The 24 best players in Atlanta Braves history

Hank Aaron was a Brave when they still played their home games in Milwaukee, and partly as a result of playing 21 seasons for the organization, he owns most of their prominent offensive records. But only partly. Because let's not discount for a second the absolute force "Hammering Hank" was in the batter's box. In almost 3100 games for the Braves Aaron slashed .310/.377/.567 with 733 homers and 2202 RBI. To this day, he holds the Major League record for both RBI and total bases. With the Braves, Aaron was selected to the all-star team in 20 consecutive years, was the NL MVP in 1957, earned three Gold Glove awards, and won two batting titles. He earned a World Series championship ring in the same season he won MVP and was a shoo-in for the Hall-of-Fame in 1982. Atlanta made the easy decision to retire his number 44 in 1977. 

While a lot of the Braves that will follow on this list and pretty well-known names, here's one that is probably not. Righty Kid Nichols pitched for this organization when they were still known as the Boston Beaneaters long before any of us were born. Nichols spent 12 seasons with Beaneaters, and won 330 games with a stellar 3.00 ERA. He led the Majors in wins for three consecutive years from 1896-1898, completed 476 of the 502 starts he made for this franchise, and was voted into the Hall-of-Fame by the Old Timers Committee in 1947. 

Warren Spahn is on the Mount Rushmore of left-handed starting pitchers to ever play Major League Baseball, and the Braves were lucky enough to have him on their side for 20 seasons. Spahn never pitched in Atlanta but was both a Boston Brave and a Milwaukee Brave, and for the better part of two decades, was at the top of his profession. The Buffalo, NY native pitched in 714 games for the Braves and earned 356 victories while working to a 3.05 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He led the league in wins on eight different occasions, won two ERA titles, was selected to 17 all-star games, and was the 1957 Cy Young winner--the same season the Braves won the World Series. Spahn surely would have padded his resume, even more, had he not missed three full seasons while serving in the military, and he was a no-brainer selection to the Hall-of-Fame in 1973. The Braves retired his number 21 in 1965. 

Third baseman Eddie Mathews is the only player to suit up for the Braves while they were playing in all three of their cities --Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. That was a result of fortuitous timing more than anything, as he joined the Braves in their last season in Boston and left after just one season in Atlanta, but it still makes him a fun answer to a trivia question. Between the lines, though, Mathews was easily among the best players in this franchise's rich history. In 2,223 games for the Braves spanning 15 years, he slashed .273/.379/.517 with 493 homers, 1388 RBI, 338 doubles, and 70 triples. He made 12 all-star teams, started at the hot corner for the Braves 1957 championship team, and was selected to the Hall-of-Fame in 1978. 

Knuckleballing righty Phil Niekro spent 21 of his 25 Major League seasons pitching for the Braves organization, and he is still predominantly recognized as the premier knuckleball pitcher in the game's history. With the Braves Niekro earned 268 of his career 318 victories, made four all-star teams, won five Gold Gloves, and earned an ERA title. Niekro led the Majors in innings pitched in three straight seasons from 1977-1979, while also--in large part due to his feature pitch--leading the league in both walks and wild pitches three times. He was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in 1997 and his number 35 is retired by the Braves. 

Switch-hitter Larry 'Chipper' Jones became a regular for the Braves in 1995 and won a World Series ring in his rookie season. Despite playing for 16 more seasons, he would never earn another one, but that's not to say he didn't leave his mark on this organization. Jones spent his entire career in Atlanta and represented the Braves in eight all-star games. He was the MVP of the National League in 1999, won the batting title in '08 by hitting a tremendous .364, and earned two Silver Slugger Awards. Jones became a Hall-of-Famer in 2018, his number 10 is retired by the Braves, and he's 2nd to only Hank Aaron in virtually every Braves all-time offensive category. 

The Braves acquired minor league right-hander John Smoltz in exchange for reliever Doyle Alexander in a 1987 trade with the Tigers that Detroit would soon regret. In Atlanta Smoltz would become a star in pretty short order, and during his Braves tenure, he was a dominant starter, closer, and then starter again. In 708 total outings with the club, Smoltz won 210 games, registered 154 saves, and pitched to a 3.26 ERA in 3,395 innings. He was an all-star eight times, won a Cy Young award, helped the Braves win the 1995 World Series, and earned a Rolaids Relief award. Smoltz was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in 2015 and Atlanta retired his number 29 in 2012. 

