The Big Three was a trio of Major League Baseball starting pitchers for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2002 which consisted of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. The Big Three combined to win seven National League Cy Young Awards in the 1990s and helped lead the Atlanta Braves to a 1995 World Series win. Each member of the Big Three has had their jersey number retired by the Atlanta Braves and were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.
Pre-Big 3 Tom Glavine made his Major League debut on August 17, 1987, while John Smoltz made his Major League debut on July 23, 1988. At that time, Greg Maddux was playing with the Chicago Cubs. Both Smoltz and Glavine quickly established themselves as viable starting pitchers for the Braves by 1990 (although Glavine was just 33–43 from 1987 to 1990). Smoltz went to his first All-Star Game in 1989 with a 12–11 record and a 2.94 ERA in 208 innings. For a team that won just 65 games in 1990, Smoltz and Glavine combined for 24 wins to 23 losses.Tom Glavine Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com Retrieved July 26, 2016John Smoltz Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com Retrieved July 26, 2016
Their dominance begun in 1991 as Tom Glavine had a NL-leading 20 wins, winning his first Cy Young Award. They helped lead the Atlanta Braves to a National League West Division title for the first time in nine years. While Glavine lost his two starts, Smoltz won both of his starts (including Game 7) to help the Braves prevail over the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the National League pennant, their first since 1958. In the World Series, Glavine started Game 2 and 5 while Smoltz started Game 4 and 7 in a classic series that matched them against the Minnesota Twins; Glavine split his starts while Smoltz received two no-decisions, which included the Twins rallying to notch the series-winning run in the tenth inning of the deciding game.
Smoltz and Glavine's success continued into 1992, with Glavine finishing second in the Cy Young voting, and Smoltz being named to the National League All-Star team. In the National League Championship Series, Smoltz started Game 1 and 4 while Glavine started Games 3 and 6 (which resulted in two wins for the former and losses for the latter) to set up a pivotal Game 7, which had Smoltz as starter in what would later be considered one of the best postseason games ever played, as the Braves scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning (including two on their final out) to prevail over Pittsburgh and win their second straight league pennant. Smoltz pitched the most innings of any pitcher in the series with 20.1 innings while going 2–0 on his way to being named NLCS MVP. Glavine started Game 1 and Game 4, while Smoltz started Games 2 and 5 as the Braves lost the series to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games.
Big Three era (The peak 1991-1999)
1993 and 1994 Prior to the 1993 MLB season, the Atlanta Braves signed Greg Maddux (who had won the National League Cy Young Award the previous year) from the Chicago Cubs, marking the beginning of the Big Three era. The Big Three had a strong 1993 season as Maddux posted a 20–10 record, winning his second straight NL Cy Young Award, Glavine led the National League in wins for the third consecutive season as he posted a 22–6 record, and Smoltz once again made the All Star team. The "Big Three" helped the Braves win the National League West for the third consecutive season, despite trailing the San Francisco Giants for most of the season. The Braves eventually fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship Series. Maddux won his third consecutive Cy Young Award in the strike-shortened 1994 season as he posted a 16–6 record, had a National League leading ERA of 1.56, and struck out 156 batters.
1995: Champions The 1995 season started late, starting on April 26 that would see 144 games played rather than 162. The Braves began with a 20–17 start by June 4, with a 24–12 run leading up to the 1995 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which saw only pitcher Greg Maddux selected among the three. Maddux would go on to win his fourth consecutive NL Cy Young Award with a league-leading 19–2 win-loss record and a 1.63 ERA, while leading the Braves in complete games (ten) and shutouts (three).Greg Maddux Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com Retrieved July 26, 2016 Glavine would win sixteen games with a 3.08 ERA while Smoltz won twelve; the two and Steve Avery led the Braves in games started with 29. The Braves cruised to the National League East title with 90 wins, beating the New York Mets by 21 games. They faced the Colorado Rockies in the 1995 National League Division Series and beat them in four games to reach the National League Championship Series against the Cincinnati Reds. Maddux started Game 1, Glavine got Game 2, and Smoltz got Game 3, which all resulted in wins (only Maddux pitched well enough to receive the win), and Steve Avery closed the series out with a 6–0 victory in Game 4 to send Atlanta back to the World Series. In the 1995 World Series, the Braves were matched against the American League champion Cleveland Indians, who were making their first World Series appearance in 41 years after winning 100 games in the regular season. Maddux was paired against Orel Hershiser in Game 1. While Cleveland scored the first run of the game through the efforts of Kenny Lofton and Carlos Baerga without getting a hit, Maddux shut the team down the rest of the way with a complete game two-hitter while Fred McGriff and Luis Polonia contributed runs to deliver a 3–2 victory. Glavine was matched against Dennis Martínez in Game 2 and went six innings while allowing just two runs as the Braves won 4–3. Smoltz started Game 3 against Charles Nagy, but the game was a disaster that saw him leave the game in the third inning as Cleveland won 7–6 in eleven innings. After the Braves won Game 4 with the efforts of Steve Avery, Maddux was sent to the mound on Game 5 for a potential clincher. It turned into a disappointment, as Albert Belle and Jim Thome hit home runs to carry Hershiser as Cleveland won 5–4. Glavine returned to start Game 6, which saw him and David Justice as stars of the show, with the former having eight innings of one-hit ball while the latter scored the only run of the game. Mark Wohlers collected the save that saw Marquis Grissom catch a fly ball in center field to win the championship. Cleveland went from batting .291 in the regular season to hitting .179 in the World Series. Glavine received the World Series MVP for his efforts. Glavine won both of his starts (Game 2 and 6), and he allowed just four hits and two runs in fourteen innings pitched with eleven strikeouts to six walks.
1996–1998 The trio had another strong season in 1996, with Smoltz leading the league in wins and strikeouts on his way to winning the National League Cy Young Award. In the National League Championship Series, they faced the underdog St. Louis Cardinals; Smoltz won the opening game, but the Braves soon fell behind under surprise losses by Maddux and Glavine. Down 3–1 in the series, the Braves proceeded to rally with wins from all three members of the trio while allowing just one run combined to win three straight games and complete the comeback to become the eighth team in MLB history to overcome a 3–1 deficit and the first to do so in an NLCS. In the World Series, they were matched against the New York Yankees, who were making their first World Series appearance in fifteen years. Smoltz and Maddux easily dispatched the Yankees to give the Braves a 2–0 lead as the series shifted from New York to Atlanta. In Game 3, Glavine was matched against David Cone (who had started against the Braves for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1992 World Series). Glavine was outmatched by the resurgent Yankee lineup (which had scored once in the two previous games), as they scored two runs on Glavine by the time he left in the seven and added three more in the eighth to win 5–2; the ensuing Game 4 proved horrific, as Atlanta blew a six run lead and lost 8–6 in ten innings. Smoltz, now in a tied series as the starter for Game 5, could not slow the bleeding. This was his seventh career start in a World Series (two wins, four no-decisions). Unfortunately, this would be his first loss, which came at the hands of a fourth inning flyball that went past the fielders for a two-base error that was followed by a double to score the only run of the game. Maddux was tasked to save the Braves in Game 6 in New York. However, the Yankees scored all the runs they needed in third innings on four hits to prevail 3–2 and win the Series. Over the next two years, the Big Three continued to perform well, with Maddux finishing second in Cy Young voting in 1997 and Glavine capturing his second Cy Young Award in 1998. Unfortunately, the Braves failed to reach the World Series in both years (with the trio combining for one win and save in the League Championship Series for 1997 and 1998)
1999: Their last NL pennant and the official end of the Big Three together