Before the season, Braves owner Ted Turner decided to buy himself a championship team, and spent oodles of money on veteran free agents (and also hired a new manager, Joe Torre). The Braves got off to a red-hot start, winning their first thirteen games.
        They coasted the rest of the season, and barely hung on the win the division. They were then beaten by the Cardinals in the playoffs, and three years later sunk to last place for the rest of the decade, as all the free agents either got old or were injured. Torre, who was Manager of the Year this season, was fired after the 1984 season.
        The Braves' popular centre fielder Dale Murphy won the MVP Award, his first of two. This was the beginning of a string of great seasons for Murphy, who would soon become the only Brave worth watching.

        To be honest, Murphy's season wasn't exactly MVP calibre. He wasn't as good a hitter as Pedro Guerrero, Al Oliver, or Jason Thompson. Neither his slugging percentage nor OPS was among the top five in the league, and that's not impressive for a power hitter playing in a power hitter's park. With his durability, defense, and leadership, I'll concede that Murphy may have been the best of the outfielder in the league — but I think there were other players who were clearly better.
        The top four vote getters were Murphy, Lonnie Smith, Guerrero and Oliver. But a convincing argument can be made that Mike Schmidt deserved to win a third straight MVP. Schmidt led the National League in OPS, led his team to the second-best record in the league and played sensational defense at third base. As good as Murphy was, I will take Schmidt with both the bat and the glove.
        Or how about Gary Carter, who had one of his best seasons? Not only did The Kid swing a mean bat, but he also played 154 games behind the plate; that's an incredible total for a catcher. Carter played for 19 years in the majors; he was an All-Star eleven times, starting in his first season in 1975 at age 21. Back then he was just a backup catcher, and played more games in the outfield; after a sophomore slump in 1976, he was made the starting catcher by new manager Dick Williams in 1977. For the next decade, Carter was the league's best catcher, a fine hitter and defensive player who was also durable.
        Carter was the leader of a great young Expos team that just fell short of greatness. In 1984 he was dealt to the Mets, and continued to play outstanding ball. He helped lead the Mets to a championship in 1986, and knocked the single that kept them alive in Game Six of the World Series. Carter retired with 324 career homers, and over 2000 career hits. He is clearly overqualified for the Hall Of Fame; but as I am writing this, Carter has failed for the third time to be elected. I can only describe this as a bizarre oversight. But I think there is very little question that it is only a matter of time before Carter is inducted.
        This year, Carter finished 12th in the MVP voting, while teammate Al Oliver was third. Oliver had his best season at the plate, at age 35. The two seasons Oliver spent in Montreal would be the last two good ones of his career; he was then forced to retire 257 hits shy of 3000. Though Oliver had some nice numbers, I believe that Carter was the Expos' best player. And I also think he was the best player in the National League.
        Lonnie Smith was runner-up in the vote. He had a good year, but I don't see how he could have been better than Guerrero. Smith stole a lot of bases, but he didn't have a very good success rate, certainly not enough to make up for Guerrero's huge power advantage. And as for defense... well, both these guys were prime candidates for the Concrete Glove Award.
        Smith had already wasted several years playing for the Phillies, who wouldn't give him a regular job. He was an awful defensive player, but when Whitey Herzog gave him a chance, Lonnie hit up a storm. He remained a good player for another dozen years, helping the Royals win the World Series in 1985. He also played in two more World Series with the Braves in the early 1990's. Smith wore goat horns in 1991 for a baserunning mistake that may have cost the Braves the championship; but in typical Lonnie fashion he redeemed himself a year later, smacking a grand slam in the 1992 Series against Toronto.