# 1980 Atlanta Braves season

The 1980 Atlanta Braves season was the 15th season in Atlanta along with the 110th season as a franchise overall.

## Offseason

* November 20, 1979: Relief pitcher Al Hrabosky signed as a free agent.
* December 5, 1979: Barry Bonnell, Pat Rockett, and Joey McLaughlin were traded by the Braves to the Toronto Blue Jays for Chris Chambliss and Luis Gómez.
* December 6, 1979: Adrian Devine and Pepe Frías were traded by the Braves to the Texas Rangers for Doyle Alexander, Larvell Blanks and $50,000.

## Regular season

On August 6, umpire Jerry Dale ruled that Braves shortstop Rafael Ramírez did not step on second base while turning a double play. Manager Bobby Cox argued the call and confronted Dale while tobacco juice streamed out of his mouth. Cox was accused of spitting on the umpire.
Phil Niekro became the only pitcher in the history of the National League to lead the NL in losses for four consecutive seasons.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 93 | 70 | .571 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 38‍–‍44 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 92 | 71 | .564 | 1 | 55‍–‍27 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 73 | .549 | 3½ | 44‍–‍37 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Atlanta Braves | 81 | 80 | .503 | 11 | 50‍–‍30 | 31‍–‍50 |
| San Francisco Giants | 75 | 86 | .466 | 17 | 44‍–‍37 | 31‍–‍49 |
| San Diego Padres | 73 | 89 | .451 | 19½ | 45‍–‍36 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1980 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 2–16 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 12–6 | 11–6 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 1–11 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 16–2 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 15–3–1 | 7–11 | 5–7 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 11–1 | 10–8 | — | 9–10 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 10–9 | — | 11–1 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 12–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 1–11 | — | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| New York | 9–3 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 8–10 | — | 6–12 | 10–8 | 1–11 | 3–9 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 13–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–11 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 6–12 | 8–4 | 3–15–1 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 11–1 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 10–8 | 7–5 |
| San Francisco | 6–11 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 3, 1980: Ken Dayley was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (3rd pick) of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft.
* July 1, 1980: Bill Haselrig (minors) was traded by the Braves to the New York Mets for Randy Johnson.
* August 8, 1980: Larvell Blanks 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 | Bruce Benedict | 120 | 359 | 91 | .253 | 2 | 34 |
| 1B | Chris Chambliss | 158 | 602 | 170 | .282 | 18 | 72 |
| 2B | Glenn Hubbard | 117 | 431 | 107 | .248 | 9 | 43 |
| SS | Luis Gómez | 121 | 278 | 53 | .191 | 0 | 24 |
| 3B | Bob Horner | 124 | 463 | 124 | .268 | 35 | 89 |
| LF | Jeff Burroughs | 99 | 278 | 73 | .263 | 13 | 51 |
| CF | Dale Murphy | 156 | 569 | 160 | .281 | 33 | 89 |
| RF | Gary Matthews | 155 | 571 | 159 | .278 | 19 | 75 |

#### 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 |
| Jerry Royster | 123 | 392 | 95 | .242 | 1 | 20 |
| Larvell Blanks | 88 | 221 | 45 | .204 | 2 | 12 |
| Brian Asselstine | 87 | 218 | 62 | .284 | 3 | 25 |
| Rafael Ramírez | 50 | 165 | 44 | .267 | 2 | 11 |
| Bill Nahorodny | 59 | 157 | 38 | .242 | 5 | 18 |
| Mike Lum | 93 | 83 | 17 | .205 | 0 | 5 |
| Biff Pocoroba | 70 | 83 | 22 | .265 | 2 | 8 |
| Terry Harper | 21 | 54 | 10 | .185 | 0 | 3 |
| Charlie Spikes | 41 | 36 | 10 | .278 | 0 | 2 |
| Chico Ruiz | 25 | 26 | 8 | .308 | 0 | 2 |
| Joe Nolan | 17 | 22 | 6 | .273 | 0 | 2 |
| Eddie Miller | 11 | 19 | 3 | .158 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Cooper | 21 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 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 | 40 | 275.0 | 15 | 18 | 3.63 | 176 |
| Doyle Alexander | 35 | 231.2 | 14 | 11 | 4.20 | 114 |
| Tommy Boggs | 32 | 192.1 | 12 | 9 | 3.42 | 84 |
| Rick Matula | 33 | 176.2 | 11 | 13 | 4.58 | 62 |
| Larry McWilliams | 30 | 163.2 | 9 | 14 | 4.95 | 77 |

#### 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 |
| Rick Camp | 77 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 1.91 | 33 |
| Gene Garber | 68 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3.83 | 51 |
| Larry Bradford | 56 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2.44 | 32 |
| Al Hrabosky | 45 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3.62 | 31 |
| Preston Hanna | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.18 | 35 |
| Rick Mahler | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Richmond Braves | International League | Fred Hatfield |
| AA | Savannah Braves | Southern League | Eddie Haas |
| A | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Al Gallagher |
| A | Anderson Braves | South Atlantic League | Sonny Jackson |
| Rookie | GCL Braves | Gulf Coast League | Pedro González |

## Awards and honors

* Phil Niekro, Roberto Clemente Award

### League leaders

* Phil Niekro, National League leader, Losses