Age: 25
5th season
with Braves
Bats – Left,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’0” Weight: 175
Prior to 1991:
A Massachusetts
native, Glavine excelled in ice hockey, as well as baseball, in high school.
Chosen by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1984 NHL draft, he was also picked by
the Braves in that year’s baseball amateur draft and chose to commit to
baseball. Initially assigned to Gulfport of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League,
he was 2-3 in 8 games with a 3.34 ERA. Advancing to Sumter of the Class A South
Atlantic League in 1985, Glavine started 26 games and posted a 9-6 record with
a 2.35 ERA. He started 1986 with Greenville of the Class AA Southern League and
went 11-6 with a 3.41 ERA before advancing to Richmond of the Class AAA
International League where he started seven games and was 1-5 with a 5.63 ERA.
Back with Richmond in 1987, Glavine was 6-12 with a 3.35 ERA before being
promoted to the Braves in August. In nine starts with the fifth place club, he
compiled a 2-4 record and showed that he was ready for major league-level play.
He had a tough year with the cellar-dwelling Braves in 1988, going 7-17 with a
4.56 ERA. In 1989, Glavine added a circle changeup to his fastball, curve, and
slider and improved to 14-8 with a 3.68 ERA. Atlanta was still a last place
team in 1990 with Glavine contributing a 10-12 record and 4.28 ERA. The pieces
were in place for a dramatic improvement in 1991 thanks to the development of
Glavine along with RHP John Smoltz and LHP Steve Avery.
1991 Season Summary
Appeared in 36
games
P – 34, PH – 1,
PR – 1
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 34
Games Started –
34 [9, tied with four others]
Complete Games
– 9 [1, tied with Dennis Martinez]
Wins – 20 [1,
tied with John Smiley]
Losses – 11
[17, tied with nine others]
PCT - .645 [7]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 1 [13,
tied with nineteen others]
Innings Pitched
– 246.2 [2]
Hits – 201 [12,
tied with Bruce Hurst & Bud Black]
Runs – 83
Earned Runs – 70
Home Runs – 17
[15, tied with Bruce Hurst, Mark Gardner & John Smiley]
Bases on Balls
– 69 [14, tied with Ramon Martinez]
Strikeouts – 192
[3]
ERA – 2.55 [3]
Hit Batters – 2
Balks – 2 [16,
tied with thirteen others]
Wild Pitches – 10
[7, tied with Mike Hartley, Jose de Jesus & Jim Clancy]
Midseason
Snapshot: 12-4, ERA - 1.98, SO – 108 in 127 IP
---
Most
strikeouts, game – 12 (in 8 IP) at Philadelphia 6/19
10+ strikeout
games – 6
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 3 (in 7 IP) at St. Louis 7/20
Batting
PA – 95, AB – 74,
R – 1, H – 17, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 6, BB – 6, SO – 19, SB – 1, CS –
0, AVG - .230, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 15, SF – 0
Fielding
Chances – 61
Put Outs – 16
Assists – 45
Errors – 0
DP – 4
Pct. - 1.000
Postseason
Pitching: G – 4 (NLCS vs. Pittsburgh – 2
G; World Series vs. Minnesota – 2 G)
GS – 4, CG – 1,
Record – 1-3, PCT – .333, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 27.1, H – 20, R – 11, ER – 9,
HR – 3, BB – 13, SO – 19, ERA – 2.96, HB – 0, BLK – 1, WP – 0
Awards & Honors:
NL Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
NL Pitcher of
the Year: Sporting News
Silver Slugger
All-Star (Starting
P for NL)
11th
in NL MVP voting (16 points, 5% share)
NL Cy Young
voting (Top 5):
Tom Glavine,
Atl.: 110 pts. – 19 of 24 first place votes, 92% share
Lee Smith, StL.:
60 pts. – 4 first place votes, 50% share
John Smiley,
Pitt.: 26 pts. – 22% share
Jose Rijo, Cin.:
13 pts. – 1 first place vote, 11% share
Dennis
Martinez, Mon.: 4 pts. – 3% share
---
Braves went 94-68
to finish first in the NL Western Division by 1 game over the Los Angeles
Dodgers, to complete a leap from last place the previous year to the top of the
division. The Braves, with their combination of outstanding starting pitching
and timely hitting, caught the Dodgers in the season’s final days and secured
rhe crown in the season's last weekend. Won NLCS over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4 games
to 3. Lost World Series to the Minnesota Twins, 4 games to 3. The Series came
down to a dramatic seventh game pitching performance by Minnesota RHP Jack
Morris, who outlasted John Smoltz and two relievers to win in 10 innings.
Aftermath of ‘91:
The unflappable
and consistent Glavine was 20-8 in 1992 as the Braves were again NL champions.
Joined in the rotation by RHP Greg Maddux in 1993, he was 22-6 with a 3.20 ERA
as Atlanta topped the NL West but fell short in the NLCS against the Phillies.
Glavine was 13-9 with a 3.97 ERA during the strike-shortened 1994 season. He
won a second Silver Slugger Award for his hitting in 1995 (.222, 1 HR, 8 RBIs),
a year in which he produced a 16-7 record with a 3.08 ERA. He was 2-0 in the
World Series victory over Cleveland, receiving MVP honors after his
Series-clinching one-hit win, in combination with RHP Mark Wohlers. Following a
15-10 season in 1996 and 14-7 in 1997, Glavine won a second Cy Young Award as
he went 20-6 with a 2.47 ERA in 1998. In four more years with Atlanta, he had
one more 20-win season (21-9 in 2000). After an 18-11 performance in 2002,
Glavine departed as a free agent and joined the New York Mets for four years
and $42.5 million. He slumped to 9-14 with a 4.52 ERA in 2003 but improved to
11-14 and a 3.60 ERA in 2004. After breaking even at 13-13 in 2005, he was 15-7
with a 3.82 ERA in 2006 as the Mets topped the NL East. For his last year in
New York in 2007 at age 41, Glavine posted a 13-8 mark and a 4.45 ERA. He
returned to the Braves in 2008 and was released in June with a 2-4 record and
5.54 ERA, thus ending his career. Overall in the major leagues, he compiled a
305-203 record and a 3.54 ERA. Never a power pitcher, he struck out 2607
batters over 4413.1 innings pitched. He accumulated five 20-win seasons along
with 56 complete games and 25 shutouts. He further set a record with 682 starts
without appearing in relief. With the Braves he was 244-147 with a 3.41 ERA and
2091 strikeouts over 3408 innings. In 35 postseason starts, he was 14-16 with a
3.30 ERA and 143 strikeouts. Glavine was a 10-time All-Star who, in addition to
two Cy Young Awards, received four Silver Slugger awards. The Braves retired
his # 47 and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014. His
brother Mike was briefly a teammate with the Mets in 2003.
--
Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of
the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to
present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its
inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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