atl in a day

it's no longer called suntrust park, but i've added this 2019 topps rainbow foil parallel card of the braves' stadium to my "stadiums i've seen games in" mini-collection

i tacked on an 18-hour detour to atlanta as part of a recent trip and took in a game at truist park on july 2 featuring the san francisco giants and atlanta braves. here's a photo i took of the back of the centerfield scoreboard after that game that leaves no doubt as to what name the field has these days.

it features images of hank aaron hitting in a stadium that was fifty years and two stadiums ago.

i've been to atlanta before a few times, but never during baseball season. it was hot but i didn't notice an extreme level of humidity so it was somewhat tolerable. i stayed near the ballpark and walked about a mile to the game which is situated in the type of mixed use development that the owners of sports teams salivate over these days.

i didn't stop at any of the shops or restaurants, instead heading into the park a couple of hours early. i wandered all around the stadium and took note of the displays that were presented. the team does a good job of incorporating past players and moments through statues, award displays, and timeline presentations. i took a few photos, and here is one of the panel representing the braves in the 1970s.

dusty baker, jim wynn, phil niekro, earl williams, jeff burroughs, ralph garr, ron reed, gary matthews, and darrell evans are featured. not all of those guys are braves to me, but i did recognize them all.

as you might expect, there were some displays that addressed the team's nickname, including the assertion that the name "braves" was actually applied in reference to new york politicians who were associated with tammany hall (named for tamanend, a native american leader of the lenape). there are some interesting articles featured on the sabr site about tammany hall and baseball, but i am not sure there is conclusive evidence that this is where the name came from. even so, i’m not sure it matters as the franchise fully embraced the native american imagery from the start, and i saw some foam tomahawks in the hands of some fans. i did not see any encouragement of the "chop", but it still happened a couple of times during the game.

as i usually do, i sought out the retired numbers, and they were displayed both on the concourse and on the facade of one of the upper levels in foul territory along the left field line.

dale murphy, bobby cox, chipper jones, warren spahn, andruw jones, john smoltz, greg maddux, phil niekro, eddie mathews, hank aaron, tom glavine, and jackie robinson are represented. 

as for the game itself, i had a single ticket 

that put me on the giants' side of the park, and it was fine. i didn't wear any dodger gear, and i found the giant fans on either side of me quite pleasurable to chat with throughout the game. here's the first pitch from reynaldo lopez to jorge soler

can you tell which giant player is 6'-11" pitcher sean hjelle?

here's the final on the scoreboard

it's a bit blurry, but the giants prevailed 5-3. there were some highlights as both teams had back-to-back home runs but i didn't expect any topps now cards to be generated based on what i witnessed. i checked anyway the next day and saw that the giants' starter, hayden birdsong, got a card

thanks to earning his first big league win. i put in an order for the card and will add it to my "games i've seen in person" mini-collection when it arrives. if only topps now had been around in 1998 when i witnessed kerry wood's first win!

thanks for hosting me atlanta! only six home teams left for me to see to get to 30. hopefully i can cross another one off later this season. stay tuned!