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Turner Field: Atlanta Braves

I think it’s just like playing in a normal, average ballpark for players. It may be unique in that it’s very easy to adapt to because there are no particular factors that come into play.

—Jim Powell, Atlanta Braves radio play-by-play broadcaster

Even though the Cincinnati Reds wear the mantle for being Major League Baseball’s original paid organization, and the Philadelphia Phillies wear one as well for the longest tenured one-city/one-name organization, the Atlanta Braves could probably settle for “most-named” organization. One of the original eight of the National League, the Atlanta Braves, with a history spanning three cities, started out as the Boston Red Caps. After so many names that the trademark and copyright offices finally gave up, the name “Braves” finally took shape, even though the team location couldn’t. In 1952, after over three-quarters of a century in Boston, the team moved westward, curving around Lake Michigan and settling in Milwaukee under the same name. Though their residence in Milwaukee hardly resembled the 76-year marathon in Boston, the Braves acquired some talent in the City of Festivals that would change the face of the organization. Slugger Henry “Hank” Aaron and pitcher Warren Spahn led the 1957 Milwaukee Braves to the team’s second-ever World Series title. While the fans of Milwaukee were ecstatic about a championship, their enthusiasm soon wilted after the team’s back-to-back pennant runs of 1957 and 1958. Giving the longest two weeks’ notice in history, the Braves, after letting their lease run out, finally moved to Atlanta, where, with their nearest neighbor being the St. Louis Cardinals, they controlled the baseball market for the entire southeastern corner of the country. As part of the southern hospitality the city offered its newly arriving guests, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium was built in anticipation of the Braves and their southeastward trek. While the proverbial helium leaked out of the inaugural balloons for a season awaiting the Braves, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium housed a very fortunate Atlanta Crackers team of the International League. Finally, on April 12, 1966, the Braves were officially in Atlanta, playing before 51,000 fans, which, considering the paltry numbers of their last year in Milwaukee, must have seemed like half a season’s worth. While at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium the Braves won the team’s third World Series title, Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth on the all-time home runs list, and general manager John Schuerholz and team manager Bobby Cox began a string of successes which, according to Atlanta Braves radio play-by-play broadcaster Jim Powell, is “unprecedented and likely never to be repeated by any team in any sport.” After 30 seasons the Braves once again moved, in 1997—this time, within the same zip code—to their current yet originally unexpected home of Turner Field. Unlike the franchise-enticing Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, Turner Field’s original design and purpose were not specifically intended for Atlanta Braves baseball.

A year before the Braves played ball there, Turner Field was a different kind of sports facility. Jim Powell comments, “Turner Field truly is unique in that it would be the only stadium in Major League Baseball that was converted from a different kind of stadium. It was actually built for the 1996 Olympics, and, interestingly, it wasn’t even used for Olympic baseball. They built a massive stadium for the Olympics’ opening ceremonies, track and field, and then they cut off part of the stands and the wall out in the outfield. They lopped off 35,000 seats, and they did a great job of converting it into a baseball stadium. It is a very nice baseball stadium, but, because it was built for track and field, it actually has a little bit more foul territory than most of the brand new ballparks where they’re pushing the stands closer and closer to the foul lines.” While 85,000 seats would have been a great market research tool to test the popularity of the Braves versus the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, the team put better use to it once the lederhosen-clad crowds had made their way back “over the pond” after the summer of ’96, reducing the official capacity to just below 50,000. Jim Powell adds, “Obviously, that opened up a gaping hole in this massive complex. They used some of that space to give it more of a baseball feel by converting that outfield area into sort of a grand entryway into Turner Field and a big fan plaza level where people walk around. You’ve got restaurants and misters. You’ve got monument grove where Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn, and others are recognized.” While open concourses and views beyond center field weren’t in the cards for the “cookie-cutter” Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, neither was the 81-game-spanning home run derby on the slate at Turner Field.

