1988 Atlanta Braves season

1988 Atlanta Braves
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
City	Atlanta
Record	54–106 (.338)
Divisional place	6th
Owners	Ted Turner
General managers	Bobby Cox
Managers	Chuck Tanner, Russ Nixon
Television	WTBS Superstation WTBS
Radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Billy Sample)
Seasons

The 1988 Atlanta Braves season was the 118th in franchise history and their 23rd in Atlanta.

Offseason

• November 13, 1987: Ken Griffey, Sr. was signed as a free agent by the Braves.
• December 6, 1987: Graig Nettles was signed as a free agent by the Braves.
• December 8, 1987: Ed Whited was traded by the Houston Astros with Mike Stoker (minors) to the Atlanta Braves for Rafael Ramirez and cash.
• March 24, 1988: Graig Nettles was purchased from the Braves by the Montreal Expos.

Regular season

Season standings

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	94	67	.584	—	45‍–‍36	49‍–‍31
Cincinnati Reds	87	74	.540	7	45‍–‍35	42‍–‍39
San Diego Padres	83	78	.516	11	47‍–‍34	36‍–‍44
San Francisco Giants	83	79	.512	11½	45‍–‍36	38‍–‍43
Houston Astros	82	80	.506	12½	44‍–‍37	38‍–‍43
Atlanta Braves	54	106	.338	39½	28‍–‍51	26‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1988 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	5–13	5–13	4–14	4–8	4–8	6–6	5–5	8–10	5–13	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	6–6	7–5	4–8–1	9–9	9–9	8–10	7–11	8–4	5–7	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	6–6	—	9–9	7–11	5–7	4–7	9–3	7–5	10–8	11–7	6–6
Houston	13–5	5–7	9–9	—	9–9	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–4	6–12	7–11	6–6
Los Angeles	14–4	8–4–1	11–7	9–9	—	8–4	1–10	11–1	6–6	7–11	12–6	7–5
Montreal	8–4	9–9	7–5	6–6	4–8	—	6–12	9–9–1	8–10	4–8	7–5	13–5
New York	8–4	9–9	7–4	7–5	10–1	12–6	—	10–8	12–6	7–5	4–8	14–4
Philadelphia	6-6	10–8	3–9	4–8	1–11	9–9–1	8–10	—	7–11	4–7	7–5	6–12
Pittsburgh	5–5	11–7	5–7	4–8	6–6	10–8	6–12	11–7	—	8–4	8–4	11–7
San Diego	10–8	4–8	8–10	12–6	11–7	8–4	5–7	7–4	4–8	—	8–10	6–6
San Francisco	13–5	7–5	7–11	11–7	6–12	5–7	8–4	5–7	4–8	10–8	—	7–5
St. Louis	9–3	11–7	6–6	6–6	5–7	5–13	4–14	12–6	7–11	6–6	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• May 17, 1988: Jerry Royster was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.
• May 20, 1988: Melvin Nieves was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent.
• June 1, 1988: 1988 Major League Baseball draft
  • Steve Avery was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (3rd pick). Player signed June 30, 1988.
  • Turk Wendell was drafted by the Braves in the 5th round. Player signed June 4, 1988.
• July 28, 1988: Ken Griffey, Sr. was released by the Braves.

