A look at the home of the Braves

In 2000 the Braves continued their winning ways at Turner Field by clinching an unprecedented ninth consecutive division title. After opening in 1997, the "Home of the Braves" has quickly become an Atlanta landmark and the benchmark for future baseball park design. Turner Field combines the nostalgia and the atmosphere of old-time baseball with state-of-the-art family entertainment unlike that of any other park.

Turner Field is unrivaled in its blend of technology and entertainment. At all times, fans are entertained and informed of Turner Field activities through superior sound systems, the BravesVision video board in center field, the PlazaVision board in the Fan Plaza and over 500 television monitors situated throughout Turner Field. The BravesVision video board is 29 feet by 38 feet, weighs over 21 tons and features over 331,000 fluorescent light bulbs. The PlazaVision board is 17 feet by 22 feet. These two huge boards make Turner Field unique among all sports facilities as two completely different shows can be produced - one for the seating bowl and one for the Plaza. Inside the ballpark, fans are prompted to do the tomahawk chop by the 27-foot long "chopping" neon tomahawk located atop the video board, and are kept informed of the latest scores around the leagues by the out-of-town scoreboard.

Perhaps the most unique feature of Turner Field is the Grand Entry Plaza located on the north end of the ballpark. The Plaza is a ticketed entertainment/concession area consisting of two food and game-filled pavilions, Scouts Alley, and Cartoon Network's Tooner Field all aimed at encouraging fans to come early to Braves games and to enjoy perhaps the most unique experience in all of baseball. A 100-foot diameter photograph of Hank Aaron's actual 715^th home run ball dominates the Plaza-side scoreboard and provides a popular backdrop for photographs in the Plaza. Adjacent to the Plaza on the north side are the Ivan Allen Jr. Braves Hall of Fame Museum, Braves ticket windows and a non-ticketed, free-to-the-public area called Monument Grove. Additional areas for fans include Coca-Cola Sky Field, on the west side of the upper level and Turner Beach located on the east side of the Lexus Level.

Monument Grove: Monument Grove is a large, park-like area adjacent to the Braves ticket windows. The Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro and Ty Cobb statues from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium have been relocated to Monument Grove along with the bust of Hank Aaron. Trees, park benches and picnic tables are scattered throughout the Grove, an ideal meeting place for fans and friends. Additional attractions include the retired number statues of the five players in Atlanta history to have been given that honor — Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro and Dale Murphy, the six-foot high team baseballs celebrating the 2000 All-Star Game and the "Full Count" sculpture on loan from 100 City View and the Russell Corporation. The piece — just one in a growing Turner Field art collection — includes a pitcher, batter, catcher & umpire all in their respective stances. Monument Grove is also home to the Braves' Walk of Fame located in front of the Ivan Allen Jr. Braves Museum and Hall of Fame.

East & West Pavilions: Located just inside the main Turner Field gates, the East and West Pavilions feature unique foods and games, providing much to see and do for those fans who arrive early to the ballpark. The East Pavilion houses interactive experiences and delightful concession offerings. At the West Pavilion, fans will find concession stands that feature famous food items from other ballparks throughout baseball along with a Turner Field original offering, bison. Also located at the West Pavilion are games where fans can test their hitting skills at Little Leaguers and Big Hitters, and their throwing skills at the Peach Pitch.

Braves Chop House: An 8,000-square-foot casual dining bar and restaurant, directly above the Braves bullpen. Fans may drink and dine at the restaurant, which is terraced to facilitate views to the baseball field from as many seats as possible.

Braves Clubhouse Store: Located in the plaza area, at the base of the main scoreboard, a retail center featuring a large variety of Braves' merchandise and apparel for fans to choose from. As fans enter the store, they can view a line of television monitors that will broadcast other Major League Baseball games in progress.

Cartoon Network's Tooner Field: The focal point of Tooner Field is a climate-controlled concession area with special food offerings and seating for kids and their families. For entertainment, kids can visit the Digital Dugout video arcade with baseball-related SEGA video games, get a hug from Scooby-Doo or pose for a photograph with him, Yogi Bear or one of the other Cartoon Network Characters that inhabit the area. Tooner Field also features a separate novelty stand with kids-oriented merchandise and apparel.

