Editing Richmond Braves

{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox Minor League Baseball
| name = Richmond Braves
| firstseason = 1966 
| lastseason = 2008
| allyears = 
| city = Richmond, Virginia
| logo = RichmondBraves.png
| uniformlogo = RichmondBravesCap.png
| past class level = [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] (1966–2008)
| league = [[International League]] (1966–2008)
| conference = 
| division = South Division
| past league = 
| pastmajorleague = [[Atlanta Braves]] (1966–2008)
| pastnames = Richmond Braves (1966–2008)
| pastparks = {{plainlist|
*[[The Diamond (Richmond, Virginia)|The Diamond]] (1985–2008)
*[[Parker Field (Richmond)|Parker Field]] (1966–1985)
}}
| classchamps = 
| leaguenum = 5
| leaguechamps = {{hlist|1978|1986|1989|1994|2007}}
| divisionchamps = 
| wildcardnum = 1
| wildcardberths = {{hlist|2007}}
}}
The '''Richmond Braves''' were an American [[minor league baseball]] club based in [[Richmond, Virginia]], the [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[International League]] affiliate of the [[Atlanta Braves]] from 1966 to 2008. Owned by the parent Atlanta club and colloquially referred to as the '''R-Braves''', they played their home games at a stadium called [[The Diamond (Richmond, Virginia)|The Diamond]] on Richmond's Northside built for them in 1985, and before then [[Parker Field (Richmond)|Parker Field]] on the same site.<ref name= "Labor">{{cite news |last=Sabin |first=Rainer |url= https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/norfolk-tides/article_5f779f84-ca2d-54f6-bdb2-e250858dd385.html |title=Labor Day was Richmond's last day with their Braves |work=[[The Virginian-Pilot]] |date=September 2, 2008 |access-date=November 10, 2021}}</ref><ref name= "archives">{{cite news |url= https://richmond.com/from-the-archives/from-the-archives-professional-baseball-in-richmond-1953-1990/collection_45c43e44-1ade-11e7-97b7-3fa4981872d4.html#1 |title=From the Archives: Professional baseball in Richmond, 1953-1990 |work=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]] |date=February 4, 2020 |access-date=November 10, 2021}}</ref>  The franchise moved to [[Gwinnett County, Georgia]], in 2009 to play in the newly built [[Coolray Field]] as the [[Gwinnett Braves]].

The R-Braves came to Richmond in 1966 after the Braves' top affiliate, the [[Atlanta Crackers]], moved to Virginia. The then-Milwaukee Braves had bought the Crackers as part of their planned move to Atlanta in 1965; under MLB rules of the day, they bought the Crackers in order to obtain the major league rights to Atlanta. However, an injunction forced the Braves to play a lame-duck season in Milwaukee in 1965, leaving them to operate the Crackers in Atlanta for one more season. When searching for a new home for the Crackers, they landed in Richmond, where Parker Field had been left open by the previous year's move of the [[Richmond Virginians]], a [[New York Yankees]] affiliate that moved in 1965.

At the time of the R-Braves' departure to Gwinnett, only the [[Baltimore Orioles]] and their [[Appalachian League]] affiliate, the [[Bluefield Orioles]], had held a longer affiliation agreement in a single city than Atlanta/Richmond's 43 seasons.<ref name="Gorman">{{cite book |last=Gorman |first=Lou |title=High and Inside: My Life in the Front Offices of Baseball |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] pg. 63 |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7864-3163-2}}</ref> The Braves played their final game on September 1, 2008, against their long-time intrastate rivals, the [[Norfolk Tides]]. Richmond won, 9–3, in front of a sellout crowd of 12,167. After the game players and alumni threw balls and other keepsakes to fans in the stands, and fans were able to walk onto the field.

In 2010, the [[Double-A (baseball)|Double-A]] [[Eastern League (1938–2020)|Eastern League]]'s [[Connecticut Defenders]], a [[San Francisco Giants]] affiliate (but independently owned), moved to Richmond to play as the [[Richmond Flying Squirrels]].<ref name= "outbreak">{{cite news |last=Teeple |first=Devon |url= https://bleacherreport.com/articles/459209-an-outbreak-of-flying-squirrels-are-the-root-cause-of-an-eastern-league-record |title=Outbreak of Flying Squirrels Is Root Cause of Eastern League Attendance Record |work=[[Bleacher Report]] |date=September 11, 2010 |access-date=November 10, 2021}}</ref>

==Titles==
The R-Braves won the [[Governors' Cup]], the championship of the International League, five times, and played in ten championship series.

