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 Goodbye, Ted: 20 years of highs and lows at Turner Field
Twenty seasons does not seem like a long time between new stadiums, but Turner Field has managed to still squeeze a lot history into 'The Ted' era. Kevin Liles/Getty Images

Goodbye, Ted: 20 years of highs and lows at Turner Field

We have officially entered the final week of baseball's regular season, and for some franchises, this time of the year couldn't have come soon enough.

That's especially true for the Atlanta Braves, who are literally counting the days until they leave their relatively-young ballpark in the heart of Atlanta for a brand-new ballpark on the outskirts of town. There have been plenty of low points for the Braves at Turner Field (with some of those coming in the past couple of rebuilding seasons), but there was a time when this was a very comfortable fortress of sorts for the team – they moved into that stadium just one season removed from winning the 1995 World Series, and were in the middle of a legendary streak of divisional titles during the first few years of Turner Field's existence. So while there were some lean years for the Braves during their time at The Ted, they still had plenty of good times. Now it's time to take a trip down memory road and relive a few of the major moments in the relatively short history of Turner Field.

Low Points

Randy Johnson's Perfect Game

For the neutral fan, Randy Johnson's perfect game was an extremely special moment. Any time that you get a chance to see a future Hall of Famer practice his craft, you should cherish it. That's exactly what the fans at Turner Field did, as they raucously cheered Randy Johnson on his way to completing the perfect game. It may have been a low point for the Braves in that season, but it was clearly a great moment for baseball fans who got to witness the Big Unit's crowning individual achievement.

Game 3 of 2010 NLDS (The Bad Brooks Conrad Game)

If baseball was a game that only lasted eight innings, then we wouldn't be talking about this being a low point, and instead we'd be talking about how Eric Hinske's pinch hit solo homer to put the Braves ahead of the Giants in Game 3 of the 2010 NLDS was one of the most electrifying moments in Turner Field's history. Unfortunately, baseball will forever be a game of nine innings, and that was when a series of unfortunate events culminated with infielder Brooks Conrad committing his third error of the game. Conrad's final error (an NLDS record) was the most costly one of all – it allowed the Giants to retake the lead, and the Braves suffered a back-breaking loss in Bobby Cox's final postseason as Braves manager.

September 28, 2011

The Braves seemed poised to return to the playoffs in 2011 and right the wrongs of their journey to the postseason in 2010. The Braves led the NL Wild Card for the vast majority of 2011 and had a nearly insurmountable lead in that regard. Then the calendar turned to September and it all went to pot. Atlanta went into September with an 80-55 record, but they started the final day of the season with a record of 89-72, having seen their large lead in the Wild Card completely evaporate. While neutral fans may consider September 28, 2011 to be one of the most exciting days in baseball history, it ended up being an excruciating one for Braves fans. After 13 painful innings of baseball at Turner Field, the Braves eventually lost 4-3 to the Phillies. The loss ended the Braves' season, put the Cardinals into the playoffs (and they'd eventually win the World Series), and the lasting memory of that game for Braves fans is Freddie Freeman squatting in disbelief near first base after being called as the final out of the season.

The Infield Fly

Atlanta eventually returned to the Postseason, but 2012 resulted in a third consecutive year of the season ending in painful fashion at Turner Field. With the Braves down 6-3 to the Cardinals with just one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Andrelton Simmons hit a pop fly into left field. It dropped between two Cardinals, and the bases were loaded – or so it seemed. The umpires actually ruled that a ball that landed in left field was an infield fly. Simmons was out, and the livid crowd at Turner Field littered the field with garbage in response to the call. The Braves never recovered from the call, and another promising season came to a painful close under the lights of The Ted.

The entire 2016 home season

While there was no postseason pain to endure for the past couple of season, the Braves have still taken plenty of lumps at home since 2015. In fact, the Braves have had one of the worst home seasons in recent memory in 2016. They started out their home season with just two wins in their first 22 games, and things didn't get better until September rolled around. It's not an ideal way to turn out the lights on a stadium, but hey: At least it didn't end with yet another playoff disappointment. I'll let you decide which one is more painful.

