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Braves move AAA team


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One question I'm surprised hasn't come up in this thread is where will the team play? I suppose the city will build a new ballpark, I'm just curious about that one little fact.

And I can see the reason why alot of team are moving their AAA affiliate closer to home. It especially helps when you're rehabbing a player.

They'll play in Lawrenceville, GA. According to Talking Chop:

The ballpark will be located at 2500 Buford Drive in Lawrenceville, on the west side of Buford Drive, just north of the Buford Drive and Old Peachtree Road intersection. The team will play the 2008 season in Richmond before relocating to the new state-of-the-art facility starting in April of 2009.

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Apparently it was no secret either:

"We have known that Gwinnett County was interested in building a baseball stadium for about a year coupled with the fact that we have had some challenges getting a new AAA ballpark built in Richmond, made this attractive to have them in our backyard," said Terry McGuirk, Atlanta Braves Chairman and CEO.

They already have a stadium rendering:

gwinnettbravesstadium.jpg

and a floorplan:

siteplan-514x356.jpg

and a website. GwinnettBraves.com

Talking Chop put it well. "Well Played, Sir. Well Played"

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The Braves are my favorite team, but I'm starting to hate them. First, they get off of TBS, so now I can't see them anymore unless theyre on national TV, then they lose Andruw Jones (I understand the reasoning, but I still don't like it). Now this. I live about an hour from Richmond and I don't feel like driving 2.5 to DC and paying wads of cash to see a subpar team play. Often times during summer some friends and i would drive the hour to the Diamond. The Diamond is a piece of crap, but it's baseball nonetheless. I can't help but wonder if this would happen if the Atlanta Braves didn't own the Richmond Braves

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Well I guess if they (Richmond) would be able to get the stadium situation worked out the Nats, would be the odds on choice to fill the void. Since the Orioles are in Norfolk. But I wonder too if this won't lead to another AAA musical chairs.

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Some AAA teams that are moving or possibly might be moving in the next few years:

Ottawa to Allentown (Lehigh Valley IronPigs)

Tucson to Reno

Richmond to Gwinnett

Heres another

New Orleans to Syracuse, the Mets are already in talks to move to Syracuse in 2009, and even Senator Chuck Schumer is lobbying for it.

http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/inde....xml&coll=1

Actually that would just be an affiliation change as Syracuse already has the Chiefs. Oddly enough, they just had a complete makeover to look like their current parent, the Blue Jays.

That move would make a lot more sense too, with Buffalo losing Cleveland to Columbus after this season. Buffalo would then be open for Toronto, a mere 75 minutes away. That is tough to swallow given I'm a Tribe fan in Buffalo. I do like the Blue Jays, however their AAA teams have been pretty bad in recent years.

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In effect they'll have a major and minor league team in the same metro area. Odd.

Not really. A couple of NHL teams (Flyers, Leafs) have their AHL affiliates in the same town. Chicago even has the Atlanta Thrashers' AHL affiliate (the Chicago Wolves) but not the Blackhawks' affiliate (they're an hour or so away in Rockford).

Yes, really.

odd

adjective

Definition:

1. unusual: peculiar or out of the ordinary

I didn't say bizarre or unheard of, just odd. If in all the major leagues that have minor league affiliations there are just a handful that have affiliates in such close proximity, it's odd...but that's not the only reason it's odd. Atlanta is not the best sports town. This isn't Boston or Chicago by any stretch in that regard. The Braves routinely have seats available ON GAME DAY during MLB playoff series, including on some occasions the NLCS. People complain about parking, traffic, ticket prices (low for many seats but quite pricey for anything decent), Turner Field's location in a rough part of town, and lazy, overpaid players, so it makes sense to put an alternative in a relatively nice area where those issues are far less worrisome and expect it not to hurt the Braves' attendance? Seems odd to me. There's a real danger that people will compare the two experiences and say, "Hey, when I want to see a little live baseball, this minor league thing is a lot of fun, the players hustle, and it's not much of a hassle either." So unless a big name opponent is in town, the Bravos may find it tougher to sell tickets downtown.

Who knows for sure? Time will tell.

I was about to agree with you, but then I thought... if someone is a big enough idiot to believe that the area around Turner Field is "rough," they're probably not going to the games now. Which means that, if anything, the Gwinett Braves will probably be making money off people that the Atlanta Braves aren't.

And just to be clear, I'm not personally calling you an idiot as I'm sure you're just correctly explaining the overall mentality of suburban Atlanta :P

I live in Atlanta, have gone to many Braves games, and the area immediately surrounding Turner Field IS rough. I'm not talking about downtown Atlanta but the area right around the stadium. Put it this way, I'm never down there for any other reason than attending a Braves game, and certainly wouldn't walk the streets there after dark.

So I guess I'm an idiot after all. B)

Either Turner Field has gotten much rougher since I lived in ATL, or we just have very different definitions of what "rough" is. I could name at least 3 parts of downtown ATL that I think are "rougher" than Turner Field (and at least 5 if we include MARTA stations).

Whatever the case, if it's still not rough enough to keep you from going to the games, then you're not one of the "idiots" I was referring to.

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Once they move to Gwinnett they'll be the closest AAA affiliate to it's parent team. The closest:

Atlanta Braves to Gwinnett (Lawrenceville, GA) Braves: 33 mi

Seattle Mariners to Tacoma (WA) Rainers: 37 mi

Boston RedSox to Pawtuckett (RI) Redsox: 45 mi

Detroit Tigers to Toledo (OH) Mudhens: 58 mi

Philadelphia Phillies to Lehigh Valley (Allentown, PA) IronPigs: 63

My Little SpreadSheet

I forgot to mention as I read all this, even in the NBDL, we have close affiliates. The Jazz affiliate, the Utah Flash, is located about 45 or so miles south of Salt Lake City, in Orem. Then, If youd count this, our AAA affiliate to the Angels, the Bees are in Salt Lake while our A affiliate (also of the Angels), the Orem Owlz, are located in Orem. Close affiliates are actually common in every sport, they just seem odd, that's all. Not rare or uncommon, just odd, like skyaa1 said.

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In effect they'll have a major and minor league team in the same metro area. Odd.

Not really. A couple of NHL teams (Flyers, Leafs) have their AHL affiliates in the same town. Chicago even has the Atlanta Thrashers' AHL affiliate (the Chicago Wolves) but not the Blackhawks' affiliate (they're an hour or so away in Rockford).

Yes, really.

odd

adjective

Definition:

1. unusual: peculiar or out of the ordinary

I didn't say bizarre or unheard of, just odd. If in all the major leagues that have minor league affiliations there are just a handful that have affiliates in such close proximity, it's odd...but that's not the only reason it's odd. Atlanta is not the best sports town. This isn't Boston or Chicago by any stretch in that regard. The Braves routinely have seats available ON GAME DAY during MLB playoff series, including on some occasions the NLCS. People complain about parking, traffic, ticket prices (low for many seats but quite pricey for anything decent), Turner Field's location in a rough part of town, and lazy, overpaid players, so it makes sense to put an alternative in a relatively nice area where those issues are far less worrisome and expect it not to hurt the Braves' attendance? Seems odd to me. There's a real danger that people will compare the two experiences and say, "Hey, when I want to see a little live baseball, this minor league thing is a lot of fun, the players hustle, and it's not much of a hassle either." So unless a big name opponent is in town, the Bravos may find it tougher to sell tickets downtown.

Who knows for sure? Time will tell.

I was about to agree with you, but then I thought... if someone is a big enough idiot to believe that the area around Turner Field is "rough," they're probably not going to the games now. Which means that, if anything, the Gwinett Braves will probably be making money off people that the Atlanta Braves aren't.

And just to be clear, I'm not personally calling you an idiot as I'm sure you're just correctly explaining the overall mentality of suburban Atlanta :P

I live in Atlanta, have gone to many Braves games, and the area immediately surrounding Turner Field IS rough. I'm not talking about downtown Atlanta but the area right around the stadium. Put it this way, I'm never down there for any other reason than attending a Braves game, and certainly wouldn't walk the streets there after dark.

So I guess I'm an idiot after all. B)

Either Turner Field has gotten much rougher since I lived in ATL, or we just have very different definitions of what "rough" is. I could name at least 3 parts of downtown ATL that I think are "rougher" than Turner Field (and at least 5 if we include MARTA stations).

Whatever the case, if it's still not rough enough to keep you from going to the games, then you're not one of the "idiots" I was referring to.

My dorm is a 5 minute drive and probably a half-an-hour walk away from Turner Field. Let's just say this...the only reason I walked to a Falcons Monday Night game last season was because the roads were well lit for the game. That is probably the ROUGHEST area in Atlanta. It's like a chorus of gunshots and sirens in the area surrounding the Atlanta University Center. So yeah, it is very rough, and unless you're having a "meeting" with a "provider of special service", I wouldn't advise just WALKING around here. Drive here, come to the game, then leave.

But it is an ideal spot. It's near interstates and exits. Turner Field is in a great location. Just not the area arround it.

 

 

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Well, now if Richmond ends up with AAA baseball, I'll be shocked. The 2 leagues that are interested though is the eastern league (AA) & the South Atlantic League (A) IMO, I think SAL would work better, all the teams are in North & South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland & so on.... I honestly think despite being in Single A, this would be a better fit. Double A would be nice, but I'm not so sure. I just want baseball to return. Only time will tell, now as long as I have a hockey team for now, I'm alright. Other than that, I better go to the diamond one last time while we have a team to root for.

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Can't say I'm surprised...hadn't they been trying to get a new stadium in Richmond for years with little luck?

