Pitcher, Atlanta
Braves
Age: 32
12th
season with Braves
Bats – Left,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’0” Weight: 175
Prior to 1998:
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. In 1991 the Braves went
from worst to first in the NL West and Glavine contributed a 20-11 record with
a 2.55 ERA and 192 strikeouts while tying for the league lead in complete games
with 9. He lost two games in the NLCS against Pittsburgh, ultimately won by the
Braves, but was 1-1 in the seven-game World Series loss to Minnesota. Glavine
came away from the season with his first NL Cy Young Award. 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. The Braves
continued their winning ways in 1996 and Glavine went 15-10 with a 2.98 ERA and
181 strikeouts. In 1997 his tally was 14-7 with a 2.96 ERA and 152 strikeouts
and he was an All-Star for the fifth time.
1998 Season Summary
Appeared in 33
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 33
Games Started –
33 [15, tied with ten others]
Complete Games
– 4 [8, tied with four others]
Wins – 20 [1]
Losses – 6
PCT - .769 [2]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 3 [3,
tied with Kevin Brown]
Innings Pitched
– 229.1 [10]
Hits – 202
Runs – 67
Earned Runs – 63
Home Runs – 13
Bases on Balls
– 74 [15, tied with Pedro Astacio & Andy Benes]
Strikeouts – 157
ERA – 2.47 [3,
tied with Al Leiter]
Hit Batters – 2
Balks – 0
Wild Pitches – 3
League-leading
wins were +1 ahead of runners-up Shane Reynolds & Kevin Tapani
Midseason
Snapshot: 12-3, ERA - 2.63, SO - 84 in 123.1 IP
Most
strikeouts, game – 10 (in 9 IP) vs. Chi. Cubs 5/24, (in 7 IP) at Philadelphia
7/22
10+ strikeout
games – 2
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 2 (in 9 IP) at San Diego 8/13
Batting
PA – 86, AB – 71,
R – 3, H – 17, 2B – 3, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 7, BB – 1, SO – 15, SB – 0, CS –
0, AVG - .239, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 14, SF – 0
Fielding
Chances – 62
Put Outs – 11
Assists – 50
Errors – 1
DP – 3
Pct. - .984
Postseason
Pitching: G – 3 (NLDS vs. Chi. Cubs – 1 G; NLCS vs. San Diego – 2 G)
GS – 3, CG – 0,
Record – 0-2, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 18.2, H – 16, R – 7, ER – 4, HR
– 0, BB – 10, SO – 16, ERA – 1.93, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0
Awards & Honors:
NL Cy Young
Award: BBWAA
Silver Slugger
All-Star
21st
in NL MVP voting, tied with Dante Bichette, Col. & Randy Johnson, Hou. (2
points, 0% share)
NL Cy Young
voting (Top 5):
Tom Glavine,
Atl.: 99 pts. – 11 of 32 first place votes, 62% share
Trevor Hoffman,
SD: 88 pts. – 13 first place votes, 55% share
Kevin Brown, SD:
76 pts. – 8 first place votes, 48% share
Greg Maddux,
Atl.: 10 pts. – 6% share
John Smoltz,
Atl.: 10 pts. – 6% share
Braves went
106-56 to finish first in the NL Eastern Division by 18 games over the New York
Mets. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (3.25), complete games (24), and
shutouts (23). Following a 6-6 start, the Braves finished April at 18-9 and
cruised to their seventh consecutive division title, clinching with a Sept. 14
win over the Phillies. Won NLDS over the Chicago Cubs, 3 games to 0. Lost NLCS
to the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 2, as Glavine lost twice, including the
climactic Game 6.
Aftermath of ‘98:
Glavine had an
off year in 1999 in which his ERA rose to 4.12 and he led the NL with 259 hits
allowed while posting a 14-11 record with 234 innings pitched and 138
strikeouts. In three 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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