The best Brave to wear #49 only surrendered the number recently, Julio Teheran.
You don’t really need much background on Teheran and where he came from. You’ve been watching him for years. We’re just over 1300 innings into his career, and he has a 77-77 record (despite a bunch of those innings coming during Atlanta’s rebuild), 1204 Ks, and 2 All-Star appearances.
Teheran signed as a free agent with the Angels last offseason after a 9-year tenure with the Braves. Unfortunately it was kind of a lost year as he contracted COVID-19, was late to start the season, and never really got on track. Teheran only turns 30 in January 2021, so there’s no reason to think he won’t be able to recover and enjoy a solid back-half of a career.
Here’s some fun Julio videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdPnOSP1AZk
Julio Fact #1: Teheran started a record 6 consecutive Opening Days for Atlanta, from 2014 to 2019
Julio Fact #2: Since the beginning of the 2013 season, Teheran leads all MLB pitchers with 34 pickoffs. That’s 7 more than second place Clayton Kershaw and 11 more than the next right-handed pitcher, Kyle Hendricks. Have a look:
The point is – Julio Teheran’s pickoff move is a rarity in today’s sport, so enjoy it while you have it.
Honorable Mentions:
Carl Morton (1973-1976) went 52-47 with a 3.47 ERA in over 900 innings, and most of that production came in a 3-year period.
Jair Jurrjens (2008-2012) had a 3rd place Rookie of the Year finish in 2008, had a 2.60 ERA over 34 starts in ’09, and was a 2011 All-Star.
John Rocker (1998-2001) was more than just a loudmouth who said some idiotic things to Sports Illustrated. In 195.1 innings with Atlanta, he boasted a 2.63 ERA, struck out 259 batters, and saved 83 games. For a brief period, Rocker was one of the best lefty relievers in the game, and he had legendary playoff performances with Atlanta in 1998 and 1999; through 20.2 career postseason innings, he has not allowed an earned run. He also played Survivor!
Who Is the Best Ever To Wear #49?
In research for this, I learned that #49 is traditionally sought by knuckleball pitchers. Perhaps it’s an homage to Hoyt Wilhelm, who wore #49 from 1952-1956 with the New York Giants. Whatever the reason, Tom Candiotti, Charlie Hough, and Tim Wakefield all predominantly wore #49 throughout their careers. You still see knuckleballers wear #49, like Dennis Springer with the 1999 Marlins and Charlie Haeger with the ’08 Padres and ’10 Dodgers.
This is all irrelevant, however, because the greatest #49 wasn’t a knuckleball pitcher. It’s 1978 AL Cy Young winner, 4 time All-Star, 5 time Gold Glover, and 2 time World Champion Yankee Ron Guidry. The career Yankee southpaw won 20 or more games 3 times, won 2 ERA crowns, and got CYA votes in 6 seasons. Louisiana Lightning’s 1978 season is one of the more impressive of its era: 25-3 record (the .892 win % is a record among 20-game winners), a 1.74 ERA, 248 K’s, and 9 shutouts. He made 4 starts across 3 World Series, going 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 2 complete games.
Check him out:
Also, he was a Pepper.
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