Stadium #6: Turner Field in Atlanta

That's right we rolled into Atlanta yesterday for the sixth stadium on our tour, which also put us over 3,000 miles overall. Now we arrived at around 4pm, which, one would think, would give us plenty of time to be at the game in time for the first pitch. WRONG! It took us about 2 and a half hours to drive 30 miles from our home stay in Alpharetta to the ballpark. It was unfortunately reminiscent of our commute to Dodger Stadium, expect, unlike Los Angeles, the skies were clear and the air was clean. So overall we would take Atlanta over LA, especially because they aren't Dodgers fans here. But let's focus on the city we are in now.

Atlanta, aside from the nightmare of driving, has given us a lot to be impressed with. The game yesterday was a little bit disappointing as we watched Curt Schilling get shelled for 10 hits in only 5 innings, and scatter thunderstorms made things just that much more interesting. But when you look on the bright side, our seats were actually so crappy and high enough in the upper deck that we were under the overhang and the rain didn't affect us. And even though the Red Sox lost, we were able to occupy ourselves by watching the crowd around us.

And boy do they know how to watch a baseball game in Atlanta. The entire stadium was electric all night long with the stereo pounding and the fans cheering, "Let's go Bra-aves!" while simultaneously starting the wave, which was easily the best one we've seen so far. And on a side note they knew how to counteract the Red Sox cheers much better than the Diamondback fans could, but I can't hold that against them because they have been a major league team for more than eight years. The HD Jumbotron lit the place up and then the giant drum just to the left of it was a nice homey touch. And let's not overlook the all-important "Tomahawk Chop." Some of you may have seen it on TV, and laugh or scoff at it. But all of that changes when you first experience it. If I didn't have Red Sox fans surrounding me, I could easily see myself being sucked into the Chop.

We try to put a grade on each stadium and city by answering a very simple question: If I lived here, would I want to go see a game from time to time? I've been sort of ho-hum at a few ballparks, but I can safely say that if I lived in Atlanta (and didn't have any previous major league affiliations) I would most definitely be a Braves fan, and I am very happy to know that we get to stay here for the next few days and watch two more games.

Tonight Josh Beckett will go for his 10th win against Tim Hudson, so it should be a good match-up. And it's Braves rally rag day too, so we will try to get to the game early. Taking into account the traffic, that means we should leave.......now.