High points

Milestone Moments

Again, the Braves played out the tail-end of their divisional dynasty at Turner Field, which means that there were plenty of milestones reached by various Braves players during their time at the ballpark. John Smoltz set the franchise record for strikeouts in 2007 and reached 3,000 career strikeouts in 2008 – both games happened at The Ted. Chipper Jones hit his 400th career home run in front of the home fans in Atlanta, and he reached the 2,500 hit mark at Turner Field. Despite being in the midst of a disappointing debut season, Dan Uggla managed to go on a franchise-record 33-game hitting streak, and he broke the record in Atlanta. Smoltz, Jones, and Uggla – what a trio, right?

Braves walk to 1999 World Series

The 1999 NLCS is one of the most dramatic playoff series that's been played in the Wild Card era. Initially, the heavily-favored Braves ran out to a 3-0 lead, and the underdog Mets seemed doomed to get swept. However, the Mets fought back with a one-run victory in Game 4, and then won Game 5 in dramatic fashion thanks to Robin Ventura's "Grand Slam Single." The Mets continued to fight valiantly in Game 6 and even forced extra innings after falling into a first inning 5-0 hole. The Braves eventually snuffed out the Mets' comeback bid in the 11th inning and literally walked into the 1999 World Series after Kenny Rogers walked Andruw Jones to give the Braves their only NL pennant in the Turner Field era.

Galarraga returns from cancer with Opening Day dinger

Fan-favorite first baseman Andres Galarraga had to deal with major adversity after he missed the entire 1999 season due to cancer. The Big Cat won his battle with cancer and returned to the Braves in 2000, and in his third at-bat of Opening Day, he hit a dinger into the left field seats and Turner Field exploded with joy. Galarraga was never the same player after his cancer diagnosis, but this was definitely one of the high-water marks of his career and the Braves' time at Turner Field.

Jason Heyward smashes a homer on Opening Day

10 years later, another Braves player hit an Opening Day homer that sent the Atlanta crowd into full-on rapture. This time, it came from a rookie who sent a pitch from Carlos Zambrano into the right field bullpen. Jason Heyward's first career homer lifted the Turner Field crowd into a fever pitch, and it was the start of the team's first playoff run since 2005.

May 20th, 2010 (The Good Brooks Conrad Game)

Before Brooks Conrad became the scapegoat for one of the most painful playoff losses in Braves history, he was actually a folk hero in Braves country for what he did in a comeback effort against the Reds. The Braves were down 8-0 after just two innings, and went into the bottom of the ninth down 9-3. That's when the Braves proceeded to deliver a rally for the ages. They scored seven in the ninth to complete the greatest comeback in the ballpark's history, with the final four runs coming from one swing of Brooks Conrad's bat. The ball just barely cleared the fence, but all four runs counted just the same as if it had gone into the upper deck. The grand slam sent the loyal fans who stayed for the entire game into delirium.

Bobby Cox's final regular season game

Can you tell that 2010 was a fun season at Turner Field? It was also Bobby Cox's final season as manager of the Braves, and they made sure that it was a memorable one. On the final day of the season, the Braves were tied with the Padres for the NL Wild Card. Atlanta held an 8-2 lead over the Phillies after six innings, but the Phillies came roaring back and made it a one-run game heading into the ninth inning. The Braves held on in dramatic fashion, and the crowd chanted Bobby's name in the immediate aftermath of the victory. A couple of hours later, the Giants beat the Padres to give the Braves the Wild Card spot, and the remaining fans had a big-time party at the Ted.

It's hard to create long-lasting memories at a stadium when you're leaving it just before it would be old enough to legally drink, but the Braves managed to pack plenty of memorable moments in the stadium. The obvious hope for the Braves is that they'll be able to create plenty of new memories at their new stadium at SunTrust Park – and hopefully it'll last longer than just 20 seasons, for starters.

 

Can you name every Atlanta Braves player to have his number retired?
SCORE:
0/10
TIME:
3:00
3
Dale Murphy
6
Bobby Cox
10
Chipper Jones
21
Warren Spahn
29
John Smoltz
31
Greg Maddux
35
Phil Niekro
41
Eddie Mathews
44
Hank Aaron
47
Tom Glavine

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