Category: Player Analysis 2016 (1982)

Lookit, I’m not going to try to tell you that Rafael Ramírez was a good ballplayer. He wasn’t. But, much like that ’82 Braves team, while displaying some huge, obvious flaws, the Dominican shortstop could do a couple things well, things that could help you win… like, 89 games. How’s that? Well, the ’82 club … Continue reading “Rafael Ramírez (by ububba)”

On April 23, 1982, the Yankees traded Bob Watson to the Braves for minor-league pitcher Scott Patterson.* By then, the Bravos had already made some NL noise with a 13-game winning streak to start the season. But acquiring Watson to fortify the bench appeared to be a helluva get. As it turned out, in ’82 … Continue reading “Bob Watson (by Ububba)”

Back in college in 1982, I had a friend named Melvin, who through the course of human events* came to be known as “Raise Hell Mel.”€ My crowd was enough easily amused that we began to incorporate this concept to various Atlanta Braves, and so begat Raise Hell Claudell, Raise Hell Rafael, Raise Hell Pascual, … Continue reading “Dale Murphy (by Rusty S.)”

Oh what could have been… The Braves drafted Brett Butler in the 23rd round of the 1979 draft out of Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Butler was only one of four Braves draftees from 1979 to make it to the big leagues and easily had the best career. Unfortunately, most of that career came with other … Continue reading “Brett Butler (by smitty)”

Apart from Phil Niekro (17-4), Bob Walk was the only starting pitcher on the 1982 Atlanta Braves who managed a W/L record over .500 — and not by much. He was 11-9. Walk managed this despite posting a 4.87 ERA and a 1.448 WHIP. (His ERA+ was 77.) Illustrating the vagary of pitcher wins, these … Continue reading “Bob Walk (by Rusty S.)”

I remembered that Glenn Hubbard had a reputation as good defensive 2nd baseman. What I did not know is that, according to Baseball Reference, he is the career leader among 2nd basemen in Range Factor per 9 innings. Complete data for range factor exist only back to 1974, but that was still a pleasant surprise … Continue reading “Glenn Hubbard (by Rusty S.)”

Gene Garber broke into the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1969. The Pirates had little use for him (he spent all of 1971 in the minors), and in 1973 they traded him to Kansas City for Jim Rooker. In 1974, the Royals sold him to Philadelphia, where he began to have some success. … Continue reading “Gene Garber (by Rusty S.)”

In our continuing series on the 1982 Atlanta Braves, we look at catcher Bruce Benedict, who spent his entire 12-year major league career in Atlanta. Benedict had a career batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage of .242/.320/.299 in 3295 plate appearances. Benedict hit only 18 career home runs in 2878 at-bats, but he was in fact a … Continue reading “Bruce Benedict (by Rusty S.)”

Phil Niekro made his major league debut the year I was born; 18 years later, he pitched the Braves to their 2nd NL West Division title. The 43-year-old Niekro went 17-4 for the Braves that 1982 season, a team that ended up 16 games over .500, and whose only other starter with a record above … Continue reading “Phil Niekro (by Rusty S.)”

Six hundred forty-two MLB players were born in the Dominican Republic1. Of these, 91 are from the town of San Pedro de Macoris. Of those, 57 are position players2. On this list there are great players (Sammy Sosa, Tony Fernandez) and players you never heard of (Elvio Jiminez). Rufino Linares is in the lower-middle-third of … Continue reading “Rufino Linares (by JonathanF)”