On Monday, the Atlanta Braves will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in their first National League Championship Series appearance in 19 seasons, a seemingly impossible delay given the dominance of Atlanta through the decade of the 1990s. Since we have a few days before the fun begins, let’s take a look back at some of the greatest Braves moments and performances from prior NLCS.
Top Starting Pitching Performance – Series
While John Smoltz got the signature Game 7 assignment (see below), it was 21-year-old Steve Avery who hauled the most freight in pitching the Braves through that tough Pirates line-up.
Avery got the a starting assignment in Games 2 and 6, pitching 8.1 and 8 innings respectively and allowing a grand total of zero runs to Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke, and all the rest. And to top it all off? In both of his starts, Atlanta won by the score of 1-0. With no margin for error, Avery was absolutely nails and no other player on the Braves side contributed more in getting the team to the World Series in ’91.
Top Starting Pitching Performance – Game
John Smoltz, 1991 NLCS Game 7
There’s no name in Braves history that comes up more when talking about clutch post-season pitching than John Smoltz‘s and with good reason. His first real post-season gem however may have been his best, a complete game domination of the favored Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Braves jumped out in front early off left-hander John Smiley and forced an early exit. Handed a 3-run lead, Smoltz moved shark-like through bloody water, throwing 123 pitches and scattering 8 baserunners, striking out 8, and pitching the Braves to their first World Series appearance since 1958.
Top Relief Pitching Performance – Series
John Rocker, 1999 NLCS
John Rocker was two months away from the publication in Sports Illustrated of his racially and bigoted comments to interviewer Jeff Pearlman. The reason for the interview was his impressive 1999 season in which the 24-year-old seized the closer’s role for the eventual National League champions, punctuated by an outstanding performance in the NLCS.
Rocker appeared in all 6 of the games played between the Braves and the Mets, tossing 6.2 innings without allowing an earned run. He saved Games 1 and 3, was credited with a hold in Game 2, and gutted through 4 tough batters in the 13th and 14th innings of a brutal 3-4 loss in Game 5. In the decisive Game 6, Rocker pitched the 9th and 10th innings with the score tied 8-8. Nevertheless, Rocker was set up to take the loss after the Mets took a 9-8 lead in the top of the 10th on an unearned run. The Braves tied the game again in the bottom of the 10th however, and advanced to the World Series in the bottom of the 11th on an Andruw Jones bases-loaded walk.
Top Relief Pitching Performance – Game
Greg Maddux, 1998 NLCS Game 5
When the underdog San Diego Padres jumped out to a surprising 3-0 series lead in the ’98 NLCS, the Braves played with the backs to the wall the rest of the way. The Braves righted the ship in Game 4 with an easy 8-3 win, but nothing was easy in Game 5. With the Braves down 4-2 and starter John Smoltz laboring in the 7th, manager Bobby Cox turned to John Rocker to put out a fire to keep the game close. The decision worked, and the Braves were able to rally for a 7-4 lead in the top of the 8th.
That left Kerry Ligtenberg to try to close out the 9th, but he wasn’t up for the challenge, giving up a 2-run homer to Greg Myers to bring the score to within one run. Facing possible elimination, Cox turned to his best available pitcher: Greg Maddux. With the season on the line, Maddux made his first relief appearance in 11 years and sewed up the victory when he induced Tony Gwynn to hit a one-on, two-out sharp grounder to first base to earn his first ever career save.
Top Offensive Performance – Series
Mark Lemke, 1996 NLCS
The Braves are a franchise that has in its history huge NLCS series performances by the likes of Hall of Famers Hank Aaron (’69), Chipper Jones (’96), and Orlando Cepeda (’69) as well as should-be HoFer Fred McGriff (’93). But great teams also get contributions from more unlikely sources, and in 1996 the star was second baseman Mark Lemke.
Lemke was known more for his glove than his bat, but he had been a postseason hero several times already before 1996 when he turned in his best series of all. Lemke went 12-for-27, knocking in 5 runs and scoring 4 times and hitting his only career postseason home run to help the Braves top the St. Louis Cardinals in 7 games.
Top Offensive Performance – Game
Michael Tucker, 1998 NLCS, Game 5
Michael Tucker likely isn’t a name that springs to mind for most Braves fans when discussing postseason heroes, in part perhaps because his greatest moment occurred in the ’98 NLCS, which the Braves would ultimately end up losing. But for one remarkable game, Tucker was the best Braves postseason hitter ever.
In the 4th inning, with the Braves down 2-0, runners on 1st and 2nd with one down, Tucker pulled a sharp grounder through the 1B/2B gap to drive in the Braves first run of the night. In the 6th, Tucker would strike again, lacing a line-drive single to center field to drive in Andruw Jones from 2nd base to tie the game 2-2.
The Padres would go up 4-2 in the bottom of the 6th on a two-run homer by John Vander Wal off John Smoltz. The Padres brought in ace starter Kevin Brown in relief in the 8th in hopes that he could hold off the Braves long enough for closer Randy Myers to come on and seal the game and the series. Brown was shaky however, walking Ryan Klesko and giving up a groundball single to Javy Lopez to start the inning. After getting Andruw Jones to pop out, up came Tucker again for his biggest blow of the night, sending a sinker that didn’t sink deep to right for a 3-run homer that put the Braves up 5-4. Tony Graffinino would drive in another and score on a error to put the Braves up 7-4, and Greg Maddux would ultimately put the game away in the 9th (see above).
Top Offensive Performance – Plate Appearance
Francisco Cabrera, 1992 NLCS, Game 7, 9th Inning
Winning Percentage Added (WPA) is a statistic that measures how the likelihood of a team winning (or losing) a game changes based on the results of individual plays. In the history of the National League Championship Series, no single play has a higher WPA than Francisco Cabrera’s single with two out in the bottom of 9th inning of Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS.
Going into the inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates were leading 2-0 and were 3 outs away from not only going to the World Series but avenging their humiliating 1991 NLCS loss to the same Atlanta Braves. Starter Doug Drabek, pitching brilliantly, was still in the game, but he ran into trouble immediately. Terry Pendleton led off the inning with a double to right; Pendleton would go to third when shortstop Jose Lind misplayed a groundball off the bat of David Justice, and the Braves had runners on the corners. A laboring Drabek then walked Sid Bream on four straight pitches to load the bases, and Pirates manager Jim Leyland finally brought out the hook.
Pirates closer Stan Belinda got the first out on a Ron Gant sacrifice fly to left that scored Pendleton and brought the Braves within a run. Catcher Damon Berryhill would walk to load the bases again, but Belinda got pinch hitter Brian Hunter to pop out harmlessly to second.
Francisco Cabrera stepped to the plate as Atlanta last chance. On a 2-1 count, Cabrera swung at a fastball moving away from him and somehow pulled it past the shortstop into left field. Justice scored and the slowest man in baseball, Sid Bream, rumbled home. The throw from left fielder Barry Bonds was slightly off-line, giving Bream just enough time to slide into home for the winning run and give the Atlanta Braves their most famous single playoff moment to date.
The Win Probability Added on that play? +74 percent.
But now, I’m ready for the 2020 Atlanta Braves to make some new history.
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