The Atlanta Braves are a team of travel, and their latest destination is the newly built SunTrust Park in Cobb County. The Braves have spent about 20 years in Turner Field, but now it’s time to say goodbye.
Their last game at the venue is Sunday, and for fans, the location change might be hard to swallow.
But the truth is, the Atlanta Braves have a long history of change.
The team first joined the National League in 1876, and at the time they weren’t based in Atlanta. In fact, they weren’t even called the Braves.
The Boston Red Stockings formed in 1876 after the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first all-professional baseball team according to Major League Baseball, dissolved earlier in the decade. This new team went on to win its very first professional game with a score of 6-5 against Philadelphia Athletics.
During their time in Massachusetts, the team was renamed several times. They became the Beaneaters “to tie their identity to Boston,” according to the Official Atlanta Braves Timeline, then the Doves, named after the two Dovey brothers who came to own the team in 1907. “Braves” first came about thanks to Johnny Montgomery Ward, who helped to found the Player’s League in the 1890s. And except for a five-year hiccup, the name has stuck to this day.
It wasn’t until 1966 that the Braves came to Atlanta, bringing with them baseball legend Hank Aaron, who went on to beat former Braves player Babe Ruth’s batting record in 1974.
But now, the final game for the Atlanta Braves in Turner Field is coming up. And while many Atlanta residents have known Turner Field as the home of the Braves, that’s not the only field the Braves have called home in this city. Up until 1997, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was the home of the Atlanta Braves. The Centennial Olympics provided the frame work for a brand new stadium: Centennial Olympic Stadium, which would later come to be called Turner Field. The baseball diamond from Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium can still be seen though, painted onto a parking lot that now feeds into Turner Field.
Check out this interactive timeline for an up-close look at the evolution of the Atlanta Braves:
Like us on Facebook
9(MDAxODM0MDY4MDEyMTY4NDA3MzI3YjkzMw004))
