Braves fans BEFORE the streak

[HomeRunHomer]

Hi.

Indians fan here. (BTW, I'm not bitter about 1995)

This is for anybody who was a Braves fan in the lean years, between 1982 and 1990.

In other words, before the division title streak that made Atlanta such a great power in baseball.

What was it like to be a Braves fan during those dark years?

I lived through a few bad years as a Tribe fan. (1992-1993, 2002-2004) I'd like to get your perspective on living through the bad times.

[TheJourneyman]

It was rough. I became a fan back in those days due to TBS (just like many others). I grew up many miles away (Texas) so a lot of people laughed at me when I had a braves hat or shirt on (idiot kids). I didn't care much and continued to root for them for many of the lean years. It made 1991 all that much more special even if we didn't win the series (I am bitter - stupid *(&&^%^&% Lonnie Smith). The only thing I didn't like was how many Braves fans there were all of a sudden in 1991.

[HitnRun]

I moved to Atlanta in '84. The one thing I found out quickly is even though no one went to games, because of TBS most everyone watched the Braves. That's all TBS had those years and it was on cable and over the airwaves. They weren't any good but they had good games some nights and great games by certain players. You could have the game on in the background and listen.

Rafi, Obie, Hubbie, Bruce Benedict, Ozzie Virgil, Bedrock, Rick Mahler, Zane Smith, Bruce Sutter. Horners 4 home runs. Pascial Perez not finding the stadium. The Braves were on and I watched. Went to a couple games a year. If the Braves won great if they didn't it sucked but it really didn't matter. When they started winning the fans were here but that's when everyone wanted to go to the games again. The Braves like every team have a lot of fans, even if they don't go to the games.

[Steve Jeltz]

I'm not a Braves fan, but I followed the Braves for awhile before 1991 thanks to TBS. I still remember the likes of Andres Thomas, Joe Johnson & Ed Whited. I also remember watching Ted Simmons, Ken Griffey Sr. & Darrell Evans at the end of their careers & watching Dale Murphy in his prime. Even though those years were difficult, it was fun watching youngsters such as Glavine, Smoltz, Justice, Gant, etc. gaining experience & coming into their own. When Bobby Cox replaced Russ Nixon as the manager in 1990, I thought Cox would only be there on an interim basis until the end of that season before resuming his GM duties. I guess his interim duty is up after this year.

[Number 4]

1982 wasn't too bad; started the season winning 13 straight and won the NL West before being swept by the Cards in the playoffs. The rest of the decade meant that you could walk up to the ticket office on the day of the game and still get your choice of excellent seats and sit among the rest of the 7,000 that would show up. Then we had "Permeter" Perez who was late for his first start as a Brave when he couldn't figure out how to get off I-285, which circles the city, to get to the stadium. And of course there was always Ted Turner and his career as a one game manager. Of course our class act of the time was Dale Murphy.

[SamtheBravesFan]

1982 wasn't too bad; started the season winning 13 straight and won the NL West before being swept by the Cards in the playoffs. The rest of the decade meant that you could walk up to the ticket office on the day of the game and still get your choice of excellent seats and sit among the rest of the 7,000 that would show up. Then we had "Permeter" Perez who was late for his first start as a Brave when he couldn't figure out how to get off I-285, which circles the city, to get to the stadium. And of course there was always Ted Turner and his career as a one game manager. Of course our class act of the time was Dale Murphy.

The Perez thing happened in 1982.

[Los Bravos]

I go back to '79. The only really lousy, lousy years, where I felt like there was no hope, were '85 (the year after they foolishly fired Joe Torre and hired an organization hump named Eddie Haas, who spent the summer hiding in the corner of the dugout every day) and '88. Even '86 and '87 were kind of fun. Smoltz and Glavine emerged for real in '89 and I suddenly had real hope for the future again.

[Shotgun Shuba]

I remember when we first got cable in the early 80's I was so excited to watch TBS and the Braves. I lived in NY and to get out of town baseball was great. They also played in the West so you could see the Dodgers and Giants a lot, which I liked. Perhaps the coolest thing about the Braves then was the fact that Turner scheduled MANY games at 5:05 Eastern so he could clear the Braves out by primetime. It was such a great time to sit and watch a game. I always loved that.

[Cpope]

Born in NC, playing "Minor Little League" at 6 years old (1953) I became a Braves Fan when they were in Milwaukee. Don't remember the reason except I played ss and Johnny Logan was a ss, with Mathews at 3B. They were my heros, well along with Aaron, Sphann and a few others. I think I had 3 or 4 of the bubble gum baseball cards of the whole team so they became my idols. Mathews was always the first hero on the list, then came Rico Carty, they were me best "2" players and will be forever.
The "lean" times, no biggie, they were my team and now at age 61 they will always be "My Team"
I play softball with Mike Hampton's dad on the "Florida Half Century" old guys league, but Mike still rates third behind Mathews and Carty.
Win or lose, they are "My Team".
Here's to a great 2008.

Sure wish I had the 2500 baseball cards I had back then.

[JCStone07]

I started watching Braves in 1990 at age 6 so I don't really remember much of the dark years other than I thought David Justice was Jesus in cleats. (I was 6)

So I guess you could technically throw me into the spoiled pile.

[CarolinaPreps]

I started watching the Braves as a young boy probalby around 1979 or 1980. Growing up in the Charlotte, NC area, the Braves were the team to watch, and I grew up with a serious affection for Dale Murphy, Horner, Bruce and the gang.

I probably didn't realize how bad things were win-loss wise because I was just a young schoolboy in the mid 1980's, but once middle school age rolled around and I became a serious player, I was always ribbed by fans of better teams for being a Braves fan.

I didn't care, I was still a Braves fan, but it was tough watching those 1987-88 teams. 1990 was awful, and it hurt to see Murph struggling.

Today's fans just don't understand what it was like to be a Braves fan in the 1980's.

[41-44-VB]

since 58

I became a fan in 1958 and have been loyal since. It was no fun during that lean streak, but the 90's and beyond have been worth it. Funny how not making the playoffs the last two seasons seemed sort of frustrating. How soon we forget eight bad years in a row. Let's end that two year streak this season.

[Extra Innings]

I've been a fan since '88. Back then you didn't have to worry about buying your tickets ahead of time before the game to get a good seat. Zane Smith was my favorite hurler back then. I think it had to do with more of his name than his pitching. We also had the original "primetime" Dion James before Deion Sanders. It still amazes me how the team turned it around in '91. What a magical season.

[Tomahawk Dynasty]

HomerunHomer,

I read this post (and the one about poor post-season attendance) and decided to respond to both.

Born and raised in Atlanta, my first Braves game was in 1982 (I was 5). I don't remember that game or the season, but from 1983 on I can remember.

During the mid 80's, it was hard to be a Braves fan. TBS had to mute the on-field mics at times because hecklers could be heard cursing because there would only be like 4-5,000 people at the stadium. The mainstay for those years was going to the stadium to see Dale Murphy do well/hit a home run. That was it.

As far as the post-season games not being sold out, there's no excuse. There are explanations, but it all boils down to Atlanta having a ton of fair-weathered fans.

Contributing factors to this:
1) Since the mid 80's, Atlanta has been a migrant city filled with new residents that don't switch teams after they establish residency.
2) Traffic/poor public transit to the game.
3) One championship (1995 WS vs. your Indians) for the entire city and we've had sports here for five decades.

We know disappointment all too well in Atlanta.