# 1971 Atlanta Braves season

The 1971 Atlanta Braves season was the sixth season in Atlanta along with the 101st season as a franchise overall.

## Offseason

* November 30, 1970: Hal Breeden was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for Hoyt Wilhelm.
* December 2, 1970: Bob Tillman was traded by the Braves to the Milwaukee Brewers for Hank Allen, John Ryan (minors) and Paul Click (minors).
* December 22, 1970: Don Cardwell was released by the Braves.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 89 | 73 | .549 | 1 | 42‍–‍39 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Atlanta Braves | 82 | 80 | .506 | 8 | 43‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍41 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 46‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 39‍–‍42 | 40‍–‍41 |
| San Diego Padres | 61 | 100 | .379 | 28½ | 33‍–‍48 | 28‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1971 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 2–10 |
| Los Angeles | 9–9 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 5–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–5 | 7–5 | 4–14 |
| New York | 5–7 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 10–8 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–10 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 9–3 | 3–9 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 7–11 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 1971: Hank Allen was released by the Braves.
* April 16, 1971: Luis Tiant was signed as a free agent by the Braves.
* May 15, 1971: Luis Tiant was released by the Braves.
* June 2, 1971: Clete Boyer was released by the Braves.
* June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
** Biff Pocoroba was drafted by the Braves in the 17th round.
** Mike Beard was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (18th pick) of the secondary phase.
* June 29, 1971: Hoyt Wilhelm was released by the Braves.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Earl Williams | 145 | 497 | 129 | .260 | 33 | 87 |
| 1B | Hank Aaron | 139 | 495 | 162 | .327 | 47 | 118 |
| 2B | Félix Millán | 143 | 577 | 167 | .289 | 2 | 45 |
| SS | Marty Perez | 130 | 410 | 93 | .227 | 4 | 32 |
| 3B | Darrell Evans | 89 | 260 | 63 | .242 | 12 | 38 |
| LF | Ralph Garr | 154 | 639 | 219 | .343 | 9 | 44 |
| CF | Sonny Jackson | 149 | 547 | 141 | .258 | 2 | 25 |
| RF | Mike Lum | 145 | 454 | 122 | .269 | 13 | 55 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Orlando Cepeda | 71 | 250 | 69 | .276 | 14 | 44 |
| Hal King | 86 | 198 | 41 | .207 | 5 | 19 |
| Zoilo Versalles | 66 | 194 | 37 | .191 | 5 | 22 |
| Bob Didier | 51 | 155 | 34 | .219 | 0 | 5 |
| Gil Garrido | 79 | 125 | 27 | .216 | 0 | 12 |
| Clete Boyer | 30 | 98 | 24 | .245 | 6 | 19 |
| Dusty Baker | 29 | 62 | 14 | .226 | 0 | 4 |
| Tommie Aaron | 25 | 53 | 12 | .226 | 0 | 3 |
| Oscar Brown | 27 | 43 | 9 | .209 | 0 | 5 |
| Marv Staehle | 22 | 36 | 4 | .111 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Breazeale | 10 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 1 | 3 |
| Leo Foster | 9 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tony La Russa | 9 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Phil Niekro | 42 | 268.2 | 15 | 14 | 2.98 | 173 |
| Ron Reed | 32 | 222.1 | 13 | 14 | 3.72 | 129 |
| George Stone | 27 | 172.2 | 6 | 8 | 3.60 | 110 |
| Tom Kelley | 28 | 143.0 | 9 | 5 | 2.96 | 68 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Pat Jarvis | 35 | 162.1 | 6 | 14 | 4.10 | 68 |
| Jim Nash | 32 | 133.0 | 9 | 7 | 4.94 | 65 |
| Gary Neibauer | 6 | 21.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.14 | 6 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Bob Priddy | 40 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 4.22 | 36 |
| Steve Barber | 39 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4.80 | 40 |
| Ron Herbel | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.23 | 22 |
| Mike McQueen | 17 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3.54 | 38 |
| Tom House | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.05 | 11 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.43 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Richmond Braves | International League | Clyde King |
| AA | Savannah Braves | Southern League | Eddie Haas |
| A | Greenwood Braves | Western Carolinas League | Clint Courtney |
| Rookie | Wytheville Braves | Appalachian League | Paul Snyder |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood