Where Was I: Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia (May 18 & 19, 2013)

I was not planning to, but went to two games at Turner Field.

Stadium Count:

- For the trip: 4

- Active MLB: 16

- Overall MLB: 24

Seats:

- Saturday, May 18: Section 137; Row 24; Seat 8, roughly 15 rows up in the RF bleachers, closer to CF than to the RF foul pole.

- Sunday, May 19:

- Section 211; Row 8, Seat 7, in the second level, behind first base, first row or so under an overhang, which was really appreciated given it rained for most of the game.

Results:

- Saturday, May 18: Braves 3 Dodgers 1. Evan Gettis hit a 2-run PH home run and Andrelton Simmons added a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth to give the Braves the lead. Craig Kimbrell closed it in the ninth.

- Sunday, May 19: Braves 5 Dodgers 2. Guess what?  The Braves scored four in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead. Craig Kimbrell closed it in the ninth.

There is a limit to how much one can write about most modern baseball stadiums. There just is not that much, architecturally-speaking that separates Turner Field from Nationals' Park in DC, Citi Field Park in NYC (other than the Jackie Robinson rotunda) or Target Field in Minneapolis, other than some choices in building materials that seem to be more decorative than anything else. (Those aesthetic choices include, at Target Field, the Minnesota-quarried stone that covers some areas of the stadium, including part of the infield wall, that supposedly looks like granite but appears more like the builders ran out of materials and covered the unfinished areas with sheets of plywood.) If the Turner Field designers made some of those aesthetic choices, I failed to notice them.

That is certainly not to say that Turner Field is not a very pleasant place to watch a ballgame; however, the physical ballpark is very similar to a lot of modern ballparks:

- almost obviously, wide seats, angled towards the infield, with no obstructions.

- wide concourses, which open up to the field of play so that fans do not miss out on the action when they head to the concessions mid-game.

- some sort of outfield terrace, with a Family Zone and unique concession stands not found elsewhere in the ballpark. For Turner Field, this is behind centre field, although the concessions are less than awe-inspiring: a wood oven pizza place (the pizza did not taste any different there than it did at another, 'in-park' concession, but costed $1.50 more or so, although the slice was a bit bigger); a BBQ joint, with a limited menu (grilled chicken and turkey sandwiches; pulled pork).

- concessions that go beyond 'typical' stadium fare (i.e., hot dog, burgers, bad pizza). I will say that, despite beer prices that were a bit lower than previous ballparks, the concessions were underwhelming at Turner Field.  The one notable exception is that there is a Rathbun’s Steaks counter which serves steak sandwiches; at $15, I skipped.  Kevin Rathbun is a well-known chef in Atlanta, where he has a number of restaurants. Also, Chick Fill-a does have a few counters where it hawks its homophobic chicken sandwiches.

However, overall, Turner Field felt a bit boring physically, with nothing making it stick out to differentiate itself from other stadiums. Now given that it opened in 1997, it may well be that Turner Field (along with 3 or 4 other stadiums that opened around that time) was the modernist riff on Camden Yards that was subsequently built on by other franchises.

That being said, attending both games was a lot of fun, due to the very enthusiastic, knowledgeable crowd.  It may almost be a tired cliché by now for fans of other teams, but the Tomahawk Chop is awfully cool and electric when you are in the stadium.

Random observations:

- One of the concession stands featured a $15 ‘Yamicky yamwich’, in honour of Chipper Jones.

- Turner Field is fairly well accessible from downtown, with a shuttle bus to the stadium running from one of the light rail stations.

- On Sunday, there were two rain delays and it rained consistently from the seventh inning onwards; the 25-man grounds crew certainly earned their pay. They showed an out-of-town game (Philadelphia-Cincinnati) on the video board during the first delay.

- There are pictures of past Braves teams, year-by-year through 100-level concourse

- There is quite the production to mark the entrance of closer Craig Kimbrell entrance: ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ blares while the video board shows Kimbrell’s name in flaming letters, which is a bit strange for a closer who is expected to put out fires, but it seems to be sponsored by Gas South.

- It was ‘Faith Day’ at the Stadium on Sunday, with a free post-game concert by Casting Crowns, a Christian rock band. I skipped, because, you know, Hasa Diga Eebowai.