# 1987 Atlanta Braves season

The 1987 Atlanta Braves season was the 117th in franchise history and their 22nd in Atlanta. The team introduced new uniforms this season harkening back to the 1950s, which, with a slight change made in 2019, continue to be the team's uniforms to this day, replacing their pullover jersey/beltless pants combo worn since 1980.

## Offseason

* November 17, 1986: Chuck Hensley was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.
* November 17, 1986: Trench Davis was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.
* February 2, 1987: Luis Leal was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Damaso Garcia to the Atlanta Braves for Craig McMurtry.

## Regular season

* May 1, 1987: Houston Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan hit a home run off of Braves pitcher Charlie Puleo.
* August 17, 1987: Tom Glavine made his major league baseball debut. It was against the Houston Astros and Glavine was the starting pitcher. Glavine pitched 3.2 innings and allowed 10 hits and six earned runs. Glavine allowed 5 bases on balls and recorded one strikeout.
* September 27, 1987: 48-year old Phil Niekro is signed by the Braves for one final major league start against the San Francisco Giants. Niekro had been released by the Toronto Blue Jays almost a month earlier. He pitches three innings, giving up six hits and 5 runs in a 15-6 loss.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 46‍–‍35 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 84 | 78 | .519 | 6 | 42‍–‍39 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Houston Astros | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 47‍–‍34 | 29‍–‍52 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 73 | 89 | .451 | 17 | 40‍–‍41 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Atlanta Braves | 69 | 92 | .429 | 20½ | 42‍–‍39 | 27‍–‍53 |
| San Diego Padres | 65 | 97 | .401 | 25 | 37‍–‍44 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1987 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–5 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 5–6 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 4–14 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 6–12 |
| Cincinnati | 10–8 | 6–6 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 4–8 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 4–8 | 5–13 | — | 12–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 6–12 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 3–9 |
| Montreal | 9–3 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 8–10 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 13–5 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 8–10 | 5–13 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 |
| Pittsburgh | 5–7 | 14–4 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 6–12 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| San Diego | 12–6 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 13–5 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1987: Graig Nettles was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.
* April 3, 1987: John Mizerock was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.
* May 5, 1987: Doyle Alexander was signed as a free agent by the Braves.
* June 2, 1987: Mike Stanton was drafted by the Braves in the 13th round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 10, 1987.
* July 25, 1987: Joe Boever was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Randy O'Neal.
* August 12, 1987: Doyle Alexander was traded by the Braves to the Detroit Tigers for John Smoltz.

### 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 | Ozzie Virgil | 123 | 429 | 106 | .247 | 27 | 72 |
| 1B | Gerald Perry | 142 | 533 | 144 | .270 | 12 | 74 |
| 2B | Glenn Hubbard | 141 | 443 | 117 | .264 | 5 | 38 |
| 3B | Ken Oberkfell | 135 | 508 | 142 | .280 | 3 | 48 |
| SS | Andrés Thomas | 82 | 324 | 75 | .231 | 5 | 39 |
| LF | Ken Griffey | 122 | 399 | 114 | .286 | 14 | 64 |
| CF | Dion James | 134 | 494 | 154 | .312 | 10 | 61 |
| RF | Dale Murphy | 159 | 566 | 167 | .295 | 44 | 105 |

#### 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 |
| Albert Hall | 92 | 292 | 83 | .284 | 3 | 24 |
| Rafael Ramírez | 56 | 179 | 47 | .263 | 1 | 21 |
| Graig Nettles | 112 | 177 | 37 | .209 | 5 | 33 |
| Ted Simmons | 73 | 177 | 49 | .277 | 4 | 30 |
| Jeff Blauser | 51 | 165 | 40 | .242 | 2 | 15 |
| Gary Roenicke | 67 | 151 | 33 | .219 | 9 | 28 |
| Bruce Benedict | 37 | 95 | 14 | .147 | 1 | 5 |
| Ron Gant | 21 | 83 | 22 | .265 | 2 | 9 |
| Paul Runge | 27 | 47 | 10 | .213 | 3 | 8 |
| Darryl Motley | 6 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 1 |
| Trench Davis | 6 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Bell | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Fischlin | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Zane Smith | 36 | 242.0 | 15 | 10 | 4.09 | 130 |
| Rick Mahler | 39 | 197.0 | 8 | 13 | 4.98 | 95 |
| David Palmer | 28 | 152.1 | 8 | 11 | 4.90 | 111 |
| Doyle Alexander | 16 | 117.2 | 5 | 10 | 4.13 | 64 |
| Tom Glavine | 9 | 50.1 | 2 | 4 | 5.54 | 20 |
| Pete Smith | 6 | 31.2 | 1 | 2 | 4.83 | 11 |
| Kevin Coffman | 5 | 25.1 | 2 | 3 | 4.62 | 14 |
| Phil Niekro | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 15.00 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Charlie Puleo | 35 | 123.1 | 6 | 8 | 4.23 | 99 |
| Randy O'Neal | 16 | 61.0 | 4 | 2 | 5.61 | 33 |
| Larry McWilliams | 9 | 20.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.75 | 13 |
| Marty Clary | 7 | 14.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.14 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Acker | 68 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 4.16 | 68 |
| Gene Garber | 49 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 4.41 | 48 |
| Jeff Dedmon | 53 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3.91 | 40 |
| Paul Assenmacher | 52 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5.10 | 39 |
| Ed Olwine | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.01 | 12 |
| Joe Boever | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7.36 | 18 |
| Chuck Cary | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.78 | 15 |
| Steve Ziem | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.71 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Richmond Braves | International League | Roy Majtyka |
| AA | Greenville Braves | Southern League | Jim Beauchamp |
| A | Durham Bulls | Carolina League | Brian Snitker |
| A | Sumter Braves | South Atlantic League | Buddy Bailey |
| Rookie | Pulaski Braves | Appalachian League | Grady Little |
| Rookie | GCL Braves | Gulf Coast League | Pedro González |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls Braves | Pioneer League | Rod Gilbreath |