Wins above replacement, or WAR, is the most useful statistic for estimating a player’s value. This analytical metric was not accessible until quite recently. I’ll explain the differences in the WAR formula between pitchers and position players in simple terms. WAR calculates how many wins a player may have over a league average player by taking into account position, ballpark, and every facet of the game, including batting, baserunning, and fielding. Let’s examine the top 24 players in the history of the Atlanta Braves, a team that has played in cities like Boston and Milwaukee before settling in Georgia permanently, using WAR to help us rank them.
Hank Aaron was a Brave when they still played their home games in Milwaukee, and partly as a result of playing 21 seasons for the organization, he owns most of their prominent offensive records. but only in part. Because “Hammering Hank” was an absolute force in the batter’s box, and let’s not undervalue that for a minute. In almost 3100 games for the Braves Aaron slashed .310/.377/.567 with 733 homers and 2202 RBI. He still owns the Major League record for total bases and RBI. With the Braves, Aaron was chosen for the all-star team for 20 straight seasons, won two batting titles, three Gold Glove awards, and was named the NL MVP in 1957. In the same year, he received a World Series championship ring.
While a lot of the Braves that will follow on this list and pretty well-known names, here’s one that is probably not. Righty Kid Nichols pitched for this organization when they were still known as the Boston Beaneaters long before any of us were born. Nichols spent 12 seasons with Beaneaters, and won 330 games with a stellar 3.00 ERA. He led the Majors in wins for three consecutive years from 1896-1898, completed 476 of the 502 starts he made for this franchise, and was voted into the Hall-of-Fame by the Old Timers Committee in 1947.
