1914 Boston Braves

1914 Boston Braves / Franchise: Atlanta Braves / BR Team Page

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

World Series Champs

• Managed by George Stallings

Ballpark: South End Grounds and Fenway Park

History, Comments, Contributions

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

• NL Chalmers Award: Johnny Evers

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

• 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

• Coverage of the final game of the Braves' World Series sweep

<< 1913 1914 World Series 1915 >>

Braves over Athletics (4-0)