Looking back at the 1966 Atlanta Braves
Leading off and playing center field -- No. 29, Felipe Alou. Batting second, third baseman -- No. 41, Eddie Mathews. In the three hole, right fielder -- No. 44, Hank Aaron. Batting cleanup and playing left field -- No. 43, Rico Carty. Batting fifth and behind the plate -- No. 15 catcher, Joe Torre. At shortstop and batting sixth -- No. 19, Denis Menke. Batting seventh, first baseman -- No. 9, Lee Thomas. At second base and batting eighth -- No. 2, Frank Bolling. And on the hill, right-hander -- No. 40, Tony Cloninger.
That was 50 years ago, April 12, 1966.
That was the starting lineup for the Atlanta Braves when they played their first regular-season game at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium after moving south from Milwaukee, which they had called home from 1953 until 1965. Prior to being in Milwaukee, the team had been in Boston dating back to 1871, playing under the names of the Red Stockings, Red Caps, Beaneaters, Doves, Rustler and Bees.
The Braves originally were scheduled to begin play in Atlanta in 1965, but an injunction in Wisconsin kept them in the Milwaukee for that season and the newly built Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was occupied by Atlanta's Triple-A International League team, the Crackers.
Atlanta's opening day opponent in 1966 was Pittsburgh, which featured future Hall of Famers Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazeroski, who I never liked because he hit the home run that beat my then beloved New York Yankees to win Game 7 of the World Series in 1960.
A crowd of 50,671, slightly below capacity of 52,007, was on hand to witness the game, which the Pirates won 3-2 in 13 innings. Home runs accounted for all the scoring. Torre was responsible for both Atlanta runs, hitting solo shots in the fifth (the first official home run in the stadium) and then in the 13th. Joe Pagliaroni had a solo homer for Pittsburgh in the eighth, and Willie Stargell hit a two-run shot in the top of the 13th, which proved to be the difference.
In what would be unheard of in today's game, Cloninger went the full 13 innings and was charged with the loss. He struck out 12 and walked just three. Cloninger, who won 24 games in 1965 and finished with a 14-11 record in 1966, put his name in the baseball record book later that season by hitting two grand slams against the San Francisco, Giants on July 3.
He is the only pitcher in major league baseball history to accomplish that feat.
Atlanta finished the 1966 season with an 85-77 record, which was good for a fifth-place finish in the NL (there were no playoffs in those days, only the World Series pitting the NL winner against the top team in the AL). That team drew 1,539,801 fans in its first year in Atlanta.
Aaron, who led the NL in home runs (44) and RBI (127) in 1966, was Atlanta's highest paid player with a salary of $70,000. Mathews was next at $57,500 and Torre made $45.000. Fifty years later, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis, who had comparable numbers to Aaron in 2015, (47 home runs, 117 RBI) will make $17 million this season after recently signing a seven-year deal worth $161 million.
In 23 seasons in the big leagues, Aaron hit 755 home runs with a career batting average of .305 with 1,383 strikeouts, while in eight years, Davis has 203 home runs with a career batting average of .255 and has struck out 1,090 times.
It makes you wonder what Aaron would be worth today.
Contact Bobby Pope at bobbypope428@gmail.com
This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Looking back at the 1966 Atlanta Braves ."