Top Atlanta faces players who will never win the World Series

The World Series champion has been crowned for 2024. Former Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman received his second ring and World Series MVP honors.

With the 2024 season officially over and the Atlanta Braves showcasing their latest championship, let’s take a look back at some of the greatest Braves players of all time who didn’t get the chance to experience it.

Here are the five best Braves players to never win a championship. If they won a World Series elsewhere – as a player, coach or manager – they are also not included on this list. This list is arranged alphabetically by surname.

Ron Gant

Gant reached the World Series twice with the Braves, in 1991 and 1992, but fell short both times. The outfielder received MVP votes in three of his seven seasons with the Braves, won a silver slugger in 1991 and appeared in the 1992 All-Star Game.

He made several postseason appearances with the Reds, Cardinals and A’s, but never appeared in the Fall Classic again after the 1992 season.

Gant retired with two star performances321 home runs and 10,008 RBI. He hit 147 home runs and drove in 480 of them in a Braves uniform.

Bob Horner

Horner may be the most underrated player on this list. He only played 10 seasons due to injuries and a stint in Japan due to owner concussion, but Horner was a solid contributor to the Braves during his nine seasons with the team.

He averaging 24 home runs and 72 RBI season – which in 162 games would mean an average of 36 home runs and 110 RBI.

Horner was healthy for the Braves’ only playoff appearances of his career. However, he was ineffective and the Braves were knocked out of the NLCS in three games by the Cardinals – at the time a best of five games.

The 1978 NL Rookie of the Year and 1982 All-Star finished his short career with a .277 average and 218 home runs.

Andruw Jones

Jones has never won a title in his career but there were some trials. The Braves reached the Fall Classic in their debut season in 1996 and then again in 1999. They simply couldn’t beat the powerful Yankees teams led by the Core Four.

His performance in the 1996 World Series could have earned him World Series MVP honors had he won. Jones hit .400 with a 1.250 OPS, two home runs and six RBIs.

Jones finished his career with 10 Gold Gloves, five All-Star appearances, 434 home runs and 1,289 RBI. All that was left was to enroll in Cooperstown.

Dale Murphy

Still, Murphy never made it to Cooperstown consecutive MVP seasons, but his number 3 is retired and in the team’s Hall of Fame.

Like his former teammate, Horner, he only made the postseason once in his 18-year career and never won a game.

Somehow, any chance of reaching the World Series passed Murphy by late in his career. He left the Braves in 1990 for the Phillies, and the Braves began winning back-to-back NL Pennants. A year after he left for the Rockies in 1993, the Phillies acquired Pennant.

Phil Niekro

Niekro is probably the best player on this list not to win a World Series. He is currently the only Hall of Famer on this list and had the longest career of the bunch at 24 seasons, yet he only played twice in the postseason and never reached the World Series.

The Braves went 0-6 in their two NLCS appearances 13 years apart. Even when he signed with the Yankees, it was during their infamous playoff drought from 1982-1994.

Niekro ended his career 318 wins, 3,342 strikeoutsfive all-star nods, five Gold Gloves and a career 3.35 ERA