Rodriguez (seven), Lance Parrish (six), Gary Carter (five) and Jorge Posada (five).

This marks the seventh time in the past nine years that a Braves catcher has won a Silver Slugger Award. Javy Lopez grabbed the honor in 2003, and Johnny Estrada won it in ‘04. McCann won his first in ‘06.

Tom Glavine and Dale Murphy stand as the only other players to win four Silver Slugger Awards while playing for the Braves.

Even with his late struggles, McCann ended this past season with a .270 batting average, 24 home runs and a .817 OPS. He led all Major League catchers in home runs and ranked second in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) to Arizona’s Miguel Montero (.820).

It took McCann some time to find his power this year, as he totaled just seven extra-base hits (two home runs) through May 16. But with some help from his older brother Brad, a former minor league player, the catcher righted himself and went on a tear that provided reason to wonder if he might hit 30 homers for the first time in his career.

McCann batted .323 with 16 home runs and a 1.013 OPS during a 53-game stretch from May 17 until July 26, the day he strained his left oblique muscle and altered the course of his season.

Anxious to begin helping his teammates again, McCann returned to the Atlanta lineup on Aug. 14. Over the next six weeks, it would become apparent that he returned far too soon.

McCann batted .180 with six home runs and a .638 OPS in 37 games after returning from the disabled list. His batting average dipped from .306 to .270, and his slugging percentage from .514 to .466 during that stretch.

By Eddie Maisonet

– Newsdesk contributor

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Nov 2, 2011 – On Wednesday All-Star catcher Brian McCann became only the third Atlanta Braves to win four or more Silver Slugger awards, joining Tom Glavine and Dale Murphy as the only members of the esteemed fraternity. McCann hit .270 with 24 home runs and 71 RBIs on the season as the Braves missed the playoffs by one game.

The Silver Slugger Award is awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers of Major League Baseball. Here is the full list of players who won the award this year.

 

For the latest news and analysis on the Braves off-season, head over to Talking Chop, and for more information on baseball’s hot-stove season, check out our MLB news hub.

Read More: Brian McCann (C – ATL), Atlanta Braves

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Qualifier: players will be classified under one position even if they played at more than one.

Joe Torre:

Before becoming one of the most prominent managers in Major League Baseball, Joe Torre was a five-time All-Star for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves. Torre gave the Braves one of the best hitters at his position in the 1960s. He batted .294 with a .818 OPS over 1,037 games with the Braves. Torre later won a National League MVP and went to four more All-Star Games with the St. Louis Cardinals. In his 18-year career as a whole, he racked up 2,342 hits, 252 home runs and 1,185 RBI.

Del Crandall:

Del Crandall was an eight-time All-Star backstop for the Braves from 1949 to 1963. In 1,394 games with the Braves, Crandall maintained a .257 batting average and slugged .412. Defensively, he won four Gold Gloves and tossed out 46 percent of base-stealers. Crandall was a part of the Braves’ second World Series Championship team in 1957. Like Torre, Crandall went on to manage in the majors with the Milwaukee Brewers and Seattle Mariners.

Javy Lopez:

One of the best offensive catchers in recent Major League history, three-time All-Star Javy Lopez played his first 12 seasons with Atlanta from 1992 to 2003. Lopez was a .287 hitter with a 113 OPS+ (league average is 100) over 1,156 games behind the plate in Atlanta. He went to nine playoffs and won a World Series with the Braves in 1995. Lopez capped his Braves career with a brilliant 2003 season in which he cracked 43 home runs, drove in 109 RBI and posted a 1.065 OPS.

Brian McCann(notes):

Current Braves catcher Brian McCann has been a NL All-Star in each of his six full seasons in the big leagues. McCann has hit 20 home runs and topped the .800 OPS mark five times in the last six years, pulling in four Silver Sluggers in the process. His bat has been worth 21.8 wins above replacement for a team that competes for a playoff spot year in and year out. Through 882 games in the majors, McCann boasts 878 hits and 136 home runs.

Hank Gowdy:

Longtime Boston Braves catcher Hank Gowdy was the starting backstop for the Braves’ first World Series winner in 1914. Gowdy played for the Braves for 14 years over two stints from 1911 to 1930. Behind the dish, he threw out 51% of potential base-stealers overall, twice leading the NL in the category. Gowdy was a career .270 hitter with a 104 OPS+. He reached as high as 35.9% in the Hall of Fame voting, but never made it in.

Sources:

Atlanta Braves Team History & Encyclopedia, Baseball-Reference.com

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