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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
239 comments Add your comment
NO MORE BOBBY
May 13th, 2010
8:48 pm
wheelz007 – I agree with your one and two but three? Don’t think so. My guess is the lame BRAVES COUNTRY signs all over Atlanta are working. Ask the Boston fans how they feel having us rip off their Red Sox Nation saying. But ours is not as cool and sounds like a truck commercial.
TBRAVE
May 13th, 2010
9:21 pm
All of the above + the general economy and consumer confidence has improved over the last year in Atlanta.
Fresh-Hater
May 13th, 2010
9:22 pm
I like that, Fresh. Anybody who doesn’t have the same opinion as you is retarded or refuses to see reality.
The world needs more closed minds like yours.
BraveMan
May 13th, 2010
9:52 pm
its jason… but imagine the nats attendance when strausburg is called up.
My, My, Hey, Hey ...
May 13th, 2010
10:45 pm
No one cares about Bobby. It’s all Heyward. Cox can’t argue, Chipper can’t hit and Albert Hall would be a better threat at leadoff than anyone we’ve tried. Has anyone seen Omar Moreno lately?
BATMAN
May 13th, 2010
10:58 pm
I think people are coming out hoping the Braves will begin to live up to the preseason hype . Heywood , Hanson , and Hudson give us hope for better days .
Richie
May 13th, 2010
11:25 pm
More ticket deals maybe?
Ozzie
May 13th, 2010
11:25 pm
Jaba you nailed it.
But to be fair – this is a fluff blog piece to keep the banter up during an off day.
The Braves were terrible until late June and the economy was in full face plant.
Look at number over the past 10 years if you want a fair trend analysis.
Bottom line if Wren and Bobby rely on bench players to miraculously save the bacon its going to be a long season.
This team could sweep AZ or get shut out two of the three games. That coin toss reality of this club needs to be fixed.
The Braves are the epitome of Forrest Gump’s – box of chocolate line – “you never know what you are gunna to git”
ScottBravesfan
May 14th, 2010
12:51 am
If you guys think that tickets to a Braves game is expensive you are stupid or dirt poor. Yeah things inside like cokes and food are expensive, but eat before or after the game. Ride MARTA to the game so you don’t have to worry about traffic and it’s 4 bucks round trip. The Braves have buy one get one tickets for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday games that is incredible. And the regular priced seats on the weekend are not expensive either.
Bob Wren
May 14th, 2010
1:12 am
The reason for the fan increase is that everyone wants to see and appreciate all the good work Frank Wren has done in building this team. Operating on a limited budget Wren has worked wonders bring Atlanta a great group of players..
Train Wreck Bystander
May 14th, 2010
1:16 am
I think it’s because the 2010 schedule has most of the home games later in the year. Fewer early opportunities, more people going to the park in the few home games so far.
Ray Parker Jr.
May 14th, 2010
2:11 am
That bring a picture of your white trash mobile home and get a free hot dog promo seems to be going over well.
TiftonTom
May 14th, 2010
3:17 am
I went to my first game this year (game 2 vs Cubs) after being a fan since the powder blue uniform years when you could count the fans on the TV screen. My wife is now among the converted and bought us tickets for July 4. I just wanted to see them live once before I die and I had a blast. Go Braves!!!!!!
chop33
May 14th, 2010
3:43 am
it has nothing to do with Bobby Cox, who should already be retired, and everything to do with Jason Heyward.
Just my opinion
Marine in Marjah
May 14th, 2010
4:12 am
I can say that every time I have the chance to look up scores and stats the 1st person I look at is Jason Heyward. If Tommy Hanson was pitching I make it a point to check as soon as possible as well. Lastly, Chipper Jones… his average is down, but his OBP is still right where it always is and I believe before the year is out he will return a bit closer to form average wise than he is right now and people will once again jump back on his bandwagon.
My family and I have planned to drive over 600 miles from my home base to attend a weekend series for 2 reasons. Chipper doesn’t have that long left and has been the heart of this franchise for a very long time and I want my kids to see the man that brought the last generation of optimistic crowds into the Ted. I also want them to see the future kids (Heyward and Hanson) that will bring us into the next generation (my kids).
