For their last Alumni Weekend before their move to Cobb County, the Atlanta Braves are going out with a real bang:
It'll be "Worst to First" all over again this weekend as the Braves welcome back much of the 1991 team that stole fans' hearts on the way to making their first, most unlikely World Series appearance in over three decades.
The biggest fuss is being made on Saturday. Gates will open at 4 p.m. and the first 20,000 fans who enter will receive a 1991 National League Championship Series replica ring. They’ll also get to watch batting practice before the Braves Legends Game at 5:15 p.m., a softball faceoff that will pit members of the 1991 team against notable Braves alumni from other years. That’s followed by a 7 p.m pregame ceremony honoring the ’91 squad before the 2016 Braves take on the Philadelphia Phillies.
Fear not, though, there’s plenty of “Worst to First” love being dished out the rest of the weekend. On Friday, autograph stations will be set up around the ballpark from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. On Sunday, Braves alumni will be stationed around the ballpark from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to take photos with fans. It’s bring-your-own-camera or camera phone (Maps of autograph and photo stations will be provided to fans upon entering Turner Field).
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If this all sounds like a big deal, it is. In 1990, their 25th year in Atlanta, the Braves finished 65-97 – worst in the entire National League and a dismal 26 games behind the eventual World Series champion Cincinnati Reds. But things turned around completely – and history was made — the very next year. As the season progressed, the upstart Bravos reeled in the Los Angeles Dodgers, clinching the division title on the next to last day of the regular season. Then, in one of the most exciting World Series ever played, they lost in seven games to the only other team ever to go "worst to first" at that point, the Minnesota Twins.
John Smoltz, Sid Bream, Francisco Cabrera, Mark Lemke, Charlie Liebrandt, Tom Glavine and former pitching coach Leo Mazzone are just some of the members of that 1991 squad who are scheduled to be at Alumni Weekend. They'll be joined at The Ted by many other popular alumni, including Dale Murphy, Ryan Klesko, Brian Jordan and Denny Neagle (The complete list and other information is available at www.braves.com/alumniweekend. Specific alumni may not be there all three days and all appearances are subject to change or cancellation without prior notification.)
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