Atlanta Braves: Power Ranking the Retired Numbers
By John Buhler
Jul 27, 2014; Cooperstown, NY, USA; Hall of Fame inductee Tom Glavine makes his acceptance speech during the class of 2014 national baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
1987-2002, 2008. Tom Glavine. 47. player. 17. . SP
Tom Glavine was a strong enough high school athlete to play professionally in two sports, after being drafted by both the Atlanta Braves and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, ahead of Hockey Hall of Famers Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille. It seems that even though I’m sure Glav would have done well at center for the LA Kings, he picked the right sport as he’ in the Baseball Hall of Fame as the 4th winningest LHP of all-time.
Glavine won 244 of his 305 career games, struck out 2,091 of his 2,607 career batters and made 8 of 10 All-Star Games pitching for the Atlanta Braves. Tom won the 1991 and 1998 NL Cy Young Awards, won 20 or more games with the Atlanta Braves 5 times, each team leading the National League, and won 4 Silver Sluggers for his ability to handle the bat as a career .186 hitter.
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Perhaps what Tom Glavine is best known for is his completely dominating performance over the powerful Cleveland Indians lineup in Game 6 of the 1995 World Series. Glav pitched 8 innings, allowing just one hit against what was then praised as the most ferocious lineup since the heyday of the New York Yankees in the 1995 Cleveland Indians. Jim Thome. Manny Ramirez. The Alomar Brothers. Kenny Lofton. Carlos Baerga. Omar Vizquel. All on one team.
Glavine’s inherent stubbornness to throw 90% of the time to the outside corner with fastballs and circle changes gave the City of Atlanta its only professional championship to date. Why more people don’t talk about his Game 6 performance is beyond me.
Outside of that game, what I will appreciate the most about Tom Glavine’s tenure with the Braves was his ability to compete at the highest level for such a long time, despite having par stuff in his pitching arsenal. He wanted it more than anybody else and we as Braves fans are thankful for that because we’re not the Buffalo Bills of the MLB. We have a World Series Championship! Thanks, Glav!
Next: 4. The Man Responsible for the Long-Term Success