1993 Atlanta Braves season

1993 Atlanta Braves
1993 NL West Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Fulton County Stadium (since 1966)
Atlanta (since 1966)
Results
Record	104–58 (.642)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	Ted Turner
General manager(s)	John Schuerholz
Manager(s)	Bobby Cox
Local television	WTBS TBS Superstation (Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson) SportSouth (Ernie Johnson, Ernie Johnson, Jr.)
Local radio	WGST (Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson)
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The 1993 Atlanta Braves season was the Braves' 128th in existence and their 28th since moving to Atlanta. The Braves were looking to improve on their 98-64 record from 1992 and win the National League pennant for a third consecutive year.

The Braves finished the season with a 104-58 record to win the National League West for the third consecutive year after trailing the San Francisco Giants, who finished in second place by one game, for most of the season in what is generally regarded as last real pennant race before playoff expansion.^[1] 1993 was also the last year that the team competed in the National League West, as they would shift to the National League East for 1994.

Despite their excellent regular season, the Braves' streak of National League pennants ended at two as they fell to the underdog Philadelphia Phillies in six games in the National League Championship Series. By a twist of fate, the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Phillies in-state rivals, in back-to-back NLCS series in 1991 and 1992, but in 1993, lost to the Pirates in-state rivals.

Offseason

• December 7, 1992: Billy Taylor was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Atlanta Braves in the 1992 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• December 9, 1992: Greg Maddux was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[3]
• December 21, 1992: Randy St. Claire was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[4]
• December 21, 1992: Jerry Willard was signed as a Free Agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[5]

Regular season

• At the end of August, the Atlanta Braves tried to acquire Dennis Martínez from the Montreal Expos. The Expos placed Martinez's name on the waiver wire and the Braves claimed him. The Expos were not about to let Martinez go to Atlanta for the waiver fee of $20,000. After claiming Martinez, the Expos contacted the Braves to see if they were interested in talking about a trade. Martinez had the final word on any movement because his seniority gives him veto rights over a trade.^[6]
• On September 11, 1993, Chipper Jones made his major league baseball debut.^[7] It was in a game against the San Diego Padres. Jones did not have any at-bats in the game.^[8]

Transactions

• April 3, 1993: Billy Taylor was returned (earlier draft pick) by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Atlanta Braves.^[2]
• April 13, 1993: Mark Davis was traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies for Brad Hassinger (minors).^[9]
• May 3, 1993: Randy St. Claire was released by the Atlanta Braves.^[4]
• June 3, 1993: John Rocker was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 18th round of the 1993 amateur draft. Player signed August 23, 1993.^[10]
• July 18, 1993: Fred McGriff was traded by the San Diego Padres to the Atlanta Braves for Melvin Nieves, Donnie Elliott, and Vince Moore (minors).

Opening Day starters

• Jeff Blauser
• Sid Bream
• Ron Gant
• Tom Glavine
• David Justice
• Mark Lemke
• Greg Olson
• Terry Pendleton
• Deion Sanders^[11]

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Atlanta Braves	104	58	0.642	—	51–30	53–28
San Francisco Giants	103	59	0.636	1	50–31	53–28
Houston Astros	85	77	0.525	19	44–37	41–40
Los Angeles Dodgers	81	81	0.500	23	41–40	40–41
Cincinnati Reds	73	89	0.451	31	41–40	32–49
Colorado Rockies	67	95	0.414	37	39–42	28–53
San Diego Padres	61	101	0.377	43	34–47	27–54

Record vs. opponents

1993 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	COL	FLA	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	7–5	10–3	13–0	7–5	8–5	8–5	7–5	9–3	6–6	7–5	9–4	7–6	6–6
Chicago	5–7	—	7–5	8–4	6–7	4–8	7–5	5–8–1	8–5	7–6	5–8	8–4	6–6	8–5
Cincinnati	3–10	5–7	—	9–4	7–5	6–7	5–8	4–8	6–6	4–8	8–4	9–4	2–11	5–7
Colorado	0–13	4–8	4–9	—	7–5	11–2	7–6	3–9	6–6	3–9	8–4	6–7	3–10	5–7
Florida	5–7	7–6	5–7	5–7	—	3–9	5–7	5–8	4–9	4–9	6–7	7–5	4–8	4–9
Houston	5–8	8–4	7–6	2–11	9–3	—	9–4	5–7	11–1	5–7	7–5	8–5	3–10	6–6
Los Angeles	5–8	5–7	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	—	6–6	8–4	2–10	8–4	9–4	7–6	6–6
Montreal	5–7	8–5–1	8–4	9–3	8–5	7–5	6–6	—	9–4	6–7	8–5	10–2	3–9	7–6
New York	3–9	5–8	6–6	6–6	9–4	1–11	4–8	4–9	—	3–10	4–9	5–7	4–8	5–8
Philadelphia	6-6	6–7	8–4	9–3	9–4	7–5	10–2	7–6	10–3	—	7–6	6–6	4–8	8–5
Pittsburgh	5–7	8–5	4–8	4–8	7–6	5–7	4–8	5–8	9–4	6–7	—	9–3	5–7	4–9
San Diego	4–9	4–8	4–9	7–6	5–7	5–8	4–9	2–10	7–5	6–6	3–9	—	3–10	7–5
San Francisco	6–7	6–6	11–2	10–3	8–4	10–3	6–7	9–3	8–4	8–4	7–5	10–3	—	4–8
St. Louis	6–6	5–8	7–5	7–5	9–4	6–6	6–6	6–7	8–5	5–8	9–4	5–7	8–4	—

