According to a release by MLB on April 8, fans can visit MLB.com/FranchiseFour to select the four most impactful players for each franchise who best represent the history of each franchise out of eight choices from its lineage. There is also a space for a write-in selection. Voting is live now until May 8.
The Ballot:
Hank Aaron (1954-1974)
Tom Glavine (1987-2002, 2008)
Chipper Jones (1993-2012)
Greg Maddux (1993-2003)
Eddie Mathews (1952-1966)
Dale Murphy (1976-1990)
John Smoltz (1988-2008)
Warren Spahn (1952-1964)
Shoestring Catches Recommendations for the Atlanta Braves:
Hank Aaron: A 25-time all-star, Hank Aaron was the Major League’s home run leader for many years with 755 in his career. An amazing stat for Aaron is that if you subtract his homers from his hit total, he would still have 3,016. Aaron was the National League Most Valuable Player in 1957 as the Milwaukee Braves won the World Series. Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, Aaron his over 30 homers in a season 15 times.
Eddie Mathews: A contemporary of Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. Of his 512 career home runs, Mathews 493 with the Braves. He hit over 30 homers in nine straight seasons and was a nine-time all-star, He is only person to have played for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.
John Smoltz: The Braves all-time leader in appearances and strikeouts, John Smoltz is entering the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. Smoltz won the Ct Young Award in 1996 with a 24-6 record. In 2002, Smoltz had moved into the bullpen and he led the NL with 55 saves. He had 210 of his 213 career victories and 3,011 of his 3,051 strikeouts with the Braves. He was an eight-time all-star, star on the 1995 world champions and won a Silver Slugger in 1997.
Warren Spahn: With more wins than any other left-hander, Warren Spahn was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973. Spahn won 363 games in his career with 356 coming with the Braves in Boston and Milwaukee. Spahn won 20 games in 13 seasons. In 1957, he won the Cy Young Award. He was a 17-time all-star with a pair of no-hitters on his resume. During World War II, Spahn was awarded a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
Editor’s Note: It was a tough call not to include Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. The difference was the years that those two Baseball Hall of Fame inductees spent with other organizations when matched up with John Smoltz.