Being built practically in the same parking lot as its “launching pad” predecessor Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, Turner Field’s 1,057 foot altitude could reasonably be expected to have the same kind of effect as far as home run power goes. Powell explains, “Growing up, all the talk at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium was about altitude. In my experience, since Turner Field’s been open, I’ve never heard anybody talk about altitude. It’s funny how Atlanta Fulton County Stadium was all about the launching pad, and, now, Turner Field, which plays almost completely neutral, is slightly depressed in home runs compared to the average Major League stadium. Runs scored almost exactly average. It doesn’t add or subtract offense at Turner Field, and, because of that, you never hear anything about launching pads, altitude, and things like that, which makes me wonder maybe there wasn’t so much a launching pad and altitude effect at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium as there was a Hank Aaron effect. Maybe people wanted to take away from or explain Hank Aaron’s prolific ability to hit home runs by adding in some other factors that made it easier to understand. There have been some great sluggers playing in Turner Field, and there’s never talk about altitude and the ball launching.” Reinforcing Powell’s theory, Aaron hit 195 home runs at County Stadium in his 12 seasons in Milwaukee, a yearly average of 16.25. However, supporting the other side of the coin, Aaron averaged 21.11 long balls a year inside Atlanta Fulton County Stadium during the latter half of his career. Where Aaron left off, Braves outfielder Dale Murphy picked up. From 1976 until his unexpected trade to the Philadelphia Phillies in the middle of the ’90 season, Dale “the Murph” Murphy had his own “effect” at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, hitting 371 home runs for the Braves and winning back-to-back National League Most Valuable Player awards during the ’82 and ’83 seasons.

Because of the higher-elevated Coors Field and Chase Field, the “launching pad” tag never stuck in the team’s transition to Turner Field; however, that doesn’t mean the home run power of Aaron and Murphy didn’t stick around. Between 1999 and 2007, either Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, or both Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones (’00) led the team in home runs in all but two seasons (’03 and ’04). Still, a 50 plus home run output by players like Andruw Jones (’05) wasn’t exactly “in the cards” when Turner Field was being developed. Jim Powell adds, “I think they set out to try and build much more of a neutral type of stadium, probably—at least in some part—because of the offensive reputation of Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, and they succeeded. The hitters will complain they lose home runs in the alleys because the dimensions are fairly deep. Talking to players who have played in both stadiums, the ball doesn’t carry well. They felt the ball travelled much more easily at Fulton County than it does at Turner Field. It’s pretty symmetrical. It’s a pretty fair ballpark and it plays that way. I don’t think there’s a big adjustment at Turner Field for the players. It’s not like the Braves have to go out and find ground ball pitchers because the ball jets out or they have to find particular types of players. There is a need for more speed because one can’t hit many home runs. It plays so fair. Literally. The last time I checked the ballpark effects, it was exactly on average for runs scored. That’s offense—one iota—in either direction.” Going over from a “cookie-cutter,” molded outfield to the 380- and 385-foot alleys in left and right center, the Braves, over the years, have needed speedy outfielders patrolling an area once tread by 200- and 400-meter relay-winning gold medalist Michael Johnson. Andruw Jones, while leading the way behind the plate during his years in an Atlanta Braves uniform, also won 10 straight gold glove awards in that “fair” Turner outfield.

Perhaps one factor swaying the gold glove voters was Jones’s handicap playing at Turner Field, especially during night games, when, as recording artist Vicki Lawrence would say “the lights went out in Georgia.” Jim Powell explains, “One thing I would say about Turner Field that is unique and something the players have to adjust to is there are no lights in the outfield. As a consequence, all the lighting is foul pole to foul pole. Fly balls, especially at dusk, are easily lost because the players are only getting light on one side of the baseball. Pitchers, oftentimes, have trouble seeing the catcher’s signals. When they’re putting down fingers, they can’t see because there’s no light behind the pitcher. The light is all around the catcher, so they will paint their fingernails or get up two or three times, grab some chalk off the base line, and get their fingers white so they’re more easily seen by the pitcher. It’s more of a factor for outfielders trying to find pop-ups and fly balls, especially at dusk. Once the lights take full effect, it really isn’t a problem, but, at dusk, because there are no outfield lights, it can be an issue.” No lights are needed to guide fans to one of Turner Field’s more unique amenities, the Atlanta Braves Museum and Hall of Fame, a shrine to one of the greatest baseball runs ever.

The 1991 Atlanta Braves . . . and the Rest, as They Say, Is History

From 1991 to 2004, the Atlanta Braves won 14 straight National League West/East Division titles, a feat that has never occurred in the history of any other major sport. The men behind this remarkably consistent success were Braves general manager John Schuerholz, manager Bobby Cox, and a team of scouts who deserve to be enshrined in not only the Braves Hall of Fame but Major League Baseball’s as well. Powell comments, “The Braves Museum and Hall of Fame is actually located inside the stadium. The scouts are recognized, and the Braves rich history of being the longest continuously operated franchise in Major League Baseball. In terms of the scouts, I would say Paul Snyder is one of the greatest in the history of the game. He’s been with the Braves for a long time and is still around. He brought a certain culture to the scouting department with the Braves. Then John Schuerholz came to the ball club right as the team was about to turn around. Bobby Cox, who had done a lot of scouting and building of the farm system himself, came down to the field. In ’91, Schuerholz was the general manager. He came from Kansas City, which also was very adept in scouting and had a pitching and defense type culture. Schuerholz made a couple of shrewd acquisitions with Sid Bream, Rafael Belliard, and Terry Pendleton. The Glavine’s and the Avery’s, Pete Smith, and people like John Smoltz were coming up in pitching and defense. It turned into a formula that worked for the Braves for 14 consecutive division titles. Scouting was right in the middle of that as well, as that philosophical change of ‘You know what? We’re developing a lot of great, young pitchers. We’d better put some defense with them as well.” As part of their unmatched 14 consecutive division titles, the Braves won five National League Pennants and finally won it all in 1995, the team’s third World Series title in its 140-year existence.