While Smoltz was a dominant force on the mound for Atlanta for almost two decades, the undisputed leader of the dynamic Braves rotation during their dynasty years in the 90's was right-hander Greg Maddux. Maddux began his career in Chicago with the Cubs but relocated to Georgia as a free agent in December 1992 in what turned out to be one of the best moves the Braves ever made. With Atlanta Maddux won 194 games with a 2.63 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP, while notching 61 career games--an incredible number given the era he pitched in. Maddux won four ERA titles in a Braves' uniform, won the Cy Young award in his first three seasons in Atlanta, pitched in six all-star games, and won 10 of his unbelievable 18 total Gold Glove awards as a Brave. He helped pitch the Braves to the World Series championship in 1995 and he was a near unanimous Hall-of-Fame selection in 2014. The Braves retired his number 31 in '09. 

It's fitting that Smoltz, Maddux, and Tom Glavine came back-to-back-to-back on this list, because for over a decade, the trio were the faces of this franchise and gave the Braves the best top of the rotation in baseball. Save for a five-year hiatus in Queens with the Mets, the left-handed Glavine spent his entire career with the Braves and was easily one of the best pitchers in their history. In 17 seasons in Atlanta the southpaw earned 244 of his career 305 victories while pitching to a 3.41 ERA in 518 starts. He made eight all-star games as a Brave, won a pair of Cy Young awards, and was the MVP of the World Series Atlanta won in 1995. Glavine went into the Hall-of-Fame with his buddy Maddux in 2014, and no Atlanta player will ever wear the number 47 again as the Braves retired it in his honor in '10. 

Center fielder Andruw Jones debuted for Atlanta in August of 1996 as a 19-year-old, and for the next dozen seasons, he was a staple for the Braves at position number eight on your scorecard. During his prime, Jones was the premier defensive outfielder in baseball, and won 10 straight Gold Glove awards from '98-'07. Offensively he was no slouch either, as he crushed 368 homers as a Brave including a Major League-leading 51 in 2005. Jones participated in five all-star games and won a Silver Slugger during his career, and these days he's his son's biggest cheerleader, as Druw Jones was selected #2 overall by the Diamondbacks in last summer's draft. 

Right-handed swinging Dale Murphy came up as a catcher, then played first base, and finally landed in the outfield for good, but wherever he lined up defensively, he was an absolute force in the batter's box. In 15 years in Atlanta Murphy slashed .268/.351/.478 with 371 homers, 1143 RBI, and 306 doubles. He won back-to-back NL MVP awards in '82 and '83, participated in seven all-star games, won four Silver Sluggers, and even captured five Gold Gloves for good measure. Murphy was an absolute iron man who played a full 162 games in four consecutive seasons, led the league in homers and RBI twice, and the Braves understandably retired his number three in 1994. 

Most Braves fans reading this probably still have mixed feelings about the fact that first baseman Freddie Freeman is no longer calling Truist Park home. There's no question the 33-year-old will easily go down as one of the best Braves of all time, and while current Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson is a force in his own right, it's still mind-blowing the Braves let the face of their franchise depart for southern California. During his tenure in Georgia Freeman slashed .295/.384/.509 in well over 1500 games, while launching 271 homers and driving in 941 runs. Freeman represented the Braves in five all-star games, captured three Silver Sluggers, won a Gold Glove, and was the 2020 NL MVP. Most importantly, though, he led the Braves to a World Series title in 2021 which only added to the confusion over Atlanta letting him walk as a free agent the following winter. 

Righty John Clarkson wasn't in this organization for long, in fact he only spent five seasons pitching for the Boston Beaneaters in the late 1800s. But that was a much, much different era of baseball, and Clarkson was able to pack a career's worth of service into those five seasons. Case in point, Clarkson made 72 starts for the Beaneaters in 1889 and 68 of them ended in a complete game. He threw 620 innings that season, a simply mindboggling number by today's standards when you consider 200 is elite today. The Cambridge, MA born hurler won 149 games during his stint in Boston while working to a strong 2.82 ERA, and impressively won the pitching Triple Crown in that infamous '89 season. The Veterans Committee ushered him into the Hall of Fame in 1963. 

University of Delaware graduate Vic Willis is another pitcher that starred for this organization back in their Boston Beaneaters days, and like Clarkson his arm endured quite the workload. Willis tossed fewer than 300 innings in only one of his eight seasons in Boston, and while his 151-147 record with the Beaneaters would indicate he was mediocre, that was far from the case. Willis pitched to a tremendous 2.82 ERA in over 2500 innings in Boston, while notching 268 complete games, including 26 shutouts. His middling record had more to do with pitching on a poor team than anything else, and he was deservedly selected to the Hall-of-Fame in 1995. 