Roster

1993 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 33 Steve Avery 51 Pedro Borbón, Jr. 40 Marvin Freeman 47 Tom Glavine 52 Jay Howell 31 Greg Maddux 38 Greg McMichael 50 Kent Mercker 25 Pete Smith 29 John Smoltz 30 Mike Stanton 43 Mark Wohlers		Catchers 11 Damon Berryhill  8 Javy López 10 Greg Olson Infielders  2 Rafael Belliard  4 Jeff Blauser 12 Sid Bream 19 Francisco Cabrera 14 Brian Hunter 16 Chipper Jones 18 Ryan Klesko 20 Mark Lemke 27 Fred McGriff 32 Bill Pecota  9 Terry Pendleton		Outfielders  5 Ron Gant 23 David Justice  1 Otis Nixon 24 Deion Sanders 26 Tony Tarasco		Manager  6 Bobby Cox Coaches 37 Jim Beauchamp (bench) 39 Pat Corrales (first base) 28 Clarence Jones (hitting) 54 Leo Mazzone (pitching) 22 Jimy Williams (third base) 52 Ned Yost (bullpen)

Player stats

Batting

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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

National League Championship Series

Game 1

October 6: Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	9	0
Philadelphia	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	9	1
W: Mitch Williams (1-0)   L: Greg McMichael (0-1)   S: None
HR: ATL – None  PHI – Pete Incaviglia
Pitchers: ATL – Avery (6), Mercker (2), McMichael (1 ^1⁄3)  PHI – Schilling (8), Williams (2)
Attendance: 62,012  Time: 3:33

Game 2

October 7: Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	2	0	6	0	1	0	0	4	1	14	16	0
Philadelphia	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	7	2
W: Greg Maddux (1-0)   L: Tommy Greene (0-1)   S: None
HR: ATL – Fred McGriff, Jeff Blauser, Damon Berryhill, Terry Pendleton  PHI – Dave Hollins, Lenny Dykstra
Pitchers: ATL – Maddux (7), Stanton (1), Wohlers (1)  PHI – Greene (2 ^1⁄3), Thigpen (2/3), Rivera (2), Mason (2), West (1), Andersen (1)
Attendance: 62,346  Time: 3:14

Game 3

October 9: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	4	10	1
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	5	4	0	X	9	12	0
W: Tom Glavine (1-0)  L: Terry Mulholland (0-1)   S: None
HR: PHI – John Kruk  ATL – None
Pitchers: PHI – Mulholland (5), Mason (1), Andersen (1/3), West (2/3), Thigpen (1)  ATL – Glavine (7), Mercker (1), McMichael (1)
Attendance: 52,032  Time: 2:44

Game 4

October 10: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	1
Atlanta	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	10	1
W: Danny Jackson (1-0)  L: John Smoltz (0-1)   S: Mitch Williams (1)
HR: PHI – None  ATL – None
Pitchers: PHI – Jackson (7 ^2⁄3)), Williams (1 ^1⁄3)  ATL – Smoltz (6 ^1⁄3), Mercker (2/3), Wohlers (2)
Attendance: 52,032  Time: 3:33

Game 5

October 11: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Philadelphia	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	6	1
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	7	1
W: Mitch Williams (2-0)   L: Mark Wohlers (0-1)   S: Larry Andersen (1)
HR: PHI – Darren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra  ATL – None
Pitchers: PHI – Schilling (8), Williams (1), Andersen (1)  ATL – Avery (7), Mercker (1), McMichael (1), Wohlers (1)
Attendance: 52,032  Time: 3:21

Game 6

October 13: Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	3	5	3
Philadelphia	0	0	2	0	2	2	0	0	0	6	7	1
W: Tommy Greene (1-1)   L: Greg Maddux (1-1)   S: Mitch Williams (2)
HR: ATL – Jeff Blauser  PHI – Dave Hollins
Pitchers: ATL – Maddux (5 ^2⁄3), Mercker (1/3), McMichael (2/3), Wohlers (1 ^1⁄3)  PHI – Greene (7), West (1), Williams (1)
Attendance: 62,502  Time: 3:04

Award winners

• David Justice, OF, Silver Slugger
• Greg Maddux, National League Cy Young Award
• Greg Maddux, Pitcher of the Month, August
• Greg Maddux, P, Gold Glove
• Greg Maddux, The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award
• Fred McGriff, 1B, Silver Slugger

1993 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Grady Little
AA	Greenville Braves	Southern League	Bruce Kimm
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Leon Roberts
A	Macon Braves	South Atlantic League	Randy Ingle
Rookie	Danville Braves	Appalachian League	Bruce Benedict
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Jim Saul
Rookie	Idaho Falls Braves	Pioneer League	Paul Runge

^[12]

References

1. Weintraub, Robert. "E-ticket: The Last Real Race". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
2. http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/taylobi04.shtml
3. http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maddugr01.shtml
4. http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/st.clra01.shtml
5. http://www.baseball-reference.com/w/willaje01.shtml
6. Chass, Murray (August 29, 1993). "NOTEBOOK; Baseball Confidential: Piercing Waiver Wire's Code of Silence". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
8. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=199309110SDN
9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/davisma01.shtml
10. John Rocker Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
11. http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1993&t=ATL
12. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

• 1993 Atlanta Braves at Baseball Reference
• Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac