The 1976 Atlanta Braves season was the 11th season in Atlanta along with the franchise's 106th consecutive year of existence in American professional baseball. The Braves finished in sixth and last place in the National League West Division, compiling a 70–92 (.432) win–loss record; although the 70 victories represented a three-game improvement over the fifth-place 1975 edition, the last-place finish would be the first of four straight years in the NL West divisional basement. The club drew 818,179Baseball Almanac fans to Atlanta Stadium, a 53 percent increase over its dismal 1975 attendance of less than 535,000 fans.

Offseason November 17, 1975: Dusty Baker and Ed Goodson were traded by the Braves to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Jerry Royster, Lee Lacy, Tom Paciorek, and Jimmy Wynn.Jerry Royster at Baseball-Reference December 12, 1975: Larvell Blanks and Ralph Garr were traded by the Braves to the Chicago White Sox for Ken Henderson, Ozzie Osborn and Dick Ruthven.Larvell Blanks at Baseball-Reference

Ownership and management: the Ted Turner era begins On January 7, 1976, the modern era of the Braves franchise effectively began when Atlanta broadcast executive and world-class yachtsman Ted Turner bought 100 percent of the team from the Atlanta LaSalle Corp. for $10 million. The previous ownership group, the LaSalle Corp., had owned the team since October 1962 and spearheaded its move from Milwaukee to Atlanta in time for the season; its chairman, William Bartholomay, retained his association with the Turner-owned Braves as chairman of the board.["Ted Turner, the yachtsman, buys baseball's Braves", The Boston Globe, January 7, 1976] Early reports speculated that Turner bought the Braves to provide local programming content for his television station, then WTCG-TV, Channel 17. But Turner would become a highly successful baseball executive and turn WTCG into the WTBS Superstation and a cornerstone of the Turner Broadcasting System.

Turner wasted no time in making headlines and major changes in the Braves' front office. On April 11, 1976, he signed one of baseball's first free agents, starting pitcher Andy Messersmith, who had successfully sued baseball and brought about the end of the reserve clause,The Associated Press, April 11, 1976, for a contract valued at more than $1 million. Messersmith, a 19-game-winner for the Dodgers, was initially issued a uniform bearing the numeral 17 but the word "Channel" instead of his nameplate above it, promoting Turner's WTCG outlet. He made the NL All-Star team that season, his most successful as a Brave, and was one of the few bright spots in a 92-loss, last-place season. The team's field manager, Dave Bristol, hired by the previous owners three months before the sale, survived the 1976 season—but he would be involved in a bizarre firing-and-rehiring by Turner during the campaign.

Turner also employed three general_managers in 1976. In May, he replaced veteran baseball man Eddie Robinson, inherited from the previous regime and in office for almost four full years, with former Boston Red Sox executive John Alevizos. But Alevizos lasted only four months before he was removed in favor of Braves' farm system director Bill Lucas, who became the first African-American general manager in Major League history on September 17. Lucas, the former brother-in-law of Braves' legend Henry Aaron, would begin the rebuilding of the franchise into a competitor, but he died suddenly at age 43 from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1979, the year before the Braves finally cracked the .500 mark.

Led by players including Dale Murphy and Bob Horner, the Braves won the National League West division in 1982 but declined during the remainder of the decade. Under executives including Bobby Cox, Stan Kasten and John Schuerholz, the team became a regular contender during the 1990s. The Braves won division titles in 1991–1993 and 1995–1996, National League pennants in 1991, 1992, 1995 and 1996, and the 1995 World Series. Turner sold the team to Time Warner in 1996.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft Ricky Jones was drafted by the Braves in the 18th round, but did not sign.Ricky Jones at Baseball-Reference John Butcher was drafted by the Braves in the 3rd round of the secondary phase, but did not sign.John Butcher at Baseball-Reference June 13, 1976: Darrell Evans and Marty Perez were traded by the Braves to the San Francisco Giants for Willie Montañez, Craig Robinson, Mike Eden, and Jake Brown.Darrell Evans at Baseball-Reference June 15, 1976: Blue Moon Odom was traded by the Braves to the Chicago White Sox for Pete Varney.Blue Moon Odom at Baseball-Reference June 23, 1976: Elías Sosa and Lee Lacy were traded by the Braves to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Marshall.Mike Marshall at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1976 Atlanta Braves Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

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 65 200 45 .225 5 16 1B 103 420 135 .321 9 64 2B Rod Gilbreath 116 383 96 .251 1 32 SS Darrel Chaney 153 496 125 .252 1 50 3B 149 533 132 .248 5 45 LF 148 449 93 .207 17 66 CF Rowland Office 99 359 101 .281 4 34 RF 133 435 114 .262 13 61

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 111 324 94 .290 4 36 Dave May 105 214 46 .215 3 23 Earl Williams 61 184 39 .212 9 26 50 180 49 .272 3 20 Biff Pocoroba 54 174 42 .241 0 14 Darrell Evans 44 139 24 .173 1 10 Cito Gaston 69 134 39 .291 4 25 Marty Perez 31 96 24 .250 1 6 Dale Murphy 19 65 17 .262 0 9 Rob Belloir 30 60 12 .200 0 4 11 33 7 .212 1 3 Junior Moore 20 26 7 .269 0 2 Craig Robinson 15 17 4 .235 0 3 Pete Varney 5 10 1 .100 0 0 Mike Eden 5 8 0 .000 0 1 Terry Crowley 7 6 0 .000 0 1 Pat Rockett 4 5 1 .200 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 38 270.2 17 11 3.29 173 36 240.1 14 17 4.19 142 29 207.1 11 11 3.04 135 Carl Morton 26 140.1 4 9 4.17 42 Frank LaCorte 19 105.1 3 12 4.70 79 Jamie Easterly 4 22.0 1 1 4.91 11 1 5.0 1 0 5.40 3

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 Roger Moret 27 77.1 3 5 5.00 30 5 11.1 0 1 6.35 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 48 5 6 9 3.21 48 42 3 5 1 3.56 36 Pablo Torrealba 36 0 2 2 3.57 33 Max León 30 2 4 3 2.75 16 30 0 2 1 4.28 8 Mike Marshall 24 2 1 6 3.19 17 Elías Sosa 21 4 4 3 5.35 32 5 0 1 0 8.68 4 5 0 0 0 4.50 3

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Notes

References

1976 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac