Braves Report

I figured I would switch it up today. Instead of boring, old athletes, I’m going to enlighten you on the different stadiums the Braves played in (even though the “Braves” did not play in all of them). Every Braves fan knows that Turner Field is the Home of the Braves today, and more knowledgeable fans know that Fulton County Stadium was the stadium before that. Before scrolling down, go ahead and guess the name of the stadium before that. If you got it, I’m thoroughly impressed. Well, as promised, here are the stadiums of the Braves.

Turner Field (1997-Present)

Turner Field, named after then-owner Ted Turner, is the current Home of the Braves, but it wasn’t always that way. In 1996, it was the home to the Summer Olympics when they were held in Atlanta. Later, the field was converted into a baseball-only stadium, and baseball was played on it in the next spring. The field surface is called Prescription Athletic Turf and is the best natural grass available. Located next to where Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium used to be, Turner Field saw the last half of the magic division streak that was begun in AFC.

Fun Fact- The turf for the stadium is grown just beyond center field in the gap between the stands.

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1966-1996)

AFC was built in 1964-1965 to accommodate the move that the Braves franchise was making as they moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta. It took only twenty months to build, and it held 2,000 more people than Turner Field currently holds. The last game played there was a tragic one as the Braves lost Game 5 of the World Series to Yankees ending the chance to be back-to-back champions. The dimensions of the stadium were quite standard, but the fence stood a good ten feet off the ground. One of the most important events in baseball history occurred at this stadium as on April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715^th homerun. AFC is now the parking lot for the current stadium. How things can change.

Fun Fact- A fire broke out in the press box before the July 20, 1993 game. This was the night Fred McGriff joined the team, and an announcer said that the Braves would “catch fire” after this. The rest my friends is history.

Milwaukee County Stadium (1953-1965)

The answer to the trivia question is … Milwaukee County Stadium. Built to house the team moving from Boston, Milwaukee County Stadium was the first stadium built with public funds only, starting a trend that hasn’t ended. In only the 13^th game of the season, the Braves passed the previous season’s attendance of 281,278 people, and it would finish the season with a then-NL record 1,826,397 fans coming to the ballpark. Patients of the Veterans Hospital could watch the games from their rooms beyond right field until bleachers were built. After the World Series victory in 1957, fans came out in declining fashion, which caused the move to Atlanta.

Fun Fact- Milwaukee County Stadium was the first baseball stadium with lights.

Braves Field (1915-1952)

Oh, how original. Even with its lack of imagination for a name, Braves Field was considered to be the “last word in major league parks” by then-NL President John Tener. It was the largest stadium in America at that point, and its dimensions weren’t any smaller. Ty Cobb said that no one would be able to hit the ball out of the ballpark, and it wasn’t until 1928 that someone hit one over the left field fence. Bigger than Fenway Park, the Red Sox used Braves Field for their World Series in 1915 and 1916 and on Sundays from 1929-1932.

Fun Fact- Because of the fresh coat of green paint just applied before the first game ever at Braves Field, about 5,000 fans had green spots on their clothes, and the Braves had to pay $6,000 for cleaning fees.

South End Grounds (1871-1914)

The longest-tenured park of the Braves, the South End Grounds was also the first. While here, the Braves were called the Boston Red Stockings, Beaneaters, and finally, the Braves. In 1894, the stadium was destroyed by “The Great Roxbury Fire”, and the team had to play at the Congress Street Grounds while the stadium was rebuilt. The new stadium was smaller because it had been underinsured, and there was no money left to build the stadium any bigger.

Fun Fact- Their original “Red Stockings” nickname lives on in three ways: in the Boston Red Sox, in the Cincinnatti Reds, and in the perennial red trim that the Braves wear in their uniforms.

Well, we’re three weeks into the baseball season, and so far, it’s been an interesting one for the Braves and their fans. The first week and half was a struggle. The next week saw a torrid five-game winning streak. Now, we’re settling back down again. What can we ascertain from this? Not much. It’s still early, but things are taking shape. For the next month, patience will be necessary, so don’t start lighting up chat rooms with anger/joy over the week’s games. Relax. Take a breath. Enjoy the ride. It’s baseball season, so enjoy the ride for the next five (hopefully six) months.

“We need an ambulance at Turner Field. Yep, another pitcher.”

What other early storyline has caused so much heartache (don’t say the bullpen; I’m getting there)? Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton, Rafael Soriano, and Peter Moylan have all had injuries land them on the DL. Luckily, Glavine will be back Tuesday. Soriano will need a little more time, and he and Mike Gonzalez may come back at the same time, which would be nice. Who knows when Hampton will get back, if he ever does? Unfortunately in the extreme, Moylan seems destined for Tommy John or at least major elbow surgery. I have to say at least this is early in the season. If it continues, we can make trades to improve the staff now, but by September, it will be impossible. Also, guys like Bennett, Campillo, and Carlyle have stepped in to help out a little. Honestly, Bennett deserves the MVUP (Most Valuable Unnoticed Player) Award.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Bullpen

Well, at least they have their good streaks, too. After beginning the season by attempting to self-destruct the entire team, the bullpen came through for about a week, and they seem to be getting better. Acosta has filled in nicely for Soriano and has been spectacular since his first appearance. Campillo has done very well since coming up except for his 5 “unearned runs” the other night that he most definitely earned. Boyer has also bounced back from his shaky start. Ohman has been an unseen blessing. Ring and Resop have had the most trouble so far with ERA’s above 9 (10.80 and 9.72 respectively). Hopefully, Soriano and Gonzalez can come back and strengthen and stabilize the bullpen.

Smoltz, Hudson and Chipper

Thank God we have these three. Hudson, besides the 3 inning debacle/dead arm game, has been awesome with a 2.93 ERA. Smoltz has been awe-inspiring with his .78 ERA and 31 K’s in 23 innings. For those of you who don’t understand, a good strikeout pitcher averages about 8 or 9 K’s per nine innings. Smoltz’s ratio: 12.13 K/9. Amazing. And we can’t forget about Chipper. Chipper has the best batting average in the Majors by almost 60 points, 3^rd in the majors with 7 HR, 5^th in the Majors in RBI with 20, 3^rd in the Majors in slugging with .733 SLG, 3^rd in the Majors with a 1.217 OPS, and is just 2 runs behind the Major League leader in that category as Chipper has 18. Pretty outstanding, and that’s an understatement. He’s in for not only the NL Triple Crown but for the MLB Triple Crown.

Jair Jurrjens is the man

You want to know who has pitched the most innings for the Braves? Trick question, as the answer is Tim Hudson, but Hudson has one more start than Jurrjens. With 5 2/3 innings tonight, Jurrjens will lead the team in that category. To go along with that, he has a 3.20 ERA and 21 K’s in 25.1 innings. I still contend that he reminds me of Greg Maddux with that great two-seamer and changeup. He doesn’t have the Maddux-like command, but who does? I have been impressed with him, and he’s stepped up when we needed him.

Tex warming up?

For the past few days, Tex continued to leave base-runners in scoring position, and it hurt in those two losses. Yet his numbers are .244/4/14 for the season so far. Multiply those numbers by about 8 to find a .244/32/114. The average is still bad, but the HR and RBI are good. With him probably going to heat up, the average will rise and the HR and RBI should eclipse those marks.

Escobar truly is the World’s Greatest Cuban

When I first became a writer for the site, I had no idea what WGC meant, but now that I know, I’m going to start using it (kudos to whoever came up with it). All he’s done is hit .310 with a .400 OBP. Renteria by comparison is .337 and .371. Everything else is pretty similar as well. The main difference is the defense. Escobar’s range and arm are much better than Renteria (no disrespect to Renty, I still love and root for him). I really like Escobar, and he’s crucial to our youth movement.

Kotsay being worth it

Mark Kotsay has also been pretty impressive. The .257 BA is not jaw-dropping, but we honestly didn’t expect much anyway. Anyway, it’s better than Andruw. Also, Kotsay’s defense has been everything and more than expected. If he can stay healthy, he’ll make Wren look like a genius.

Blanco out of nowhere

The title is not just for his speed. Wasn’t this the kid that Cox has stated for several years that was immature? He has seemingly changed and made himself into the front-runner for the CF job next year. His defense is really good as demonstrated by his wall grab last night (did anyone else want to slap the announcer for saying it was like a “bug on a windshield grab”; seriously guys, stick to baseball not jokes). Although his corkscrew swing makes me laugh every time I see it, it gets the job done.

