Warren Spahn signs with the Braves (June 4, 1940)

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1940, 1942, 1946, Boston Bees, Buffalo, June 4, Warren Spahn, World War II

Warren Spahn – Milwaukee Braves

June 4, 1940, was a great day. The Boston Bees (also know as the Braves) sign South Park High School (Buffalo, NY) standout Warren Spahn, who will make his major league debut in 1942. He appears in two games as a 20 year-old for Boston before serving three years in the Army during World War II.

The Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient will return to the National League in 1946 to win the first game of his career at the age of 25 en route to becoming the all-time winningest southpaw in the history of the game with 363 victories.

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Red Schoendienst and The Turning Point (1957)

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1928, 1957, Bobby Thompson, Danny O'Connell, John Quinn, June 15, Ray Crone, Red Schoendienst, Roger Hornsby

Many seasons there is a turning point. In 1957, the turning point was the June 15th trading deadline. The Braves were poised to win the division. General Manager John Quinn decided to repair the teams obvious weakness and acquired second baseman Red Schoendienst from New York for outfielder Bobby Thompson, second baseman Danny O’Connell, and pitcher Ray Crone.

We got what we bargained for. Schoendienst solidified the infield and provided more offense at second than the team had enjoyed since Rogers Hornsby in 1928. Without this particular turning point on June 15th, we probably wouldn’t have ended up in first.

Boston Braves win at the South End Grounds beating the Dodgers 11-7 (May 2, 1912)

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1911, 1912, Brooklyn Dodgers, Buster Brown, James Gaffney, May 2, South End Grounds, William Hepburn Russell

Buster Brown

Team owner William Hepburn Russell died after the 1911 season and his stock was bought up by a group including James Gaffney and former baseball manager John Montgomery Ward. The team was renamed the Boston Braves after the Tammany Hall Braves.

At South End Grounds on May 2, 1912, the hometown Braves score ten runs in the first two innings and hold on to defeat the Dodgers, 11-7.

Brooklyn scores four runs in the bottom of the third to knock out Boston’s starter Buster Brown.

Here is a little more about Buster’s career as a pitcher.

Standard Pitching

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS
1905	23	STL	NL	8	11	.421	2.97	23	21
1906	24	STL	NL	8	16	.333	2.64	32	27
1907	25	TOT	NL	10	12	.455	2.74	30	24
1907	25	STL	NL	1	6	.143	3.39	9	8
1907	25	PHI	NL	9	6	.600	2.42	21	16
1908	26	PHI	NL	0	0		2.57	3	0
1909	27	TOT	NL	4	8	.333	3.16	25	18
1909	27	PHI	NL	0	0		3.24	7	1
1909	27	BSN	NL	4	8	.333	3.14	18	17
1910	28	BSN	NL	9	23	.281	2.67	46	29
1911	29	BSN	NL	8	18	.308	4.29	42	25
1912	30	BSN	NL	4	15	.211	4.01	31	21
1913	31	BSN	NL	0	0		4.73	2	0
9 Yr	9 Yr	9 Yr	9 Yr	51	103	.331	3.21	234	165
162	162	162	162	9	18	.331	3.21	40	28
BSN	BSN	BSN	BSN	25	64	.281	3.54	139	92
PHI	PHI	PHI	PHI	9	6	.600	2.56	31	17
STL	STL	STL	STL	17	33	.340	2.86	64	56

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/15/2017.

Hank, Rico and Orlando (April 2, 1972) plus a side note on the designated hitter

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1972, April 2, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Charlie Finley, Hank Aaron, Oakland Athletics, Orlando Cepeda, Rico Carty

Orlando Cepea

On April 2, 1972 Hank Aaron, Rico Carty, and Orlando Cepeda all start in an exhibition game. It is the first time the trio of sluggers, sidelined with a variety of injuries over the past two seasons, have appeared together in the Braves lineup since 1970.

As a side note, in July, Cepeda was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Denny McLain. After playing for a week, he was hospitalized and underwent a second surgery on his injured knee. Cepeda remained in Oakland three months before returning to Puerto Rico.

Upon arriving he received a telegram from Charlie Finley, the Athletics’ owner, telling him that if he didn’t respond within three days he would be released from his contract. Cepeda decided not to call, intending to retire from baseball. In 1973, the American League established the designated hitter role, hoping to improve attendance. The Boston Red Sox contacted him, telling him that his role with the team only required batting. Cepeda became the first player to sign a contract to exclusively play as a designated hitter.

His first hit with the team was a walk-off home run to beat the New York Yankees. Cepeda had an average of .289 with 20 home runs and 86 RBIs in 550 at bats. He was also named Designated Hitter of the Year. Cepeda’s twentieth home run established a major league record, making him the first player to hit twenty or more home runs with four different teams. He went to Puerto Rico and prepared to play in the 1974 season, but the team decided to release him and Luis Aparicio during spring training. After briefly playing in Mexico, he was offered a contract by the Kansas City Royals. In his last season, Cepeda had 107 at bats, batting .215 with one home run.

