Finale Follows Script as Atlanta Braves Close the Curtain on Turner Field

The Atlanta Braves played their final game at Turner Field Sunday, and the story lines combined for an experience so amazing it almost seemed scripted.

Sunday I left my writer’s hat at home, and went to the Ted one last time… as a fan.

My fondest Atlanta Braves memories as a kid all draw me back to the old beastly and awkward Fulton County Stadium, so my emotions in the stands at the Ted on Sunday weren’t sad like when I watched the home that Hank built implode on live TV in 1997; it felt more like a graduation than a funeral. The Ted opened when I was in high school, so maybe it just never had time to register as “historic” in my mind.

it felt more like a graduation than a funeral

The transition From Turner Field in Atlanta to SunTrust Park in Cobb County closed a door, but allowed for a once in a lifetime experience for Braves fans in attendance.

As a sports fan and writer, I’ve been to a lot of big, historic games, but there aren’t a whole lot of venues as electric as a sold out Turner Field.

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On Sunday the Ted was packed, and the energy around the park made it feel just as October baseball should. A game-time temperature of 81 degrees, and a 3:13 first pitch followed pre-game ceremonies packed with hall of famers and fan favorites. Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz threw out simultaneous first pitches, followed by Julio Teheran delivering one of the best pitching performances I’ve ever seen at Turner Field.

In an odd way, the mastery that Teheran delivered as the last-ever Braves pitcher to start a game at Turner Field was absorbed into a day so very perfect that the game itself became just another amazing part of the script.

With Julio’s three-hit shutout, and just a touch of offense from two of the hottest second-half hitting Braves in franchise history, a fantastic baseball game was simply sandwiched into the rest of the story. Oh, and Justin Verlander pitched a gem of his own… and lost.

Julio struck out twelve Detroit Tigers Sunday and walked only one. He almost single handedly dealt the playoff hopes of an upper tier American League team a final blow, and with the help of an Ender Inciarte score on a Freddie Freeman RBI; cliche to see those two names as offensive heroes, but isn’t that how sappy scripts go? And Miguel Cabrera? Two hits, but no damage. All the while, that one run felt like enough, and in a perfect way, felt a whole lot like that one run Braves fans found an odd security under back in October of 1995 on another perfectly scripted day in Atlanta history.

In the end, former Brave Justin Upton – who had been white hot down the stretch – struck out looking. And just like that, big league baseball at Turner Field – and in the city of Atlanta, for at least a time – came to a close.

After the game, most of the fans seemed in no hurry to head home, sticking around for more on-field ceremonies, and emotional videos. Y’all… Hank Aaron helped dig up home plate, got on a bus and personally delivered it to the new stadium, which was all live streamed to the fans at Turner Field. I mean… come on.

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

October baseball, great weather, playoff implications, Hank Aaron, and a win? Perfect.

Another thing I noticed fans doing during and after Sunday’s game was just wandering around the ballpark, and though there was an undeniable nostalgic type of sadness, there were even more smiles, and more importantly there seemed to be a lot of optimism.

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A ballpark that saw its fare share of October games in a short 20 year lifetime may have become the backdrop for a preview of even more happy days in Braves Country to come. And though it wasn’t an October playoff game, as the curtain closed on big league baseball at Turner Field, Braves fans seemed hopeful and happy. At least they did Sunday – if only for a little while.

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