Braves Ignoring Columbus As A Potential Site For A Minor League Team

by gondeee on Feb 10, 2012 10:59 AM EST in Braves Minor League News

All the recent news about the Atlanta Braves organization wanting to expand to Wilmington, North Carolina, has left some towns a little jealous. Especially one town in Southwest Georgia:

The Atlanta Braves are looking for a new home for one of their Class-A affiliates, but they haven’t been shopping in Columbus.

Neither has any other owner or potential buyer. Golden Park is rotting in its own history and the city continues to be without a minor league baseball team.

The Braves already operate two farm clubs in the state. Their Class-AAA team is in Gwinnett County and their low-A club is in Rome. You would think a town 90 minutes away from Turner Field would be an attractive location, but as far as anyone knows the big club hasn’t thought about Golden Park.

No one from the Braves or any other team has contacted the Parks and Recreation Department or the Columbus Sports Council. "I haven’t heard a word from anybody," says Herbert Greene, executive director of the Sports Council. "Two years ago, there was a nibble but that’s the last thing I heard."

The article does say that the Columbus City Council likely wouldn't consider building the Braves a new stadium the way that the Wilmington City Council is considering it. Of course, Golden Park is a pretty nice park for a minor league team. Go here for a great review of the park, and more pictures like the one above.

A decade ago the Braves abandoned South Georgia (anywhere below Atlanta) when they moved their Sally League team from Macon to Rome after the 2002 season. The Macon ballpark is the oldest park in the state (opened in 1929), and deserves a team of some sort. Unfortunately, the trend around baseball is away from the historic minor league stadiums to new ergonomic money-machines that try for a diluted faux-historic flavor.

If you want a Braves minor league franchise, then you better build them a new stadium. Surely someone can find a use for these gorgeous old parks. Maybe we need more Rickwood Classics around the South. Speaking of, the 2012 Rickwood Classic will feature a guest appearance by Dale Murphy. Perhaps we could get Dale to start up a series of "Classic" games throughout the old parks of the South.

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Columbus (or Macon) would have been a better choice than Gwinnett imo

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by Mr. Sanchez on Feb 10, 2012 11:08 AM EST reply actions

What Gwinnett has proved is that on average there about 5,000 people here who are VERY price conscious who will gladly pay less for a minor league product (hockey’s Gladiators and baseball’s AAA Braves) when just down the road they can see the big boys (the former Thrashers and the Braves) for more money. 5000 is terrific attendance for ECHL hockey but very bad attendance for AAA baseball.

Macon was actually not that great a place for baseball. They couldn’t hold onto a team. Macon is currently in serious decline and it would be bordering on insanity to put any minor league team there. Columbus would be a much better choice.

by Zontar on Feb 10, 2012 1:28 PM EST up reply actions

If we're talking about the Carolina League...

…then Columbus makes no geographic sense whatsoever. It does make some sense over Pearl, Mississippi (where the M-Braves have been since the 2005 season), but I couldn’t find any information about the deal the club has made with Pearl about that facility.

The 8-team Carolina League currently has the following cities:
Lynchburg, VA (southern/central VA)
Salem, VA (western VA – next to Roanoke)
Winston-Salem, NC
Myrtle Beach, SC
Frederick, MD
something near Wilson, NC (east of Raleigh)
Woodbridge, VA (SW of Washington)
Frederick, MD (central MD)
Wilmington, DE (not to be confused with Wilmington, NC)

Clearly, putting a C-League team in Columbus, GA would be a poor choice for travel purposes. Lynchburg, is actually ideally situated, though it seems that in Wilmington, the Braves intend to return to a spot closer to their original Myrtle Beach locale.

Note for NC Chopper and a couple of others here: the Carolina League All-Star game for 2012 will be in Winston-Salem. Enjoy!

"Sir Stealth, Stay stealth.. Your a moron" (jrod1142), 12/15/11 (the epic FWren Fortitude FanPost)

by carpengui on Feb 10, 2012 11:41 AM EST reply actions

In 1991...

I was 12 and living outside of Columbus I went to see Chipper when he was playing in Macon. I got him to autograph his UpperDeck rookie card.

That was an awesome year to be a Braves fan.

Follow @chopattack

by mdhenshaw on Feb 10, 2012 11:44 AM EST reply actions

I don't think the Braves needed any more Georgia

The name of the game is brand saturation, and the organization’s been a little light in the Carolinas since departing Myrtle Beach. And since everyone likes pictures: