A Dynasty Interrupted

A captivating inside look at the 1980s Atlanta Braves

The Braves have a long and storied history, taking them from Boston to Milwaukee and then finally to Atlanta. Some of baseball’s most accomplished ballplayers were part of the Braves organization at some point, but amazingly, World Series titles did not materialize in Atlanta for years.

In A Dynasty Interrupted, Patrick Montgomery tells the story of the Atlanta Braves as the franchise meteorically rose from a losing team to an exciting one—making the postseason in 1982 and contending in 1983 and 1984—only to have the team sink back to the depths of the National League for the rest of the decade. Montgomery examines the franchise’s move from Milwaukee to Atlanta before diving into their years building the team around Dale Murphy and Bob Horner alongside Phil Niekro, with billionaire maverick team owner Ted Turner starting to bring joy back to the Braves. The team exploded on the World Series contender radar with strong finishes in the early 1980s, but could never make the jump from good to great.

With original interviews from players and managers of the 1980s—including Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Joe Torre, and others—A Dynasty Interrupted explores what happened to a franchise so full of potential.