As for the bad news … Jordan Schafer

Well the steroids scandal finally touched the Braves. Our number one prospect was “caught” using HGH. For honesty’s sake, he was not actually caught, but his silence on the issue makes him seem guilty, although no one really gave Clemens much of a shot when he pleaded his case so desperately. I don’t know what to say about Schafer. I think he deserves a second chance because he made a mistake, and as long as he makes up for it and doesn’t do it again, I think we can all move on. Keep an eye on him, the HGH may not have had the difference everyone expects, and many experts say it doesn’t really help. Remember, we don’t know why he used, when he used, for how long, etc. so everyone should reserve some judgment. Everything is not black and white. If it was, Josh Hamilton wouldn’t be doing what he is today.

Well, after the first couple weeks, I’m still excited about this season. We’ve played admittedly pretty badly, and we’re still doing okay. If we improve some of the small things and get healthier (ha ha ha … eh hmm), we’ll be okay. The Marlins can’t be good forever, can they?

As one of the best left-handed pitchers ever, Warren Spahn will be forever remembered in baseball lore. Possibly without a three-year stint in World War II, Spahn may have been the third pitcher with 400 wins. Still, Spahn enjoyed a stellar career that would leave him with the most wins by a left-hander during the live ball era.

Born on this day in 1921 in Buffalo, New York, Spahn endured the pains of the First World War, the Great Depression, and the Second World War. Spahn reached the majors in 1942 at the age of 21, but he did not last long due to Spahn refusing to throw at a hitter during an exhibition game. Stengel would later state that it may have been the worst decision he ever made. Yet, in the following year, Spahn enlisted in the American army to serve 3 years during World War II along with several other major leaguers, and he was awarded several Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for bravery and courage. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was the only major leaguer to receive a battlefield commission.

After coming back to the major leagues at age 25, Spahn began a long and prosperous career. In 1947, Spahn had the lowest ERA in the NL with a 21-10 record. He would win two other ERA titles in 1953 and 1961. In 1948, a columnist wrote a poem entitled “Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain” in admiration of the two hurlers who won 8 games in 12 days. By 1957, Spahn was still the ace, this time for Milwaukee, and that same year the Braves won the World Series. He pitched on two other pennant winners in 1948 and 1958. For four consecutive seasons from 1949-1952, Spahn led the league in strikeouts, and by the time he was done, he was second on the all-time strikeout list with 2,583. Yet, his success did not end there. He had 13 seasons with 20 or more wins, including a 23-7 record when he was 42. In 1957, he won the Cy Young Award, and he finished second three times in an era which only gave one for the entire major leagues. At age 39, he threw his first no-hitter, and he added another a year later.

Known for his high leg kicks and incredible durability and stamina, Spahn was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1973. After playing, he was the manager for the AAA Tulsa Oilers, the pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians, pitching coach for a minor league team in the Angels organization, and the pitching coach for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. A few months before he died, he attended the unveiling of his statue at Turner Field. Spahn died at the ripe old age of 82 due to natural causes.

 Fun Facts:

- Gave up Willie Mays’ first hit which was a homerun in the 14^th inning of a game he started and battled with Juan Marichal. (He ultimately lost the game because of it)

- Known as “Hooks” because of the shape of his nose due to being hit by a ball when not paying attention.

- Hit surprisingly well for a pitcher by hitting a homerun in 17 consecutive seasons and finished with an NL record 35 for his career.

- The Warren Spahn Award is given to the best left-handed pitcher in baseball.

For many years, Eddie Mathews was considered, and actually is still considered by some, to be the best third-baseman ever. I chose to write about him today because on April 15, 1952, Eddie made his major league debut for the Boston Braves. He’s almost a forgotten man in Braves lore among fans, so let me tell you a story.

Born on October 13, 1931, Eddie Mathews was a left-handed slugging third baseman who played most of his career for the Braves. He was born in Texarkana, Texas, but at the age of 6, he moved to Santa Barbara, California. There, Mathews became a star high school player. In 1949, Mathews signed his contract with the Braves, and he began to immediately hit towering home runs. Because of his tendency to pull the ball, Mathews became one of the first players to have the shift put on when he came up to bat. Fittingly, the shift became the “Mathews Shift”. Today, this shift is used more often. However, Ty Cobb would later say that Mathews’ swing was one of the four best swings he ever saw.

