1967 Atlanta Braves season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1967 Atlanta Braves season was the Braves' second season in Atlanta and the 97th overall. The team went 77–85, as they suffered their first losing season since 1952, the franchise's final season in Boston. The seventh-place Braves finished 24+1⁄2 games behind the National League and World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
| 1967 Atlanta Braves | |
|---|---|
| League | National League |
| Ballpark | Atlanta Stadium |
| City | Atlanta |
| Record | 75–88 (.475) |
| League place | 8th |
| Owners | William Bartholomay |
| General managers | Paul Richards |
| Managers | Billy Hitchcock |
| Television | WSB-TV (Larry Munson, Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton, Dizzy Dean) |
| Radio | WSB (Larry Munson, Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton) |
Offseason
- November 28, 1966: Ramón Hernández was drafted by the Braves from the California Angels in the 1966 rule 5 draft.[1]
- November 29, 1966: Bill Robinson and Chi-Chi Olivo were traded by the Braves to the New York Yankees for Clete Boyer.[2]
- November 29, 1966: Mike Page was drafted by the Braves from the Boston Red Sox in the 1966 minor league draft.[3]
- December 1966: John Herrnstein and Chris Cannizzaro were traded by the Braves to the Boston Red Sox for Julio Navarro and Ed Rakow.[4]
- December 31, 1966: Eddie Mathews, Arnold Umbach and a player to be named later were traded by the Braves to the Houston Astros for Dave Nicholson and Bob Bruce. The Braves completed the deal by sending Sandy Alomar Sr. to the Astros on February 25, 1967.[5]
Regular season
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals | 101 | 60 | .627 | — | 49–32 | 52–28 |
| San Francisco Giants | 91 | 71 | .562 | 10½ | 51–31 | 40–40 |
| Chicago Cubs | 87 | 74 | .540 | 14 | 49–34 | 38–40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 87 | 75 | .537 | 14½ | 49–32 | 38–43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 82 | 80 | .506 | 19½ | 45–35 | 37–45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 81 | 81 | .500 | 20½ | 49–32 | 32–49 |
| Atlanta Braves | 77 | 85 | .475 | 24½ | 48–33 | 29–52 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 73 | 89 | .451 | 28½ | 42–39 | 31–50 |
| Houston Astros | 69 | 93 | .426 | 32½ | 46–35 | 23–58 |
| New York Mets | 61 | 101 | .377 | 40½ | 36–42 | 25–59 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | NYM | PHI | PIT | SF | STL | |||
| Atlanta | — | 11–7 | 5–13 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–12 | |||
| Chicago | 7–11 | — | 12–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 11–7 | 11–7–1 | 10–8 | 6–11 | |||
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 6–12 | — | 15–3 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 5–13 | |||
| Houston | 7–11 | 10–8 | 3–15 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–12 | |||
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | — | 12–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 6–12 | |||
| New York | 10–8 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–12 | — | 4–14 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 7–11 | |||
| Philadelphia | 8-10 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 14–4 | — | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | |||
| Pittsburgh | 10–8 | 7–11–1 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 10–8 | — | 8–10 | 11–7 | |||
| San Francisco | 8–10 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 12–6 | 13–5 | 13–5 | 10–8 | 10–8 | — | 7–11 | |||
| St. Louis | 12–6 | 11–6 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 11–7 | — | |||
Managerial turnover
The Braves' worst season since 1952—their last year in their original home of Boston—cost manager Billy Hitchcock his job on September 28, 1967; the team stood at 77–82 (.484) and 211⁄2 games in arrears of the eventual 1967 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals at the time. Bullpen coach Ken Silvestri took over the club for the final three games of the season (all losses) on an interim basis.
Hitchcock's firing enabled general manager Paul Richards, on the job in Atlanta for only 13 months, to name his own man as skipper for 1968, and he chose a veteran associate, Luman Harris, 52, as Hitchcock's permanent successor.[6] Harris had played with Richards with the minor league Atlanta Crackers in the 1930s, and coached for Richards with three MLB clubs; he had also managed under GM Richards with the 1965 Houston Astros. Harris had been the 1967 skipper of the Triple-A Richmond Braves, and had led them to the best record in the International League.
Notable transactions
- June 6, 1967: Gene Oliver was traded by the Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bob Uecker.[7]
- June 15, 1967: Wade Blasingame was traded by the Braves to the Houston Astros for Claude Raymond.[8]
Roster
| 1967 Atlanta Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
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 | Joe Torre | 135 | 477 | 132 | .277 | 20 | 68 |
| 1B | Felipe Alou | 140 | 574 | 157 | .274 | 15 | 43 |
| 2B | Woody Woodward | 136 | 429 | 97 | .226 | 0 | 25 |
| SS | Denis Menke | 129 | 418 | 95 | .227 | 7 | 39 |
| 3B | Clete Boyer | 154 | 572 | 140 | .245 | 26 | 96 |
| LF | Rico Carty | 134 | 444 | 113 | .255 | 15 | 64 |
| CF | Mack Jones | 140 | 454 | 115 | .253 | 17 | 50 |
| RF | Hank Aaron | 155 | 600 | 184 | .307 | 39 | 109 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tito Francona | 82 | 254 | 63 | .248 | 6 | 25 |
| Bob Uecker | 62 | 158 | 23 | .146 | 3 | 13 |
| Mike de la Hoz | 74 | 143 | 29 | .203 | 3 | 14 |
| Félix Millán | 41 | 136 | 32 | .235 | 2 | 6 |
| Gary Geiger | 69 | 117 | 19 | .162 | 1 | 5 |
| Marty Martínez | 44 | 73 | 21 | .288 | 0 | 5 |
| Gene Oliver | 17 | 51 | 10 | .196 | 3 | 6 |
| Charley Lau | 52 | 45 | 9 | .200 | 1 | 5 |
| Remy Hermoso | 11 | 26 | 8 | .308 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Lum | 9 | 26 | 6 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Dave Nicholson | 10 | 25 | 5 | .200 | 0 | 1 |
| Cito Gaston | 9 | 25 | 3 | .120 | 0 | 1 |
| Ty Cline | 10 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Glen Clark | 4 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Beauchamp | 4 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denny Lemaster | 31 | 215.1 | 9 | 9 | 3.34 | 148 |
| Ken Johnson | 29 | 210.1 | 13 | 9 | 2.74 | 85 |
| Pat Jarvis | 32 | 194.0 | 15 | 10 | 3.66 | 118 |
| Tony Cloninger | 16 | 76.2 | 4 | 7 | 5.17 | 55 |
| Ron Reed | 3 | 21.1 | 1 | 1 | 2.45 | 11 |
| Jim Britton | 2 | 13.1 | 0 | 2 | 6.08 | 4 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Niekro | 46 | 207.0 | 11 | 9 | 1.87 | 129 |
| Dick Kelley | 39 | 98.0 | 2 | 9 | 3.77 | 75 |
| Clay Carroll | 42 | 93.0 | 6 | 12 | 5.52 | 35 |
| Ed Rakow | 17 | 39.1 | 3 | 2 | 5.26 | 25 |
| Bob Bruce | 12 | 38.2 | 2 | 3 | 4.89 | 22 |
| Wade Blasingame | 10 | 25.1 | 1 | 0 | 4.62 | 20 |
| George Stone | 2 | 7.1 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 5 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cecil Upshaw | 30 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 2.58 | 31 |
| Jay Ritchie | 52 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3.17 | 57 |
| Ramón Hernández | 46 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4.18 | 28 |
| Claude Raymond | 28 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2.62 | 14 |
| Don Schwall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |