Bad News Braves: Five Worst Marlins Seasons Against Atlanta

Following Thursday night’s loss to the visiting Atlanta Braves, the only surprising part about losing to a team that was thirty games under .500 coming into the contest for Miami Marlins fans was the likely the fact that they couldn’t blame right fielder Nick Markakis.

For the first time in sixteen games against Miami this year, Markakis failed to record a hit.

Nick would fix that in Friday’s equally depressing affair, as the Braves ran their record against the Marlins this season to 11-6. Against the rest of the league, they’re 52-85. They only have a winning record against four teams they’ve played against, and that’s provided you count a three-game set against the White Sox in Interleague play. Only one of the four- the Mets- is a fellow NL East member, and not a one has been so roundly dominated as the Fish have.

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In fact, of all of baseball’s six cellar dwellers, none of them has done more damage to a division rival than the Braves have inflicted upon the Marlins.

So it occurs to me that many of you alert readers out there might well be asking:

Is this the worst the Marlins have ever done against Atlanta? Or worse still, is this the worst they’ve ever done against any NL East foe?

Hard as it might be to believe, the answer to both questions is a resounding no. Even a sweep this weekend to finish off the annual set would leave the 2016 Braves well short of being able to claim either distinction.

If not this though, what does the worst look like? So glad you asked:

1.) 1999 Philadelphia Phillies  (.154)

2.) 2012 Atlanta Braves (.222)

3.) 1994 Montreal Expos (.222)

4.) 1995 Atlanta Braves/1999 New York Mets (.231)

5.) 2001 Philadelphia Phillies/2004 Atlanta Braves/2013 Washington Nationals (.263)  

That’s the comprehensive list of the five worst season-long performances the Marlins have put up against the NL East, and it should provide some comfort, even in the event that we don’t see the Marlins beat the Braves again until 2017. This was not the level of dominance displayed by the ’99 Phillies, and for that matter, the season we’ve enjoyed to this point was nothing like 1999 season itself.

You were promised a Braves-centric list though, and to that we will proceed. Which works, as the Braves are a huge part of the asterisk some of the baseball history aficionados among you might have been affixing to a few those records. I’m speaking now of the switch to unbalanced schedule, and the resulting explosion of division games, that began with the 2001 season.

Playing eighteen or nineteen games is a much different animal than eight or twelve, and it would be more than fair to observe that the damage caused by those blasted ’99 Phills or strike-shortened ’94 Expos is much less impressive in light of that change.

If we were to make a list of the five worst post-2000 finishes, the Braves would own or tie for all five of those spots. And yes, going into tonight’s game, the 2016 Braves would make that list.

But the historian in me can’t just throw out those early failures, so this list will be a cumulative one. This list will run in order from fifth to first by degree of winning percentage, although I’ll chime in with just how bad it really was the grand scheme of the season as well. Buckle up for some historical heartache.

Chop Flop # 5: The 2011 Braves

H2H Record: 6-12 (.333 WP) 

Ah, the 2011 season. Remember that fun time when we went 30-20 under the steely-eyed gaze of manager Edwin Rodriguez, only to follow that up with a stretch where we went 2-21 built almost entirely around the worst month (a five-win June) in franchise history? Good stuff, especially since I spent most of my expendable cash at that time on a West Coast road trip to watch them play the Oakland A’s. Actually saw two of those five wins!

But the Braves. The Marlins took the first series against them, winning two out of three. They promptly lost  nine of their next ten, thanks in no small part to the 36 HR season from newly minted Braves second baseman Dan Uggla. Yea, that Dan Uggla. Chipper Jones helped as well, with his usual Marlin-killer prowess.

The saving grace? The epic, EPIC, HOW DID YOU DO THAT BRAVES FANS READING THIS THANKS TO THE MAGIC OF RETWEETING, collapse that the Braves suffered in the season’s final month that led to them spending October the same way the Marlins did. Watching the playoffs from home.

Chop Flop # 4: The 2013 Braves 

H2H Record: 6-13 (.316 WP) 

This finish easily would sit fifth on the list if you factored in intangibles, for the 2013 season really was a complete disaster outside of the emergence of Jose Fernandez. Keep that in mind anytime you want to criticize that abysmal 62-win squad- you don’t start a rookie pitcher with that little experience if you’re good enough to, you know, do anything constructive with those 162 games on the schedule.

The 2013 Braves? They lost only four more games than the Marlins won that year, going 96-66 on the way to another division title. The six games the Fish managed to win against Atlanta that season was actually one better than the five they managed to record against the Nationals, so at least there’s that. Current Marlin Chris Johnson was a key cog for the Atlanta Uptons that season, and Dan Uggla continued to provide pop as well to a deep lineup.

Miami’s fate felt predetermined from the start of that season- a natural consequence of losing nine of your first ten games- so the sting is minimal despite the impressive futility.

The 2013 Braves’ fate? Don Mattingly‘s Dodgers finished em off in the NLDS, three games to one.

Chop Flop # 3: The 2004 Braves 

H2H Record: 5-14 (.263 WP) 

This is my vote for the worst season, even if we do have two more to go on the list. The reason? Simple- we had something to lose. The 2004 Marlins, the defending World Champion Marlins, finished the year 83-79. The first time ever in franchise history that the team had produced consecutive winning seasons, expectations were high for the club to at least make the playoffs and truly defend that second championship.

That 2004 squad dominated the rest of the NL East, to the tune of a 38-19 record; they went a staggering 15-4 against the Mets. But the Braves…no traction there whatsoever. Flipping that record around could have made a real difference in momentum for the NL Wild Card,and maybe even made a real race of it for the division.   The Marlins would miss the playoffs, while the Braves would lose in the NLDS again.

Chop Flop # 1: The 2012 Braves 

H2H Record: 4-14 (.222 WP) 

Lastly, we come to the 2012 Marlins. Remember them? New stadium, massive payroll, pricey manager. And gigantic disappointment. I suppose this would rank as the second biggest overall, given the hopes for this season going in.

Naturally, the four wins against a team we were supposed to challenge for the division stung, and the fact that the Braves didn’t even win the division themselves made it all the worse. Not to mention the fact that ex-Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez was at the helm, with 2012 All-Star second baseman Dan Uggla helping to lead the way.

The Marlins finished last in the division, humiliated and dismantled. The Braves finished in the playoffs, though only for a day, thanks to one of the most controversial calls you could ever hope to see in any game. Let alone such a high stakes one.

Mean spirited as it is, feel free to enjoy that one for awhile. Especially if you’ve never seen it; I know a few of us might have gladly shifted our attention to football by that point after the way that particular Marlins campaign went.

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But there you have it, your five worst Braves finishes. The 2016 campaign was painful, but by the numbers, we’ve seen far worse.

Throwing out the number of wins though, and just sizing up the damage based on feel and what it ultimately cost us? Hard to argue that this year doesn’t surpass all of the above candidates, even the 2004 results. Flip the script, and they’re in the thick of the playoff race, with a winning season all but locked up. Instead, we’re having this conversation.

Whoever the Marlins sign this offseason, they better make sure they can beat Atlanta.