1971 Atlanta Braves season

1971 Atlanta Braves
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Atlanta Stadium
City	Atlanta
Record	82–80 (.506)
Divisional place	3rd
Owners	William Bartholomay
General managers	Paul Richards
Managers	Lum Harris
Television	WSB-TV
Radio	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton)
← 1970 Seasons 1972 →

The 1971 Atlanta Braves season was the sixth season in Atlanta along with the 101st season as a franchise overall.

Offseason

• November 30, 1970: Hal Breeden was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for Hoyt Wilhelm.^[1]
• December 2, 1970: Bob Tillman was traded by the Braves to the Milwaukee Brewers for Hank Allen, John Ryan (minors) and Paul Click (minors).^[2]
• December 22, 1970: Don Cardwell was released by the Braves.^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

v t e NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	90	72	0.556	—	51–30	39–42
Los Angeles Dodgers	89	73	0.549	1	42–39	47–34
Atlanta Braves	82	80	0.506	8	43–39	39–41
Cincinnati Reds	79	83	0.488	11	46–35	33–48
Houston Astros	79	83	0.488	11	39–42	40–41
San Diego Padres	61	100	0.379	28½	33–48	28–52

Record vs. opponents

1971 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	9–9	9–9	9–9	7–5	7–5	8–4	4–8	11–7	7–11	6–6
Chicago	7–5	—	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–10	11–7	11–7	6–12	9–3	3–9	9–9
Cincinnati	9–9	6–6	—	5–13	7–11	7–5	8–4	5–7	5–7	10–8	9–9	8–4
Houston	9–9	7–5	13–5	—	8–10	4–8	5–7	8–4	4–8	10–8	9–9	2–10
Los Angeles	9–9	4–8	11–7	10–8	—	8–4	5–7	7–5	4–8	13–5	12–6	6–6
Montreal	5–7	10–8	5–7	8–4	4–8	—	9–9	6–12	7–11	6–5	7–5	4–14
New York	5–7	7–11	4–8	7–5	7–5	9–9	—	13–5	10–8	7–5	4–8	10–8
Philadelphia	4-8	7–11	2–10	3–9	5–7	6–10	5–13	—	6–12	4–8	6–6	7–11
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	7–5	8–4	8–4	11–7	8–10	12–6	—	9–3	3–9	11–7
San Diego	7–11	3–9	8–10	8–10	5–13	5–6	5–7	8–4	3–9	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	9–3	9–9	9–9	6–12	5–7	8–4	6–6	9–3	13–5	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	4–8	10–2	6–6	14–4	8–10	11–7	7–11	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• April 1971: Hank Allen was released by the Braves.^[2]
• April 16, 1971: Luis Tiant was signed as a free agent by the Braves.^[4]
• May 15, 1971: Luis Tiant was released by the Braves.^[4]
• June 2, 1971: Clete Boyer was released by the Braves.^[5]
• June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
  • Biff Pocoroba was drafted by the Braves in the 17th round.^[6]
  • Mike Beard was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (18th pick) of the secondary phase.^[7]
• June 29, 1971: Hoyt Wilhelm was released by the Braves.^[1]

Roster

1971 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers 24 Steve Barber 29 Ron Herbel 39 Tom House 33 Pat Jarvis 36 Tom Kelley 22 Mike McQueen 23 Jim Nash 31 Gary Neibauer 35 Phil Niekro 37 Bob Priddy 38 Ron Reed 40 George Stone 34 Cecil Upshaw 39 Hoyt Wilhelm		Catchers  4 Bob Didier 15 Hal King 32 Earl Williams Infielders 44 Hank Aaron 18 Tommie Aaron  6 Clete Boyer  2 Jim Breazeale 30 Orlando Cepeda 11 Darrell Evans 14 Leo Foster  7 Gil Garrido  6 Tony La Russa 17 Félix Millán  9 Marty Perez 14 Marv Staehle 18 Zoilo Versalles		Outfielders 12 Dusty Baker 45 Oscar Brown 48 Ralph Garr 16 Sonny Jackson 28 Mike Lum		Manager 26 Lum Harris Coaches  8 Jim Busby  5 Harry Dorish 41 Eddie Mathews  3 Ken Silvestri

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Earl Williams	145	497	129	.260	33	87
1B	Hank Aaron	139	495	162	.327	47	118
2B	Félix Millán	143	577	167	.289	2	45
SS	Marty Perez	130	410	93	.227	4	32
3B	Darrell Evans	89	260	63	.242	12	38
LF	Ralph Garr	154	639	219	.343	9	44
CF	Sonny Jackson	149	547	141	.258	2	25
RF	Mike Lum	145	454	122	.269	13	55

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Orlando Cepeda	71	250	69	.276	14	44
Hal King	86	198	41	.207	5	19
Zoilo Versalles	66	194	37	.191	5	22
Bob Didier	51	155	34	.219	0	5
Gil Garrido	79	125	27	.216	0	12
Clete Boyer	30	98	24	.245	6	19
Dusty Baker	29	62	14	.226	0	4
Tommie Aaron	25	53	12	.226	0	3
Oscar Brown	27	43	9	.209	0	5
Marv Staehle	22	36	4	.111	0	1
Jim Breazeale	10	21	4	.190	1	3
Leo Foster	9	10	0	.000	0	0
Tony La Russa	9	7	2	.286	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Phil Niekro	42	268.2	15	14	2.98	173
Ron Reed	32	222.1	13	14	3.72	129
George Stone	27	172.2	6	8	3.60	110
Tom Kelley	28	143.0	9	5	2.96	68

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Pat Jarvis	35	162.1	6	14	4.10	68
Jim Nash	32	133.0	9	7	4.94	65
Gary Neibauer	6	21.0	1	0	2.14	6

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Bob Priddy	40	4	9	4	4.22	36
Steve Barber	39	3	1	2	4.80	40
Ron Herbel	25	0	1	1	5.23	22
Mike McQueen	17	4	1	1	3.54	38
Tom House	11	1	0	0	3.05	11
Hoyt Wilhelm	3	0	0	0	15.43	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Richmond Braves	International League	Clyde King
AA	Savannah Braves	Southern League	Eddie Haas
A	Greenwood Braves	Western Carolinas League	Clint Courtney
Rookie	Wytheville Braves	Appalachian League	Paul Snyder

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Notes

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1971 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference