News
Braves have past and future with awards
Rich history of accolades could pick up with young talent
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
11/20/09 7:58 PM EST
ATLANTA -- During the 1990s, it became easy to predict that a Braves pitcher would capture the National League's Cy Young Award. Now as we move away from this current decade, we move toward one during which Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson could bring plenty of attention back to Atlanta during the postseason awards season.
With Jurrjens and Hanson accounting for the third-place finishes in the balloting for the National League Rookie of the Year in each of the past two seasons, there's reason to wonder if they will at least be able to rekindle memories of Tom Glavine (1991 and '98) and Greg Maddux (1993-95), who combined for five of the six Cy Young Awards that Braves pitchers captured in the '90s.
After Maddux won the Cy Young Award during each of his first three years in Atlanta, John Smoltz maintained the Braves' stranglehold on this award by capturing it in 1996. But since Glavine gained the honor again in 1998, the organization hasn't seen any of its pitchers recognized as the NL's top pitcher.
The Braves haven't seen one of their players named the National League's MVP since Chipper Jones grabbed the honor in 1999. Dale Murphy captured this coveted award in consecutive seasons (1982 and '83) and Terry Pendleton ('91) accounted for the only other MVP earned by an Atlanta player. Hank Aaron captured his only MVP in 1957, while the club was in Milwaukee.
Bobby Cox has captured each of his Manager of the Year Awards (1991, 2004 and '05) during his current tenure with the Braves. The 68-year-old skipper, who has revealed that he will retire at the conclusion of the 2010 season, is the organization's only manager to capture this honor.
The 2009 season was the second straight that a Braves player didn't capture a Gold Glove Award. With the help of Maddux and Andruw Jones, the organization had at least one winner from 1992-2007. Maddux and Jones both won Gold Gloves during each of their final 10 seasons with the Braves.
This year's only Atlanta award winner was All-Star catcher Brian McCann, who earned a Silver Slugger Award for the third time in four years. Just 25 years old, he has a chance to join elite company. Just six other Major League catchers have won this award four times.
Glavine and Murphy share the Braves record with four Silver Slugger Awards. Chipper Jones is the only other member of the organization to capture this honor multiple times.
| National Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MVP | Cy Young | Rookie of the Year | |||
| John Evers | 1914 | Warren Spahn | 1957 | Alvin Dark | 1948 |
| Robert Elliott | 1947 | Tom Glavine | 1991 | Samuel Jethroe | 1950 |
| Hank Aaron | 1957 | Greg Maddux | 1993 | Earl Williams | 1971 |
| Dale Murphy | 1982 | Greg Maddux | 1994 | Bob Horner | 1978 |
| Dale Murphy | 1983 | Greg Maddux | 1995 | David Justice | 1990 |
| Terry Pendleton | 1991 | John Smoltz | 1996 | Rafael Furcal | 2000 |
| Chipper Jones | 1999 | Tom Glavine | 1998 | ||
| Manager of the Year | Hank Aaron Award | Roberto Clemente Award | |||
| Bobby Cox | 1991 | Andruw Jones | 2005 | John Smoltz | 2005 |
| Bobby Cox | 2004 | ||||
| Bobby Cox | 2005 | ||||
| Rawlings Gold Glove | Silver Slugger | ||||
| Del Crandall, C | 1958 | Dale Murphy, OF | 1982 | ||
| Hank Aaron, OF | 1958 | Dale Murphy, OF | 1983 | ||
| Hank Aaron, OF | 1959 | Dale Murphy, OF | 1984 | ||
| Del Crandall, C | 1959 | Dale Murphy, OF | 1985 | ||
| Hank Aaron, OF | 1960 | Tom Glavine, P | 1991 | ||
| Del Crandall, C | 1960 | Ron Gant, OF | 1991 | ||
| Del Crandall, C | 1962 | Fred McGriff, 1B | 1993 | ||
| Joe Torre, C | 1965 | David Justice, OF | 1993 | ||
| Felix Millan, 2B | 1969 | Tom Glavine, P | 1995 | ||
| Clete Boyer, 3B | 1969 | Tom Glavine, P | 1996 | ||
| Felix Millan, 2B | 1972 | John Smoltz, P | 1997 | ||
| Phil Niekro, P | 1978 | Jeff Blauser, SS | 1997 | ||
| Phil Niekro, P | 1979 | Tom Glavine, P | 1998 | ||
| Phil Niekro, P | 1980 | Chipper Jones, 3B | 1999 | ||
| Phil Niekro, P | 1982 | Chipper Jones, 3B | 2000 | ||
| Dale Murphy, OF | 1982 | Gary Sheffield, OF | 2003 | ||
| Phil Niekro, P | 1983 | Javy Lopez, C | 2003 | ||
| Dale Murphy, OF | 1983 | Mike Hampton, P | 2003 | ||
| Dale Murphy, OF | 1984 | Johny Estrada, C | 2004 | ||
| Dale Murphy, OF | 1985 | Andruw Jones, OF | 2005 | ||
| Dale Murphy, OF | 1986 | Brian McCann, C | 2006 | ||
| Terry Pendleton, 3B | 1992 | Brian McCann, C | 2008 | ||
| Greg Maddux, P | 1993 | Brian McCann, C | 2009 | ||
| Greg Maddux, P | 1994 | ||||
| Greg Maddux, P | 1995 | ||||
| Marquis Grissom, OF | 1995 | ||||
| Greg Maddux, P | 1996 | ||||
| Marquis Grissom, OF | 1996 | ||||
| Greg Maddux, P | 1997 | ||||
| Greg Maddux, P | 1998 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 1998 | ||||
| Greg Maddux, P | 1999 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 1999 | ||||
| Greg Maddux, P | 2000 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 2000 | ||||
| Greg Maddux, P | 2001 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 2001 | ||||
| Greg Maddux, P | 2002 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 2002 | ||||
| Mike Hampton, P | 2003 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 2004 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 2005 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 2006 | ||||
| Andruw Jones, OF | 2007 | ||||
| Jeff Francoeur, OF | 2007 | ||||
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
