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Who are the top Atlanta Braves of all time? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Andruw Jones: one of the greatest defensive outfielders ever, Jones was a 5x All-Star and won ten straight Gold Gloves with the Braves while hitting over 350 career home runs with the team, including a career-high 51 in his near-MVP 2005 campaign.
9. Dale Murphy: one of MLB’s top players of the 1980s, Murphy won back-to-back MVP awards with Atlanta in 1982 and 1983 while also earning seven All-Star selections, five Gold Gloves, and four Silver Sluggers in his prime.
8. Phil Niekro: a knuckleballer who spent over two decades with the Braves, Niekro was a 5x All-Star (4x with the Braves) and 5x Gold Glover who had three 20-win seasons en route to over 300 total victories in his Hall of Fame career.
7. Tom Glavine: a 2x Cy Young winner, Glavine was an 8x All-Star pitcher and 5x 20-game winner with the Braves (10x overall) en route to 305 career wins; as part of the team’s vaunted pitching triumvirate with Greg Maddux and John Smoltz, he was named MVP of the team’s 1995 World Series triumph.
6. John Smoltz: with 200+ career wins and 150+ career saves, Smoltz was both an elite starter and closer with the Braves (8x All-Star), winning the 1996 Cy Young Award with a 24-8 record and later leading baseball with 55 saves in 2002.
5. Chipper Jones: the face of the Braves franchise for nearly 20 years, Jones was one of the best switch-hitters in MLB history; the 8x All-Star and 1999 NL MVP is one of five players ever with 2,500+ hits, 1,500+ walks, 500+ doubles, 450+ home runs, and 1,500+ runs batted in with a .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, and .500 slugging percentage.
4. Greg Maddux: though his career was split between the Braves and the Chicago Cubs, Maddux had his greatest successes in Atlanta, winning three of his four consecutive Cy Youngs (leading the league in ERA each year), making six All-Star teams, and winning 10 Gold Gloves (out of a record 18 total).
3. Eddie Mathews: the only player to represent the Braves in three different cities (Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta), Mathews was a 12x All-Star who teamed up with Hank Aaron to form one of the greatest power-hitting duos of all-time and was the first third baseman with 500 career home runs (512).
2. Warren Spahn: a 17x All-Star who ranks sixth all-time with 363 career wins (the most in the live-ball era and for a lefty), Spahn spent 20 years with the team and had an incredible 13 20-win seasons, culminating with the Cy Young Award and a World Series title in 1957.
1. Hank Aaron: best remembered for breaking Babe Ruth’s career home run record, Aaron also earned 25 All-Star selections and won the 1957 NL MVP; moreover, he was a career .300+ hitter who won two batting titles and accumulated 3,771 career hits, stole 240 career bases, and won three Gold Gloves.
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: This list includes players who played for the Boston Braves and Milwaukee Braves.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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