Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: The Draft and a Historic Milestone?
Photo from https://spelvin56.wordpress.com/tag/billy-arnold/. Photo uncredited; no copyright indication.
History, Perhaps?
Today, we have an interesting bit of Braves trivia courtesy of Paul via @BraveChophouse:
#Braves have exactly 30,000 doubles in franchise history (including National Association years in Boston 1871-75) according to @FanGraphs.
— Paul (@BravesStats) May 7, 2015
Yes: if you trace the Braves franchise all the way back to its roots, and include 5 disputed seasons in a league known as the National Association, fangraphs indeed records exactly 30,000 doubles for Braves-ish teams from 1871 through 2015. At that time, they were known as the Red Stockings.
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Of the records shown, 3 baseball franchises have hit more doubles: the Cubs (originally known as the White Stockings, with 31,434), the Cardinals (Brown Stockings), and the Phillies (Quakers). Next to join that 30,000 club will be the Red Sox (Americans), who are 27 away, and the Reds (also known as the Red Stockings), currently at 29,922.
If you’d like to know about the home runs – and who doesn’t? – then the Yankees (originally called the Orioles) are #1 with 15,098, followed by the Giants (Gothams) at a scant 14,006. The Braves (Red Stockings) are 4th overall at 13,164.
Other milestones on the horizon:
- 85,000 RBI (177 away)
- 190,000 hits (336 away)
- 63,000 walks (230 away)
- 87,000 strikeouts (212 away)
- 4,500 hit batsmen (19 away)
Recent milestones: 10,000 GIDP, 3,500 caught stealing, 300,000 pitches thrown (190,000 strikes). As a franchise, the Braves have a .261 average with .323 OBP over the past 145 years.
Now I did indicate a dispute: baseball-reference.com does not directly recognize the records of the National Association, and begins their formal record-keeping with the 1876 version of the Boston Red Stockings (Red Caps, Beaneaters, Doves, Rustlers, Bees, and Braves). Even so, some of that record-keeping is in dispute as well, for if you count the doubles numbers strictly from 1876-present, you get the following:
- Braves’ doubles (fangraphs): 29,390
- Braves’ doubles (baseball-reference.com): 29,398
Regardless of how you spin it, B-R.com won’t show 30,000 for another 4 years or so, but it also appears that there may be multiple claims on that 30,000th double.
But for now: it seems that the bragging rights belong to Nick Markakis.
Wonder if they saved the ball?
One note on the photo above: These are among the original Braves. Standing in the back row (third from left) is Albert G. Spalding. Yeah – THAT Spalding.