Photos: Braves' worst season starts in Atlanta

Atlanta Braves

As April goes, tends to go the rest of the season. Braves teams that start with a losing month of April rarely end with a winning record.

The Braves (0-9) are off to their worst start since 1988. As April goes, tends to go the rest of the season. Braves teams that start with a losing month of April rarely end with a winning record. Here are the Braves' worst season starts:

Even with Davey Johnson and Hank Aaron (above) combining for more than 80 homers in 1973, the Braves' slow start in April (7-13) cost the team, which lost 30 1-run games that season (76-81-1)

Ted Turner's club started the 1978 season 4-11. A 6-11 April turned into a 69-93 year for Atlanta.

Bobby Cox's 1980s Braves were one of the few Atlanta teams to start with a losing April and end with a winning record (81-80). The team went 6-11 in April, but finished with a 16-15 record in the final two months.

Joe Torre's Braves team in 1984 started 5-10, and finished with a 9-12 record in April. The team won more games on the road (42) than at home (38) and went 80-82.

The Braves (worst start in Atlanta came in 1988 when they lost the first 10 games. That 1988 season (54-106) that began under Chuck Tanner was one of at least three in Atlanta that the team recorded more than 100 losses. Those Braves were shut out 17 times; they were blown out in 26 games; and won just 24 of 60 1-run games. | More on the 1988 season

John Smoltz and the 1990 Braves didn't fare well. The team went 4-13 in April. It won just 37 games at home, and suffered one of its worst defeats in club history, allowing 23 runs to the San Francisco Giants at home on June 8. The team went 65-97 and finished last in the division.

The team's fortunes turned around in the 1991 season. The team began with an 8-10 April, but had just one other losing month (June, 12-17) to finish as division winners with a 94-68 record. Their rise from worst to first was the start of 14-straight division titles, which has not be replicated in baseball.

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The Braves (0-9) are off to their worst start since 1988. As April goes, tends to go the rest of the season. Braves teams that start with a losing month of April rarely end with a winning record. Here are the Braves' worst season starts:

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