The 1995 Atlanta Braves: The Year They Finished The Job

The Atlanta Braves came into 1995 as perhaps baseball’s flagship franchise in the first part of the 1990s. They won National League pennants in 1991 and 1992, reached the NLCS in 1993 and were decisively on a path to make the playoffs again in 1994 when the August strike cancelled the season. But while no team in the game had been as consistently excellent in this stretch, Atlanta could not lay claim to flagship status until they got a ring. In 1995, that ring came.

THE LEGENDARY ROTATION

Brave pitching in this era was legendary and the ’95 rotation was no exception. The Hall of Fame trio of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz led the way.

Maddux was the clear ace, going 19-2 with a 1.63 ERA, winning his fourth straight NL Cy Young Award and coming in third in the MVP voting. Maddux’s insanely good ERA looks even better when you consider that this was the season offenses started exploding across MLB.

Glavine came in third in the ’95 NL Cy Young tally, winning 16 games finishing with a 3.08 ERA. Smoltz added 12 more wins with a 3.18 ERA.

Even the back end of the rotation was no picnic. Steve Avery had looked every bit as promising as the Big Three just a few years earlier. But while Avery never reached that level in his career, he was still a functional fourth starter, with a 4.67 ERA. Kent Mercker rounded out the rotation with an ERA that came in at 4.15.

Mark Wohlers anchored the bullpen, his 2.09 ERA leading to 25 saves. Greg McMichael and Brad Clontz aren’t big names, but they were reliable bridges from the starters to the closers.

At this point, it almost seems redundant to say that Atlanta’s staff ERA was the best in the National League.

JUST ENOUGH OFFENSE

Braves’ pitching needed to be good because the offense was below average. There were some good players to be sure. Fred McGriff was at first base and hit 27 home runs and finished with a .361 on-base percentage. Across the infield, a future Hall of Famer named Chipper Jones broke into the majors and hit 23 home runs.

The outfield offered similar power at the corners, with leftfielder Ryan Klesko and rightfielder David Justice combining to hit 47 more home runs. In centerfield, Marquis Grissom gave the lineup a little juice, with 29 stolen bases.

Atlanta’s consistent power and ability to draw walks helped mask the fact they didn’t hit for average. But in this age of offenses scoring runs by the bushel, a few power hitters couldn’t mask everything. The Braves finished ninth in the National League for runs scored.

FINDING THEIR RHYTHM

The strike and lockout that ended 1994 didn’t get resolved until spring training, and a shortened 144-game schedule began in late April. Atlanta shot out of the starting gate and won seven of their first eight games. But the Philadelphia Phillies came to town and handed the Braves four straight losses. Atlanta then dropped a series to the New York Mets and another one to the contending Cincinnati Reds.

Their record now at .500, and the Phils off to a blazing start, the Braves righted the ship. They won three of four at home over the playoff-bound Colorado Rockies, starting a 10-3 stretch that got the record to 19-12 by Memorial Day. Atlanta was three games off the NL East pace being set by Philadelphia. The Montreal Expos (today’s Washington Nationals) who had been Atlanta’s key rival a year ago, were four games out.

STAYING IN THE RACE

The up-and-down sequences continued in early summer. The Braves lost five of six out of the holiday weekend. Winning six of nine again stabilized things. Atlanta went to Colorado and their pitching put on a vintage display—facing a good lineup in the Coors Field environment, the Braves held the Rockies to five runs over three games, sweeping the series.

After splitting four games in Cincinnati, Atlanta went on to win five of the next seven. That included a home series win at Montreal, who would not keep up the pace this season. The Braves were 2 ½ games behind the Phillies as they traveled to Philly for a four-game set on June 30.

TURNING POINT

The series didn’t begin well. Smoltz pitched well on Friday night and took a shutout into the seventh inning. But the Braves only mustered five hits, and when the Phils finally got to Smoltz, the result was a 3-1 loss. The offense still struggled with consistency on Friday night—but a three-run blast from Justice in the fourth inning was all Maddux needed to get a 3-1 win.

On Sunday afternoon, it was backup outfielder Mike Kelly coming through. His two-out/two-run double was the key to a four-run outburst in the fourth inning. Glavine worked seven good innings and Wohlers got the last four outs in a 5-3 win.

More backups delivered in Monday night’s wraparound finale. Infielder Rafael Belliard had three hits. Catcher Charlie O’Brien drove in three runs. They joined regulars McGriff and Justice in leading the way to an offensive eruption. Avery was brilliant, Atlanta led 10-0 by the eighth inning and wrapped up a 10-3 win.

After Philadelphia’s hot start, the Braves were still within a half-game in early July. And the following week got even better. Atlanta swept the eventual NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Francisco Giants. This came in conjunction with the Phillies starting to slide. By the All-Star break, Atlanta was 44-25 and 4 ½ games in front. The margin was similar in the race for what was then just one wild-card berth per league.

