Former Atlanta Braves All-Star, Pitching Sensation Buzz Capra Dies

“Lee ‘Buzz’ Capra, age 78, passed away on May 11, 2026,” according to a local obituary. “Buzz’s legacy will live on through his family, the many lives he touched through baseball, and the countless friendships he cherished throughout the years.”

Some Braves fans may recall Capra’s debut season with the team in 1974, which saw him earn the sole All-Star bid of his career, along with MVP Award and Cy Young Award votes after he led the National League with a 2.28 ERA across 217 total innings.

“Before the days of (Tom) Glavine, (Greg) Maddux and (John) Smoltz, Buzz Capra had one of the best seasons a Braves starter ever had, going 16-8 in 1974 with a major league-low ERA (2.28) among starters,” I.J. Rosenberg wrote for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And Capra is the only player to have pitched in (Hank) Aaron’s record-tying 714th home run game and again four nights later, when the Hammer hit his record-breaking 715th.”

That 1974 season marked by far the best campaign of his career, though Capra pitched for three more seasons for the Braves before ending his big-league run.

Atlanta Braves Former All-Star Buzz Capra Pitched For The New York Mets, Coached In Philadelphia Phillies System

Capra was drafted by the New York Mets in the 27th round in 1969 and made his debut for the team in 1971. He earned the first save of his career against the Philadelphia Phillies, pitching four innings of no-hit baseball, in 1973 and he was a member of the team’s World Series roster that year, though he didn’t appear in a game.

In Spring Training before the 1974 season, the Mets sold Capra’s contract to the Braves. Four years later, the Braves released him and he retired as a player shortly after.

But Capra stuck around baseball, becoming a coach for numerous big-league farm systems, including that of the the Braves’ and Mets’ rival Phillies. He was the Spartanburg Phillies pitching coach from 1988 to 1994.

Capra also taught ceramics at a Chicago area high school during offseasons and was a youth baseball coach. He served in the Army National Guard during the Vietnam War and led Illinois State University to its 1969 championship. The university retired his number in 2003.

Ultimately, Capra left a memorable legacy on numerous baseball programs as well as his friends, neighbors and family members. But for many baseball fans, he will be best remembered for an outstanding 1974 campaign with the Braves, even though some of the team’s biggest rivals have good reason to remember him fondly as well.