1975 Atlanta Braves season
| 1975 Atlanta Braves | |
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| Major League affiliations | |
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| Results | |
| Record | 67–94 (.416) |
| Divisional place | 5th |
| Other information | |
| Owner(s) | William Bartholomay |
| General manager(s) | Eddie Robinson |
| Manager(s) | Clyde King, Connie Ryan |
| Local television | WTCG |
| Local radio |
WSB (Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1974 Braves had thrived under manager Clyde King upon his appointment July 24, going 38–25 to finish the year 14 games above .500. But the 1975 club fell under the break-even mark May 23 and never recovered. They were 58–76 (.433) and 31 1⁄2 games behind the Cincinnati Reds when King was fired on August 29, 1975. With only a handful of games left in the season, special scout Connie Ryan, a veteran former Braves' infielder and coach, was named to finish out the string, and the club performed even more poorly under Ryan, at 9–18.
For 1976, GM Eddie Robinson promised to hire a "firebrand" to replace the scholarly King, and in October he selected Dave Bristol as the team's new skipper. Bristol, 42, had been the third-base coach of the Montreal Expos from 1973–1975 and had previously compiled a poor record (144–209, .408) with the 1970–1972 Milwaukee Brewers. But he was hailed as an unsung contributor to the "The Big Red Machine" Cincinnati dynasty, when, as Sparky Anderson's predecessor, he inserted into the lineup many of the players—like Johnny Bench, Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Gary Nolan—who proved to be key contributors to the Cincinnati championship clubs of the early 1970s. Bristol also had led the Reds to first division finishes in each of his three full seasons (1967–1969) as manager.
Said Helms upon Bristol's hiring by the Braves: "[Bristol] has a way of letting the players know how to win and what it's like to win. He's fiery and he's tough, but he's a ballplayer's man."
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