Atlanta's Field of Dreams
Written: Aug 15 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great sight lines. Beautiful, clean setting. Lots to do.
Cons: Expensive. Lack of parking. Lots to do.
The Bottom Line: A great place to watch baseball. Bring your own food and drinks to save money, but overall it's well worth the price of admission.
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| bud006's Full Review: Turner Field |
ATLANTA -- We used to park here.
Every time I walk into Turner Field, that thought races through my mind. I can't help myself. Here, on this spot the Atlanta Braves call home, once sat a parking lot. My grandfather and I would stroll from here to old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium to watch the Braves, the cellar-dwellers of the National League West.
So much has changed since those days. The Braves now reside in the East, and are winners, having closed down the old yard with four World Series appearances in the 1990s (including one championship, clinched on a delirious October night in 1995). Following the 1996 Fall Classic, the Braves packed up their tomahawks and moved across the street to a site which already had played host to the world.
The site of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, this is where Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame, where Michael Johnson won double gold in the 200 and 400 meters (who can forget the 19.32 he ran in the 200 to shatter the world record).
But enough of the history lesson. Reconfigured from its Olympic duties, Turner Field flung open its doors for the Braves' 1997 home opener against the Cubs. Ever since it has been Atlanta's Field of Dreams, even if the hometown nine has not won another World Series. This is a great place to watch a baseball game, plain and simple. In comparison to the old stadium, simply, there is no comparison. The sight lines at Turner Field are incredible. Built with the fan in mind, the seats are angled ever-so-slightly to turn the body toward home plate. Aisles are wide enough, the concourses are clean, the restrooms don't leak and the view of downtown Atlanta from the upper-level seats behind home plate is beautiful (nothing better on a spring day than to sit 10 rows up in the upper deck behind home plate, munching on a dog and enjoying a blue-sky day in the capital of the South).
Another point about the seats: the levels are stacked more on top of each other than in the old stadium. Even in the higher seats of Turner Field, you are right on top of the field. Snag the $5 seats down the right-field line and enjoy major league baseball for dirt cheap.
And you might have to do that if you plan on eating at the yard. One negative of Turner Field is the prices of food and drinks ($6 for a 24-ounce beer? Come on, I can buy a 12-pack of Southpaw for that at Winn-Dixie!). For the first three months of the 1997 season, fans were banned from bringing in sandwiches and drinks in plastic bottles. After much controversy, the Braves gave in and allowed spectators to bring in their cheaper goodies.
As with all the new stadiums in the majors, going to a Braves game at Turner Field is not just a trip to see a baseball game. There's plenty to do, and that's both good and bad from this perspective. Don't miss the museum and Scouts Alley, and if you have kids, they'll enjoy the interactive games. From the other side, you go to a baseball game to see a baseball game. At times, Turner Field feels more like Six Flags than Yankee Stadium.
If you plan on going to see the Braves at Turner Field, the best bet is to take the city's subway system, MARTA. Parking is hard to find around the stadium, unless you want to take your chances in somebody's back yard. The old stadium now is a parking lot, and every time we do roll the dice and drive we somehow end up in this lot, near the spot where Sid Bream slid home with the pennant-clinching run in 1992, or where Marquis Grissom gloved the final out of the 1995 World Series, or where Hank Aaron's 715th home run landed. And I always have one thought as I exit the car:
We used to sit here.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bud006
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Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 0 members
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