1979 Atlanta Braves season

Offseason

• January 9, 1979: Brook Jacoby 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.
• March 31, 1979: Dave Campbell was traded by the Braves to the Montreal Expos 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, Bill Lucas. The first African-American 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, 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, Bob Horner and Glenn Hubbard. During Lucas' term, the club had also hired Bobby Cox for his first term (1978–81) as manager. 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 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

Awards and honors

League leaders

• Phil Niekro, National League leader, Losses

Notes

References

• 1979 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference
• Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac

References

1. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/j/jacobbr01.shtml Brook Jacoby] at ''Baseball-Reference''
2. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/daveymi01.shtml Mike Davey] at ''Baseball-Reference''
3. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/campbda02.shtml Dave Campbell] at ''Baseball-Reference''
4. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19790506&id=TgtWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AOIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5459,1825480 The Associated Press, May 8, 1979]
5. Bryant, Howard, ''The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron''. New York: [[Random House]], 2010, page 446
6. [http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=franchise&fid=atl Baseball America Executive Database]
7. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/caprabu01.shtml Buzz Capra] at ''Baseball-Reference''
8. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rungepa01.shtml Paul Runge] at ''Baseball-Reference''
9. [https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/butlebr01.shtml Brett Butler] at ''Baseball-Reference''
10. ''Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures'', 2008 Edition, p. 348, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, {{ISBN. 978-0-451-22363-0