Evers: The life, death, and afterlife of Braves Field
From Samuel Evers at The Hardball Times on July 9, 2019, with mention of SABR member Bob Brady:
There’s usually a boilerplate procedure, I have found, for the life, death, and afterlife of an old baseball stadium, the type of stadium you see in the old pictures floating around Twitter.
The ballpark will be erected in the middle of a densely settled neighborhood, a diamond-shaped slice of late 19th- and early 20th-century Americana. Tightly-packed rows of city-slicking streets prop its foundation as millions spend a handful of decades streaming in and out. Its heyday will come and go, with enough moments to garner the type of future nostalgia that isn’t quite strong enough to declare it sacred.
Then, maybe around the mid-20th century, the team will outgrow its urban enclave and jet for the shiny new land plot, where the stadium will hold 10,000 — no, 15,000 — more fans than the old one. The lights will be so bright you’ll almost be able to see your reflection in the new, state-of-the-art bleacher seat.
Read the full article here: https://tht.fangraphs.com/the-life-death-and-afterlife-of-braves-field/
- Related link: Read stories from our book Braves Field: Memorable Moments at Boston’s Lost Diamond at the SABR Games Project
Originally published: July 12, 2019. Last Updated: July 12, 2019.