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*1966 – Lost to [[Toronto Maple Leafs (International League)|Toronto]]
*1976 – Lost to [[Syracuse SkyChiefs|Syracuse]]
*1978 – Defeated [[Pawtucket Red Sox|Pawtucket]]
*1981 – Lost to [[Columbus Clippers|Columbus]]
*1983 – Lost to [[Norfolk Tides|Tidewater]]
*1986 – Defeated [[Rochester Red Wings|Rochester]]
*1989 – Defeated [[Syracuse SkyChiefs|Syracuse]]
*1994 – Defeated [[Syracuse SkyChiefs|Syracuse]]
*2004 – Lost to [[Buffalo Bisons|Buffalo]]
*2007 – Defeated [[Durham Bulls|Durham]]; lost to [[Sacramento River Cats|Sacramento (PCL)]] in [[Bricktown Showdown|AAA Championship Game]]
{{div col end}}

==Alumni==
[[File:1987 Richmond Braves - Tom Glavine.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Tom Glavine]]]]
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Tommie Aaron]]
*[[Jim Acker]]
*[[Steve Avery (baseball)|Steve Avery]]
*[[Dusty Baker]]
*[[Steve Barber]]
*[[Howard Battle]]
*[[Rob Belloir]]
*[[Bruce Benedict]]
*[[Wilson Betemit]]
*[[Jeff Blauser]]
*[[Pedro Borbón, Jr.]]
*[[Joe Borowski (baseball)|Joe Borowski]]
*[[Jim Breazeale]]
*[[Brett Butler (baseball)|Brett Butler]]
*[[Francisco Cabrera (baseball)|Francisco Cabrera]]
*[[José Capellán]]
*[[Vinny Castilla]]
*[[Chris Chambliss]]
*[[Bruce Chen]]
*[[Román Colón]]
*[[Bobby Cox]]
*[[Kyle Davies (baseball)|Kyle Davies]]
*[[Mark DeRosa]]
*[[Jermaine Dye]]
*[[Gary Eave]]
*[[Yunel Escobar]]
*[[Darrell Evans]]
*[[Sal Fasano]]
*[[Ron Gant]]
*[[Ralph Garr]]
*[[Marcus Giles]]
*[[Ed Giovanola]]
*[[Tom Glavine]]
*[[Tony Graffanino]]
*[[Tommy Greene]]
*[[Wes Helms]]
*[[Jason Heyward]]
*[[Tom House]]
*[[Tyler Houston]]
*[[Glenn Hubbard (baseball)|Glenn Hubbard]]
*[[Chuck James]]
*[[Kelly Johnson (baseball)|Kelly Johnson]]
*[[Andruw Jones]]
*[[Chipper Jones]]
*[[Brian Jordan]]
*[[David Justice]]
*[[Ryan Klesko]]
*[[Ryan Langerhans]]
*[[Adam LaRoche]]
*[[Tony La Russa]]
*[[Mark Lemke]]
*[[Kerry Ligtenberg]]
*[[Grady Little]]
*[[Javy López]]
*[[Mickey Mahler]]
*[[Rick Mahler]]
*[[Jason Marquis]]
*[[Andy Marte]]
*[[Kent Mercker]]
*[[Kevin Millwood]]
*[[Charlie Morton (pitcher)|Charlie Morton]]
*[[Mike Mordecai]]
*[[Dale Murphy]]
*[[David Nied]]
*[[John Rocker]]
*[[Santiago Rosario]]
*[[Chico Ruiz]]
*[[Deion Sanders]]
*[[Jason Schmidt]]
*[[Randall Simon]]
*[[Pete Smith (1987–98 pitcher)|Pete Smith]]
*[[John Smoltz]]
*[[Mike Stanton (left-handed pitcher)|Mike Stanton]]
*[[Tony Tarasco]]
*[[Billy Taylor]]
*[[Scott Thorman]]
*[[Andy Tomberlin]]
*[[Turk Wendell]]
*[[Mark Wohlers]]
*[[Earl Williams (1970s catcher)|Earl Williams]]
*[[Ned Yost]]
 {{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Richmond Braves}}

[[Category:1966 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:2008 disestablishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Atlanta Braves minor league affiliates]]
[[Category:Defunct baseball teams in Virginia]]
[[Category:Defunct International League teams]]
[[Category:Baseball teams established in 1966]]
[[Category:Baseball teams disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:Baseball in Richmond, Virginia]]