1997 1998 Atlanta Autographed Signed Basketball

1997 1998 Atlanta Autographed Signed Basketball @ Amazon.com

Milestones

Established in 1871 as Boston Red Stocking in Boston team moved to Atlanta in 1966 and renamed as Atlanta Braves. Team played as

Boston Red Stocking 1876 -1882

Boston Beaneaters 1883-1906

Boston Doves 1907-8

Boston Pilgrims 1909-1911

Boston Braves 1912-1935

Boston Bees 1936-1940

Boston Braves 1941-1952

Milwaukee Braves 1953-1965

Home Field

• Fulton County Stadium 1966-1996

• Turner Field 1997 to Present.

Affiliations

• National League( 1876 to present )

• East Division ( 1994 to present)

Success in Championships as Atlanta Braves

World Series Champions -1: 1995

World Series Appearances -5:

1991,1992, 1995,1996 & 1999

LCS Appearances – 11:

1969, 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,2001

National League West Division titles -5

1969, 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993

National League East Division titles -11

1995 to 2005

Wild Card – None

Team Colors: Atlanta Braves team colors are Red, Navy Blue & White

The Atlanta Braves are one of the oldest American Baseball team which was traditionalisti in Boston, Massachusetts, way back in 1871. They and Chicago Cubs are only two remaining charter franchises. They are members of Eastern Division of Major League Basketball’s National League. The nickname Braves was initial employed in 1912 as their owners were members of political establishment called Braves in Northeast. The team other nicknames are: ‘The Bravos’, ‘America’s team’ and ‘The Team of 90s’. The present logo is a red tomahawk with red and navy outline. The team was based in Boston and later in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1953 and ultimately moved to Atlanta in 1966. The present majority owners are Liberty Media, John Malone after they purchased team in 2006 from Ted Turner.

After the team shifted to Atlanta, it was only after 1991 that they became a team to reckon with beneath Bobby Cox as Manager. They had a substantially successful season till 2005 with 14 successes out of 15 seasons winning Divisional Championship in NL West 3 times and NL East 11 times. The Atlanta Braves modern to World Series five times in 1990s (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1999).They won the World Series in 1995.Atlanta Braves are likewise famous for Hank Aaron’s home run record set up in 1974 was only broken in 2007. The team had 16 managing directors from 1966 to 1990. In last 19 seasons they have been led by Bobby Cox as Manager and it is not surprising that he has won Manager of the year award thrice in 1991, 2004 &2005.

Atlanta Braves’ have 7 persons in the Hall of Fame. These includes Hank Aaron OF ,1966-74; Eddie Mathews 3B ,1966;Orlando Capeda I B ,1969-72; Phil Niekro RHP 1966-1983,1987; Hoyt Willhelm RHP 1969-70,1971; Gaylord Perry RHP,1981; Bruce Sutter RHRP; 1985-1988. The team has retired six numbers; 3, Dale Murphy OF 1976-1990; 21, Warren Spahn LHP 1942, 46-64; 42 Jackie Robinson (Retired by MLB); 41 Eddie Mathews 3B 1952-66; 44&Hank Aron OF 1954-74. The Team has hosted All Star Games in 1972 &2000. In 1994 Fred McGriff 1B became All Star Games MVP. The Rookie of the year awards have been won four times by Earl William C, 1971; Bob Horner 3B, 1978; David Justice OF, 1990 & Rafel Frucal SS, 2000. The World Series MVP in 1995 was 1995 Tom Glavine LHP.

In 2002, John Smoltz LHP won the Fireman Award and in 2005, Andrew Jones OF won the Hank Aaron Award. The Team has won Cy Young Award six times, these were won by Tom Glavine LHP, 1991&1998; Greg Maddux RHP in 1993, 1994 & 1995 & John Smoltz LHP in 1996. The MVP for 1982 & 1983 was Dale Murph ; Terry Pendelton 3B in 1991 and Clipper Jones in 1999. The LCS NVP were Steve Avery LHP in 1991, John Smoltz 1992, Mike Devaraux QF 1995, Javer Lopez C 1996& Eddie Perez C in 1999. The Atlanta Braves likewise have three No Hitters ; 8/5/1973 Phil Niekro ; 9/11/1991 Combined Kent Mercker(6) , Mark Wohlers(2) and Alejandro Pena (1); 4/8/1994 Kent Mercker. The Cycle Hitters are 9/23/1987 Albert Hall and on 8/14/2008 Mark Kotsav. The Best season for the Atlanta Braves was in 1998 with a tally of 106 -56 and the worst season were in the year 1988 with tally at 54-106. The Mascot of Braves is Homer and Rally and Official Cheer is Tomahawk Chop.

The TV stations for team are WPCH (Channel 17);SportSouth; Fox Sports Net South and the Radio station are WGST (640 AM); WATB (1420 AM)-Spanish. The Broadcasters are Jon Sciambi and Joe Simpson-TV; Chip Caray and Pete Van Wieren-TV .The team’s spring training was held 1966-1997 in West Palm Beach Florida and from 1998 it has shifted to Disney World, Florida.

The dream run of the Atlanta Braves team from 1991 to 2005 came to end in 2006. In 2005 they won the 14th Division title since 1991and ended the tally with 90-72 in 2005 season. The huge number of rookies also debuted in 2005 including Brian McCann, Jeff Langerhans, Wilson Betenit , Key Davies and were called ” Baby Braves ” by the fans.

They started the 2006 season to a slow commence and were 10-14 at April end, five games behind New York Mets. They did better in May and were 28-25. However June proved disastrous for Atlanta Braves and posted 6-21, team worst performance after they moved to Atlanta. The July performance did not support and they finished the season at 79-83 with third place in NL East. There were changes in coaching staff; Chino Cadahia substituted Pat Corrales as bench coach, Brian Snitker became third base coach after Fredi Gonzalez.

Atlanta Braves started 2007 season with hope to regaining the Eastern Division championship. They acquired Mike Gonzales and Rafael Soriano. It worked initially as in April end they were at 16-9. But in May they slipped behind New York Mets and posted a dreadful tally of 4-11 in June. Tommy John surgery on elbow and Andruw John struggled. The season ended with a tally of 84-78 and third place in NL East in spite of Clipper Jones All Star performance getting all times leading home run hitter since the team moved to Atlanta. Bob Wickman was freed in August. Also the longtime stalwart Andruw Jones was said good bye. The Braves signed Tom Glavine free agent from New York Mets for one year contract. They likewise signed Tom Glavine LHP. They acquired Gorky Hernandez CF and Jair Jurrjens from Detroit Tigers in interchange of Edgar Renteria.

In 2008 there dream of reaching playoff for third straight year did not come true. The team ended at 4th position in Nl East and ended the season with dismal 72-90 performance.