1976 Atlanta Braves season

1976 Atlanta Braves
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1876)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (since 1966)
Atlanta (since 1966)
Results
Record	70–92 (.432)
Divisional place	6th
Other information
Owner(s)	Ted Turner
General manager(s)	Eddie Robinson, John Alevizos, Bill Lucas
Manager(s)	Dave Bristol
Local television	WTCG (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
Local radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren)
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The 1976 Atlanta Braves season was the franchise's 106th consecutive year of existence in American professional baseball, its 101st in the National League, and its eleventh in its third home city, Atlanta. The Braves finished in sixth and last place in the National League West Division, compiling a 70–92 (.432) win-loss record; although the 70 victories represented a three-game improvement over the fifth-place 1975 edition, the last-place finish would be the first of four straight years in the NL West divisional basement. The club drew 818,179^[1] fans to Atlanta Stadium, a 53 percent increase over its dismal 1975 attendance of less than 535,000 fans.

Offseason

• November 17, 1975: Dusty Baker and Ed Goodson were traded by the Braves to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jerry Royster, Lee Lacy, Tom Paciorek, and Jimmy Wynn.^[2]
• December 12, 1975: Larvell Blanks and Ralph Garr were traded by the Braves to the Chicago White Sox for Ken Henderson, Ozzie Osborn and Dick Ruthven.^[3]

Ownership and management: the Ted Turner era begins

On January 7, 1976, the modern era of the Braves franchise effectively began when Atlanta broadcast executive and world-class yachtsman Ted Turner bought 100 percent of the team from the Atlanta LaSalle Corp. for $10 million. The previous ownership group, as the LaSalle Corp., had owned the team since October 1962 and spearheaded its move from Milwaukee to Atlanta in time for the 1966 season; its chairman, William Bartholomay, retained his association with the Turner-owned Braves as chairman of the board.^[4] Early reports speculated that Turner bought the Braves to provide local programming content for his television station, then WTCG-TV, Channel 17. But Turner would become a highly successful baseball executive and turn WTCG into the WTBS Superstation and a cornerstone of the Turner Broadcasting System.

Turner wasted no time in making headlines and major changes in the Braves' front office. On April 11, 1976, he signed one of baseball's first free agents, starting pitcher Andy Messersmith, who had successfully sued baseball and brought about the end of the reserve clause,^[5] for a contract valued at more than $1 million. Messersmith, a 19-game-winner for the 1975 Dodgers, was initially issued a uniform bearing the numeral 17 but the word "Channel" instead of his nameplate above it, promoting Turner's WTCG outlet. He made the NL All-Star team that season, his most successful as a Brave, and was one of the few bright spots in a 92-loss, last-place season. The team's field manager, Dave Bristol, hired by the previous owners three months before the sale, survived the 1976 season—but he would be involved in a bizarre firing-and-rehiring by Turner during the 1977 campaign.

Turner also employed three general managers in 1976. In May, he replaced veteran baseball man Eddie Robinson, inherited from the previous regime and in office for almost four full years, with former Boston Red Sox executive John Alevizos. But Alevizos lasted only four months before he was removed in favor of Braves' farm system director Bill Lucas, who became the first African-American general manager in Major League history on September 17. Lucas, the former brother-in-law of Braves' legend Henry Aaron, would begin the rebuilding of the franchise into a competitor, but he died suddenly at age 43 from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1979, the year before the Braves finally cracked the .500 mark.

Led by stars such as Dale Murphy and Bob Horner, the early 1980s Braves featured a succession of successful teams, and won the 1982 National League West Division championship. But they declined precipitously in 1985, and after some very lean years in the late 1980s, Turner, working with a talented team of senior executives such as Bobby Cox, Stan Kasten and John Schuerholz, would turn the Braves into a perennial contender during the 1990s, and a nationally popular franchise on WTBS, where they styled themselves as "America's Team." They won consecutive division titles from 1991–1993 and 1995–1996, NL pennants in 1991, 1992, 1995 and 1996, and the 1995 World Series, before Turner sold the team and all of his Turner Broadcasting holdings to Time Warner in 1996.

Regular season

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	0.630	—	49–32	53–28
Los Angeles Dodgers	92	70	0.568	10	49–32	43–38
Houston Astros	80	82	0.494	22	46–36	34–46
San Francisco Giants	74	88	0.457	28	40–41	34–47
San Diego Padres	73	89	0.451	29	42–38	31–51
Atlanta Braves	70	92	0.432	32	34–47	36–45

