Atlanta Braves History: A long haul (1931)

Well, it got worse in 1931. Rather than finish sixth like they had in 1930, the Braves finished seventh. Bill McKechnie continued as the manager. They had a record of 64-90 and were 37 games behind the leader.

They had played pretty good until August and September. Hard to overcome a 17-43 slide in those two months.

They were in for a long haul with McKechnie at the helm. It would never get too much better.

No more Rabbit (1934)

It was a so so season for the Braves in 1934 but the worst part of it was losing Rabbit Maranville. They had a 78-873 record finishing 16 games behind in fourth place. It was Bill McKechnie's 5th season but this went the most of them did during his tenure.

Rabbit Maranville, even at age 42, was playing some pretty good ball so there was hope as the season started. It was his 24th season and he had become a Boston and National legend.

"When Rabbit Maranville breaks a leg right at the start of the opening of the season, that constitutes America's greatest crisis, and if anybody reading this had to ask who Rabbit is, then you should be made to show your citizenship papers." -- Will Rogers

So, on March 28th, Rabbit's career came to an end when he broke his leg sliding home on a double steal during an exhibition game with the Yankees. The leg was set on the field while Rabbit smoked a cigarette. He didn't play that year at all.

Making a change (1930)

Judge Fuchs' decided to make a change in the manager position. He selected Bill McKechnie as the Braves manager in 1930. He had a pretty good track record. In Pittsburgh he won the World Series in 1925. In St. Louis he won the pennant in 1928. After he left Boston he won a World Series for Cincinnati in 1940.

In 1930 the Braves finished 6th, 22 games behind the leader. Their record was 70-84. It wouldn't get much better during his eight years in Boston.