The 1979 Atlanta Braves season was the 109th season for the franchise and their 14th in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Offseason

* January 9, 1979:

Brook Jacoby Brook Wallace Jacoby (born November 23, 1959) is an American former third baseman. He played in the major leagues from 1981 through 1992, and in Japan in 1993. His father, Brook Wallace Jacoby Sr., played in the Philadelphia Phillies organization ...

was drafted by the Braves in the 7th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. * February 22, 1979: Mike Davey was purchased from the Braves by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

. * March 31, 1979: Dave Campbell was traded by the Braves to the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in ...

for Pepe Frías.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Death of GM Bill Lucas

On May 5, 1979, the Braves were staggered by the sudden death, at 43, of the club's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, Bill Lucas. The first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

general manager in Major League Baseball, and the highest-ranking black executive in the game at the time of his death, he had been stricken at home May 2 with a massive

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

, after watching a Braves' road-game victory on television. Lucas had been the Braves' top baseball operations official since September 17, 1976, and on his watch the team introduced players who would be integral parts of its early 1980s contending teams—such as

Dale Murphy Dale Bryan Murphy (born March 12, 1956) is an American former professional baseball player. During an 18-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) (–), he played as an outfielder, catcher, and first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphi ...

Bob Horner James Robert Horner (born August 6, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league as a third baseman and a first baseman from to , most prominently a ...

and Glenn Hubbard. During Lucas' term, the club had also hired Bobby Cox for his first term (1978–81) as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

. Lucas had been a player and executive with the Braves since 1957; his sister, Barbara, also was the former wife of Hall of Famer and Braves' legend Henry Aaron. Lucas was succeeded May 16 by John Mullen, 54, a vice president with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

since 1967 but previously a longtime member of the Braves' management team in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Mullen would serve as the Braves' general manager until his replacement, by Cox, in October 1985.

Notable transactions

* April 3, 1979: Buzz Capra was released by the Braves. * June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft ** Paul Runge was drafted by the Braves in the 9th round. ** Brett Butler was drafted by the Braves in the 23rd round. Player signed June 11, 1979.

Roster

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''

Other batters

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

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Other pitchers

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

Relief pitchers

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

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Awards and honors

League leaders

Phil Niekro Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 318 career vict ...

, National League leader, Losses''Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures'', 2008 Edition, p. 348, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,

Notes

References

*
1979 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball ReferenceAtlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac
{{Atlanta Braves Atlanta Braves seasons Atlanta Braves season