Record vs. opponents

1976 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–6	6–12	7–11	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	3–9	10–8	9–9	4–8
Chicago	6–6	—	3–9	5–7	3–9	11–7	5–13	8–10	8–10	6–6	8–4	12–6
Cincinnati	12–6	9–3	—	12–6	13–5	9–3	6–6	5–7	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Houston	11–7	7–5	6–12	—	5–13	10–2	6–6	4–8	2–10	10–8	10–8	9–3
Los Angeles	10–8	9–3	5–13	13–5	—	10–2	7–5	5–7	9–3	6–12	8–10	10–2
Montreal	4–8	7–11	3–9	2–10	2–10	—	8–10	3–15	8–10	4–8	7–5	7–11
New York	8–4	13–5	6–6	6–6	5–7	10–8	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	7–5	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	10–8	7–5	8–4	7–5	15–3	13–5	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	12–6
Pittsburgh	9–3	10–8	4–8	10–2	3–9	10–8	8–10	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	12–6
San Diego	8–10	6–6	5–13	8–10	12–6	8–4	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	4–8	9–9	8–10	10–8	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	6–12	6–6	3–9	2–10	11–7	9–9	6–12	6–12	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
  • Ricky Jones was drafted by the Braves in the 18th round, but did not sign.^[6]
  • John Butcher was drafted by the Braves in the 3rd round of the secondary phase, but did not sign.^[7]
• June 13, 1976: Darrell Evans and Marty Perez were traded by the Braves to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Montañez, Craig Robinson, Mike Eden, and Jake Brown.^[8]
• June 15, 1976: Blue Moon Odom was traded by the Braves to the Chicago White Sox for Pete Varney.^[9]
• June 23, 1976: Elías Sosa and Lee Lacy were traded by the Braves to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Marshall.^[10]

Roster

1976 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 38 Al Autry 27 Mike Beard 33 Rick Camp 47 Buzz Capra 30 Bruce Dal Canton 36 Adrian Devine 45 Jamie Easterly 50 Preston Hanna 26 Frank LaCorte 31 Max León 20 Mike Marshall 17 Andy Messersmith 14 Roger Moret 49 Carl Morton 35 Phil Niekro 40 Dick Ruthven 38 Elías Sosa 28 Pablo Torrealba		Catchers 29 Vic Correll  3 Dale Murphy 42 Biff Pocoroba 32 Pete Varney 32 Earl Williams Infielders 10 Rob Belloir 15 Darrel Chaney  9 Mike Eden 11 Darrell Evans 19 Rod Gilbreath 34 Lee Lacy 25 Willie Montañez 48 Junior Moore  9 Marty Perez 10 Craig Robinson 34 Pat Rockett  4 Jerry Royster		Outfielders 18 Brian Asselstine 43 Cito Gaston  7 Ken Henderson 27 Dave May 22 Rowland Office 12 Tom Paciorek 24 Jimmy Wynn Other batters 18 Terry Crowley		Manager  1 Dave Bristol Coaches  8 Vern Benson  7 Chris Cannizzaro  5 Eddie Haas 23 Herm Starrette

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Correll, VicVic Correll	65	200	45	.225	5	16
1B	Montanez, WillieWillie Montanez	103	420	135	.321	9	64
3B	Royster, JerryJerry Royster	149	533	132	.248	5	45
LF	Wynn, JimmyJimmy Wynn	148	449	93	.207	17	66
RF	Henderson, KenKen Henderson	133	435	114	.262	13	61

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Paciorek, TomTom Paciorek	111	324	94	.290	4	36
Lacy, LeeLee Lacy	50	180	49	.272	3	20
Asselstine, BrianBrian Asselstine	11	33	7	.212	1	3

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Niekro, PhilPhil Niekro	38	270.2	17	11	3.29	173
Ruthven, DickDick Ruthven	36	240.1	14	17	4.19	142
Messersmith, AndyAndy Messersmith	29	207.1	11	11	3.04	135
Autry, AlAl Autry	1	5	1	0	5.40	3

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Camp, RickRick Camp	5	11.1	0	1	6.35	6

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Devine, AdrianAdrian Devine	48	5	6	9	3.21	48
Dal Canton, BruceBruce Dal Canton	42	3	5	1	3.56	36
Beard, MikeMike Beard	30	0	2	1	4.28	8
Capra, BuzzBuzz Capra	5	0	1	0	8.68	4
Hanna, PrestonPreston Hanna	5	0	0	0	4.50	3

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Jack McKeon
AA	Savannah Braves	Southern League	Tommie Aaron
A	Greenwood Braves	Western Carolinas League	Gene Hassell
Rookie	Kingsport Braves	Appalachian League	Bobby Dews
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Chuck Goggin and Pedro González

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Notes

1. Baseball Almanac
2. Jerry Royster at Baseball-Reference
3. Larvell Blanks at Baseball-Reference
4. ["Ted Turner, the yachtsman, buys baseball's Braves", The Boston Globe, January 7, 1976]
5. The Associated Press, April 11, 1976,
6. Ricky Jones at Baseball-Reference
7. John Butcher at Baseball-Reference
8. Darrell Evans at Baseball-Reference
9. Blue Moon Odom at Baseball-Reference
10. Mike Marshall at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1976 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference
• Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac