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The Atlanta Braves are a Major League Baseball team based in Atlanta, Georgia . They are in the Eastern Division Of The National League . They are most recently known for their ongoing record of 14 consecutive division championships from 1991 to 2005 (with the exception of the strike-shortened 1994 season), the most in any professional North American sport. The Braves have won 16 divisional titles, 17 National League pennants, and 3 World Series championships ( 1914 , 1957 , and 1995 ). FRANCHISE HISTORY The Boston years The Atlanta Braves are the oldest Major League franchise in continuous existence today. It began in Boston in 1871 , when several star players from the Cincinnati Red Stockings , the first openly professional team in baseball, moved to Boston and formed a team there in the National Association called the Boston Red Stockings. The team was led by Harry and George Wright, the driving forces behind the Cincinnati team. The team became one of the National League's charter franchises in 1876 , changing their nickname to the '''Red Caps.''' They became the Beaneaters in 1883 . The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the league's dominant teams in the 19th century, winning eight pennants. For most of that time, their Manager was Frank Selee , the first manager not to double as a player as well. The 1898 team finished 102-47, a record for wins that would stand for almost a century. The team, however, was decimated when the American League 's Boston Americans (later the Pilgrims) set up shop in 1901 . Many of the Beaneaters' stars jumped to the new team, which offered contracts that the Beaneaters' owners didn't even bother to match. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913 , and lost 100 games five times. In 1906, the Beaneaters eliminated the last bit of red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to get infected. The AL Pilgrims' owner, Charles Taylor, wasted little time in changing his team's name to the Red Sox . Nickname changes to the Doves in 1907 and the Pilgrims in 1911 did nothing to change their luck. The team became the Braves for the first time in 1912 . Their owner, James Gaffney, was nicknamed "the Brave of Tammany Hall ." Two Years Later , the Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4-18 start, the fanbase was turned off, as it looked like the Braves were headed for another bottom-feeder season. Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. After losing both games of a Fourth Of July doubleheader to the visiting Brooklyn Dodgers , the Braves were in last place at 26-40, 15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants . The only man left believing was the team's manager, "Miracle Man" George Stallings . Slowly, the team began to turn itself around. It had solidified around the phenomenal double-play tandem of Rabbit Maranville and Johnny Evers (of "Tinker to Evers to Chance" fame), and a strong starting rotation led by Lefty Tyler , Dick Rudolph , and Bill James . When the team rallied to sweep the Cincinnati Reds in a doubleheader on July 19, Stallings declared that the team was playing ball better than any other in the league, and was ready to catch New York. From there came a romp unmatched in baseball history. When the Giants came to Boston for a three-game series on September 7-8, the Braves had won 41 of 53 games since July 4. Boston won two of the three contests to take sole possession of first place. From that point, the Braves won 25 of their final 31 games, while the Giants went 16-16. The Braves went 68-19 after July 4 to win their first pennant since 1898 . Incredibly, they finished 10.5 games ahead of the second place Giants. They are still the only team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July. The Braves entered the World Series as a heavy underdog to Connie Mack 's Philadelphia A's . Nevertheless, the Braves dominated the series in every phase, and swept away the favored Athletics--the second sweep in the history of the modern World Series--to win the world championship. The turnaround was complete. The team was at the top of the league in both pitching, and hitting, and its leader, Evers, won the Chalmers Award, which is equivalent to today's MVP. A miraculous season of these proportions has never been seen since in professional sports. However, the Braves were forced to play the World Series (and before then, the last few games of the 1914 season) in the rival Red Sox' Fenway Park since their normal home, the South End Grounds , was too small. However, the Braves' success led Gaffney to build a much more modern park, Braves Field , which opened late in the 1915 season. It was the largest park in the majors at the time, with 40,000 seats. However, that number was rarely approached in the next few seasons. After contending for most of 1915 and 1916 , the Braves only posted two non-losing records from 1917 to 1932 . The lone highlight of those years came when Judge Emil Fuchs bought the team in 1923 to bring his longtime friend, pitching great Christy Mathewson back into the game. However, Mathewson died in 1925 , leaving Fuchs in control of the team. Fuchs was committed to building a winner, but the damage from the years prior to his arrival took awhile to overcome. The Braves finally managed to compete 1933 and 1934 under manager Bill McKechnie , but Fuchs' revenue was severely depleted due to the Great Depression . Looking for a way to get more fans and more money, Fuchs worked out a deal with the New York Yankees to acquire Babe Ruth , who had ironically started his career with the Red Sox. Fuchs made Ruth vice president of the team with a share of the Braves' profits. He also became assistant manager to McKechnie. Fuchs even suggested that Ruth, who had long had his heart set on managing, could take over as manager once McKechnie stepped down. At first, it looked like Ruth was the final piece team needed in 1935 . On opening day, he had a hand in all of the Braves' runs in a 4-2 win over the Giants. However, it went downhill quickly from there. Ruth's power completely disappeared, and his fielding was abysmal. It soon became obvious that he was vice president and assistant manager in name only and Fuchs' promise of a share of team profits was hot air. Seeing a franchise in complete disarray, Ruth retired on June 1 --only six days after clouting what turned out to be the last three Home Run s of his career. The Braves finished 38-115, the worst season in franchise history. Their .248 winning percentage is the third-worst in modern (post-1900) baseball history. Fuchs lost control of the team soon afterward, and the new owners tried to change the team's image by renaming it the Boston Bees. However, this did little to change the team's fortunes. After five uneven years, a new owner, construction magnate Lou Perini , changed the nickname back to the Braves. He immediately set about rebuilding the team. World War II slowed things down a little, but the team rode the pitching of Warren Spahn to impressive seasons in 1946 and 1947 . In 1948 the team won the pennant, behind the pitching of Spahn and Johnny Sain who won 39 games between them. The remainder of the rotation was so thin that in September, Boston Post writer Gerald Hern wrote this poem: First we'll use Spahn then we'll use Sain Then an off day followed by rain Back will come Spahn followed by Sain And followed we hope by two days of rain. The poem received such a wide audience that the sentiment, usually now paraphrased as ''"Spahn and Sain and pray for rain"'', entered the baseball vocabulary. Ironically, in the 1948 season, the Braves actually had a better record in games that Spahn and Sain ''did not'' start than in games they did. That turned out to be the Braves' last hurrah in Boston. Amid four mediocre seasons, attendance steadily dwindled until, on March 13 , 1953 , Perini, who had recently bought out his original partners, announced he was moving the team to Milwaukee , where the Braves had their top farm club, the Brewers . Milwaukee had long been a possible target for relocation - Bill Veeck had tried to move his St. Louis Browns there years earlier but was voted down by the other American League owners. The Milwaukee years Milwaukee went wild over the Braves, who were welcomed as genuine heroes. The Braves finished 92-62 in their first season in Milwaukee, and drew a then-NL record 1.8 million fans. As the 1950s progressed the reinvigorated Braves became increasingly competitive. Sluggers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron drove the offense (they would hit a combined 863 home runs as Braves), whilst Spahn, Lew Burdette and Bob Buhl anchored the rotation. In 1957, the Braves celebrated their first pennant in nine years led by Aaron's MVP Season, leading the National League in home runs and RBIs. The postseason culminated in the Braves' first World Series win in over 40 years, defeating the New York Yankees of Berra , Mantle and Ford in seven games. Burdette, the Series MVP, threw three complete game victories, giving up only two earned runs. In 1957, the Braves again won the National League pennant and jumped out to a three games to one lead in the World Series against New York once more, thanks in part to the strength of Spahn's and Burdette's pitching. But the Yankees stormed back to take the last three games, in large part to World Series MVP Bob Turley's pitching. The 1959 season saw the Braves finish the season in a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers , but Milwaukee fell in a three-game playoff with two straight losses to the Dodgers. The Dodgers would go on to defeat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series. Many residents of Chicago and Milwaukee had been hoping for a Sox-Braves Series, as the cities are only about 75 miles apart, but it was not to be. The next six years were the very definition of up-and-down for the Braves. The 1960 season featured two no-hitters by Burdette and Spahn, and Milwaukee finished seven games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in second place. The 1961 season saw a drop in the standings for the Braves (fourth), despite Warren Spahn recording his 300th victory and pitching another no-hitter that year. Hank Aaron hit 45 home runs in 1962, a Milwaukee career high for him, but that didn't translate in wins for the Braves as they finished fifth. In 1963, Aaron led the league with 44 home runs and Spahn was once again the ace of the staff, going 23-7. However, none of the other Braves produced at that level, and the team finished in the lower half of the league, or the "second division", for the first time in its short history in Milwaukee. The Braves were somewhat mediocre