# 1970 Atlanta Braves season

The 1970 Atlanta Braves season was the fifth season in Atlanta along with the 100th season as a franchise overall. The team finished fifth in the National League West with a record of 76–86, 26 games behind the National League Champion Cincinnati Reds.

## Offseason

* January 17, 1970: Jack Pierce was drafted by the Braves in the 2nd round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.

## Regular season

In 1970, the Braves franchise celebrated its 100th season.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 57‍–‍24 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 87 | 74 | .540 | 14½ | 39‍–‍42 | 48‍–‍32 |
| San Francisco Giants | 86 | 76 | .531 | 16 | 48‍–‍33 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 83 | .488 | 23 | 44‍–‍37 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Atlanta Braves | 76 | 86 | .469 | 26 | 42‍–‍39 | 34‍–‍47 |
| San Diego Padres | 63 | 99 | .389 | 39 | 31‍–‍50 | 32‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1970 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–5 | 5–7 | — | 15–3 | 13–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 9–3 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–15 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| New York | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–10 | — | 13–5 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 7–11 | 5–13 | — | 4–14 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 14–4 | — | 6–6 | 4–8 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 9–9 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 13–5 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 1970: Rowland Office was drafted by the Braves in the 4th round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.
* July 5, 1970: Steve Barber was signed as a free agent by the Braves.
* July 12, 1970: Don Cardwell was purchased by the Braves from the New York Mets.
* August 31, 1970: Tony González was purchased from the Braves by the California Angels.
* September 21, 1970: Hoyt Wilhelm was selected off waivers from the Braves by the Chicago Cubs.

### 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 | Bob Tillman | 71 | 223 | 53 | .238 | 11 | 30 |
| 1B | Orlando Cepeda | 148 | 567 | 173 | .305 | 34 | 111 |
| 2B | Félix Millán | 142 | 590 | 183 | .310 | 2 | 37 |
| SS | Sonny Jackson | 103 | 328 | 85 | .259 | 0 | 20 |
| 3B | Clete Boyer | 134 | 475 | 117 | .246 | 16 | 62 |
| LF | Rico Carty | 136 | 478 | 175 | .366 | 25 | 101 |
| CF | Tony González | 123 | 430 | 114 | .265 | 7 | 55 |
| RF | Hank Aaron | 150 | 516 | 154 | .298 | 38 | 118 |

#### 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 |
| Gil Garrido | 101 | 367 | 97 | .264 | 1 | 19 |
| Mike Lum | 123 | 291 | 74 | .254 | 7 | 28 |
| Hal King | 89 | 204 | 53 | .260 | 11 | 30 |
| Bob Didier | 57 | 168 | 25 | .149 | 0 | 7 |
| Bob Aspromonte | 62 | 127 | 27 | .213 | 0 | 7 |
| Ralph Garr | 37 | 96 | 27 | .281 | 0 | 8 |
| Tommie Aaron | 44 | 63 | 13 | .206 | 2 | 7 |
| Oscar Brown | 28 | 47 | 18 | .383 | 1 | 7 |
| Jimmie Hall | 39 | 47 | 10 | .213 | 2 | 4 |
| Darrell Evans | 12 | 44 | 14 | .318 | 0 | 9 |
| Dusty Baker | 13 | 24 | 7 | .292 | 0 | 4 |
| Earl Williams | 10 | 19 | 7 | .368 | 0 | 5 |

### 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 |
| Pat Jarvis | 36 | 254.0 | 16 | 16 | 3.61 | 173 |
| Phil Niekro | 34 | 229.2 | 12 | 18 | 4.27 | 168 |
| Jim Nash | 34 | 212.1 | 13 | 9 | 4.07 | 153 |
| George Stone | 35 | 207.1 | 11 | 11 | 3.86 | 131 |
| Ron Reed | 21 | 134.2 | 7 | 10 | 4.41 | 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 |
| Mike McQueen | 22 | 66.0 | 1 | 5 | 5.59 | 54 |
| Milt Pappas | 11 | 35.2 | 2 | 2 | 6.06 | 25 |
| Steve Barber | 5 | 14.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.91 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 50 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 3.10 | 67 |
| Bob Priddy | 41 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5.42 | 32 |
| Julio Navarro | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.10 | 21 |
| Don Cardwell | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 | 16 |
| Rick Kester | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.57 | 20 |
| Larry Jaster | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.85 | 9 |
| Gary Neibauer | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4.97 | 9 |
| Ron Kline | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7.11 | 3 |
| Aubrey Gatewood | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Richmond Braves | International League | Mickey Vernon |
| AA | Shreveport Braves | Texas League | Lou Fitzgerald and Clint Courtney |
| A | Greenwood Braves | Western Carolinas League | Eddie Haas |
| Rookie | Magic Valley Cowboys | Pioneer League | Paul Snyder |