October 11, 2010: Bobby Cox Walks Back into the Dugout One Final Time

With a managerial career touching five decades, former Braves manager and hall of famer Bobby Cox was known not only for his success from the dugout but for his trips out of it as well. Along with 2,504 wins as a manager with both the Braves and a Toronto Blue Jays team he brought to within one win of the World Series in 1985, Cox holds the Major League record for managerial ejections, 156. Although such a number, along with the uprooted base bags and kicked over dirt, won’t be regarded in Cooperstown with the same admiration as being the fourth winningest manager in Major League history, Cox’s ejections reflected his support of Braves players. Former Braves broadcaster Pete Van Wieren said of Cox, “Things you know playing for Bobby Cox, you know that Bobby always has your back.” Toward the end of the ’09 season, Cox extended his contract for one final year as the Braves’ skipper. Though not by way of a division title, which had been the Atlanta norm under Cox, in 2010 the Braves made the playoffs for the 15th time in 20 seasons, earning a date with the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants for the Division Series. Down two games to one, the Braves hosted the Giants for game 4 on October 11, 2010, which ended up being the final curtain call for Bobby Cox’s successful career. Jim Powell recalls what was for him the most memorable game as a Braves broadcaster inside Turner Field: “The Braves lost to the Giants 3-2, and that was Bobby Cox’s last game. I’ll never forget the game for a lot of different reasons. It was a very tightly contested Division Series. It was only the second time that the first four games of a postseason series were all decided by one run. There were some big moments throughout the series. Obviously, we all knew it was the swan song for number six. A beloved figure in the history of the game—period—much less the Braves. The Braves led 1–0 and Derek Lowe was carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. It was a great crowd and just a tremendous atmosphere. I just remember, when you’re growing up, you’re always dreaming—just like the players dream—of playing in game 7 of the World Series. You dream of calling game 7 of the World Series. I’ve never called a World Series game, but that game felt like a game 7. Just hanging on every pitch. Cody Ross’s homer was the first hit for the Giants. Tied the ballgame at 1–1. The Braves reclaimed the lead 2–1, and then the bullpen gave it up late and the Braves lost 3–2. It was more than just the atmosphere and the fact that it was a decisive playoff game. It was also Bobby Cox’s last game, and I saw something that I doubt I’ll ever see again. The Braves lost the game, and we couldn’t believe it. They had such a good team and magic with Bobby’s last season, especially at Turner Field. A lot of late inning comebacks, and you just felt like this was a team of destiny. Suddenly, the season was over, and the Giants start to celebrate on the field. The fans don’t leave because it was Bobby’s last game. They started to cheer. They’re calling for Bobby, and, eventually, Bobby comes onto the field. I’ll never forget watching. The San Francisco Giants stopped their on-field celebration, turned, and stood there on the field, applauding and recognizing Bobby Cox. It was just a moment I can’t imagine will ever be replicated, and, for that, it was the most memorable game I’ve ever called. I’ve worked in every single stadium in Major League Baseball—both the American and National League—and I’ve never seen a moment like that. To see Bobby standing there, docking his cap and dabbing at his eyes while the fans are going crazy. A Major League team that just won an incredibly tight playoff series, looking to cut loose—like they all do—and they stop and just celebrate—with the Atlanta fans—the career of Bobby Cox. I’d like to go back and listen to the tape. I would imagine there were long periods of time where we just couldn’t talk. I don’t really remember anything else about what was going on in the broadcast. I just remember watching and the emotions I felt. It certainly was the greatest day in my broadcast career.”

While the umpires at Turner Field probably have not worn out their shoulders throwing an extended finger to the Braves’ dugout since 2010, a competitive spirit representative of that of Bobby Cox still resides in the team clubhouse. John Schuerholz may have moved up the ladder to team president, but his involvement with team scouting continues to bear the fruits of All-Star caliber pitchers like Julio Teheran, Mike Minor, and Craig Kimbrel, and hitters like Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward, making an invitation to the postseason practically a standing one.