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.n I n COtiltlantaJou, ll r:~wd.u.. 143.215.248.55 Th•"';,~;,~;AL LEAGUE PENNANT CONTENDERS- - - - " " " ' l~ y BRAGAN: ~~;!'!143.215.248.55 16:27, 29 December 2017 (EST). . Meet The Atlanta Braves 18 Proves He's Tough Guy to Beat By JOHN LOGUE Nineteen Thirty Five was a heckuva year for the Siluril, Ala., Buckwheat Mills baseball team. One-tenth of the men man- aging in the major leagues today were in that Siluria lineup. The incumbent manager the Atlanta Braves, Robert Randall "Bobby" Bra- of gan, alternated between a "skint" infield and a Johnson Grass ouUield. And who was on the mound Wednesdays and Sundays? "Lum" Luman Harris, that's who. In case you aren' t up on your baseball genetics, Lum Harris is the new manager of the Houston Colts. There "ain't" but 20 men managing in the major leagues - and that's counting a head coach in Chicago - and no less than two of them got their elementary education with the Buck~·heat Mills boys o( Siluria. Those were t h e days when there wasn't any income tax. Heck, there wasn't any income. Bobby Bragan, 46, has never failed this auspicious begiMing. THE PHILADELPHIA Phillies signed him in 1937 and he didn't take but three years getting into the big time. He hit .2&'i, .298. and .3ll at Pensacola, FI a., where the class of baseball wasD." The next three years he played his second base in Philadelphia where he was known more for his batUe than his bat, hitting o n ly .222, .251, and .218 for the Phillies. Brooklyn liked him and got him and he hit .264 ..267 (spent 1945-46 in military service) and .194 and .167 b e fore returning to the m1nor leagues at F o r t Worth, Hollywood and Spokane until 1959. In the interim, he also managed Fort Worth to the Texas League title in 1941 his first time out as a playini!"a;:le~ort Worth finished second and fourth and second and then Qt' man11,zed J-fol!ywoorf, !"!a. to the Padf1c Coast pennant in 1953. He fin ished second and thi rd there the next two years and in 19.'ili made hi! major league debut as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. THE MAN was willing but the flesh was weak in Pittsburgh w h ere the Plrates finished seventh twice. Cleveland called and Bragan brought the Indians into mid-season sixth in 1958. He finished out the year at Spokane where that ieam finished seventh. His 1959 Spokane team was fifth and in 1960 Bragan turned his talents to coaching for the Dodgers and in 1961 to scouting for the Houston Colts-with his old Siluria sidekick Lum Harris. The Br.aves gave the No. 1 job to Bragan in 1963 and this year extended his contract as a show of faith aft.er the Milwaukee club finished firth, only five games off the pace. Bra· gan's team won 20 of its last26gameslastseason. Bragan made baseball history at Spokane when he took an obscure, 26-year-old minor league shortstop and turned him into a formidable switch-hitter named Maury Wills. Lifted into the big time by a responsive bat, Wills has gone on to steal I04basesinone season and be named the Most Valuable Player in the National League. BRAVES' ASSIST ANTS DIXIE IN CHARACTER Dixie Walker is from Birmingham. Jo Jo White, now a resident of Sacramento. Calif .. is from down the road at Red Oak, Ga. Whitlow Wyatt, the pitching coach, Is a former Cracker manager and lives at Buchanan Walker the Braves' battmg Instructor ls also a fonner Atlanta manager He ls well quahf1ed to teach hitting, having led the National League m 1944 with a 357 mark Wyatt Is In his seventh year as p1tchmg coach of the Braves, one of the longest tenures m the maJors Ken S1lvestr1 former Yankee, White Sox and Phillies catcher,lsbullpencoach ~~ ~~: ph~ !!::s' ~IT~~e:e h~:~ae~r:~"f:e l~~:r!ka';i":% Mo.st have worked as scouts or instructors since their exit from active playing.-WALBURN. , t Braves Rode A Long Trail To Atlanta By JACK DOANE AllaalaJe on,a lAoolol . . 1 ~"'1.IF.41. . The Braves, original charter members of the National Baseball League when It was formed in 1876, have had many nicknames and now begin a new chapler in their third city of residence, but one fact has remained constant through it all- winning is the team's tradition. The team has had many nicknames. It has been known as the Red Stockings, Beaneaters, Doves, Rustlers · and ...,_ The club won four pennants in the old National AssoriaUon from 1871-75 before the league was reorganized into the present National League in 1178 with Booton a membe?-. ContNlders were .frequmt .and i:>lso rans f'W th·oui:h the e11rly years. ~oteam in baseball history ls more reno~ned than the 1914 •·Miracle Braves" who rcsidf'd in the

