Braves History: The Team of the 90s Has Its Championship in 1995

On this day 29 years ago, Atlanta would get its first World Series crown

The Atlanta Braves would finally win a title with their star-studded core in 1995 / RVR Photos-Imagn Images

Twenty-nine years ago tonight, Mark Wohlers was on the mound at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the 1995 World Series. His only goal: lock down the 1-0 ballgame and clinch the championship. 

There were 51,875 roaring in the stands as the Atlanta Braves led the series 3-2 over the Cleveland Indians. 

It took a clutch swing and a masterful pitching performance to reach this point. 

The lone run of the game came on a solo shot by outfielder David Justice to lead off the bottom of the sixth. 

Braves starting pitcher Tom Glavine was masterful through the first inning. He pitched eight shutout innings allowing just one hit while striking out eight. 

Wohlers had already gotten Kenny Lofton and Paul Sorrento to each flyout in back-to-back at-bats. Carlos Baerga represented the last hope for Cleveland. Wohlers got him to hit a fly ball to left field. Marquis Grissom ran it down and threw his arms up in the air as he snagged the final out. With that, the Team of the 90s had its world championship. 

For his efforts, including the dominant outing in Game 6, Glavine took home World Series MVP honors. 

The third time’s the charm. The Braves had won the National League Pennant in 1991 and 1992, losing in the World Series both times, first to the Minnesota Twins in seven and then the Toronto Blue Jays in six. 

This was their first championship since they moved to Atlanta in 1966 and their first as a franchise since 1957.

It was a championship that baseball so desperately needed to happen. It was the World Series following the infamous strike that canceled the World Series in 1994. Attendance was down 20% from the year before due to anger and apathy from fans in response to what had gone down. 

This season was only 144 games because the strike lasted that deep into 1995. 

Having the team that took America by storm by airing its games nationally on TBS arguably made a world of difference in getting people to tune in to that year’s World Series. Having the dominant 100-win Cleveland Indians team as the opponent certainly went a long way too. 

It was full of star power, from the future Hall of Famer starting rotation with Greg Maddux, Glavine and John Smoltz to the rookie third baseman phenom, Chipper Jones. They had a longtime skilled manager in Bobby Cox. 

Everything just clicked that year. It's arguably the greatest team in Atlanta Braves history.

The Braves would reach the World Series twice more in the 1990s but this would be their only World Series crown with that core. They would win their second title in Atlanta in 2021.