Braves’ Maddux drops first Opening-Day start (March 31, 2003)

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2003, Atlanta Braves, Frank Robinson, Greg Maddux, Jeff Liefer, March 31, Orlando Cabrera, Tony Armas

Baseball’s road warriors, the Montreal Expos, started with a win, appropriately, on the road.

The Expos sent Greg Maddux to his first Opening-Day loss, defeating the Atlanta Braves 10-2 on Monday behind Jeff Liefer’s four RBI and Orlando Cabrera’s two-run homer. Maddux, 6-0 with a 1.66 ERA in seven previous Opening-Day starts, gave up four runs in the first inning. The four-time NL Cy Young Award winner went seven innings, giving up five runs — four earned — and nine hits.

Tony Armas Jr., in his first Opening-Day start, allowed one run and five hits in six innings to get the win for the vagabond Expos.

“It’s a good way to start,” Montreal manager Frank Robinson said. “We didn’t have a particularly good road record last year, and it’s something we talked about this spring. We have to improve this year on that.”

Greg Maddux

 

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Javy Lopez – Atlanta Brave from 1992 to 2003

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2003, Atlanta Braves, Javy Lopez

Javy Lopez played for the team for four years during the 2000s and was a favorite among Braves’ fans. He was one of my favorites as well since he was a catcher.

On the final out of the 1995 World Series championship season: “I remember Carlos Baerga was at the plate and I called for a fastball away from Mark (Wohlers). We were trying to stay away from the middle of the plate. When it first left his bat I was thinking he hit it hard, but then I saw (center fielder) Marquis (Grissom) pick up on it quickly and knew we had the out. I then remember running to the mound and jumping on Mark. I don’t remember much after that.’’

During that time, he had a .282 average with 95 home runs and 316 RBI. He had 486 hits, scored 225 runs, hit 81 doubles and had a .500 slugging percentage.

The 2003 season saw him bat .318 with 43 home runs and 109 RBI, earning an All-Star selection and a Silver Slugger award.

Behind the plate, he threw out 110 of 349 base stealers, which is a little over a 31 percent success rate.

When Javier “Javy” Lopez was growing up in Puerto Rico, he would practice baseball by hitting rocks off the metal roof of his house in Ponce. The loud noise, which used to drive his parents crazy, would eventually lead to Lopez putting his name in the major league record books for most home runs in a season by a catcher, when he hit 43 in his final season with the Braves in 2003.

After the 2003 season, he signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

 

Braves lose NLDS 5-1 to Chicago Cubs (October 4, 2003)

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2003, Chicago Cubs, NLDS, October 4, Turner Field

October 4, 2003 wasn’t a great day for the Atlanta Braves. It couldn’t have been worse, as a matter of fact.

They were humiliated by the Cubs who win their first postseason series victory since 1908 when the franchise won the World Series.

In front of a standing-room crowd of 54,357 at Turner Field, Chicago beat the Braves in the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS, 5-1.

Season over! Yikes!

A few Game notes:

• For the eighth time in franchise history, the Braves played
  a decisive postseason game. They were 4-3 in previous Game 7s or
  Game 5s.
• Sheffield had another miserable postseason. He went
  2-for-14 against the Cubs after going 1-of-16 in a five-game loss
  to San Francisco last year.
• Former President Jimmy Carter, an
  avid Braves fan, sat in the box next to the Atlanta dugout.
• Tiger Woods, who has played golf with Smoltz, attended the game after
  winning the American Express Championship in suburban Atlanta.

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.

 

Braves go deep 4 times against former teammate Tom Glavine (May 30, 2003)

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2003, Atlanta Braves, May 30, New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Tom Glavine

Tom Glavine

At Shea Stadium on May 30, 2003, the Atlanta Braves go deep four times off former teammate Tom Glavine to tie a National League record by hitting 55 home runs in a calendar month.

The New York Giants (July, 1947) and the Cardinals (April, 2000) are the other teams to accomplish the feat.

It is ironic this happened against Tom Glavine. With 164 victories during the 1990s, Glavine earned the second highest amounts of wins as a pitcher in the National League, second only to teammate Greg Maddux’s 176. He was a five-time 20-game winner and two-time Cy Young Award winner, and one of only 24 pitchers (and just 6 left-handers) in major league history to earn 300 career wins.

50 home runs in a season is not easy to do unless you’re Andruw Jones (September 14, 2005)

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1996, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, Alex Rodriguez, Andruw Jones, Atlanta Braves, Curacao, September 14

Andruw Jones

Braves’ center fielder Andruw Jones hits his 50th home run on September 14, 2005, in the eighth inning of a 12-4 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

The Curacao native is the first major leaguer to reach the plateau since Alex Rodriguez hit 57 homers playing shortstop for the Rangers in 2002.

Jones made his debut during the 1996 season with the Atlanta Braves. In the 1996 World Series, Jones became the youngest player ever to hit a home run in the postseason, and just the second player ever to homer in his first two World Series at bats. The following season, Jones batted .231 with 18 home runs and finished 5th in voting for Rookie of the Year. In 1998, Jones batted .271 with 31 home runs and in 1999, he batted .275 with 26 home runs. Jones batted .303 with 36 home runs and 104 runs batted in (RBIs) in 2000 and made his first All-Star team.

The following season, Jones again blasted over 30 home runs and drove in 104 runs but his average dipped to .251 while his strikeouts increased. Jones played better in 2002 and 2003 and made the All-Star team in both seasons.

However, Jones struggled in 2004 and failed to hit at least 30 home runs for the first time since 1999. However, in 2005, he led the league with 51 home runs and also led the NL with 128 RBIs. He finished 2nd to Albert Pujols for National League MVP. In 2006, Jones batted .262 with 41 home runs and 129 RBI. In 2007, in his last season with the Braves, Jones batted just .222 with 26 home runs and 94 RBIs.

Six Braves hit 20 home runs in the season (September 20, 2003)

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2003, Andruw Jones, Atlanta Braves, Brad Penny, Chipper Jones, Gary Sheffield, Javy Lopez, Marcus Giles, September 20, Vinny Castilla

Marcus Giles

When Marcus Giles sends Brad Penny’s 3-2 pitch into the stands on September 20, 2003, the Atlanta Braves tie the National League record (held by the Milwaukee Braves) by having six players to hit at least 20 home runs in season. Along with the Atlanta’s second baseman, Javy Lopez, Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones and Vinny Castilla.

This equals the mark established by Eddie Mathews (32), Hank Aaron (32), Joe Torre (27), Felipe Alou (23) Mack Jones (31) and Gene Oliver (21) of the 1965 Milwaukee Braves.