Atlanta Braves History: 65 runs in 5 games (July 18, 2006)

With a 14-5 victory over the Cardinals on July 18, 2006, the Atlanta Braves become the first team since the 1930 Yankees to score ten or more runs in five consecutive games. During the streak, that includes two 15-run victories, Atlanta has tallied 65 runs.

This is stunning. And on my birthday to boot. 🙂

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Life without Phil Niekro (1984)

1984 brought a whole new course for the Atlanta Braves. It would be a year with Phil Niekro. After two decades, he was now a New York Yankee. He won 16 games with the Yankees. No one on the Braves could match that.

The Braves had an 80-82 record, tied for second in the West. They were 12 games behind the leader. It was Joe Torre’s 3rd year as Manager. Having a sub-.500 record wasn’t good news for anyone.

Bobbie as a player (1967)

Bobbie Cox played with Mickey Mantle. They were both from Oklahoma. I wish I could have played with Mickey. How cool that would have been? I am thinking he learned some stuff from that. It was Mickey’s last season as a Yankee.

He also played with Clete Boyer and Graig Nettles. That was on the Yankees in 1967. He played there two seasons after being traded from the Dodgers (he never actually played for them). He mostly played third base. He had bad knees though. After the Yankees, he was acquired by the Braves. He never actually ended up playing for them though.

And so, he was destined to be a coach.

The first uniform numbers

Jack Graney was an innovator although it didn’t take hold. In 1916 he was the leadoff batter for the Cleveland Naps. He wore a miniscule number one on his sleeve. This numbering system didn’t catch on and was discontinued the next year. Oh well. That is the way of innovation some times.

Very soon though the Yankees saw a rise in popularity. A whole bunch of new fans started coming to see them play but they didn’t know who the players were by sight. So, in a bold move, they introduced numbers in 1929. They made them very big. And they put them on the back of the uniform.

The original numbering system followed the batting order so Ruth was number 3, Gehrig was 4 and so on. All teams eventually matched this by 1932. In 1952 the next “innovation” occurred with the Dodgers putting them on the front as well but never became universal.