Coca-Cola Sky Field: Meet at the Coke bottle, a 22,000-square-foot Coke fan attraction that sits atop the outfield roof at Turner Field. Features include a pavilion with picnic tables; a base path for kids and a 38-foot tall Coke bottle made of baseball equipment. Open to every fan.

Scouts Alley: An educational/entertainment area like you have never seen at a ballpark. It is located near the West Pavilion of the Plaza behind the lower left field seats. Designed to teach fans about the fine art of scouting, Scouts Alley integrates original scouting reports of great Braves players with skill games, educational interactives, and touch screen kiosks. In Scouts Alley, fans can test their hitting skills at Outta the Park and their throwing skills at Power Pitcher, In Control and Throwin' Heat. The educational interactives include exhibits that demonstrate the action of different pitches and a comparison of the various gloves used by infielders, outfielders, pitchers and catchers. Fans can also see and feel the difference in the various bats used by Braves players or see how high an outfielder has to jump to steal a home run. At other interactives, fans will learn about Hank Aaron's "hot" spot and Dale Murphy's "sweet" spot. The touch screen kiosks located in Scouts Alley house close to 200 original scouting reports on former and current Braves players and a trivia game that allows fans to test their baseball knowledge against the computer. It also allows fans access to surf the Braves, CNN/SI, or Panasonic websites.

Turner Beach: Turner Beach is the perfect place for fans to "soak up the sun" during Braves home games. Located on the right field Lexus Level patio overlooking the field, Turner Beach features "on-duty" hospitality lifeguards, tropical palm trees, a cabana bar, food concessions, a picnic area, lounge chairs and more. Turner Beach opens two-hours prior to game time and is open to all fans.

Turner Field Vitals

Grand Opening: April 4, 1997... Braves defeat Cubs, 5-4.

Location: Between Ralph David Abernathy on the north, Hank Aaron Drive on the east, Bill Lucas Drive on the south and Pollard Boulevard on the west. It's near the junction of I-75-85 and I-20.

Seating: Three levels supported by four concourses. A cross-aisle walkway divides the lower concourse. Field-level and dugout seats are below the cross-aisle, the terrace level above it. The second level, the Lexus Level, includes 58 private suites, three party suites and the 755 Club, the ballpark's private membership club. The third, or upper, level does not go all around the park, providing the fans there with a view of the downtown Atlanta skyline.

Playing Field: Prescription Athletic Turf, featuring a state-of-the-art mechanical drainage system and hybrid Bermuda grass. The turf for the playing field is grown in an area below the scoreboard beyond the center-field wall.

Parking: 8,500 official spaces. The lot on the site of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium contains an outline of the playing field, including markers for home plate, the bases and the location of Hank Aaron's record-breaking 715th home run.

Disabled Seating: The entire ballpark is wheelchair-accessible and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. More than one percent of the total seating capacity is allocated for disabled seating.

Ballpark Firsts: First pitch by Denny Neagle at 7:47 p.m.... The Cubs' Brian McRae was the first batter... Kenny Lofton was the first Braves' batter... First hit was by Chipper Jones... Michael Tucker had the first home run... Chipper Jones had the first stolen base... Brad Clontz secured the first victory and Mark Wohlers recorded the first save.... First error was by Fred McGriff.

Home of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games: Olympic Stadium, built just south of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was retrofitted into a baseball-only, open-air, natural grass facility between September 1996 and April 1997. Grand Entry Plaza, the main entrance to Turner Field, was built after 35,000 seats and part of the track-and-field complex of the Olympic Stadium were removed. AFC Stadium was imploded in August of 1997 and the site is now a parking lot.

