Braves all time rotation

[bravos4evr]

Well, it's been slow lately and I felt like being a bit nostalgic. So here's my picks for the All Time Braves rotation :

1- Greg Maddux - could flip flop he and Spahn for number one, maybe best "pitcher ever"

2- Warren Spahn- best lefty of all time ?

3- Kid Nichols- 361-208 record, ERA+ of 140 (156 as a Brave)

4- Tom Glavine- One of the top 5 lefties ever

5- John Smoltz- maybe should be 6th.... his closing bumps him up IMO

6- Phil Niekro- every rotation needs a 6th man tnrowing knucklers!


I'm willing to bet that this may be the greatest team rotation in history.... I can't see the Dodgers or Cards or Red Sox or Yankees beating it..... Those are some amazing arms!


Got any different opinions?

[alaskabravesfan]

Don't hate or discriminate! I know you left Antonio Alfonseca off the list because he has six fingers....

[KB 34]

6 fingers was a reliever though, so he and the other AA would have to settle for setup reliever.

[alaskabravesfan]

Interestingly, Alfonseca had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot! His nickname is Spanish translates to "The Octopus."

[bravos4evr]

Interestingly, Alfonseca had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot! His nickname is Spanish translates to "The Octopus."

Thats just creepy...

[luvdembravos]

Since my history with the team only goes back to 1966 (the ATLANTA Braves), my all-time rotation would be Maddux, Smolz, Niekro, Glavine and probably Hudson.

Steve Avery was very close to becoming my 5th starter but his career was just too short. I can see Hanson taking the fifth spot if he sticks around.

[The Rap]

Nichols pitched from 1890 till 1906 with the first 12 years as a Boston Brave. Although a Hall of Famer I wouldn't include him in the discussion. That leaves the remaining 5 in the order cited makes sense with only Lou Burdette also contending.

[bravos4evr]

12 years is a long time Rap! The guy won a ton of games and was once considered in the top 10 RH pitchers of all time..... That's gotta count for sumthin!

[The Rap]

I agree he was great but consider that he pitched in an era when pitchers pitched an entire game no matter how long and also pitched with a dead ball. I am not even considering the fact that there isn't anybody left who remembers watching him pitch.

[Dreamscape]

I agree he was great but consider that he pitched in an era when pitchers pitched an entire game no matter how long and also pitched with a dead ball. I am not even considering the fact that there isn't anybody left who remembers watching him pitch.
That doesn't really matter to me. Some rankings for history...
WAR - 25th
WAR among pitchers - 6th (behind Cy Young, Roger Clemens, Walter Johnson, Tom Seaver, and Pete Alexander)
Adjusted ERA+ - 15th

Why do I go to those numbers? Because they tend to equal out the impact of playing in one era vs. another. It's easy to argue that Kid Nichols is one of the ten best pitchers to ever pitch. Slamdunk, top 30.

My alltime staff, btw...
Kid Nichols
Warren Spahn
Phil Niekro
John Smoltz
Greg Maddux

Tom Glavine? Sixth starter if there is such a thing. That's not to denigrate what Glavine accomplished in Atlanta. But he just can't compare to the top five in my mind.