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Atlanta Braves Opening Day Countdown: 65, Avery’s 91 walks

By Benjamin Chase

14 Oct 1995: Pitcher Steve Avery #33 of the Atlanta Braves winds up for the pitch during game four of the NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds at Fulton Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves defeated the Reds 6-0.. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport
14 Oct 1995: Pitcher Steve Avery #33 of the Atlanta Braves winds up for the pitch during game four of the NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds at Fulton Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves defeated the Reds 6-0.. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport /
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If there’s a tragedy story in the 1990s with the Atlanta Braves, and there are more than one, none tops that of Steve Avery. His star was sure fun while it burned bright, though!

When the Atlanta Braves broke out of their Atlanta-long streak of mediocrity in 1991 to establish one of the longest runs of success in modern sports, the key was young pitching, and at the heart was a goofy left-hander.

No, not that guy. He ended up making the Hall of Fame. In fact, many thought Steve Avery had everything that Tom Glavine had on the mound and more.

Avery was originally the 3rd overall pick in the 1988 draft out of high school in Michigan. He moved quickly through the minor leagues, making 21 appearances, 20 of them starts, for the major league club in 1990, though the results weren’t great, posting a 5.64 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP (heavily BABIP-driven, as his FIP was 3.64).

In 1991, along with the rest of the starting staff, Avery broke out at just 21 years of age, making 35 starts, tossing 210 1/3 innings, and posting a 3.38 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 65/137 BB/K ratio. He continued to pitch at a very high level for the 1992 and 1993 season, with 1993 being possibly his best season, as he tossed 223 1/3 innings in 35 starts, with a 2.94 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 43/12 BB/K ratio.

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Whether it was having tossed over 825 big league innings before his 24th birthday (if you count postseason as well) or lingering effects from an injury that he suffered in late 1993, Avery was never the same pitcher.

He struggled with his location beginning in 1994, but he was able to still keep a respectable 4.04 ERA over 151 2/3 innings before the strike ended the season. His 1995 was rough, and his 1996 no better, and he was left out of the playoff rotation altogether in 1996.

The Atlanta Braves let Avery walk via free agency after 1996, and he signed with the Boston Red Sox. He would hang around the game for nearly another decade, but he would never again have an ERA under 5 in the major leagues, even in a partial season.

Next. Braves future bright, but at what cost?. dark

Over his Atlanta Braves career, he won 72 games and posted a 3.83 ERA over 1,222 1/3 innings, but it’s his 1991 season that we’re remembering Steve Avery for today, when he walked 65 of the 868 hitters he faced on the season (7.5%) as part of a dynamic young rotation that led the Braves to the postseason.

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