Past Venues

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1966-96)
The Braves first regular-season game at Atlanta Stadium was played April 12, 1966, against Pittsburgh. A sellout crowd saw the Braves lose 3-2 in 13 innings.
Felipe Alou was the first Brave to bat at Atlanta Stadium, and his son Moises Alou of Montreal was the last (regular season).
The 52,769-seat stadium was constructed in less than one year at a cost of approximately $18 million.
In September 1966, the National Football League's expansion Atlanta Falcons joined the Braves as tenants until they departed to the new Georgia Dome after the 1991 season.
Atlanta Stadium was commonly referred to as the "Launching Pad"
as it had a reputation as a home run hitter's paradise.
A record crowd of 53,775 saw Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run on April 8, 1974, breaking Babe Ruth's longstanding record. Aaron also hit his 500th (July 14, 1968), 600th (April 27, 1971) and 700th (July 21, 1973) home runs at Atlanta Stadium.
Atlanta Stadium became Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1976 when Ted Turner bought the team.
Prior to the Colorado Rockies joining the league in 1993, Atlanta's altitude of 1,057 feet was the highest in the Majors.
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was host to one World Series title (1995), four pennants (1991, 1992, 1995, and 1996) and seven division championships (1969, 1982, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1996).
The last game played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was on October 24, 1996.
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was imploded August 2, 1997, and the site converted into a parking lot for Turner Field.

Milwaukee County Stadium (1953-65)

• The first regular-season game played at Milwaukee County Stadium was on April 6, 1953.
  
• County Stadium's seating capacity increased from 36,011 in 1953 to 43,394 in 1954.
  
• County Stadium was the first Major League ballpark built with lights and the first to be completely financed by public funds.
  
• With less than a month's warning that the Braves were moving to Milwaukee, and no off-season promotion or ticket sales, the team attracted a then-National League record 1,826,397 to County Stadium in 1953.
  
• On May 20, in only their 13th home game, the Braves passed their 1952 season attendance of 281,278 in Boston.
  
• Patients of the Veterans Hospital used to sit atop a hill beyond the right-field fence and watch the games until their view was blocked by the addition of outfield bleachers.
  
• Milwaukee County Stadium hosted the 1957 and 1958 World Series.
  
• The Braves world championship season of 1957 saw attendance peak at 2,215,404, the all-time franchise record until it was surpassed in 1992. Milwaukee's love affair with the team steadily declined thereafter.

  Braves Field (1915-52)
  

• Braves Field opened in Boston on August 18, 1915.
  
• The 43,500-seat ballpark was the largest in America when it opened. It was hailed as "the last word in baseball parks" by National League President John Tener.
  
• Bigger then Fenway Park, Braves Field was used by the Boston Red Sox for games during the 1915 and 1916 World Series and on Sundays from 1929 to 1932.
  
• The most distinctive feature of this park was the vast expanse of outfield grass from foul line to foul line. Ty Cobb once said that no one would ever hit a ball out of Braves Field, and, indeed, it was nearly a decade before Frank "Pancho" Snyder conquered the left field wall. It wasn't until 1928 that the fences
  were moved inward and home runs became commonplace.
  
• The "Jury Box" bleachers in right field served as home to a rowdy group of fans who worshiped right fielder Tommy Holmes.
  
• From 1936-40, Braves Field was called "the Beehive."
  
• The Braves had to use Fenway Park for a short time after the 1946 home opener. Braves Field had received a fresh coat of green paint prior to the start of the season and the paint on some seats had not completely dried when the fans arrived on Opening Day. Consequently, many departed with green splotches on their clothes. The Braves apologized and paid more than $6,000 in cleaning bills to some 5,000 fans.
  
• The last game played at Braves Field was on September 21, 1952.

  South End Grounds (1871-1914)
  

• In their 44 seasons playing at South End Grounds, the Boston Red Stockings/Beaneaters/Braves won 13 league championships and one World Series.
  
• South End Grounds opened on May 16, 1871.
  
• A second deck was added in 1888 to accommodate crowds eager to see Boston's King Kelly and John Clarkson.
  
• Boston's first double-decked ballpark was also referred to as the Grand Pavilion
  
• In 1894, South End Grounds was destroyed by "The Great Roxbury Fire."
  
• The Boston club played at the Congress Street Grounds while South End Grounds was being rebuilt.
  
• After the fire, the new South End Grounds was smaller than its predecessor because the previous structure had been underinsured, and there was not enough money from the insurance claim to finance a new park of equal size with two decks.
  
• The most distinctive architectural feature was the spires atop the grandstand. Originally there were six, but the number was reduced to two when the park was rebuilt.
  
• The Braves used Fenway Park to accommodate large crowds for a Memorial Day doubleheader in 1913 and the last two games of the 1914 World Series.
  
• The last game played at South End Grounds was on August 11, 1914.
  
• The Braves continued to play some home games at Fenway Park in 1915 until Braves Field was completed.

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