The Best Braves to Wear #40, #39, and #38

The best Brave to wear #40 is Tony Cloninger.

If you have quibbles with the choice, I hear ya. Cloninger wore #40 for 8 years (1961-1968) and only once, 1965, had a better than average ERA. He mostly just logged innings for the Braves in their post-title Milwaukee years into the move south. Cloninger’s two best seasons on the mound were the final two years of the Milwaukee Braves, 1964 and 1965. In ’64, the 23 year old broke out, going 19-14 with a 3.56 ERA over 242.2 innings. 1965 proved to be a career year, as he went 24-11 with a 3.29 ERA in 279 innings. Cloninger always struggled a tad with his control, and even in that career year, he led the league in walks (119) and wild pitches (22). Cloninger finished 28th in the NL MVP race for 1965. He remains in the top 100 in MLB history in wild pitches, with 119 over his career.

In 1966, the Braves’ first year in Atlanta, Cloninger was more of a star with the bat than he was on the mound. Cloninger the pitcher went 14-11 with a 4.12 ERA in 257.2 innings as he gave up a career high 29 homers in the humidity of the deep south. Cloninger hit 5 homers of his own, though, slugging .414 with 23 RBI. Most of the damage came in 2 games.

The first, a game Cloninger is not remembered for, was June 16, 1966 against the Mets. Cloninger allowed just a single run in a complete game win, a rather comfortable win thanks to the barrage of runs the Braves put up that afternoon. Cloninger homered twice, driving in 5 runs to co-lead the team to a 17-1 victory. Not even three full weeks later, he’d have the game that’s still talked about today.

July 3, at Candlestick Park against the Giants, in a game featuring HOF names like Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Willie Mays, and Joe Torre (plus 2/3 of the Alou clan), Tony Cloninger stole the show. The Braves quickly chased starter Joe Gibbon from the game after he gave up a 3-run shot to Torre in the first and followed that with two singles allowed. Reliever Bob Priddy walked the #8 hitter, 3B Denis Menke, to bring up Cloninger with the bases loaded. The Braves pitcher deposited Priddy’s pitch over the left-center field wall for a grand slam to extend Atlanta’s lead to 7-0. In the top of the 1st, the Braves had nearly won the game. Rico Carty moved the lead to 8-0 with a solo shot in the 2nd. In the top of the 4th, Atlanta struck again. Carty walked and Torre reached on an error, allowing 2B Frank Bolling to drive in Carty with a single to make it 9-0. After a flyout for out #2, pitcher Ray Sadecki walked Menke to again load the bases for Cloninger. Cloninger hit a second grand slam, becoming the first player in MLB history with two grand slams in a game. He’s still the only pitcher to do it. For good measure, Cloninger added an RBI single in the 8th inning to establish a record for RBI by a pitcher in a single game with 9.

In 1967, Cloninger was dealt some injury issues that he never quite got over. His production suffered, and Atlanta traded him to Cincinnati in 1968. In 1970, he pitched with the Reds in the World Series, although he pitched poorly in the series loss to the Orioles. He pitched 26 innings in 1972 with the Cardinals, the last of his MLB career. Injuries had taken their toll, and Cloninger was done at age 31.

Cloninger got back to baseball years later as a bullpen coach for the 1992 Yankees. He spent the next three seasons as Buck Showalter‘s pitching coach in NYY, helping Jimmy Key nearly win a CYA. After the Yankees replaced Showalter with Joe Torre, Torre kept his old teammate on the staff as a bullpen coach. In 1996, Cloninger got his first World Series ring – against the Braves. He would remain on the Yankees through 2001, totaling 4 World Series rings as bullpen coach. From 2002-2003 he served as Grady Little‘s pitching coach in Boston, and after that worked for years as a player development consultant for the Red Sox.

For a more in-depth read on Cloninger’s career, check out his SABR bio.

