Appalachian League (1974-1979)
Tombstone
Born: 1974
Affiliation Change: 1980 (Kingsport Mets)
First Game: June 21, 1974 (W 8-3 vs. Elizabethton Twins)
Last Game: August 30, 1979 (L 6-2 vs. Bluefield Orioles)
Appalachian League Champions: 1977
Stadium
Ownership & Affiliation
Owner:
Major League Affiliation: Atlanta Braves
Attendance
Background
The Kingsport Braves were a Rookie league farm club of the Atlanta Braves during the late 1970’s. Kingsport won one Appalachian League pennant during the Braves era, clinching the league crown on the final day of the 1977 season (there were no playoffs).
Key Players
Future Atlanta Braves stars that spent time in the Model City included:
- 1982 & 1983 National League MVP Dale Murphy (Kingsport ’74),
- 1983 National League All-star second baseman Glenn Hubbard (Kingsport ’75-’76)
- Pitcher Rick Mahler (Kingsport ’75)
- 1981 & 1983 National League All-Star catcher Bruce Benedict (Kingsport ’76)
- Future Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker (Kingsport ’77)
- 1987 National League Cy Young Award winner Steve Bedrosian (Kingsport ’78)
- 1986 & 1990 American League All-Star third baseman Brook Jacoby (Kingsport ’79)
End of the Braves Era
Kingsport became a source of some frustration to the Atlanta front office during the late 1970’s. J. Fred Johnson Stadium sat on the campus of Dobyns-Bennett High School and also served as the school’s football stadium. During the 1977 pennant-winning season, the city evicted the Braves from the stadium for the final 11 days of the stadium to set up for the schoolboy football season. The move left the Braves’ prospects with no place to practice and 14 consecutive road games to end the season. (Making Kingsport’s pennant run all the more impressive).
Atlanta threatened to withdraw the club from Kingsport over the stadium issue. The Kingsport Baseball Boosters Club, a local volunteer group that provided many of the front office functions of the Appy League team, scrambled over the winter to negotiate a deal between Atlanta and the local school board. Atlanta did not commit to a 1978 season in Kingsport until April of 1978. And even then, the Appy League Braves had to play an unbalanced scheduled with their final 11 games on the road.
After the 1979 season, Atlanta did pull up stakes and leave Kingsport. The New York Mets took over as Kingsport’s parent club for the 1980 season, a partnership that enters its 40th season in the spring of 2019.
Appalachian League Shop
Editor's Pick
Appalachian League Baseball
Where Rookies Rise
By Allen LaMountain
Long-time Appy League beat writer Allen LaMountain wrote this exhaustive chronicle of the Rookie circuit in 2014, offering a history of each city in the circuit and profiles of dozens of the future Major League stars and Hall-of Famers who got their first taste of pro ball in places like Bluefield, Elizabethton, Johnson City and Kingsport.
When you make a purchase through an affiliate link like this one, Fun While It Lasted earns a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!
In Memoriam
Pitcher Rick Mahler (Kingsport ’75) died of a heart attack on March 2, 2005 at age 51.
Downloads
1979 Kingsport Braves Roster Sheet
1979 Kingsport Braves Roster Insert
Links
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One Response
Just trying to track down some photos. My father was drafted out of high school in 1974. Eric Cervantes out of Sacramento CA. Anything helps. Thank you in advance.