List of Atlanta Braves managers
Encyclopedia
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
are a professional baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team based in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. The Braves are members of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
(NL) East
National League East
The National League East Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies are tied for the most National League East Division titles . All of Atlanta's NL East titles came during a record stretch of 14 consecutive division titles...
division in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
(MLB). Since the franchise started as the Boston Red Stockings (no relationship to the current Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
team) in 1871, the team has changed its name several times and relocated twice. The Braves were a charter member of the NL in 1876 as the Boston Red Caps, and are one of the NL's two remaining charter franchises (the other being the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
). In baseball, the head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of a team is called the manager
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
, or more formally, the field manager. The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field. The Braves franchise has employed 45 different managers.
The franchise's first manager was Hall of Famer
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
Harry Wright
Harry Wright
William Henry "Harry" Wright was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings...
, who managed the team for eleven seasons. Frank Selee
Frank Selee
Frank Gibson Selee was an American Major League Baseball manager in the National League . In his 16 year Major League career, he managed the Boston Beaneaters for 12 seasons, and the Chicago Orphans for four.He was noted for his ability to assess and utilize talent, which gave his teams a great...
was the next manager to have managed the team for eleven seasons, with a total of twelve with the formerly named Boston Beaneaters. The formerly named Boston Braves made their first postseason appearance under George Stallings
George Stallings
George Tweedy Stallings was an American manager and player in Major League Baseball. His most famous achievement – leading the Boston Braves from last place in mid-July to the National League championship and a World Series sweep of the powerful Philadelphia Athletics – resulted in a nickname he...
in 1914, winning the World Series that year
1914 World Series
In the 1914 World Series, the Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Athletics in a four-game sweep.A contender for greatest upset of all time, the "Miracle Braves" were in last place on July 4, then roared on to win the National League pennant by games and sweep the stunned Athletics...
. Several other managers spent long tenures with the Braves. Bill McKechnie
Bill McKechnie
William Boyd McKechnie was an American third baseman, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. He was the first manager to win World Series titles with two different teams , and remains one of only two managers to win pennants with three teams, also capturing the National League title in 1928...
managed the Braves from 1930 to 1937, while Casey Stengel
Casey Stengel
Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel , nicknamed "The Old Perfessor", was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in ....
managed the team from 1938 to 1942. The franchise was known as the Boston Bees from 1936 to 1940, and was again named the Boston Braves until 1952. Stengel also managed the Braves in 1943.
From 1943 to 1989, no managerial term lasted as long as five complete seasons. The Braves were managed by Billy Southworth
Billy Southworth
William Harrison Southworth was an American right fielder, center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Playing in and and from to , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Southworth managed in and from through...
from 1946 to 1949, and again from 1950 to 1951. Southworth led the team into the 1948 World Series
1948 World Series
The 1948 World Series matched the Cleveland Indians against the Boston Braves. The Braves had won the National League pennant for the first time since the "Miracle Braves" team of . The Indians spoiled a chance for the only all-Boston World Series by winning a one-game playoff against the Boston...
, which ended the Braves' 34-year postseason drought; the World Series ended in a losing result for the Braves. In 1953, the team moved from Boston to Milwaukee, where it was known as the Milwaukee Braves. Its first manager in Milwaukee was Charlie Grimm
Charlie Grimm
Charles John Grimm , nicknamed "Jolly Cholly", was a first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball best known for his years with the Chicago Cubs; he was also a sometime radio broadcaster, and a popular goodwill ambassador for baseball...
, who managed the team from mid-season of 1952 to mid-season of 1956. Fred Haney
Fred Haney
Fred Girard Haney was an American third baseman, manager, coach and executive in Major League Baseball. As a manager, he won two pennants and a world championship with the Milwaukee Braves and, as an executive, he was the first general manager of the expansion Los Angeles Angels of the American...
took over the managerial position after Grimm, and led the team to the World Series in 1957
1957 World Series
The 1957 World Series featured the defending champions, the New York Yankees , playing against the Milwaukee Braves . After finishing just one game behind the N.L. Champion Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956, the Braves came back in 1957 to win their first pennant since moving from Boston in 1953...
, defeating the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
in a game seven
Game seven
A game seven is the final game of a best of seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball , the National Basketball Association , and the National Hockey League .The game is traditionally played at the site of team holding the home...
to win the series.
In 1966, the team moved from Milwaukee to its current location, Atlanta. Its first manager in Atlanta was Bobby Bragan
Bobby Bragan
Robert Randall Bragan was a shortstop, catcher, manager, and coach in American Major League Baseball. He also was an influential executive in minor league baseball...
, who managed the team for three seasons earlier in Milwaukee. Lum Harris
Lum Harris
Chalmer Luman Harris was an American right-handed pitcher, coach, manager, and scout in Major League Baseball....
was the first manager to have managed the team in Atlanta for more than four seasons. Harris led the team into the NL Championship Series
National League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning...
(NLCS) in 1969, but failed to advance into the World Series. Joe Torre
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre is a former American professional baseball player and manager who currently serves as Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. A nine-time All-Star, he played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first baseman and a third baseman for the...
was the next manager to manage the Braves into the postseason, but like Harris, led the team into the NLCS with a losing result. Bobby Cox
Bobby Cox
Robert Joseph "Bobby" Cox is a former Major League Baseball third baseman and manager. He first led the Atlanta Braves from 1978 to 1981, and then managed the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982 to 1985. He later rejoined the Braves in 1985 as a general manager...
was the manager of the Braves from 1990 till 2010. Under his leadership the Braves made the postseason 15 times, winning five National League championships and one World Series title in 1995
1995 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 21, 1995 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta ace Greg Maddux pitched a two-hit complete game victory in his first World Series appearance ....