Honorable Mentions:

Alex Wood wore #40 in 2014 and 2015 and was likely the best Brave to wear #40 on a per-season basis.
Tommy Boggs wore it from 1980-1983, and had one very good season (12-9, 3.42, 192.1) in 1980.
Dick Ruthven wore it 1976-1978, making 72 starts to average-ish results

Who is the best ever to wear #40?

We’re on track for Madison Bumgarner to be the answer here, but for now, I’m sticking with 2017 Atlanta Brave Bartolo Colon, who has worn #40 for 18 MLB seasons.

The best Brave to wear #39 is Walker Cooper, 1950-1953.

Cooper had been a star with the WWII-era Cardinals, winning a couple of rings as the batterymate of his brother Mort. A routine all-star, he had finished 2nd in the 1943 NL MVP race. He was dealt to the Giants, where in 1947 he had a career year – .305/.339/.586 with 35 homers and 122 RBI. After being moved the Reds in 1949, Cooper was traded to the Boston Braves in May 1950.

His first year with the Braves was his best. He slashed .329/.389/.528 with 14 homers and made his 8th and final All-Star team. 1951 was excellent as well, with Cooper batting .313/.367/.518 with 18 homers. He fell off a bit in 1952 at age 37, though he weirdly received an MVP vote. Cooper moved with the Braves to Milwaukee in 1953, but the 38 year old had a bad year and was released the following offseason. Still, for two years he was one of the best catchers in baseball.

He would bounce back with a .301/.389/.514 season in ’54 with the Pirates and then Cubs. He continued to mash, slugging .559 as a 40 year old with the 1955 Cubs. His final season was 1957, at age 42, back with the Cards, and he slugged .474 with 7 home runs.

Honorable mentions:

Jonny Venters finished 8th in the 2010 ROY race, was an NL All-Star in 2011 while leading the league in appearances, and had a career 2.23 ERA as #39 for the Braves.
Rafael Soriano saved 39 games with a 2.95 ERA in 3 seasons with the Braves.
Jason Grilli saved 26 games in a year and a half as #39 in Atlanta.
HOF-er Hoyt Wilhelm pitched in Atlanta for parts of 3 years, his age 46, 47 and 48 seasons in 1969-1971, saving 17 games against an ERA of 3.10 for the Braves.
Al Hrabosky wasn’t great as a Brave (he did have a 1.07 ERA in 33 innings in 1981), but The Mad Hungarian was as much a character as ever when he wore #39 for the Braves over his final 3 MLB seasons.

Who is the best ever to wear #39?

The Cobra, baby

The best Brave to wear #38 is Bill Bruton.

The speedy Bruton was Milwaukee’s starting CF for 8 seasons, including the World Championship year of 1957. In those 8 seasons, Bruton slashed .276/.323/.391, averaging 10 triples per year. He led the NL in steals in each of his first 3 seasons, led the league in triples twice, and led the NL in runs scored in 1960, his final year in Milwaukee. ’60 was probably his best season, as he was his usual self when it came to batting average and triples, but he added double-digit home runs to the equation. Bruton missed the 1957 World Series, but he certainly did his best to make up for lost time when the Braves returned in 1958 – Bruton batted .412/.545/.588 in the 7-game Series loss to the Yankees.

For a detailed look at Bruton’s career, check out his SABR bio.

Honorable Mentions:

Ron Reed was a 1968 All-Star, won 18 games for the NL West champion Braves in 1969, and won 79 games overall as #38.
Greg McMichael saved 44 games with a 2.96 ERA in his 5 seasons as #38, including 3 appearances in the 1995 World Series.
Jim Acker wore #38 from the time he joined the team in mid-1986 until he left in mid-1989, and was a fairly reliable reliever in between, saving 16 games with a 3.71 ERA.
Arodys Vizcaino has 33 saves and a 2.98 ERA and 10.5 K/9 as #38.

Who is the best ever to wear #38?

This is the reason a lot of people think Curt Schilling should be in the HOF (1 game):