:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::
Thoughts, observations, and introspections from an
:: Thursday, July 08, 2004 ::
TURNER FIELD - ATLANTA
Monday, June 28.
Watching the game at Turner Field turned out to be one of the more memorable nights of our trip due to factors completely unforeseen. For starters (pun not intended) all that talk about Atlanta being a furnace turned out to just that. It was our first game that was threatened by cancellation due to rain. It was the only place where we had direct contact with drunken fans (not to say there weren’t drunken fans at other parks; we just didn’t see them). It was the only place where we were rooting against the home team (they played the Florida Marlins). It was the only place where ordering a Pepsi might get you kicked out of the park. It was the only place were you could call in an order to the concessions and have an entire pizza delivered to your seat.
Architecture:
What started off as Atlanta's Olympic Stadium became the theme/ball park that it is now thanks to an extensive renovation in 1996. What opened up in 1997 is a strikingly attractive ballpark. It has an old-school feel with its brick, limestone, and steel construction in the enduring colors of red and green with some blue throw in.
Walk in through the main entrance and you see statues of Former Braves greats Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn, and Phil Niekro. Above the main ticket booth is an impressive fascia with “Turner Field” across the top.
Move past the turnstiles and you’re greeted by an enormous billboard of a baseball and the number "715" next to it, paying tribute to Hall of Fame slugger Henry "Hank" Aaron. Walk around a little bit and you notice that the impressive sea of blue seats offer a pretty good view from everywhere in the park. Go up to the left field terrace and treat yourself to a great view of the Atlanta Skyline.
While it doesn't quite achieve that intangible "thing" that makes Camden so magical you’d still be hard pressed to point out any real flaws. It has a very modern layout and it's retro without being up front about it. And there's always that kids area above left field that features a giant coke bottle made from old baseball gear. How cool is that?
Ballpark Experience:
About those drunken fans - actually, back up a little - about that rain delay. We arrive plenty early for our game that was originally scheduled for 7:35. Right after all the pre-game ceremonies were over, in comes the downpour. The behind-the-scenes people were nice enough to broadcast a game going on elsewhere on the jumbotron. The people of Atlanta are either used to rain delays or are rabid Braves fans since it seemed like most of the crowd stuck around for a good hour and a half.
At around 9:00, it looked like it was going to finally let up and the groundscrew (who were applauded) went to work drying out the tarp. Right when the tarp was halfway removed, the sky decides to open up again. Ugh. This is where the crowd started thinning out.
The game finally started at 10:55 pm Eastern Standard Time. Yeah. For our patience, the announcer made known that everyone remaining is welcome to take any seat that wasn't occupied. Amazingly, there were enough people left to nearly fill up the first tier. And you kinda figured they're the hardcore fans. That or they didn't have jobs. Of if they did, it was of the variety that didn't need much sleep to perform.
We made our way down from the upper deck down to right field just behind the foul pole. It's a human truth that most bleacher seats house the rowdy fans and it was no different here. I've never seen a group of people so eager to be seen dancing around on the jumbotron. Not really a knock per se since I was a little louder than normal. Maybe it was the long day, the late hour, or perhaps that I finally got to root for my "real home team" but I was really into the game. It helped that there were maybe five other Marlins fans in the crowd and Atlanta isn't the kind of place were cheering for the visitors would might result is personal harm.
So there was this group of guys behind us that clearly hung out near one of the many beer concessions during the delay. They were, in a word, amusing. A bunch of drunk, fun-luvin', redneck good ol' boys specializing in disjointed heckling. Depite it being against our team, we couldn't help but laugh. They even had some good-natured fun with us, a couple of them introducing themselves and one of them offering me a sip of his "special" coke. I declined.
Good thing they were there to liven things up since the game was a 6-1 blowout of the Marlins with our guys looking rather lifeless. That tomahawk chop that they do during rallies must get annoying after the first couple of times. Still, it ended up being a lot of fun. ****
Beer Selection:
Clearly, our new friends in the bleachers enjoyed what Turner Field had to offer but I was disappointed. It had the typical markup but the so called "Beers of the World" stand had only two imports: Heineken and Corona. I hate Corona. *
Quality of the Food:
One of the thing I noticed while touring the stadium was the remarkable selection of hot dogs available. Kosher Dogs, Bison Dogs, Chili Cheese Dogs, as well as Italian and Polish Sausages. Don't forget the pizzas that you can have delivered to your seat that one guys I asked said were "as good anything from Domino’s or Pizza Hut." The spendier types can even find things like BBQ ribs, burgers, and garlic fries.
I was impressed that they also had a few smoothie stands that sold them at a relatively cheap $5. Had it been as hot as it might get, it would have been a tempting choice.
Still, I went straight for the regular hot dog, which was still hearty and tasty. Good enough that despite all the other options available to me, I got myself another one. *****
Intangibles:
This was our last stop on our tour so we were hoping for a good one and overall, it was pretty damn good. As a baseball fan, if you can't have fun here, you're just not trying. There's a huge scoreboard at the entrance that's always on, a percussion band that featured a bongo drum bigger than a hummer, picnic areas, a stand were you could see bats and ball made right in front of you, and Looney Toons mascots roaming the area. There was a speed pitch game but there was another one that took it a step further by having showing you your speed as well as calling balls and strikes while you throw against a projected image of either Barry Bonds, A-Rod, Chipper Jones or Darin Estad (???). I was up 0-2 against Bonds before he blasted a homer off me.
And the fans. Year after year of winning their division might have jaded them by now but you'd have loved how the fans made a racket that belied that fact that only 5,000 or so remained. They cheered for almost anything that might start a rally, even a walk, after which they were chopping away. There was no time to let up, with the between innings entertainment coming the moment the third out was recorded. Those games and quizzes might seem silly to some, but that night, almost everyone was into it. I even got a few high fives from strangers when I properly guessed the hammer (you had to be there).
A hell of a way to end a trip. *****
:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 12:47 AM [+] ::
|
0 comments
.....
