 | This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Specifically, it has lots of baseball minutiae and jargon. (December 2021) |
This article details the history of the Atlanta Braves, which concerns the evolution of the Major League Baseball team Atlanta Braves over time.
The Braves played in Boston from their inception in 1871 until 1953, when owner Lou Perini relocated the franchise to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During the franchise's 13-year tenure in Milwaukee, aided by Hall of Famers Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and Hank Aaron, the Braves reached the World Series in 1957 and 1958, winning in the former year. They also finished second in the National League five times from 1953 to 1960. In the early-to-mid-1960s, however, the Braves failed to play World Series-caliber baseball, and in 1962, Perini sold the team to William Bartholomay, who relocated the team to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966.
With the exceptions of National League West division titles in 1969 and 1982, the Braves were a largely mediocre team from the late 1960s through the 1980s. In 1976, media magnate Ted Turner purchased the Braves from Bartholomay and pledged to keep the team in Atlanta. The team's fortunes had an abrupt turnaround in 1991, when they became the first team in National League history to reach the World Series one year after finishing last. 1991 was the start of 14 consecutive division titles for the Braves, who became known as the "Team of the 90s". During that decade they played in five World Series (1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, and 1999) and won one (1995), which made them the only team in Major League history to win the World Series three times in three different cities. Their success relied heavily on a legendary starting rotation which included Hall of Famers John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux.
In 2006, the Braves' streak of division titles ended and they trudged through four years of mediocrity before earning three postseason berths between 2010 and 2013. The team then had four consecutive losing seasons before beginning a new streak of NL East division titles in 2018. In 2021, the Braves won their fourth World Series title.