The Atlanta Braves went from worst-to-first this year. They entered the season with seven straight losing seasons, most of them spent in last place. But this year, magic struck; several of the young pitchers whom the Braves had been developing suddenly improved. They also signed some key free agents who made big contributions. They defeated the Pirates in the league playoffs, then lost a thrilling World Series to the Twins. Their success this year wasn't a fluke; except for the 1994 strike season, the Braves would make the playoffs every year for the rest of the decade.

         The Braves' best pitcher was Tom Glavine, who won the Cy Young Award. Glavine was 25 years old, and had already been in the Braves' rotation for four years. This was his breakthrough year, the first of three straight 20+ win seasons. Glavine has remained one of the best pitchers in baseball since this year, winning another Cy Young Award in 1997. He is on track to record over 200 wins, and is a good bet to be in the Hall Of Fame one day.
        Steve Avery was another Braves' lefthander; Avery was even younger, only 21 years old. Though he had a great start to his career, Avery's career was hampered by injuries. His greatest triumph came this year, in the league playoffs against Pittsburgh. Avery started Games Two and Six for the Braves; in each game, Avery threw 8 shutout innings. and the Braves won by 1-0 scores. Those two tremendous performances were the key to the Braves' victory in seven games.
        In addition to leading the league in shutouts and ERA, Dennis Martinez also threw a perfect game this year. He was 36 years old, and had come back a long way. Martinez debuted in 1976 with Baltimore, when he was 21; he quickly established himself as a quality pitcher, and became a hero in his homeland of Nicaragua. In the strike-shortened 1981 season, Martinez led the league in wins. But things went downhill after that; Martinez was an alcoholic, and suffered through a series of disastrous seasons. For a short time, his career ended.
        Martinez cleaned up, and got another chance with the Expos. Not only did Martinez begin a new career, he was even better than before. He had a string of outstanding seasons with the Expos, then pitched for Cleveland in the 1995 World Series. Once again, he was a hero in his homeland. Martinez continued to pitch well into his 40's, then retired with 244 career wins. At last, he's retired for now; he's already made a couple of comebacks, so another would not be shocking.
        In the Cy Young vote, Glavine was followed by Lee Smith. Smith was 34; his career had stalled while he was in Boston, but now he was back in the NL, and had developed into a control pitcher. Smith was a unique character, a huge man with a hard fastball, who once claimed that he trained during the winter by throwing a can at a dog. Though never as dominant a pitcher as Fingers, Gossage, Eckersley, or the other top closers, Smith remained durable and consistent for many years, and is the current record holder with 457 career saves.