as the 1960s began, but fattened up on the expansion New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s . To this day, they are the only major league team who played more than one season and never had a losing record. Perini sold the Braves to a Chicago -based group led by William Bartholomay in 1962 . The ink was barely dry on the deal when Bartholomay started shopping the Braves to a larger television market. Keen to attract them, the fast-growing city of Atlanta constructed a new ballpark, Atlanta Stadium, which was officially opened in 1965. The Braves announced their intention to move to Atlanta for the 1965 season, but a lawsuit filed in Wisconsin kept the Braves in Milwaukee for one final year. In 1966, the Braves completed the move to Atlanta. The Atlanta years The Braves were a .500 team in the first few years in Atlanta--85-77 in 1966, 77-85 in 1967 and 81-81 in 1968 . The 1967 season was the Braves' first losing season since 1952, their last year in Boston. They won the 1969 NL West pennant, before being swept by the "Miracle Mets" in the NLCS. They would not be a factor for the rest of the decade, only posting two winning seasons between 1970 and 1981 --in some cases, fielding teams as bad as the worst Boston teams. In the meantime, fans had to be satisfied with the achievements of Hank Aaron . In the relatively hitter friendly confines of Atlanta Stadium ("The Launching Pad"), he actually increased his offensive production, and by the end of the 1973 season had hit 713 home runs, one short of Ruth's record. Throughout the winter he received racially motivated death threats, but stood up well under the pressure. The next season, it was only a matter of time before he set a new record. On April 4 he hit #714 in Cincinnati , and on April 8 , in front of his home fans, he finally beat Ruth's mark. In 1976 the team was purchased by media magnate Ted Turner , owner of Superstation WTBS . It was then that Atlanta Stadium was re-named Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium . Turner quickly gained a reputation as a quirky, hands-on baseball owner. On May 11, 1977, Turner appointed himself manager, but was ordered to relinquish that position after one game (the Braves lost 2-1 to the Pirates to bring their losing streak to 17 games). This is because MLB passed a rule in the 1950s barring managers from holding a financial stake in their team. After three straight losing seasons, Bobby Cox was hired for his first stint as manager of the franchise for the 1978 season. Cox promoted a 22-year-old slugger named Dale Murphy into the starting lineup. Murphy hit 77 home runs over the next three seasons, but struggled on defense, positioned at either catcher or first base while being unable to adeptly play either. However, in 1980, Murphy was moved to center field and demonstrated excellent range and throwing ability, while the Braves earned their first winning season since 1974. Cox was fired after the 1981 season and replaced with Joe Torre , under whose leadership the Braves attained their first divisional title since 1969. Strong performances from Bob Horner , Chris Chambliss , pitcher Phil Niekro , and short relief pitcher Gene Garber helped the Braves, but no Brave was more acclaimed than Murphy, who won both a Most Valuable Player and a Gold Glove award. Murphy also won a Most Valuable Player award the following season, but the Braves began a period of decline that defined the team throughout the 1980s. Murphy, excelling in defense, hitting, and running, was consistently recognized as one of the league's best players, but the Braves averaged only 65 wins per season between 1985-1990. The 1986 season saw the return of Bobby Cox to the Braves organization as general manager. Cox returned to the dugout as manager in the middle of the 1990 season, replacing Russ Nixon. Not only was this season a losing effort, the Braves traded Dale Murphy to the Philadelphia Phillies after it was clear he was becoming a less dominant player. However, pitching coach Leo Mazzone began training young pitchers Tom Glavine , Steve Avery , and John Smoltz . Perhaps the Braves' most important move, however, was not on the field, but in the front office. Immediately after the season, John Schuerholz was hired away from the Kansas City Royals as general manager. The following season, Glavine, Avery, and Smoltz would be recognized as the best young pitchers in the league, winning 52 games between them. Meanwhile, behind position players Dave Justice , Ron Gant and unexpected league Most Valuable Player and batting champion Terry Pendleton , the Braves overcame a slow start to go 47-22 over the last three months of the season and win 8 of their last 9, edging the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game in one of baseball history's more memorable playoff races. