A Sense of Deja Vu
1998 Atlanta BravesHome Field: Turner Field
NL East ChampionsHit: #4 R; #4 BA
W - 106 L - 56Pitch: #1 OR; #1 ERA
Manager: Bobby Cox

The Braves' dynasty of the 1990s was in many ways an enigma. During the regular season, Atlanta always dominated their division. Beginning in 1991 and continuing into the 21st century, the Braves won their division every year except for the strike shortened 1994 campaign. Strong pitching and solid hitting was the annual formula, paving the way to four 100 victory seasons during that time. The post season was another story. With the exception of 1995, the post season was usually a disappointment. How they managed to win just one title when they should have won three or four is a mystery. 1998 was one such season.

Atlanta posted a club record 106 victories in 1998 and won the NL East by 18 games. The pitching was solid as always. Tom Glavine, the league's only 20 game winner, was the loop's Cy Young Award winner. He beat out teammate Greg Maddux, who had the best ERA, for the honor. The other three starting pitchers each had at least 16 wins. Chipper Jones and free agent acquisition Andres Galarraga paced a potent offense.

As the top seed, the Braves played the wild card Chicago Cubs in the NLDS and swept Sammy Sosa's club three straight. Atlanta advanced to play San Diego in the NLCS. The Brave bats went silent during the first three games, all won by the Padres. After losing 3-2 in the opener, they managed just one run over the next two games. Facing elimination, the Braves did not go down without a fight. They won games 4 and 5 to return the series to Atlanta, where once again the bats went silent. The Braves managed just two hits in game 6 and were knocked out of the playoffs. Another promising and potentially championship season ended in defeat.


Ace hurlers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine deliver the pitch.



Pos Player Bats AB H R HR RBI BA    NL Rank
C Javier Lopez R 489 139 73 34 106 .284  
1B Andres Galarraga R 555 169 103 44 121 .305    #5 HR
2B Keith Lockhart L 366 94 50 9 37 .257  
SS Walt Weiss B 347 97 64 0 27 .280  
3B Chipper Jones B 601 188 123 34 107 .313    #4t R
LF Ryan Klesko L 427 117 69 18 70 .274  
CF Andruw Jones R 582 158 89 31 90 .271  
RF Michael Tucker L 414 101 54 13 46 .244  
                   
OF Gerald Willaims R 266 81 46 10 44 .305  
2B Tony Graffanino R 289 61 32 5 22 .211  
SS Ozzie Guillen L 264 73 35 1 22 .277  
C-1B Eduardo Perez R 149 50 18 6 32 .336  
OF Danny Bautista R 144 36 15 3 17 .250  
OF Curtis Pride L 107 27 19 3 9 .252  
                   
Total: Team   5484 1489 826 215 794 .272  
  League Average   88701 23213 11932 2565 11313 .262  

Pitcher Throw G IP W L ERA PCT    NL Rank
  Greg Maddux R 34 251 18 9 2.22 .667    #4t W, #1 ERA, #5 K
  Tom Glavine L 33 229 20 6 2.47 .769    #1 W, #3 #ERA
  John Smoltz R 26 168 17 3 2.90 .850  
  Denny Neagle L 32 210 16 11 3.55 .593  
  Kevin Millwood R 31 174 17 8 4.08 .680  
  Dennis Martinez R 53 91 4 6 4.45 .400  
  Kerry Ligtenberg R 75 73 3 2 2.71 .600  
  Mike Cather R 36 41 2 2 3.92 .500  
  John Rocker L 47 38 1 3 2.13 .250  
  Rudy Seanez R 34 36 4 1 2.75 .800  
                   
Total: Team       106 56 3.25    
  League Average           4.24    

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