1935 Boston Braves
LeagueNational League
BallparkBraves Field
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record38–115 (.248)
League place8th
OwnersEmil Fuchs (April–August)
Bob Quinn (August–September)
ManagersBill McKechnie
RadioYankee Network
(Fred Hoey)
← 1934
1936 →

The 1935 Boston Braves season was the 65th season of the franchise. The Braves finished with the worst record in the National League and the majors, with a record of 38 wins and 115 losses.[1]

In an attempt to make his dream come true to manage, Babe Ruth came to the Braves in February 1935. He was hired as vice president and assistant manager, and team owner Emil Fuchs promised Ruth a share of team profits.

Offseason

Regular season

On opening day, Babe Ruth was part of all of the Braves' runs in a 4–2 win over the New York Giants. However, Ruth was only a shadow of his former self. Although he had a fairly decent season in 1934, years of high living had begun taking their toll on his conditioning. His deterioration became more pronounced in early 1935. He couldn't run, and his fielding was so terrible that three of the Braves' pitchers threatened to go on strike if Ruth was in the lineup. A month into the season, Ruth stopped hitting as well. It soon became obvious that Ruth's titles as vice president and assistant manager were mere window dressing, and that he was only on the team due to the attention he commanded. He also discovered that rather than give him a share of the Braves' profits, Fuchs expected him to invest some of his money in the team.[4]

Seeing a team in utter collapse and realizing he was finished even as a part-time player, Ruth retired on June 1, six days after he had what remains one of the most memorable afternoons in baseball history. He clouted what turned out to be the last three home runs of his career in a game at Forbes Field while playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. He'd wanted to quit as early as May 12, but Fuchs wanted him to hang on so he could play in every National League park. Fuchs lost control of the team soon afterward.[4]

Despite fielding essentially the same team that finished fourth a year earlier, the 1935 season quickly turned into a debacle. In fact, their Opening Day win was the only time they were over .500 all year. They won only four games in May, and by the time Ruth retired they were 9-27, their season all but finished. They ultimately finished 38–115, the worst season in franchise history. Their .248 winning percentage is tied for the seventh-worst in baseball history, and the sixth-worst in National League history. It is the second-worst in modern baseball history (behind only the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics), and the worst in modern National League history. During the season, Braves pitcher Ben Cantwell would be the last pitcher in the 20th century to lose at least 25 games in one season.[5] The only highlight was outfielder Wally Berger, who led the League in home runs (34) and RBIs (130).[1]

Season standings

National League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Chicago Cubs 100 54 0.649 — 56–21 44–33
St. Louis Cardinals 96 58 0.623 4 53–24 43–34
New York Giants 91 62 0.595 8½ 50–27 41–35
Pittsburgh Pirates 86 67 0.562 13½ 46–31 40–36
Brooklyn Dodgers 70 83 0.458 29½ 38–38 32–45
Cincinnati Reds 68 85 0.444 31½ 41–35 27–50
Philadelphia Phillies 64 89 0.418 35½ 35–43 29–46
Boston Braves 38 115 0.248 61½ 25–50 13–65

Record vs. opponents

1935 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston — 6–16 3–19 10–12 5–16 8–14 2–20 4–18
Brooklyn 16–6 — 5–17 11–11 9–13 12–9–1 11–11 6–16
Chicago 19–3 17–5 — 14–8 14–8 13–9 15–7 8–14
Cincinnati 12–10 11–11 8–14 — 8–14–1 13–9 8–13 8–14
New York 16–5 13–9 8–14 14–8–1 — 12–10–2 14–8 14–8
Philadelphia 14–8 9–12–1 9–13 9–13 10–12–2 — 6–16 7–15
Pittsburgh 20–2 11–11 7–15 13–8 8–14 16–6 — 11–11
St. Louis 18–4 16–6 14–8 14–8 8–14 15–7 11–11 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1935 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 Al Spohrer 92 260 63 .242 1 16
1B Buck Jordan 130 470 131 .279 5 35
2B Les Mallon 116 412 113 .274 2 25
3B Pinky Whitney 126 458 125 .273 4 60
SS Billy Urbanski 132 514 118 .230 4 30
OF Hal Lee 112 422 128 .303 0 39
OF Randy Moore 125 407 112 .275 4 42
OF Wally Berger 150 589 174 .295 34 130

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
Tommy Thompson 112 297 81 .273 4 30
Joe Coscarart 86 284 67 .236 1 29
Shanty Hogan 59 163 49 .301 2 25
Elbie Fletcher 39 148 35 .236 1 9
Joe Mowry 81 136 36 .265 1 13
Ray Mueller 42 97 22 .227 3 11
Babe Ruth 28 72 13 .181 6 12
Rabbit Maranville 23 67 10 .149 0 5
Johnnie Tyler 13 47 16 .340 2 11
Ed Moriarty 8 34 11 .324 1 1
Art Doll 3 10 1 .100 0 0
Bill Lewis 6 4 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
Fred Frankhouse 40 230.2 11 15 4.76 64
Ed Brandt 29 174.2 5 19 5.00 61
Danny MacFayden 28 151.2 5 13 5.10 46

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
Ben Cantwell 39 210.2 4 25 4.61 34
Bob Smith 46 203.1 8 18 3.94 58
Huck Betts 44 159.2 2 9 5.47 40
Bob Brown 15 65.0 1 8 6.37 17
Flint Rhem 10 40.1 0 5 5.36 10

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
Larry Benton 29 2 3 0 6.88 21
Al Blanche 6 0 0 0 1.56 4
Leo Mangum 3 0 0 0 3.86 0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AA Seattle Indians Pacific Coast League Dutch Ruether
A Harrisburg Senators New York–Pennsylvania League Art Shires
D McKeesport Braves Pennsylvania State Association Wilbur Cooper

[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Hollingsworth, Harry (1994). The Best & Worst Baseball Teams of All Time: From the '16 A's to the '27 Yanks to the Present!. United States: SPI Books. p. 189. ISBN 1561713082.
  2. ^ Bill Lewis page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Babe Ruth page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ a b Neyer, Rob (2006). Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders. New York City: Fireside. ISBN 0-7432-8491-7.
  5. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.349, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  6. ^ Shanty Hogan page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

External links

1935 MLB season by team
Atlanta Braves
Categories