Atlanta Braves' 1998 MVP Was Actually Kerry Ligtenberg

From 1995 until 1997, the Atlanta Braves were in the midst of their dynasty. 

Three years removed from a World Series title, two years removed from a World Series defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees, and just recovering from an NLCS defeat against the eventual World Series champion Florida Marlins.   

I say recovering as that series will not be remembered for the Greg Maddux/Livan Hernandez matchup, but for Eric Gregg and his horrendous strike zone.  Fred McGriff was caught looking to end the game though the called third strike appeared to be a foot outside. 

1998 looked like another chance for the Braves to regain their form and reach the top, however star closer Mark Wohlers was completely inept at throwing strikes. 

Wohlers was, at his time, the most feared closer in baseball mostly in large part because of a 100 mph fastball and occasional wildness.  From ’95 to ’97, Wohlers racked up 94 saves and blitzed the National League with 282 strikeouts in 211 innings. 

Unfortunately for Wohlers, he would only pitch 21 more innings (1998/1999) in a Braves uniform.  Consistently inconsistent combined with the continued inability to throw strikes, Wohlers bounced around the “Bigs” for the next three seasons before winding up his career in Cleveland. 

With that said, the Braves needed as closer. 

Who could they turn to?  Dennis Martinez, Alan Embree, Bruce Chen, Norm Charlton (wow, remember the hair?), or maybe John Rocker… 

Negative to all of the above, the answer was Kerry Ligtenberg.

For us diehard Braves fans, many remember him as having the best sideburns this side of Ryan Klesko; however his discovery is tremendous, a part of baseball folklore.

As a member of the Minneapolis Loons, Ligtenberg was managed by former Braves catcher Greg Olson.  Olson was so impressed by Ligtenberg’s numbers; 11-2, 2.73 ERA in 108.2 innings, that he recommended to his former club to sign this young magician. 

The Braves in fact listened, and signed Ligtenberg; in return, the Loons received six dozen baseballs and two dozen bats.   

It is not as if he appeared out of nowhere.  Ligtenberg paid his dues, made the most of his time in the minors, added 10 mph on his fastball since his first year in independent baseball, and put up numbers in Double- and Triple-A worthy of a call-up; 10-8 an ERA under 2.80 and 154 strikeouts in 120 innings.   

What makes his numbers even more star worthy?  A WHIP of 0.945. 

1997 was in fact an audition and he played his part, appearing in 15 games while finishing nine and racking up a save.  Even in limited duty, Ligtenberg could still chalk up the Ks, recording 19, and limited batters to only four walks. 

1998 began as per usual, until Wohlers was sidelined with an injury.  Ligtenberg already the setup-man, was bumped up into the closers role and rode that wave of success all the way into the playoffs. 

With a makeshift bullpen that the Braves seemed to have every single season, Ligtenberg seemed to solidify a staff anchored by three future Hall of Famers having ridiculously good years. 

Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz combined to go 55-18.  Their other two starters Kevin Millwood and Denny Neagle went 33-19. 

The “Big 5” was averaging just under seven innings per game.  Even the best in the world can’t go nine every day, and just as the Yankees perfected, get through the 7th and 8th innings and the game was over.  In 1998, that was how the Braves played. 

With John Rocker and Rudy Seanez coming into their own, the ninth belonged to “sideburns”! 

Compiling 30 saves that ranked seventh in the league, Ligtenberg appeared in 75 games (sixth), struck out 79 in 73 innings, held opponents to a .193 batting average, and pulled in a WHIP of 1.03, second only to Maddux and his .098.   

Not bad for a guy getting $175K. 

All of the above proves Ligtenberg was the best of what you can say was a bad situation, but how did he compare to the best closer in the National League, Trevor Hoffman? 

Hoffman was of course dialed-in in 1998, racking up 53 saves, surrendering only 12 runs, giving up 41 hits in 73 innings, and amazingly enough had a WHIP lower than the “professor” at 0.85. 

This is where I know the numbers will show that Hoffman is and always will be the better than Ligtenberg, no one will doubt that.   

Hoffman betters Ligtenberg in all areas; 

WAR - 3.0 – 1.5

K/9 – 10.6 – 9.74

AVG. - .166 - .199

WPA/LI – 2.48 – 1.47

(Thanks again to FanGraphs)

All that aside, you cannot measure the heart of a player.   

Baseball has turned into a game where the numbers outweigh our basic instincts.  The numbers help, it is obvious, but sometimes that hunch will outweigh all the decimal points and percentages. 

Considering all involved, Ligtenberg was the MVP of the 1998 Braves, was the better closer that year, and was an irreplaceable cog in the machine that churned out so many that we often forget. 

Devon is the founder of The GM’s Perspective