Yeah, down here the news is saying that its the mayor's fault. Wouldn't surprise me. The Diamond (where the R-Braves play) is just awful, uncomfortable seats, in a bad side of town, pretty much the city council wants to destroy the diamond & an arena over there. Richmond is in dire need of a new baseball field, especially compared to the likes of Harbor Park in Norfolk to even Coastal Federal Field in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. I am a Braves and I do hate to see them go, but if its better for the team, hey more power to them. I just hate the fact that, we win the IL championship in 07 & then turn around & move. The Mayor is a stubborn mule, trying to run the city like it was the entire state of Virginia. Kind of expect that from a former governor <_<

I'm hoping for something soon, I'd like to stay in AAA but I doubt it'll happen

This pisses me off as well. I remember a lot of great players coming from Richmond and moving on to have great careers in Atlanta. I also remember us winning the championship in '94 and '07. It was some great stuff for the city of Richmond. That's more we can say about out hockey franchises. And only now, three months in the season, are the Renegades actually on a winning streak for once. I'm getting sick and tired of garbage coming through our city. I admit, I'm more of a hockey fan when it comes to Richmond sports and I supported the RiverDogs/Renegades more than I do the Braves. But, I go to Braves games now and then. If we get a new franchise, hopefully it will either be AAA or AA. No more of this single A crap we're having to deal with. A city as big as ours deserves better than that. Our stupid government officials think too small anymore and just want to save money. If we really want our city to amount to something like it did 30, 40 years ago, we need to do some stuff. We need a new coliseum, now some stupid convention center across the street that is rarely used for anything significant. We also NEED to build a new ballpark. I don't care how much the city bitches about how much it'll cost and where it should be, JUST DO IT! Stop arguing and start acting. I mean, c'mon this is the kind of stuff that makes our franchises move away. It's petty business management and bad marketing. If you want the 'Gades to stay or move into a higher leage of hockey, advertise, spend the money and build a new arena, gather some talent, don't give us :censored: like you have. Same goes for the Braves and an arena football franchise. Actually do something, don't argue and bicker. I've said enough.

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Can't say I'm surprised...hadn't they been trying to get a new stadium in Richmond for years with little luck?

Yeah, down here the news is saying that its the mayor's fault. Wouldn't surprise me. The Diamond (where the R-Braves play) is just awful, uncomfortable seats, in a bad side of town, pretty much the city council wants to destroy the diamond & an arena over there. Richmond is in dire need of a new baseball field, especially compared to the likes of Harbor Park in Norfolk to even Coastal Federal Field in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. I am a Braves and I do hate to see them go, but if its better for the team, hey more power to them. I just hate the fact that, we win the IL championship in 07 & then turn around & move. The Mayor is a stubborn mule, trying to run the city like it was the entire state of Virginia. Kind of expect that from a former governor <_<

I'm hoping for something soon, I'd like to stay in AAA but I doubt it'll happen

This pisses me off as well. I remember a lot of great players coming from Richmond and moving on to have great careers in Atlanta. I also remember us winning the championship in '94 and '07. It was some great stuff for the city of Richmond. That's more we can say about out hockey franchises. And only now, three months in the season, are the Renegades actually on a winning streak for once. I'm getting sick and tired of garbage coming through our city. I admit, I'm more of a hockey fan when it comes to Richmond sports and I supported the RiverDogs/Renegades more than I do the Braves. But, I go to Braves games now and then. If we get a new franchise, hopefully it will either be AAA or AA. No more of this single A crap we're having to deal with. A city as big as ours deserves better than that. Our stupid government officials think too small anymore and just want to save money. If we really want our city to amount to something like it did 30, 40 years ago, we need to do some stuff. We need a new coliseum, now some stupid convention center across the street that is rarely used for anything significant. We also NEED to build a new ballpark. I don't care how much the city bitches about how much it'll cost and where it should be, JUST DO IT! Stop arguing and start acting. I mean, c'mon this is the kind of stuff that makes our franchises move away. It's petty business management and bad marketing. If you want the 'Gades to stay or move into a higher leage of hockey, advertise, spend the money and build a new arena, gather some talent, don't give us :censored: like you have. Same goes for the Braves and an arena football franchise. Actually do something, don't argue and bicker. I've said enough.

Preach on my friend, preach on... It does suck, losing one hockey franchise is one thing, but two is ridiculous. It's times like this, I wish the Old Gades were in the ECHL. Richmond doesn't support winning teams, and as a fellow richmonder, it sickens me

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Once they move to Gwinnett they'll be the closest AAA affiliate to it's parent team. The closest:

Atlanta Braves to Gwinnett (Lawrenceville, GA) Braves: 33 mi

Seattle Mariners to Tacoma (WA) Rainers: 37 mi

Boston RedSox to Pawtuckett (RI) Redsox: 45 mi

Detroit Tigers to Toledo (OH) Mudhens: 58 mi

Philadelphia Phillies to Lehigh Valley (Allentown, PA) IronPigs: 63

Bay Area Teams

Oakland A's to Sacramento RiverCats: 81 miles

San Francisco Giants to Fresno Grizzlies: 188 miles

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