We don’t talk enough about excellent fielding First Basemen, but if you are going to start with one, chronologically speaking, that is, Fred Tenney is the perfect place to start.

Wally Berger was one of the better sluggers of the National League in the first half of the 1930s, and the Boston Braves were lucky to have him. 

Herman Long had 1,096 Errors over his career, which is more than anyone else.  It is an unbreakable record, but he did that in a time where errors were more easily given, and he was a player who was fearless in doing what was needed to stop the ball from getting past the infield.  This means that Long had incredible range, and his Defensive bWAR was very good, so despite the Errors, we have one of the best defensive players of his day.

Don’t let the losing record of 191-204 fool you.

The Major League career of Johnny Sain began in 1942, where he had a fairly uneventful season with a 4-7 record for the Boston Braves.  Like so many other baseball players, Sain served in the U.S. Military during World War II, and he lost three years on the diamond.  When he returned to Boston, he quickly became one of the most recognized Pitchers in the game.

We are going way back for this one, as the career of Tommy Bond began in 1874, where he became the first Irish born baseball player to be a professional.

In 1914, the Boston Braves would win their first World Series Championship.  Dick Rudolph went 2-0 in that series with a 0.50 ERA over 18 Innings.  Safe to say if there was a World Series MVP, he would have won it, right?

Prior to joining the Braves, Rudolph had a cup of coffee with the New York Giants, and after plying his trade in the minors, he received another opportunity with the Boston Braves.  In his first season in Boston, he went 14-13, and he fit in like a glove.  The following year was the season of his postseason triumph, during which he went 26-10 in the regular season and finished 7^th in MVP voting.  He would win 22 and 19 Games in the two years that followed, but his efficiency would decline in the years after, and he would be officially released in 1927 after years of playing.

His overall career with the Braves would see him go 121-108 with five top ten finishes in bWAR for Pitchers.

Walter “Rabbit” Maranville was known for quite a few things: his sense of humor, his durability, and defensive skills, the latter two of which ranked him on this list of all-time Braves.

Maranville would become Boston’s full-time Shortstop in 1913, where he dazzled the Majors with his glove, and he was third in MVP voting.  In 1914, he finished second in MVP voting and led them to a World Series win.  While nobody was aware of Defensive bWAR (or any kind of WAR for that matter), Maranville was a two-time leader with Boston in that category and ranked in the top ten another seven times while he played in Massachusetts.  Defense was his expertise, and while his offensive numbers aren’t that great, this was a 23-year veteran who would accumulate 2,605 Hits over his career, 1,696 as a Brave.  Maranville was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates before 1921, but he returned in 1929 and was still effective.

Rabbit Maranville entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954 on his 14^th year of eligibility.  The Braves would later induct Maranville into their franchise Hall of Fame in 2014.

A member of the Boston Braves for his entire career except for the last one (which was with Brooklyn), Tommy Holmes was one of the most popular players when the team was in Boston. 

As a rookie in 1942, Holmes had 155 Hits with a .278 Batting Average and repeated with similar numbers in ‘43.  Holmes would have his first .300 season in ’44, and in 1945, he exploded with what would be by far his best season in Baseball.  That season, he had a 37 Game Hitting Streak (the longest in 40 years in the NL) with league-leading 224 Hits, 47 Doubles, 28 Home Runs, and a .997 OPS.  Holmes also finished first in bWAR and was the runner-up for the MVP to Phil Caravetta, though in retrospect, he should not have lost to him. 

Holmes continued to play well with three more .300 seasons and an All-Star appearance in 1948.  That season, he would take the Braves to the National League pennant, although they would lose to the Cleveland Indians.

Overall, as a Brave, Holmes had 1,503 Hits with a .303 Batting Average and entered the Braves Hall of Fame in 2004.

Wally Berger was one of 18 starters in the 1934 All-Star Game, and the other 17 are in the Hall of Fame.  We aren’t necessarily saying that Berger is a Hall of Fame snub, but we will state that the Outfielder was a very good player who, at one time, was spoken of in the same breath as some elite talent. 

As a rookie in 1930, Berger set the tone for what he would do as a Brave with 172 Hits, 38 Home Runs, 119 RBI, and a .310 Batting Average.  He would slip in his second and third years in terms of power, but he still collected many hits and batted over .300. The All-Star Game began in 1933, and Berger played in the first four.  His power game came back, and he hit 25 or more in each of those seasons, peaking with a National League leading 34 Home Runs and 130 RBIs in 1935.  He was traded early in the 1937 season to the New York Giants.

Berger did not have the fortune of playing on many good Boston Braves teams and may not be remembered as the good a player as he was.  After he was traded, he was never the same player because of shoulder injuries, but what he accomplished in Boston should be remembered in the Braves organization.  He had 199 Home Runs with a .304 Batting Average for the team.

Not only are we comfortable saying that Warren Spahn was the greatest Pitcher in Braves history, but he is also in the top ten all-time and the greatest left-hander ever.

Calling anyone the greatest Braves Pitcher of all time is no small statement considering the legends who took the mound.  A Cy Young winner in 1957 (the inaugural winner), Spahn had a later start: he debuted for the Boston Braves in 1942 but missed the next three years due to military service.  The southpaw would emerge as an All-Star for the Boston Braves, winning 21 Games and the ERA and WHIP titles while also eating the most Innings.  This would become a pattern for the next decade and a half.

21 must have been his favorite number as he would win exactly that amount of Games seven times with two other 20 Win seasons.  Leading the NL in Wins eight times, 356 of his 363 Wins were with the Braves, and whether it was in Boston or Milwaukee (where they moved to in 1953), it could always be counted on that Spahn would win a lot, strikeout his share of batters, and keep his ERA down.  This is also a 17-time All-Star, a three-time ERA leader, and a four-time Strikeout leader.  He won the 1957 Cy Young Award when it was awarded to the best in both leagues, and he was also runner-up for it the next three years.  Let’s not forget that he was the ace of the staff that won the 1957 World Series.

Sabremetrically speaking, Warren Spahn never finished first among Pitchers but he was second four times, third twice, fourth once, and was fifth four times.  From 1949 to 1959, he never finished outside the top five!  We haven’t even mentioned that he hit 35 Home Runs over his career.

Spahn would enter the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, his first year on the ballot, and he will not be dislodged from this spot at #2 for decades to come.  His number 21 was inducted by the Braves in 1965, and in 1999, he was one of four former players enshrined in the Braves Hall of Fame.

We need to bring this up as much as we can…

Regardless of the era Hank Aaron is one of the greatest baseball players that ever existed. 

Period.