The '82 Braves, managed by Joe Torre, hold the record (along with the '87 Brewers) for having the best start in baseball history, winning their first 13 games in a row. But by the end they just barely edged out the Dodgers and the Giants for the NL West division title.
MVP
The real 1982 NL MVP is Dale Murphy. Looking at the stats, it isn't even close for the Braves. He led the Braves in HR, RBI, runs scored, and OBP. The thing with his card is that it must've been taken in 1980 or earlier, as he still has the old style Braves batting helmet. Maybe they still used these in spring training in 1981..a Braves fan would have to let me know.
Cy Young
This was much closer. I am giving the nod to Phil Niekro, as he had a 17-4 record with a 3.61 ERA. This was a team that only had three reliable starting pitchers (maybe using that loosely, but the Braves only had 3 pitchers with 25+ starts), and Niekro was the ace. Honorable mention goes to closer Gene Garber. He had 30 saves and a 2.34 ERA. In the real Cy Young voting for 1982, Phil Niekro came in 5th overall and Garber came in 7th.
Rookie Card of the Year and Most Interesting Non-Topps card
These awards both go to the same player, Brett Butler. He is listed on the multi-player rookie card for the Braves in the Topps set, but his only solo card for 1982 can be found in the Donruss set. He didn't stay on the Braves long and was traded to the Indians with Brook Jacoby for Len Barker. One of those trades that had the locals up in arms (from an Indians point of view), but turned out to be a rip off of the Braves. Butler went on to a long career that ended in 1997, playing for the Indians, Giants, Mets, and Dodgers. He accumulated over 2000 hits and over 500 stolen bases.
Starters
| __ | TO | 424 | C | Bruce Benedict | ATL |
| __ | TO | 320 | 1B | Chris Chambliss | ATL |
| __ | TO | 482 | 2B | Glenn Hubbard | ATL |
| __ | TO | 145 | 3B | Bob Horner | ATL |
| __ | TO | 536 | SS | Rafael Ramirez | ATL |
| __ | TO | 668 | LF | Dale Murphy | ATL |
| __ | DO | 275 | CF | Brett Butler | ATL |
| __ | TO | 758 | RF | Claudell Washington | ATL |
| __ | TO | 608 | UT | Jerry Royster | ATL |
Starting Pitchers
| __ | TO | 185 | SP | Phil Niekro | ATL |
| __ | TO | 579 | SP | Rick Mahler | ATL |
| __ | TO | 296 | SP | Bob Walk | ATL |
Relief Pitchers
| __ | TO | 32 | CL | Gene Garber | ATL |
| __ | TT | 4 | RP | Steve Bedrosian | ATL |
| __ | TO | 637 | RP | Rick Camp | ATL |
| __ | TO | 383 | SP | Pascual Perez | PIT |
| __ | DO | 501 | SP | Ken Dayley | ATL |
| __ | RP | Joe Cowley |
Other Players
| __ | TO | 244 | LF | Rufino Linares | ATL |
| __ | LF | Larry Whisenton | |||
| __ | TO | 507 | OF | Terry Harper | ATL |
| __ | TO | 88 | C | Biff Pocoroba | ATL |
| __ | TT | 125 | 1B | Bob Watson | ATL |
| __ | DO | 149 | C | Matt Sinatro | ATL |
| __ | IF | Randy Johnson | |||
| __ | UT | Ken Smith | |||
| __ | UT | Bob Porter | |||
| __ | C | Larry Owen | |||
| __ | PH | Paul Runge | |||
| __ | SS | Paul Zuvella | |||
| __ | PR | Albert Hall | |||
| __ | TO | 61 | SP | Tommy Boggs | ATL |
| __ | RP | Larry McWilliams | |||
| __ | TO | 393 | RP | Al Hrabosky | ATL |
| __ | RP | Preston Hanna | |||
| __ | RP | Donnie Moore | |||
| __ | RP | Carlos Diaz | |||
| __ | RP | Jose Alvarez | |||
| __ | RP | Tom Hausman |
Manager/Coaches
| __ | MG | Joe Torre |
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