The Great Ballpark Chase: A Cool Spot in Hot-lanta

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Henry Aaron Statue
Despite having never played a game at Truist Park, Henry Aaron’s presence looms large. (Photo by Tim Russell)

Doing these bus tours, there can be a lot of returnees, so you see a lot of the same faces.

It’s natural since most people are chasing ballparks. And it’s nice to reconnect with people you met on previous tours, but it’s also nice to meet new people as well.

On the Coast 2 Coast Sports Tours Southern Slam tour this past summer, I was able to do just that. I met Tara and Rodney, both Milwaukee Brewers‘ fans. The Brewers currently have the best record in Major League Baseball just recently became the first team to clinch a playoff spot.

Tara and Rodney are veterans of Coast 2 Coast tours. They live about an hour from Milwaukee’s American Family Field.

If you remember from Miami, Tara was the one that won the score contest, picking the exact score and beating me in the process.

So, we move on to the third leg of the trip: Atlanta’s Truist Park.

Truist Park just hosted the most recent All-Star Game in July after opening in 2017. It replaced Turner Field, which was built for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

The remnants of now-demolished Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium still offer some nostalgic reminders of its history. (Photos by Tim Russell)

Part of the reason the Braves wanted to leave Turner Field was Atlanta’s traffic congestion, making it tough to get to games on time. They also said most of their fan base comes from the suburbs, so they built Truist in Cobb County, about 10 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.

Turner Field was converted to Center Parc Stadium, home of the Georgia State Panthers.

There are cool features inside Truist, which we will get into, but one of the better features is The Battery, which is a mix of shops, dining, and livable space around the park. It is part of the trend to create huge entertainment districts, like Ballpark Village in St. Louis, Texas Live in Arlington, and Stateside Live in Philadelphia. Metropolitan Park in Queens, NY has been proposed, but not built yet.

Truist Park
A look at the exterior of Truist Park from The Battery. (Photo by Tim Russell)

Around the outside of the stadium are statues of former Braves players: pitcher Phil Niekro, pitcher Warren Spahn, and manager Bobby Cox.

But the nicest area would be Monument Garden, inside the stadium behind the home plate area. It is highlighted by a huge Hank Aaron statue and a 755 sculpture made out of baseballs. Aaron hit 755 career home runs which stood as the record following his retirement in 1976 until Barry Bonds broke it with 762.

Some more of the Henry Aaron mementos found in Truist Park’s Monument Garden. (Photos by Tim Russell)

Around the statue is a two-tiered walkway with Brave memorabilia on both sides, including uniforms, trophies, and the Braves’ Hall of Fame.

Inside the stadium, you have a more intimate feeling with the seating configuration. They have placed a higher percentage of seats closer to the action than any other stadium in MLB. The middle and upper bowl seating is pushed closer to the field.

More importantly, though, there is air conditioning on each level, as well as overhead fans, to help deal with the oppressive Atlanta heat.

Another cool feature inside the stadium is the batter’s eye area, which is similar to Coors Field, with boulders, three evergreen trees, and a fountain. The fountain activates during Brave home runs and victories, shooting water 50 feet in the air.

An interesting fun event only happens during weekend games. The Freeze will race a random fan for a prize package worth $100. The race is 160 meters, from left field foul pole to right field foul pole. The contestant gets a head start and The Freeze tries to catch them, which usually happens.

Some shots of the interior of Atlanta’s Truist Park. (Photos by Tim Russell)

Dimension-wise, the stadium is 335 feet down the left field line, 385 feet to left-center, 400 feet to center field. It is 375 feet to right-center and 325 down the right field line.

While Turner Field is still in use, the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium site is just a parking lot. Although the outline of the park is marked and the piece of wall where Aaron’s 715th home run (breaking the previous record of 714 established by Babe Ruth) still stands.

  • Game Result: It was all San Francisco in this one. The Giants roughed up Atlanta starting pitcher, Davis Daniel, for four runs in the second inning. San Francisco starting – and winning – pitcher Landen Roupp and three relievers combined to shutout Atlanta, 9-0. The offensive stalwarts for the Giants were designated hitter Wilmer Flores (four RBIs), thirdbaseman Matt Champan (two hits, including a run-scoring first inning triple), and Rafael Devers (two hits and two runs scored).

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