The Greatest Atlanta Braves Players in the Last 50 Years

I am continuing my list for the greatest players at each position in the last 50 years for each team. Today’s team is the Atlanta Braves.

The criteria are as follows:

- Player must have played a full 5 seasons for the team.

-1 player will be selected for each position, 1 right-handed starting pitcher, 1 left-handed starting pitcher, and 1 relief pitcher. I will include a DH for both leagues (considering interleague play now).

Below is my list of greatest players by position for the Braves in the last 50 years (since the 1970 season)

First Base- Freddie Freeman

Second Base- Mark Lemke

Shortstop-   Rafael Furcal

Third Base- Terry Pendleton

Left Field-    Chipper Jones

Centerfield-   Andruw Jones

Right Field- Dale Murphy

Catcher- Javy Lopez

Designated Hitter- Hank Aaron

Right-Handed starting pitcher- Greg Maddox

Left-Handed starting pitcher- Tom Glavine

Relief pitcher- John Smoltz


A couple of notes. This was one of the most challenging lists to put together. The Braves have many Hall of Famers, MVPs, and Cy Young award winners. I maneuvered a few players to their secondary positions to put together the best lineup. Moved Hall of Famer Chipper Jones from 3B to LF to get Terry Pendleton at 3B. Pendleton was a batting champion and won the NL MVP with the Braves. Moving Chipper Jones to LF was an easy decision since there were not many good options. Ryan Klesko and Lonnie Smith were the other choices. I moved 2-time MVP Dale Murphy to RF to get Andruw Jones in CF. Although Hank Aaron was toward the end of his career, he still was a key contributor, hitting 170 home runs from 1970-1974. He deserved the DH. For the pitchers, I had to get all the “big 3" from the 90s. For RHP, I picked Maddux over another Hall of Famer, Phil Niekro.


Next up is the Miami Marlins.