Braves Franchise History

1932: New York Giants first baseman Bill Terry ties a National League record with 21 putouts as the Giants beat the Boston Braves, 5-0, behind Hal Schumacher’s two-hit shutout.

1934: At Ebbets Field, Casey Stengel makes his managerial debut, but his Brooklyn Dodgers lose, 8-7, to the Boston Braves.

1947: The Brooklyn Dodgers win 12-6 over the Boston Braves at Ebbets Field, as Jackie Robinson gets his first major league hit, a bunt single, off Glenn Elliott. Robinson will bunt 42 times, collecting 19 hits, during the season. The Brooklyn offense is led by fellow rookie Spider Jorgensen, who drives in six runs.

1954: At County Stadium, utility man Nino Escalera becomes the first black player to appear in a Cincinnati uniform. A native of Puerto Rico, Escalera pinch-hits a single in the Redlegs’ 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Braves. In the 7th inning, another black rookie, Chuck Harmon, follows him, pinch-hitting for Corky Valentine and pops out. Escalera, who will bat .159 and collect 11 hits in his only major league season, will eventually become a scout for the Oakland Athletics.

1959: After his 8th-inning, game-tying solo shot off the Braves’ Bob Rush, Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente is facing compatriot Juan Pizarro in the top of the 10th when the skies open up, bringing a tense confrontation to an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion as the game will ultimately have to be replayed in its entirety.

1988: After ten consecutive losses, the Atlanta Braves win their first game of the season, 3-1, over the Dodgers. Zane Smith is the winning pitcher. Atlanta’s 0-10 start is the worst in National League history until now; the 1997 Chicago Cubs will do even worse, losing their first 14 games before recording their first win. Meanwhile, over in the American League, the Orioles lose their 12th straight, 4-1 to the Indians, on their way to setting the all-time record of 21 straight losses to open a season.

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2010: Ubaldo Jimenez pitches the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies history. He disposes of the Atlanta Braves, 4-0, at Turner Field to improve to 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA for the year. Jimenez is helped by a spectacular diving catch of a Troy Glaus line drive by Dexter Fowler in the 7th inning.

2021: Having made his last major league appearance in September of 2008, 36-year-old Sean Kazmar is used as a pinch-hitter by the Braves, having gone 12 full seasons without a major league appearance. While this is not a record, it is the longest such gap since Ralph Winegarner in 1949.

MLB History

2008: The Padres and Rockies begin a marathon game at PETCO Park. The game goes 6 hours and 16 minutes and 22 innings, the longest major league contest in 15 years. 15 pitchers throw a combined 658 pitches. It is the third straight Padres-Rockies contest to go at least 13 innings. Kip Wells gets the victory. Neither starter Jake Peavy nor Jeff Francis allow a run; the game is scoreless through 12. In the 13th, coach Glenn Hoffman waives Paul McAnulty home but Brad Hawpe and Clint Barmes make fine throws to get McAnulty at home. In the 14th, Hawpe coaxes a bases-loaded walk from Kevin Cameron for the first run of the game. In the bottom of the 14th, though, Manuel Corpas allows a run when Josh Bard drives in Kevin Kouzmanoff. SS Troy Tulowitzki makes a game-saving throw home to prevent the Padres from winning the game in that inning. In the 22nd, CF Willy Taveras reaches on a Khalil Greene error. Taveras steals second and moves to third on Bard’s throwing error. Tulowitzki then singles off Glendon Rusch to finally end the game.

2009: Gary Sheffield becomes the 25th member of the 500 home run club. He delivers a pinch-hit homer off the Brewers’ Mitch Stetter in the 7th inning of a game at Citi Field, still in its first month of operation. It is Sheffield’s first home run for the New York Mets, after having been released in spring training by the Detroit Tigers while sitting on 499 home runs. The Mets win the game, 5-4, on Luis Castillo’s 9th inning two-out single.

2012: Jamie Moyer becomes the oldest pitcher to record a win in Colorado’s 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres at Coors Field. At 49 years and 150 days of age, he eclipses Jack Quinn, who recorded the last win of his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers on September 13, 1932. It is career win number 268 for Moyer, tying him with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer; he pitches seven innings and is helped by Dexter Fowler’s two-run homer.

Information for this article was found via Baseball Reference, NationalPastime.com and Today in Baseball History.