Many, many moons ago, lefty Jim Whitney was predominantly a pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters, but he also played some first base and outfield when he wasn't toeing the rubber. The Conklin, NY native made a name for himself as a 23-year-old rookie in 1881, winning 31 games for Boston with 2.48 ERA in 63 starts. He'd go on to win 102 more for the team over the next four seasons before leaving to join the Kansas City Cowboys in 1886. Unfortunately, the tale of Jim Whitney took a sad turn a few years later, as he died at the age of 33 in 1891.

No player on this list dates back further than Tommy Bond, who pitched for Boston 145 years ago. Standing at just 5'7 the right-hander was far from an imposing figure on the mound, but that didn't stop him from carving hitters up with regularity. In his five seasons with Boston Bond won the ERA title twice, winning 149 games and pitching to a 2.21 ERA in 2127.1 innings. He won the pitching Triple Crown in 1877 and led the league in wins and strikeouts twice. 

First baseman Fred Tenney was far from a star during his playing days, but he was a regular presence in Boston's line-up for 15 seasons. Tenney never led the league in anything but plate appearances, but sometimes the best ability is availability, and the Beaneaters always knew they could count on him day in and day out. In 1737 games for Boston Tenney slashed .300/.376/.367 but had very little power, as evidenced by his 17 home runs. He was quick, however, and was able to accumulate 242 doubles, 74 triples, and 260 stolen bases, earning him enough WAR to land on this list. 

Center fielder Wally Berger debuted for Boston in 1930 and enjoyed quite the rookie season, slashing .310/.375/.614 with 38 homers and 119 RBI and he seemingly never stopped hitting. Berger made four straight all-star teams from '33-'36, led the National League in both homers and RBI in 1935, and ended up crushing 199 long balls in eight seasons in Boston. While power was his calling card, Berger likely played in the wrong era, as today nobody would even look twice at his strikeout totals, but in his era when there was so much of an emphasis on putting the ball in play, he developed a reputation as somewhat of an all or nothing hitter. 

Left-handed swinging outfielder Tommy Holmes was a prominent member of the Boston Braves for most of the 1940s, and while for most of his career he was about a league average player, for one magical season in 1945, Holmes was as dangerous a hitter as there was in the game. That year he slashed .352/.420/.577 with a league-leading 28 home runs and 117 RBI. For reference in no other season in his career did he hit more than 13 long balls, and he never again drove in more than 79 runs. He also led the league in SLG, OPS, and OPS+ that season, en route to his first of two all-star appearances. 

Shortstop Herman Long played his rookie season for the Kansas City Cowboys. He showed enough potential to draw the attention of the Boston Beaneaters who purchased him from the Cowboys for about $5500 that winter. In Boston Long would go on to have a solid career and become a staple on the Beaneaters infield for over a decade. In 1647 games for the club the left-handed swinger slashed .280/.337/.390 with 88 homers, 964 RBI, 295 doubles, 91 triples, and an impressive 434 stolen bases. 

Shortstop Johnny Logan began his career with the Braves in Boston but played the majority of it in Wisconsin after the franchise relocated to Milwaukee in 1953. The Endicott, NY native spent 11 seasons in all with the Braves, in which he slashed an impressive .270/.330/.384 with 339 extra-base hits and 521 RBI. Logan was selected to four all-star teams and was a member of the Braves' World Series-winning team in 1957. 

When fans of today's generation hear the name Joe Torre they almost certainly first remember him as the longtime Yankees' skipper or perhaps his role working for Major League Baseball for the past several years. But a little over 60 years ago the very same Joe Torre was a rookie for the Milwaukee Braves who later moved with the club to Atlanta in 1966. During his tenure as a player with this organization Torre was impressive, earning trips to five all-star games and winning a Gold Glove award. In just over 1,000 games for the Braves he slashed .294/.356/.462 with 142 home runs. He was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame (as a manager) in 2014. 

Short-statured infielder Rabbit Maranville debuted for the Boston Beaneaters as a 20-year-old rookie in 1912, and while it took three separate stints, he managed to play 15 seasons for this organization. In just shy of 1800 games with Boston, Maranville slashed .252/.313/.329 with only 23 home runs, but he used his speed to contribute 244 doubles, 103 triples, and 194 steals. He earned a World Series ring with the 1914 Beaneaters, and while his numbers don't necessarily indicate it was warranted, he was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in 1954. 

Billy Nash manned the hot corner in Boston for 10 years, and while his numbers were not necessarily spectacular, he did just enough to land in the last spot on the Braves' organization's top 24 WAR list. In 1187 games as a member of the Boston Beaneaters, Nash slashed .281/.368/.389 with 51 homers and 811 RBI. He added exactly 200 doubles to go along with 69 triples, and an eye-catching 232 stolen bases.