PULLING AWAY

The Braves played pretty good baseball out of the break, winning 12 of 19. Just as important was that the Phillies continued to lag. Atlanta’s lead stretched out to a comfortable 8 ½ games by the time August arrived. Philadelphia came south for a three-game series. This was the Braves’ chance to really put their foot down in this race.

Avery pitched the opener and lost a tough 4-3 decision on Tuesday night. Atlanta’s offense showed it strengths and flaws—a three-run blast by Chipper but only four hits on the night. But just like the trip to Philly a month earlier, the opening game would not tell the story of this series.

The Brave bats came out hitting on Wednesday evening. It was 6-0 after three innings, with Justice homering and McGriff ripping a two-run double with two outs. Mercker was on the mound and was a little spotty. The Phillies got back in the game, but Wohlers was able to secure the last four outs of a 7-5 win.

Thursday night’s rubber match saw Atlanta trail 4-3 in the ninth. Justice doubled to get a rally going. Following an error, catcher Javy Lopez singled to tie the game. Second baseman Mark Lemke singled to win it. The Braves were 9 ½ games clear in the NL East.

WRAPPING IT UP

The trendline of Atlanta and Philadelphia continued throughout the month of August, and the Braves were 75-44 with a 14 ½ game lead on Labor Day. The division race was all but over. Moreover, MLB did not yet use merit-based seeding for homefield advantage in the playoffs. The format pre-assigned how each division champ would be paired up before the season began.

Which is the formal way of saying there was nothing left to play for except the official clinching. The magic number was down to two by September 13. On a Wednesday afternoon getaway day in Colorado, McGriff hit a three-run homer that keyed a 9-7 win. That night, Atlanta got word that Philadelphia lost in Montreal. The NL East race was over.

It was anticlimactic, to be sure, but Atlanta was now beyond the point where division titles triggered a major celebration. The champagne they really wanted couldn’t be opened until October.

PUSHED BY COLORADO

The lack of merit-based seeding didn’t end up hurting the Braves. Their 90-54 record was the best in the National League, and they drew the wild-card Rockies in the Division Series. Colorado had a potent offense that could do major damage in a short series. And they gave Atlanta all they could handle.

The Braves broke a tie game in the ninth inning of Game 1 and rallied from behind in the ninth inning to win Game 2. They lost in extra innings in Game 3. Finally, in Game 4, Atlanta made it a little easier on themselves. McGriff homered twice and the Braves cruised to a 10-4 win to close the series.

READ THE GAME-GAME  NARRATIVE OF THE 1995 NLDS

SWEEPING OUT THE REDS

Cincinnati had been the National League’s second-best team, with MVP shortstop Barry Larkin leading the way. But Atlanta was now rolling and they were getting comfortable closing out tight wins in the postseason. Games 1 & 2 both went extra innings. The Braves won both times.

On the threshold of a pennant, the pitchers took over. Maddux delivered a Game 3 win. Avery dealt a shutout in Game 4. Atlanta had their third pennant of the 1990s.

READ THE GAME-BY-GAME NARRATIVE OF THE 1995 NLCS

PITCHING BEATS POWER

The final showdown was at hand. The Cleveland Indians were the only team in the majors who had won more games than the Braves, racking up 100 wins, even in the shortened schedule. Cleveland had a fearsome offense led by Albert Belle, and including a young Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez.

It was the ultimate hitting vs. pitching showdown. With one caveat—the Indians could actually pitch pretty well too. Not as a good as the Braves, but good by the standards of this era. Taking that long-awaited last step would not be easy.

The close games continued, and so did Atlanta’s ability to win them. They got one-run wins behind Maddux and Glavine to set the tone for the series. An 11-inning loss in Game 3 tightened the Fall Classic back up. In one of the most important starts of the Braves’ entire 1990s dominant run, Avery stepped up in Game 4 and delivered. Atlanta moved to the brink of a title.

A Game 5 loss sent the series back south (homefield in the World Series was also determined by a rotation system, not won-loss record). Glavine took matters into his own hands. Facing the best offense of the decade, Glavine was only given one run to work with. It was all he needed. A magnificent one-hitter, one of the great pitching performances in World Series lore, punctuated the rise to the top. For the first time since moving to Atlanta in 1966, the Braves were champs.

READ THE GAME-BY-GAME NARRATIVE OF THE 1995 WORLD SERIES

A LEGACY SAVED

Atlanta continued to be one of baseball’s elite teams for another decade. They won the NL East every year through 2005. They won pennants in 1996 and 1999. But this 1995 season was their one trip to the mountaintop. It was the year that saved the legacy of this era of Braves’ baseball.