As I said, Mathews began his career for the Boston Braves 56 years ago today. In his first season, he hit 25 home runs and became the first rookie to hit three in one game, but he only hit .242 in that first season. The very next season, the Braves moved to Milwaukee where Mathews gained instant stardom by hitting .302 with 47 HR and 135 RBI, a season he never matched again. Roy Campanella beat him out for the MVP award that season by hitting 10 points higher and almost as many home runs (41). Eddie would never win the MVP award, coming in second one more time. In 1957, Mathews and the Braves won the World Series, his first (the other in 1968 with the Tigers, but he was not an impact player at that point). Mathews’ second-finest season came two years later when he hit 46 HR with 114 RBI and a .306 BA, but he finished second behind Ernie Banks who matched him almost perfectly (.304, 45) in HR and BA, but he had 146 RBI to gain the crucial advantage.

Mathews played several more productive years in Atlanta until he was traded in 1967 to Houston then onto Detroit, where he would end his career. After 1963, Mathews’ never hit above .260 again, and he only played one more season with more than 141 games played. Over his career, he played in nine All-Star games, played in three World Series, and drove in 100 or more five times. When he retired in 1968, he was seventh on the all-time home run list with 512 for his career. After playing, he went on to coaching, and he managed the Braves from 1972 to 1974. In 1978, he was elected into the Hall of Fame. In 2001, after battling pneumonia, Mathews died in his home in La Jolla, California at the age of 69. That season, the Braves wore a commemorative 41 patch to honor the Hall of Fame third baseman.

Fun Facts:

- He and Hank Aaron have the most home runs all-time for teammates (863).

- Managed the game that Aaron hit his 715^th home run.

- Appeared on the first cover of Sports Illustrated on August 16^th, 1954.

- Only Brave to ever play for Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta.

- Hit his 500^th home run off Juan Marichal.

Today is one those days that should be remembered for all time in baseball. On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record for a career with his 715^th. As a tribute, I write the second part of the History of the Braves series honoring one the most important baseball players in history. Last September, his record was broken by Barry Bonds, but we’ll always remember Aaron as “Hammerin’ Hank”.

Born in Mobile, Alabama on February 5^th, 1934, Henry Louis Aaron was born into a society where African-Americans were not allowed into Major League Baseball, and wouldn’t be for another 13 years. One of his brothers, Tommie, went on to play in the Major Leagues as well, but Hank would be the better player by far. Because his family was poor, Hank practiced baseball by hitting bottle caps with sticks. Before going on to professional baseball, Aaron was also an accomplished football player and had several scholarships to go play football in college. He turned those down and went to play for the Indianapolis Clowns, a Negro League team, and after an outstanding stop, the Boston Braves bought him for $10,000. The next season, the Braves moved to Milwaukee.

Aaron only spent two seasons playing in the minor leagues, and he began his professional career in 1954. In 1955, Hank Aaron made the first of 24 All-Star Games along with 27 home runs. The very next season, Aaron hit .328 and won the NL Player of the Year Award from the Sporting News in his third season. In 1957, Aaron won his only NL MVP award given by the MLB when he hit .322 and led the league in home runs and RBI. Later that season, Aaron and the Braves won the World Series. They would return the following season only to lose against the New York Yankees. Aaron nearly won the Triple Crown in 1963 when he led the NL in home runs and RBI but finished third in batting average. From 1955 to 1973, Aaron would receive votes for the MVP award, but he would only win it once. Along with his 755 HR, Aaron also amassed 2,297 RBI which was also a major league record. Aaron could also hit for average, demonstrated by his .305 career BA and 3,771 career hits. In the field, Aaron was no slouch as he earned 3 Gold Glove Awards.

As his career wound down, Aaron was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in late 1974 for Roger Alexander and Dave May. This trade allowed Aaron to continue his career due to the DH rule. He was honored and inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982 with an outstanding 97.8 percent of the votes, second only to Ty Cobb (Who voted against him is something I would like to know). On February 5, 1999 (his 65^th birthday), Bud Selig named an award after Aaron to honor the best offensive player in each league. Also in memory of his outstanding career, two statues stand outside major league parks, one at Turner Field and one at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Since 1989, Aaron has been the senior vice president and special assistant to the president of the Atlanta Braves as well as being the chairman for encouraging minorities into baseball.

Fun Facts:

- Hank and his brother hold the major league record with 768 HR as siblings.

- Made the All-Star team every year from 1955 to 1975.

- Most career extra-base hits (1,477) and total bases (6,856) for a career.

- Last Negro League player to play in the Major Leagues.

- Used to bat cross-handed before adopting the standard technique in the Minors.

- Played shortstop or second base before moving to the outfield in the winter of 1953.