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| A trio of justifiably self-satisfied young men. |
Any conversation about pitching greatness eventually comes around to the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s. Most of the time, the conversation both begins and ends there. Growing up in Atlanta during this period, despite being a Cubs fan, I had the supreme pleasure of watching these guys pitch an awful lot. The summers were great for a baseball fan down here: watch the Cubs flounder lovingly at 2:20ET, dirty the side of the house with tennis ball-shaped red clay splotches, watch the Braves play beautifully at 7:10ET. Why in the hell did I not shift my allegiance, especially with no actual ties to the city of Chicago? That's an answer for another day, but surely, in part, because I was a fool. Although my Cubs fanship will one day pay huge dividends. Besides, failure is all a part of it, and the Cubs have only failed for twenty-three years that have mattered to me personally. Back on topic...the Atlanta Braves were great. They should have won more World Series Championships, and they earned more than the five pennants they won. But did they have the best rotation of all time?
The Braves were superlative all through the 1990s and into the first part of the next century, their peak being after the acquisition of Greg Maddux before the 1993 season. How baseball history would have been altered if the Pirates had not reneged on the handshake deal that, for a cup of coffee, made Barry Bonds a Brave. Then there would have been no money for Maddux, and he likely would've signed with the New York Yankees. Yikes. Both the Yankees and Braves may have been even better, in different ways.
It is difficult to select one season on which to concentrate. From 1995-1999, the top four men in the rotation compiled 91.6rWAR and a 148ERA+...that's over five years! And the Big Three of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz were never at their individual best in the same season. They must have signed some blood oath to pass along the accolades. Or perhaps Maddux just lost a bet. As a team, the Braves had their best season in 1998*, with 106 wins. But I would argue 1997 saw the height of their pitching prowess as a rotation.
*The Braves, of course, lost to the Padres in the NLCS in 1998, but that doesn't diminish their greatness. They should've been in the Fall Classic that year. Numbers-wise, 1995 could stand as their best pitching season (and they won it all to boot). But their overall numbers were inflated by Maddux's superhuman year that saw him post 8.8rWAR and a 262ERA+*
A clunky set of stats:
Greg Maddux 19W 2.20ERA 2.43FIP 7.3rWAR 189ERA+
Tom Glavine 14W 2.96ERA 3.96FIP 5.0rWAR 141ERA+
John Smoltz 15W 3.02ERA 3.04FIP 4.5rWAR 138ERA+
Denny Neagle 20W 2.97ERA 3.34FIP 4.1rWAR 140ERA+
Team Totals : 581 runs allowed; 101 team wins
Top 4 Totals : 20.9rWAR 152ERA+
Coming off two consecutive pennants, the Braves were poised for a third, but fell pray to the clusterfuck of expanded playoffs. The Big Three carried the torch, with Maddux having a Cy Young caliber season, if not for this little guy. Glavine pitched like an All Star, and Smoltz was right in stride. Denny Neagle, acquired from Pittsburgh the previous season, stepped up his game, probably with the help of that Leo Mazzone pixie dust that used to work so well. If you need any further evidence as to the arbitrariness of wins, look no further than Neagle in '97. He was the fourth best pitcher on the staff, yet he gets to sport the 20-game winner t-shirt around the clubhouse. All snark aside, Neagle was very good in 1997, complementing the Big Three in what was, top to bottom, one of the greatest pitching staffs every assembled.
The Braves always managed to find an above-replacement level fourth man to pick up any slack from injuries or temporary regressions from the Big Three. Neagle gave them a couple good seasons. Steve Avery had his moment in the sun. And if you can remember, Kevin Millwood was pretty darn good for a small time.
It was not a flashy staff. Following them closely, as well as baseball in general, I don't recall an overwhelming level of fanfare from ESPN and company. Smoltz was the most dynamic of the three: he had the strikeouts and the stern game face. And of course there was that game 7 in 1991. Losing can make a legend. He was definitely the favorite among most Braves fans; the games he pitched at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium/Turner Field were always the most raucous. And although his career pales a bit in comparison to those of Glavine and Maddux, Smoltz had the most dominant presence on the mound. As a fan watching at the park, or to a lesser extent on television, one always felt more confident in getting a win when Smoltz was on the mound. He just seemed to tower over the hitter, capable of getting that necessary punch-out at will.
Glavine, whether you loved baseball or not, could be quite a bore to watch, taking his sweet ass time and dancing painfully around the outside black. Although he was nothing compared to Andy Pettitte. If Pettitte had pitched in the pre-television era, I'm pretty confident his opponents (and possibly even some of his teammates) would have popped his joints inside-out for all his tiresome delays. And for Glavine, the first inning was always a traumatic experience. You didn't feel comfortable with Glavine out there until he survived the first frame. After that, it was usually smooth sailing.
And then there's Maddux. Well, his steady greatness is just too difficult to quantify. He should not have been as good as he was. But he was. On the occasional day when his location failed him, watching the hit parade that ensued felt like some bizarre, existential fever dream. The Earth seemed off kilter. But during his prime, those days were scarce. In hindsight, it is difficult to believe they occurred at all. A glorious freak of the game of baseball. No satisfactory way to explain it.
While a single season of this rotation may not hold up among the best, I doubt any other staff matches the longevity of their greatness. The fact that it was so difficult to pick one year on which to focus about says it all. And oh yes, for what it's worth, the staff accumulated six Cy Young Awards (3Maddux, 2Glavine, 1Smoltz). And Maddux won another won the year before signing with Atlanta, and thus cementing one of the greatest, if not the best, rotation anyone has ever seen.
A bit of accounting:
1997 Atlanta Braves : 20.9rWAR 152ERA+
2011 Philadelphia Phillies : 22.5rWAR 148ERA+
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