. Cox has the most regular season wins, regular season losses, postseason appearances, postseason wins and postseason losses of any Braves manager. He was named NL Manager of the Year three times, in 1991, 2004 and 2005.
After Cox retired upon the conclusion of the 2010 season, Fredi González
Fredi González
Fredi Jesus González is the current manager of the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball. Gonzalez is also the former manager of the Florida Marlins 2007–2010. For the four years prior to 2007, he was third base coach for the Atlanta Braves.-Biography:Gonzalez grew up in Miami, Florida, where he...
was hired to take over as manager.
Several managers have had multiple tenures with the Braves. John Morrill
John Morrill
John Francis Morrill , nicknamed "Honest John," was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played from 1876-1890. Over the years he played all positions. Although he pitched a couple of games each season, he was primarily an infielder, and had a career batting average of...
served three terms in the 1880s as the Braves manager, while Fred Tenney
Fred Tenney
Frederick Tenney was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Beaneaters/Doves/Rustlers and New York Giants .-See also:...
, Stengel, Bob Coleman
Bob Coleman
Robert Hunter Coleman was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. He also was one of the most successful managers in the history of minor league baseball, his career extending from 1919 through 1957.A native of Huntingburg, Indiana, Coleman played just three seasons in the...
, Southworth, Dave Bristol
Dave Bristol
James David Bristol is a former manager in Major League Baseball in the 1960s and 1970s. He managed the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and San Francisco Giants during this period....
and Cox each served two terms. Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
and Vern Benson
Vern Benson
Vernon Adair Benson is a retired infielder/outfielder, coach, scout and interim manager in American Major League Baseball. During his playing career, he stood 5'11" tall, weighed 180 pounds , batted left-handed, and threw right-handed.Benson attended Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina...
's term each lasted only a single game, as they were both interim managers between Bristol's tenures.
Table key
| Linked to the corresponding Major League Baseball season | |
| Winning percentage: number of wins divided by number of games managed | |
| Postseason appearances: number of years this manager has led the franchise to the postseason Major League Baseball postseason The Major League Baseball postseason is an elimination tournament held after the conclusion of Major League Baseball's regular season. It consists of one best-of-five series and two best-of-seven series... |
|
| Postseason wins: number of wins this manager has accrued in the postseason | |
| Postseason losses: number of losses this manager has accrued in the postseason | |
| Pennants: number of pennants (league championships) won by the manager | |
| World Series: number of World Series World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy... victories achieved by the manager |
|
| Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame (‡ denotes induction as manager) |
Managers
| # | Manager | Years | Wins | Losses | WPct | PA | PW | PL | Pen | WS | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | † | – | 254 | 187 | .576 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |
| 2 | 45 | 39 | .536 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 3 | 30 | 24 | .556 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| — | – | 208 | 176 | .541 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 4 | † | 49 | 43 | .533 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| — | – | 82 | 81 | .503 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 5 | 83 | 45 | .648 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 6 | ‡ | – | 1,004 | 649 | .607 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |
| 7 | – | 186 | 242 | .435 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 8 | – | 158 | 295 | .348 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 9 | † | 63 | 91 | .409 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 12 | 22 | 54 | .289 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 11 | 23 | 54 | .299 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 12 | 53 | 100 | .346 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| — | 44 | 107 | .398 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 13 | 52 | 101 | .340 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 14 | – | 579 | 597 | .492 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 15 | – | 186 | 274 | .404 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 16 | † | – | 249 | 363 | .407 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |
| 17 | 11 | 20 | .355 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 18 | † | 39 | 83 | .320 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 19 | 56 | 98 | .364 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 20 | ‡ | – | 560 | 666 | .457 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |
| 21 | ‡ | – | 326 | 431 | .430 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |
| 22 | 21 | 25 | .456 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| — | ‡ | 47 | 60 | .439 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| — | – | 107 | 140 | .433 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 23 | 25 | 34 | .424 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 24 | ‡ | – | 313 | 256 | .550 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| 25 | 20 | 25 | .444 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| — | ‡ | – | 111 | 102 | .521 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |
| 26 | – | 61 | 69 | .469 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 27 | – | 51 | 67 | .432 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 28 | – | 341 | 231 | .596 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 29 | – | 159 | 124 | .562 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 30 | – | 98 | 89 | .524 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 31 | – | 310 | 287 | .519 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 32 | – | 110 | 100 | .524 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 33 | – | 379 | 373 | .504 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 34 | † | – | 149 | 161 | .481 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |
| 35 | – | 96 | 101 | .487 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 36 | 9 | 18 | .333 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 37 | – | 78 | 113 | .408 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 38 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 39 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| — | 52 | 79 | .397 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 40 | – | 266 | 323 | .452 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 41 | – | 257 | 229 | .529 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 42 | 50 | 71 | .413 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 43 | 16 | 25 | .390 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | |||
| 44 | – | 153 | 208 | .424 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| 45 | – | 130 | 216 | .376 | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| — | – | 1,792 | 1,315 | .577 | 14 | 64 | 63 | 5 | 1 | ||
| 46 | –Present | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | 0— | ||
| Totals | — | — | 9,914 | 9,929 | .500 | 20 | 77 | 80 | 9 | 3 |