'liL cellar on Jul)' 18, then

sla~hed through thr rest of the league and won the Jl('nnant by ten and onr-half games, and rocked the fabled Philadelphia Athletics in four straight games in the World Series. That was the last championship uni~ 1948 when Billy Southworth, m his third season as manager. brought home the bacon to Beantown. That was the year of the victory cry "Spahn and Sain and two days of rain." Just four years later the bloom was gone. After a peak attendance of 1,455,439 in 1!148, the club attracted only 281,278 fans in 1952, and owner Lou Perini gave up the ship and moved the team to Milwaukee in March of 1953. FOR the next four seasol15 the Braves finished second three times and third once. Then came the bonanza as the same old Spahn and his new mound cohort, Lew Burdette, brought the pennant to the baseball-cra1.ed Milwaukeeans. In 1959 U1e story was the same-a pennant. Only the ending changed as the Yanks rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win the world's. championship in seven games. The following year the team slipped to second and hasn't won a pennant since. Braves Boast Three of Game's Greatest Stars H was almost as if the Milwaukee Braves were destined for Dixie when they hired their present coaching staff, which is definitely "you-all" in character. / BOBBY BRAGAN Braves' Manager ta ta a By LEE WALBURN' These are stars .. and then there are superstars. The Braves have three of the latter Few teams can boast three active all-time greats like Warren Spahn, Eddie :\lathews and Hank Aaron. Immortality has already been reserved for the name of_ Spahn._Althoug~ he didn't wm his first maJor league game until he wa1 2.'i, Spahn has won over 350 games in 20 )'cars in the maiors. He ranks ~cventh on U1e list of history·s greatest winners. Spahn has won more games, pitched more innings, struck out more baltersand won20 games more than any other lcflhander no errs In history. He had only lo 1;trikeout91hittersin 1964 to break Christy Mathewson's Natonal League mark of2,505foracarcer. SPAHN HAS led the National League in complete games nine times, victories eight times; innings pitched and strikeouts four times; C:3rned run average three times and games started and won - lost percentage twice. lo addition he has wonfourWorldSeriesgames and an all-~tar contest. He ha~ hit more home runs than any pitcher in National League hi~tory. A year ago he was named "Pitcher of the Decade." Mathews, who Bddle played his first lull season of baseball in Ponce de Leon Park, currently ranks as the premier home run hitter among active major league players. Only six men have ever hit more homers than the Braves' Bomber, who had 422 going in the 1964 season. Once considered a poor fielder. Mathews worked at the third base pooition until he became adept enough to lead the league in putouts twice and assists three times. In 1963 he led all third basemen in fielding. He has a lifetime major league bqtting average of .280and six limes has driven in 100 or more runs. EDDIE LED the league twice in homers, 47 and 46, ...... if andholdstheleaguerecord for most years hitting 30 ormorehomerunsandmost consecutive years hitting 30 or more home runs. In 1963 he received 124 walks to lead in that department for the third straight year and the fourth time in his caHank Aaron, younger than either Spahn or Mathews, still has a great future ahead of him. The past behind him, however, is almost enough to insure his place among the all-time greats. He has been called by some "the finest a\1aroond player in the game." In 1963 he had one of the greatest seasons ever ex- pcrienced by a National League player. He captured five individual titles, leading the league in RBI (130),totalbases(370),runs scored (121), slugging percentage (586) and tied for most home runs (44). If that wasn't enough, he stole 31 bases. second only to Maury Wills'40. Aaron has one of the strongest throwing arms in baseball. He has led league right fielders in fielding three times. At .320, his lifetime average is the highest of any active majoc league player. Remarkably durable he has played in 150 games for IO consecutive seasons. He has played in 10 consecutive all-star games. 1 I �