When the Braves Ruled the Diamond: Fourteen Flags over Atlanta by Dan Schlossberg Bobby Cox

Author:Dan Schlossberg,Bobby Cox
Format: epub
Publisher: Perseus Books, LLC
Published: 2016-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

The stoic southpaw refused to admit he was superstitious but acted otherwise. He always took the same number of warmup pitches, sat in the same spot in the dugout, hung his jacket on the same hook, and took off his cap and put it back on his head three times when on the mound. During one game, he lost the gum he was chewing, grabbed it off the dugout floor, washed it off, and put it back in his mouth. Glavine was merely following the advice of Ralph Kiner, the Hall of Fame outfielder who always stepped over the white lines when running to his position. “I’m not superstitious,” he said, “but I didn’t want to take any chances.”

Fellow left-handers Avery, third in the league in wins, and Charlie Leibrandt, the stablizier of an inexperienced staff, started 69 games and won 33 of them. Avery won his final five to become the youngest 18-game winner in Braves history. Smoltz also finished strong, winning eight of his last nine.

In the bullpen, Berenguer and Pena blew only one of a combined 28 save opportunities while the left-handed Mike Stanton proved a durable and dependable setup man. Mark Wohlers, who would blossom into a quality closer later, even worked in 17 games after making his major league debut in 1991.

The team’s biggest surprise was the 30-year-old Pendleton, whose availability through free agency did not convince many suitors. He not only led the league with a .319 batting average but finished first in hits and total bases and third in slugging. He was rewarded after the season with the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award, Comeback Player of the Year honors, and a Gold Glove for fielding excellence. That made him the first Brave to win MVP honors since Dale Murphy won back-to-back trophies in 1982–83 and the first to win a batting title since Ralph Garr in 1974.

Stealing Pays

One of the reasons the 1991 Braves outlasted their opposition was good team speed. “We started adding speed right away,” said Ron Gant en route to his second straight 30–30 year. “We knew we were going to be able to steal bases with guys like Otis Nixon, Deion Sanders, and myself. Speed never goes into a slump. So getting speed was kind of conventional thinking by the organization.”

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