Roster

1988 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 38 Jim Acker 40 Jose Alvarez 30 Paul Assenmacher 50 Kevin Blankenship 37 Joe Boever 36 Chuck Cary 43 Kevin Coffman 48 Gary Eave 13 Juan Eichelberger 47 Tom Glavine 49 German Jiménez 26 Rick Mahler 31 Ed Olwine 45 Charlie Puleo 25 Pete Smith 34 Zane Smith 57,29 John Smoltz 42 Bruce Sutter		Catchers 20 Bruce Benedict  8 Jody Davis  9 Ozzie Virgil Infielders 32 Jeff Blauser  5 Ron Gant 18 Dámaso García 17 Mark Lemke 27 Jim Morrison 24 Ken Oberkfell 28 Gerald Perry 12 Paul Runge 23 Ted Simmons 14 Andrés Thomas		Outfielders 19,29 Terry Blocker 16 Tommy Gregg 22 Ken Griffey  1 Albert Hall 10 Dion James  3 Dale Murphy 15 Gary Roenicke  4 Jerry Royster  6 Lonnie Smith		Manager  2 Russ Nixon  7 Chuck Tanner Coaches 50 Tony Bartirome (Assistant) 39 Bruce Dal Canton (Pitching) 54 Clarence Jones (Hitting) 11 Roy Majtyka (Third Base) 52 Alex Monchak (Third Base)  4 Bob Skinner (Hitting) 55 Brian Snitker (Bullpen)  8 Willie Stargell (First Base)  7 Bobby Wine (First Base)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Ozzie Virgil, Jr.	107	320	82	.256	9	31
1B	Gerald Perry	141	547	164	.300	8	74
2B	Ron Gant	146	563	146	.259	19	60
3B	Ken Oberkfell	120	422	117	.277	3	40
SS	Andrés Thomas	153	606	153	.252	13	68
LF	Dion James	132	386	99	.256	3	60
CF	Terry Blocker	66	198	42	.212	2	10
RF	Dale Murphy	156	592	134	.226	24	77

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Bruce Benedict	90	236	57	.242	0	19
Albert Hall	85	231	57	.247	1	15
Ken Griffey	69	193	48	.249	2	19
Lonnie Smith	43	114	27	.237	3	9
Gary Roenicke	49	114	26	.228	1	7
Ted Simmons	78	107	21	.196	2	11
Jerry Royster	68	102	18	.176	0	1
Jim Morrison	51	92	14	.152	2	13
Paul Runge	52	76	16	.211	0	7
Jeff Blauser	18	67	16	.239	2	7
Dámaso García	21	60	7	.117	1	4
Mark Lemke	16	58	13	.224	0	2
Tommy Gregg	11	29	10	.345	0	4
Jody Davis	2	8	2	.250	1	3

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Rick Mahler	39	249.0	9	16	3.69	131
Tom Glavine	34	195.1	7	17	4.56	84
Pete Smith	32	195.1	7	15	3.69	124
Zane Smith	23	140.1	5	10	4.30	59
John Smoltz	12	64.0	2	7	5.48	37
Kevin Blankenship	2	10.2	0	1	3.38	5

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Kevin Coffman	18	67.0	2	6	5.78	24
Germán Jiménez	15	55.2	1	6	5.01	26

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Bruce Sutter	38	1	4	14	4.76	40
Paul Assenmacher	64	8	7	5	3.06	71
Jose Alvarez	60	5	6	3	2.99	81
Charlie Puleo	53	5	5	1	3.47	70
Jim Acker	21	0	4	0	4.71	25
Juan Eichelberger	20	2	0	0	3.86	13
Joe Boever	16	0	2	1	1.77	7
Ed Olwine	16	0	0	1	6.75	5
Chuck Cary	7	0	0	0	6.48	7
Gary Eave	5	0	0	0	9.00	0
Jim Morrison	3	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Jim Beauchamp
AA	Greenville Braves	Southern League	Russ Nixon and Buddy Bailey
A	Durham Bulls	Carolina League	Buddy Bailey and Grady Little
A	Burlington Braves	Midwest League	Grady Little and Rick Albert
A	Sumter Braves	South Atlantic League	Ned Yost
Rookie	Pulaski Braves	Appalachian League	Cloyd Boyer
Rookie	GCL Braves	Gulf Coast League	Pedro González
Rookie	Idaho Falls Braves	Pioneer League	Jim Procopio

Awards and honors

• Dale Murphy, Roberto Clemente Award

References

• 1988 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference
• Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac