Franchise knowledge

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta National League East

The Atlanta Braves carry the longest continuous thread in professional sports — born as the Boston Red Stockings in the 1870s, crowned in three cities, and still playing under a nickname that predates the automobile. Four World Series titles, a 14-year division dynasty, Hank Aaron’s 715th homer, and a 2021 parade that felt like a debt finally paid make this one of baseball’s most traveled franchises.

From Boston’s South End to Milwaukee County Stadium to Fulton County’s launch-angle nights to Truist Park in Cobb County, Braves baseball blends Miracle comebacks, Ted Turner’s broadcast empire, and a development machine that keeps producing stars. Below is a franchise overview: origins, eras, championships, legends, and the oddities that make the tomahawk chop feel inevitable every October.

When you are ready to test what you know, browse the full Atlanta Braves quiz collection — including year-by-year looks at the 2023, 2024, and 2025 clubs.

Through the decades

Franchise Timeline

Scroll the milestones, then tap a year to read the story behind it.

Oct 13, 1914

Miracle Braves sweep Series

Boston goes from last place on the Fourth of July to a four-game World Series sweep of Philadelphia — the most famous comeback in franchise history and one of baseball’s enduring origin myths.

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Atlanta Braves

Origins

The franchise begins in 1871 as the Boston Red Stockings of the National Association — a club so professionally organized that it helped turn baseball from a gentleman’s pastime into a business. The team entered the National League in 1876 and spent decades in Boston as the Beaneaters, Doves, Rustlers, and finally the Braves. The 1914 “Miracle Braves” surged from last place on the Fourth of July to a World Series sweep of Philadelphia — still the most dramatic in-season turnaround in league history.

Boston’s chapter closed with legends and footnotes: Babe Ruth finished his career in a Braves uniform in 1935, and declining attendance pushed ownership to move the club to Milwaukee in 1953. Wisconsin embraced the Braves immediately. Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and a young Hank Aaron won the 1957 World Series over the Yankees and added a pennant in 1958 — a golden decade Milwaukee fans still claim as theirs.

When the franchise relocated to Atlanta in 1966, Aaron came along and made history again. The Braves name survived every move — still the same continuous organization, still National League royalty, still building toward the next star from a farm system that rarely stays quiet for long.

From Boston to the battery, the full arc is in the Atlanta Braves quiz collection — or jump straight to a recent season with the 2023 Braves quiz.

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Atlanta Braves

History

Atlanta’s early years mixed Hank Aaron’s pursuit of Babe Ruth with lean rosters and Southern expansion growing pains. On April 8, 1974, Aaron hit his 715th home run at Fulton County Stadium — a national moment that transcended sports and the hateful mail that had accompanied the chase. The 1980s brought Dale Murphy’s MVPs and Ted Turner’s colorful ownership, but sustained contention waited until the 1990s.

Bobby Cox returned as manager in 1990, and the worst-to-first 1991 club — with Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and David Justice — reached the World Series and lost a classic seven-gamer to Minnesota. What followed was baseball’s most durable division dynasty: 14 straight NL East titles from 1991 through 2005 (excluding the 1994 strike year). Greg Maddux joined in 1993 and formed a Hall of Fame rotation trio with Glavine and Smoltz that made Atlanta October feel like an annual appointment.

The dynasty won only one World Series — 1995 over Cleveland — a fact that still stings in a city that expected more flags. Chipper Jones became the switch-hitting face of the era, Andruw Jones patrolled center field, and Turner Field hosted October after October. After the streak ended, Atlanta rebuilt around homegrown talent: Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, and a pitching pipeline that produced Spencer Strider and Chris Sale’s late-career revival.

Truist Park opened in 2017 north of the city, and in 2021 the Braves won the World Series over Houston — a title that felt like a delayed payment on the 1990s run. The 2023 club won 104 games behind Acuña’s MVP season and Matt Olson’s power before Philadelphia ended October in the NLDS. Recent seasons are covered in the 2023 Braves quiz, the 2024 Braves quiz — Chris Sale’s Cy Young and a wild-card exit — and the 2025 Braves quiz.

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Atlanta Braves

Championships

The Braves have won four World Series championships and 18 National League pennants across Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. In Georgia, greatness is measured against Aaron’s 715th, the Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz run, and the 2021 parade — but the full ledger spans three cities and nearly a century and a half.

  • 1914 — Boston Braves 4, Philadelphia Athletics 0 (Miracle Braves; sweep from last place)
  • 1957 — Milwaukee Braves 4, New York Yankees 3 (Aaron MVP; Spahn and Mathews anchor)
  • 1995 — Atlanta Braves 4, Cleveland Indians 2 (Glavine Game 6 shutout; only title of the 14-year streak)
  • 2021 — Atlanta Braves 4, Houston Astros 2 (Jorge Soler World Series MVP; Freeman’s final Atlanta October)

Near-miss pennants stack high too: 1991, 1992, 1996, 1999, and 2021’s path all ended in World Series heartbreak or triumph. For who managed, who led in homers, and how far the club went in October, work through the 2024 and 2025 quizzes in the full collection.

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Atlanta Braves

Oddities

Braves lore mixes three-city identity, broadcast innovation, and a division streak that may never be matched.

  • Oldest continuous franchise: The Red Stockings lineage runs unbroken from the 1871 National Association — no other American pro sports club can match the thread.
  • Miracle of 1914: Boston went from last place on July 4 to a World Series sweep — still the gold standard for in-season turnarounds.
  • Three-city titles: Boston (1914), Milwaukee (1957), and Atlanta (1995, 2021) — the Braves are the only modern club to win the World Series in three different home cities.
  • Aaron’s 715th: April 8, 1974, Fulton County Stadium — a home run that carried the weight of history and the ugliness of the chase into one swing.
  • 14 division flags: From 1991 through 2005, Atlanta won the NL East every full season — a run of regular-season dominance unmatched in modern baseball.
  • One title, many Octobers: The dynasty reached five World Series in the 1990s and won only once — a frustration that made 2021 feel like redemption.
  • Superstation TBS: Ted Turner put the Braves on cable nationwide — “America’s Team” before the phrase belonged to football.
  • 2023 offense: Acuña’s MVP year and 104 wins made Atlanta the team to beat — revisit the roster in the 2023 Braves quiz and 2024 Braves quiz.

The roster of memory

Notable Players

Legends, franchise faces, and the names every Atlanta Braves fan should know.

Hank Aaron

OF 1954–1974 Hall of Fame

755 home runs

The Hammer — home run king, civil rights symbol, and the franchise’s greatest player across Milwaukee and Atlanta. Aaron’s 715th homer on April 8, 1974, passed Babe Ruth and remains the most important swing in Braves history.

Eddie Mathews

3B 1952–1966 Hall of Fame

Milwaukee slugger

Power-hitting third baseman who paired with Aaron to anchor the Milwaukee dynasty. Mathews helped deliver the 1957 World Series and remained a Hall of Fame cornerstone of the franchise’s Wisconsin chapter.

Warren Spahn

P 1947–1964 Hall of Fame

363 wins

Left-handed master of the screwball who won 363 games — the most by any lefty in history. Spahn anchored Milwaukee’s 1957 championship staff and defined Braves pitching for a generation.

Chipper Jones

3B 1993–2012 Hall of Fame

1999 NL MVP

Switch-hitting franchise icon and 1999 MVP who spent his entire career in Atlanta. Chipper’s bat, swagger, and October presence made him the face of the dynasty years — and the standard every Braves slugger is measured against.

Greg Maddux

P 1993–2003 Hall of Fame

Four Cy Youngs in Atlanta

The Professor — precision pitching that made 90 mph feel unhittable. Maddux won four consecutive Cy Young Awards in Atlanta and paired with Glavine and Smoltz to form the greatest rotation trio of the modern era.

Tom Glavine

P 1987–2002, 2008 Hall of Fame

1995 WS Game 6

1991 NLCS MVP and the left-hander who shut out Cleveland in Game 6 of the 1995 World Series to clinch Atlanta’s only title of the dynasty. Glavine’s craft and competitiveness defined the Bobby Cox era.

Ronald Acuña Jr.

OF 2018–present

2023 NL MVP

Electric leadoff star whose power-speed blend rewrote what a modern table-setter could do. Acuña’s 2023 MVP season powered a 104-win club — see the full stat line in the 2023 Braves quiz and follow-up campaigns in the 2025 Braves quiz.

Austin Riley

3B 2019–present

2021 WS champion

Homegrown third baseman and middle-of-the-order anchor of the 2021 World Series champions. Riley’s power and steady defense made Truist Park feel like a nightly threat — revisit the latest roster in the 2024 Braves quiz.