The Braves break ground on their new Cobb Taxpayer Field Tuesday. Meanwhile, back at Turner Field, that dilapidated 18-year-old tenement, the residents are preparing to host another party for out-of-town guests.
The Washington Nationals are positioned to clinch the division with a victory here. And could there be a better sight than that of Bryce Harper cavorting on Ed Mangum’s lovely Atlanta lawn? They’re just so cute at that age.
Time is running out on Turner Field, as the ceremony up I-75 reminded us. Prematurely obsolete, the remolded Olympic Stadium seems destined to be largely unlamented ground. All the best memories there seem to belong to somebody else.
At Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium, for all the bad baseball that was committed on site, at least Hank hit a historic home run, Sid slid and the Braves won a World Series there.
For many, Turner Field has been akin to a Six Flags property — only better, admission here comes with champagne. Out-of-towners of all sizes have been encouraged to come and enjoy the ultimate thrill ride of advancing in the postseason. Nine times in the too-short life of the place, opponents have celebrated some form of playoff clinch.
This is where the Marlins became the first wild card team to win a pennant in 1997.
This is where, in 2003, the Chicago Cubs won their only postseason series since 1908. With so many Chicago fans in attendance that they almost renamed the airport O’Hare South.
This is where St. Louis won the first National League wildcard play-in game, as Chipper Jones played the goat in his last game and fans trashed the field after a dubious infield-fly-rule call.
It happened in May, but it also bears mention that Turner Field is where Arizona’s Randy Johnson pitched a perfect game. And while not a deciding postseason game, it’s where the Braves Brooks Conrad had his National League Division Series-record three-error episode.
You get the point.
Time is running out on Turner Field. Just as it is running out on the Braves to create some kind of powerful, pleasant memory in their doomed downtown home.
As we stand here on the brink of another imported celebration, it is just a little depressing to realize what little emotional capital has been sunk into Turner Field. Who will shed a tear when it’s gone?
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