The pitcher who hit two grand slams in one game (July 3, 1966)

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1940, 1966, Atlanta Braves, August 13, Bobby Bragan, July 3, Tony Cloniger

Tony Cloninger

Sunday, July 3, 1966…this was the day we should all remember as one of the best performances an Atlanta Braves pitcher has ever had.  The Braves took on the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park in an afternoon ball game in front of 27,000 fans.  When the fans

The Braves took on the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park in an afternoon ball game in front of 27,000 fans.  When the fans arrived to the facility, they had no idea what they were about to witness.

The Braves and manager Bobby Bragan sent a young 25-year-old right hander named Tony Cloninger to the mound.  He came into the game with an 8-7 record and a 4.35 ERA and had a .200 batting average.  On this night, he would improve all of those categories.

Cloninger was born on August 13, 1940, in North Carolina and was signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent in 1958.  The righty pitched with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves from 1961-1968, Cincinnati Reds from 1968-1971 and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1972.

It is the first inning. Tony comes to the plate with bases loaded. Tony does the unthinkable and hits a grand slam. Call it a day and go home.

But … Tony is there to pitch and pitch he does.

He comes up again in the fourth. And boom, another grand slam. Cloninger became the first player in the National League, and the only pitcher to date, to hit two grand slams in the same game!!

As the game ended, Cloninger finished his complete game with five strikeouts and picked up his ninth win of the season.  He was the player of the game, going 3-5 with nine RBI’s and a complete-game win on the mound.  The Braves won this match up against the Giants 17-3.

Crazy stat…just five starts prior, Cloninger went 3-5 at the plate with hit two homers and five RBIs.  He also pitched a complete game on this night and only gave up five hits and one run.

One Additional Crazy stat…on Cloninger’s first start of the 1966 season, he threw a complete game 13 innings and gave up 10 hits, three runs, three walks and had 12 strikeouts.  Talk about saving your bullpen.

Source: Atlanta Braves flashback Friday: The pitcher who hit two grand slams in one game

Hammerin’ Hank is born to break the Bambino’s record (February 5, 1934)

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1934, Babe Ruth, February 5, Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron

On February 5, 1934, a day before Babe Ruth’s 39th birthday, future all-time home run leader Hammerin’ Hank Aaron is born in Mobile, Alabama.

The slugger, who will finish his career hitting 755 home runs playing for the Braves and Brewers, will surpass the ‘Bambino’s’ all-time record of 714 home runs in 1974, after receiving much hate mail from people who did not want to see a black man break baseball’s hallowed mark.

It was destined to happen.

And with amazing class Hank showed us all how.

 

Atlanta scores seven runs in seventh inning (April 4, 2003)

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2003, Andruw Jones, April 4, Atlanta Braves, Chipper Jones, Gary Sheffield, Miami Marlins, Montreal Expos

Andruw Jones

In one inning, the Atlanta Braves wiped out three games’ worth of frustration. The Braves scored seven runs in the seventh, highlighted by Andruw Jones’ three-run homer, and went on to beat the Florida Marlins 12-7 on April 4, 2003.

It was Atlanta’s first victory after an 0-3 start — the team’s worst since 1988.

We relaxed and did our thing. We’ll be OK. We got the jitters out. Now we can play our game. That was obvious in the seventh inning. ~Marcus Giles who had three of Atlanta’s 16 hits

The Braves were swept by Montreal in the first series of the year, getting outscored 17-2. Atlanta, which had won 11 straight division titles, had not started so poorly since going 0-10 in 1988. All that changed in the seventh, when the Braves pounded on Marlins relievers Blaine Neal and especially Vladimir Nunez (0-1).

Trailing 5-2, Atlanta started the inning with five straight hits. Gary Sheffield had a run-scoring single, Chipper Jones hit an RBI double off the center-field wall and Andruw Jones followed with a three-run homer into the center-field stands off Nunez.

 

William Jennings Bryan “Billy” Herman selected by the special Veterans Committee for the Hall of Fame (February 3, 1975)

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1975, Billy Herman, February 3, Hall of Fame, Second Base

William Jennings Bryan “Billy” Herman

On February 3, 1975, the special Veterans Committee selects second baseman William Jennings Bryan “Billy” Herman (Cubs, Dodgers, Braves and Pirates), skipper Bucky Harris (Senators, Tigers, Red Sox, Phillies and Yankees) and outfielder Earl Averill (Indians, Tigers, and Braves) to the Hall of Fame.

An outspoken Averill had informed his family to decline the honor if he was ever to be inducted posthumously; fortunately, he was enshrined in Cooperstown eight years before his passing.

Herman became a Major League coach with the Dodgers (1952–57) and Braves (now based in Milwaukee) (1958–59)—serving on five National League pennant winners in eight seasons. Pretty extraordinary.

Herman finished his career with a .304 batting average, 1163 runs scored, 47 home runs, 839 RBI, and 428 strikeouts. He won four NL pennants (in 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1941) but no World Series championships as a player (although he was a coach on the 1955 World Series champion Brooklyn Dodgers). His record as a Major League manager was 189-274 (.408). Herman holds the NL records for most putouts in a season by a second baseman and led the league in putouts seven times.

He also shares the Major League record for most hits on opening day, with five, set April 14, 1936.