Atlanta Braves tickets

For nearly 50 years, a lack of talent left the Braves in the humble position of joining the Phillies as the league's doormats. Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and home run king Hank Aaron arrived in the 1940s and 1950s to change the team's fortunes. These three superstars, with help from Johnny Sain, Joe Torre, Del Crandall, Johnny Logan, Rico Carty, and Phil Niekro, produced 21 winning seasons from 1946 to 1974. Atlanta then stumbled for 16 seasons after Aaron's departure, despite a stellar contribution from Dale Murphy in the 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz formed one of the best trios of starting pitchers ever, while leading Atlanta to nine division titles. A supporting cast of hitters included Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Fred McGriff, Andres Galarraga, David Justice, and Javy Lopez.

Profiled Atlanta Braves Players:

Hank Aaron: Aaron owns the major league home run record, at least until Ken Griffey, Jr., or another slugger in today's era of easy home runs passes him. Aaron earned his home run crown the hard way, never hitting more than 47 home runs in any one season, and hitting fewer home runs be-fore age 30 than several other great home run hitters. Aaron is the home run king because he had staying power-hitting 20 or more home runs for 20 straight years. Maybe Babe Ruth could have hit over 20 home runs for 20 straight years too, instead of his actual 16 straight years, if he hadn't been a pitcher for his first five seasons. But Ruth was once a pitcher, and Aaron deserves acco¬lades for owning this significant record.

Aaron demonstrated a full arsenal of abilities. He won three Gold Gloves for fielding, won two batting ti¬tles, and even stole 240 bases in 313 attempts in his ca¬reer. He would have stolen 300 or 400 bases if he had the green light when he first came to the big leagues- he had only 29 attempts in his first six seasons. Aaron's only real weakness was his relatively low .377 lifetime on-base per¬centage, as he never drew 100 walks in a season. Aaron hit .305 with 3,771 hits and 755 home runs in 13,798 total at bats. Adjusted for negligible hitter's deflation, Aaron hit .306 with 773 home runs, for a 935 Wtd. Production. His 971 Total Factor ranks third in league rate of success for outfielders, while his 1,429 Hits Contribution ranks second to Willie Mays in league vol¬ume of success.

Eddie Mathews: Mathews was already an established home run threat when Hank Aaron arrived in the big leagues in 1954. And, for a while, it looked like Mathews would end up with more career home runs than Aaron. Mathews had an ex¬ceptional first ten years, hitting 370 home runs before he turned 30, as compared to Aaron's 342. In fact, in the season Aaron reached that 342 total, he trailed Mathews by 80 home runs. But Mathews hit only 35 home runs after he turned 34, finishing with 512 career home runs. Aaron, on the other hand, hit 274 home runs after he turned 34.