How good was the Braves pitching in the 90's?

[CMIZ5290]

I just watched a program on FoxSports South called "The Three Aces"....About Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz. According to stats online, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were a combined 668-430 in their careers! How in the Hell did the Braves not win more titles??

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by CMIZ5290

I just watched a program on FoxSports South called "The Three Aces"....About Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz. According to stats online, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were a combined 668-430 in their careers! How in the Hell did the Braves not win more titles??

Didn't they make the playoffs something like 14 straight years and get to 5 WS? That's pretty damn good. They just weren't quite up to par for some reason in the WS even though you would think that format would have been a tremendous advantage to them with those 3 great starters.

[parker1b2]

They also had Steve Avery who was pretty good for a few years giving them a very good 4th starter

[HRBAKER]

Maddux 11-14 3.27
Glavine 14-16 3.30
Smoltz 15-4 2.67

A minor bit of Maddux & Glavine's stats were with other teams. It appears that the bats and bullpens could have been a significant part of the story.

I lived in Atlanta through all of it. Exciting and disappointing at the same time.

I did have the good fortune at attend Tom Glavine's masterful 8 inning one-hit performance in Game 6 in 1995 to beat the Indians 1-0 and win the only WS.

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Didn't they make the playoffs something like 14 straight years and get to 5 WS? That's pretty damn good. They just weren't quite up to par for some reason in the WS even though you would think that format would have been a tremendous advantage to them with those 3 great starters.

You are spot on Peter. With these 3 starters, the post season should have been a huge advantage. Also noted, Steve Avery was a fantastic pitcher as well. Looking back on all of these Braves teams, outside of the starting pitchers, the Braves never really had a quote "Superstar" that was an every day player. Fred McGriff was probably the closest, and guess what, he was the key player the only year they won the WS (1995)

[HRBAKER]

I don't know, Chipper Jones was on the team with the Big Three from 1995 - 2002, he was pretty good. Some might say better than McGriff even.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Galaragga had a monster year or two, I think. Javy Lopez. Ryan Klesko. Andruw Jones. No shortage of bats.

[packs]

This is the exact reason I don't think Bobby Cox is any kind of HOFer. If you couldn't win more than once with those teams, are you really one of the best managers of all time?

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

I don't know, Chipper Jones was on the team with the Big Three from 1995 - 2002, he was pretty good. Some might say better than McGriff even.

Yes, good point about Chipper and Andres G.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Charlie Liebrant was decent had 15 wins a few time in the 90s

Also Danny Neagle 16 wins in at least one year and Kevin Millwood had a good year or 2 as part of that decade

Ron Gant had 30 homers at least a few times and other good years, Terry Pendleton was sold too

David Justice had 40 homers in a year