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in a tightly contested seven-game NLCS only to lose the World Series , also in seven games, to the Minnesota Twins . Despite the loss, the Braves' success would continue. In the 1992 season, the Braves would reach the NLCS again and defeat, once again, in seven games, the Pirates, only to lose in the World Series to a dominating Toronto Blue Jays team. In 1993, the Braves signed Cy Young Award winning pitcher Greg Maddux , leading many baseball insiders to declare the pitching staff the best of all-time. The Braves would win a World Series in 1995, defeating the Cleveland Indians in six games. With this World Series victory, the Braves became the first team in Major League Baseball to win world championships in three different cities. With their strong pitching being a constant, the Braves would also appear in the 1996 and 1999 World Series, and have an ongoing streak of 14 straight division titles. Pitching is not the only constant in the Braves organization. At present, Cox is still the Braves' manager, and Schuerholz remains the team's GM, though Mazzone moved on to become the pitching coach of the Baltimore Orioles shortly after the 2005 season. Pendleton did not finish his playing career in Atlanta, but has returned to the Braves system as the hitting coach. During the Braves' rise to prominence in the early 1990s , their long-standing ethnic nickname came under much closer scrutiny. The team was especially criticized for selling plastic and foam tomahawks, encouraging the so-called "tomahawk chop" and the accompanying war cry emitted by the fans. Ironically, many of those tomahawks were made by Cherokee manufacturers in North Carolina . Their response to the criticism was the pragmatic answer, "As long as they keep buying them, we'll keep making them." In 2001, Atlanta won the National League East division, swept the NLDS against the Houston Astros , then lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS four games to one. In 2002, 2003 and 2004, the Braves won their division again, but lost in the NLDS in all three years 3 games to 2 to the San Francisco Giants , Chicago Cubs , and Houston Astros , respectively. In 2005, the Braves won their 14th consecutive division title. This title marked the first time any MLB team made the postseason with more than 4 rookies who each had more than 100 ABs ( Wilson Betemit , Brian McCann , Pete Orr , Ryan Langerhans ). McCann and right fielder Jeff Francoeur grew up doing the tomahawk chop in the suburbs of Atlanta. After winning 90 games, they lost the National League Division series to the Astros in 4 games with the final game being the longest game in playoffs history at 18 innings and 5 hours 50 minutes (it ended with a walk-off home run by Chris Burke ). After the 2005 season, the Braves lost their long time pitching coach Leo Mazzone . Mazzone was considered the best pitching coach in the league. Mazzone went on to sign with the Baltimore Orioles . Roger McDowell took his place in the Atlanta dugout. In the off-season, their long time shortstop Rafael Furcal left to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers . To fill the hole Furcal made, the Braves acquired shortstop Edgar Renteria from the Boston Red Sox. 2006 marks the 40th Anniversary of the Braves franchise being located in Atlanta, Georgia. QUICK FACTS :Founded: 1871 in Boston, Massachusetts as the Boston Red Stockings of the National Association . The club became a charter member of the National League in 1876 and has remained in the league without a break since then. The Braves are the oldest continuously operating sports franchise in North American sports. Arguably, they can trace their ancestry to the original Cincinnati Red Stockings of 1869-1870, baseball's first openly professional team. When the N.A. formed, Cincinnati's backers declined to field a team in the new league, and Red Stockings player-manager Harry Wright along with three of the best players from that team moved collectively to Boston and took the nickname with them. :Formerly known as: and 1880s ; "Beaneaters" in the 1890s and early 1900s ; "Doves" (when the Dovey family owned the franchise, 1907 - 1910 ) and "Pilgrims" (when William Russell owned the franchise, 1911 ). Following the 1935 season, after enduring bankruptcy and a series of poor seasons, new owner Bob Quinn asked a team of sportswriters to choose a new nickname, to change the team's luck. The sportswriters chose "Bees", which was adopted in 1936 , though it never really caught on, with Quinn even refusing to use it, although their home uniforms in this interval were changed to feature a large block letter B ("bee"). The team dropped the nickname in 1941 , using only the official name "Braves" from 1941 on. :Ownership: Time Warner :Uniform colors: Navy blue, Garnet red, and White :Logo design: The script word "Braves" above a Tomahawk :Playoff appearances (20): 1914, 1948, 1957, 1958, 1969, 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 :National Association pennants won (4): 1872 , 1873 , 1874 , 1875 :Official television stations: TBS , Turner South , FSN South :Official radio station: WKLS-FM, WGST-AM (flagship) :Famous fans: Jimmy Carter , Lester Bueso , Elton John , Cee-Lo , Ludacris , Lil Jon , Jeff Foxworthy , RuPaul Little Known Trivia: The Braves Tomahawk logo was designed by a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute. If you look at the Tomahawk, you can clearly see the handle says "VMI" with the string below the axe. BASEBALL HALL OF FAME RS RETIRED NUMBERS
Murphy, Niekro, Aaron, and Paul Richards , a former major league catcher and manager who served as Braves vice president 1966-72, are also members of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Mathews is the only player to have played for the Braves in all three cities. CURRENT ROSTER MINOR LEAGUE AFFILIATES
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