The Braves are the only franchise to reach the pinnacle of baseball from three different franchise locations. They've had a long history and each stop in a city has been a Brave New World.
The first appearance of this National League team in the Fall Classic was back, 100 years ago. The Braves were actually in Boston, and were 12 games back on July 25th of that year. But they made a nice charge to make it up and came in home at first, 10 1/2 games up. They didn't stop there. Facing the Philadelphia A's (who themselves moved twice. First to Kansas and later to Oakland. But they never reached the World Series in Kansas), the Braves needed just four games to win it all.
From there, though, the Braves fell on hard times and only reached one more World Series. They faced a tough Cleveland Indians team. It was a close six-game affair. And Boston did amazing to beat Bob Feller twice. But it proved to be the only two games the Braves would win.
A move to Milwaukee in 1953 seemed to bring them back on track. They sold out. Then, in 1957, they made the Fall Classic and took a splendid seven-game affair from the New York Yankees.
New York took their revenge the next year, and Milwaukee was knocked out in a two-of-three playoff series by Los Angeles in 1959. The team won 83 or more games from 1960 to 1965, and had Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews as the sluggers, plus Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette as hurlers. But they did not return to the Fall Classic again in Milwaukee. They moved again to Atlanta in 1966 and were swept by the New York Mets in the inaugural National League Championship Series, three games to none in 1969.
For what it's worth, an American League team came to Milwaukee in 1970 after the Seattle Pilots lasted just one year. But, to date, they have failed to win the Fall Classic.
Atlanta actually had to wait until 1991 to reach the World Series. There, they lost a classic, seven-game World Series in the seventh game on a 1-0, walkoff to the Minnesota Twins.
They made it back to the World Series in 1992, and gave the Toronto Blue Jays all they could handle. Again, it was a classic, but Toronto prevailed in six games.
The Braves were undaunted, and looked set to return for a third straight appearance in 1993, but the Philadelpha Phillies upset them in six games in the NLCS.
After not getting a chance due to the 1994 strike, it was on to 1995, where Atlanta took on the Cleveland Indians, who had won two Fall Classics by staying dead smack in the middle of Cleveland. Atlanta wasn't about to let this one slip away.
It went six games. But Tom Glavine's masterful 1-0, 1-hitter in game six brought it all home for this seemingly jinxed team. And it was Bobby Cox, in his second tour of duty as manager with Atlanta, who finally had his first Fall Classic win.
Few, if any baseball teams stay in their original location. With expansion to the west and later the sunbelt states, franchises were likely to find greener pastures. The Braves have managed to be a winner no matter where they end up. If they should ever relocate again, my money's on them winning it all no matter where they end up!
Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
The first appearance of this National League team in the Fall Classic was back, 100 years ago. The Braves were actually in Boston, and were 12 games back on July 25th of that year. But they made a nice charge to make it up and came in home at first, 10 1/2 games up. They didn't stop there. Facing the Philadelphia A's (who themselves moved twice. First to Kansas and later to Oakland. But they never reached the World Series in Kansas), the Braves needed just four games to win it all.
From there, though, the Braves fell on hard times and only reached one more World Series. They faced a tough Cleveland Indians team. It was a close six-game affair. And Boston did amazing to beat Bob Feller twice. But it proved to be the only two games the Braves would win.
A move to Milwaukee in 1953 seemed to bring them back on track. They sold out. Then, in 1957, they made the Fall Classic and took a splendid seven-game affair from the New York Yankees.
New York took their revenge the next year, and Milwaukee was knocked out in a two-of-three playoff series by Los Angeles in 1959. The team won 83 or more games from 1960 to 1965, and had Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews as the sluggers, plus Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette as hurlers. But they did not return to the Fall Classic again in Milwaukee. They moved again to Atlanta in 1966 and were swept by the New York Mets in the inaugural National League Championship Series, three games to none in 1969.
For what it's worth, an American League team came to Milwaukee in 1970 after the Seattle Pilots lasted just one year. But, to date, they have failed to win the Fall Classic.
Atlanta actually had to wait until 1991 to reach the World Series. There, they lost a classic, seven-game World Series in the seventh game on a 1-0, walkoff to the Minnesota Twins.
They made it back to the World Series in 1992, and gave the Toronto Blue Jays all they could handle. Again, it was a classic, but Toronto prevailed in six games.
The Braves were undaunted, and looked set to return for a third straight appearance in 1993, but the Philadelpha Phillies upset them in six games in the NLCS.
After not getting a chance due to the 1994 strike, it was on to 1995, where Atlanta took on the Cleveland Indians, who had won two Fall Classics by staying dead smack in the middle of Cleveland. Atlanta wasn't about to let this one slip away.
It went six games. But Tom Glavine's masterful 1-0, 1-hitter in game six brought it all home for this seemingly jinxed team. And it was Bobby Cox, in his second tour of duty as manager with Atlanta, who finally had his first Fall Classic win.
Few, if any baseball teams stay in their original location. With expansion to the west and later the sunbelt states, franchises were likely to find greener pastures. The Braves have managed to be a winner no matter where they end up. If they should ever relocate again, my money's on them winning it all no matter where they end up!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major
League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/.
Web. 21 Dec. 2014.
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