1914 Boston Braves

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1914 Boston Braves / Franchise: Atlanta Braves / BR Team Page[edit]

Record: 94-59-5, Finished 1st in National League (1914 NL)

World Series Champs

Ballpark: South End Grounds and Fenway Park

History, Comments, Contributions[edit]

The 1914 Boston Braves were forever after known as the "Miracle Braves". After finishing last in the National League for four consecutive seasons and then improving to fifth in 1913, they stunned the baseball world by not only winning the World Series, but also being the first club to sweep its opponent, the Philadelphia Athletics. Even more remarkable, they were in last place as late as mid-July before embarking on a incredible climb that saw them pass every one of their rivals before defeating the favorite Athletics in the Fall Classic.

The Braves had great pitching and excellent defense, particularly in the middle infield where 2B Johnny Evers and SS Rabbit Maranville, both future Hall of Famers, were outstanding. However, their corps of outfielders was below average. Manager George Stallings managed to extract maximum value from these outfielders through the novel strategy of platooning - pairing off lefthanded and righthanded hitters to make sure his outfielders had the platoon advantage as much as possible. While journalists did not understand the strategy at first (it was little commented on at the time), rival managers understood what Stallings had done, and platooning soon became all the rage throughout the majors, even if it did not acquire its name until the 1940s, when it was resuscitated by Casey Stengel, who had himself been platooned at the height of the strategy's popularity in the late 1910s.

Awards and Honors[edit]

World Series[edit]

Main article: 1914 World Series
Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Braves - 7, Athletics - 1 October 9 Shibe Park 20,562
2 Braves - 1, Athletics - 0 October 10 Shibe Park 20,562
3 Athletics - 4, Braves - 5 (12 innings) October 12 Fenway Park 35,520
4 Athletics - 1, Braves - 3 October 13 Fenway Park 34,365

Further Reading[edit]

  • Charles C. Alexander: The Miracle Braves, 1914–1916, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2015. ISBN 978-0-7864-7424-0
  • Harold Kaese: Boston Braves: 1871-1953, Northeastern University Press, Boston, MA 2004, p. 146. ISBN 978-1555536176. Originally published in 1948.
  • Bryan Soderholm-Difatte: "The 1914 Stallings Platoon: Assessing Execution, Impact, and Strategic Philosophy", The Baseball Research Journal, Vol. 43, number 2, Fall 2014, pp. 18-28.
  • Bill Nowlin, ed.: The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston's Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2014. ISBN 978-1-933599-69-4
  • J. Brian Ross: Baseball's Greatest Comeback: The Miracle Braves of 1914, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2014. ISBN 978-1442236066
  • Washington Post: "Braves clinch N.L. titles", historic-newspapers.com, September 30, 1914

Related Links[edit]


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1914 World Series

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Braves over Athletics (4-0)