Jay
May 14th, 2010
5:56 am
Another reason may be Friday night fireworks after the game
39YearBravesFan
May 14th, 2010
5:59 am
It’s the Rookie. He’s exciting to watch on TV.
GO BRAVES!!
Trader...
May 14th, 2010
6:37 am
Nothing too shocking here…
Heyward, Bobby’s retirement and preseason hype. Hopefully the hype pans out and the fans keep coming.
Rodney Derrick
May 14th, 2010
7:30 am
No question that some of the factors listed above have had an impact. But the big one is that the economy has improved, so businesses can buy more tickets for their employees and for people they want to influence and more middle and upper income folks can justify spending the money. The unemployment rate may be high, but the economic fear is gone. Now I will not go into the issue of giving credit to anyone for this economic change as that would bring out all kinds of weirdness on the blog. One other point though is that complaining about Wren is really not fair considering the budget constraints and the reality that those constraints would not be there if Atlanta supported the Braves the way fans in New York, Philadelphia, LA, and Chicago support their clubs.
ronald mcdonald
May 14th, 2010
7:54 am
Its the cheap beer at the Ted. For around $200 I can get hammered and act like a clown.
McCann Fan
May 14th, 2010
8:02 am
I’d like to say it again because I can………..Hey ward!!!!!!!!!!
Playoffs!?!?
May 14th, 2010
8:32 am
Too small a sample–and the Cubs series did help
Marc in FL
May 14th, 2010
8:50 am
“Jayson Stark of ESPN recently reported that a friend of Oswalt believes the hurler’s preferred destinations are Texas, St. Louis, and Atlanta, though it’s hard to imagine any of those teams being a fit.”
I’d love to have Oswalt on our team. Our offense will be average all year, but we proved for over a decade that an average line-up with stellar pitching can win. I say send Medlen in a package, put KK in the bullpen and get us a Roy Oswalt! A big reason we should make this push is for the sake of our younger pitchers, they can learn a lot from this dude like JJ did from Javy.
Ralph
May 14th, 2010
9:05 am
I would only go to see Bobby Cocks if he were leaving today then I would have something to celebrate.
26-Year Braves Fan
May 14th, 2010
9:50 am
Trend is moving in the right direction but we’re not there yet. Three weeknight Phillies games in Atlanta drew 61,679 .. Three weekend Braves games in Philadelphia drew 136,027 .. That’s a pretty wide discrepancy .. Braves are no longer a must-see destination attraction .. Emergence of Jason Heyward and being in the race after the All-Star break will help .. Experience once you are inside the ballpark is exceptional and neighborhood is safe but parking is still a hassle and there are some fairly aggressive people outside Turner Field who need to be gone .. Braves security and the Atlanta PD need to pick up their game and guarantee the perimeter .. It is keeping some people away ..
PMC
May 14th, 2010
9:51 am
Even riding Marta to the game is a journey and you can’t avoid traffic because you have to take Marta to 5pts and then take the bus though traffic to get there. Or you can get off at Garnett and walk 2 miles.
Reid in EAV
May 14th, 2010
10:02 am
We’re hardly representative, but given that I live just a few miles from the Ted, we’re at games quite a bit and my daughters and I *always* attend the Sunday home games.
By the way, did you notice that the neighborhoods close by the stadium improve every year? There are lot more people who *could* be northsiders who instead are living in Grant Park. (There’s a veritable caravan of folks walking down Georgia Avenue from Cherokee Ave. before each and every game, not that you would have noticed that.)
Jeff
May 14th, 2010
10:28 am
C from Marietta sorry for the late response but I am not a fair weathered fan. I went to games at Fulton Co back when we were terrible. My point is why would I put money in the pockets of an ownership group that could care less about the fans. They want to make money not build a championship team. Go enjoy the games if that is what floats your boat. The Yankees win titles because their fans do not tolerate losing. Whether thats right or not it gets results.
BuckheadBrave
May 14th, 2010
10:28 am
First of all the ghetto comment is lame. Build it in the northeast side…really? How far northeast? I’d rather be in the area around Turner field than anywhere in North Dekalb or South Gwinnett, the worst area in Metro Atlanta I have seen so far is Jimmy Carter Blvd…yikes! The area directly surrounding the stadium is more than sketchy i’ll give you that BUT it’s off of 75/85 and lets not forget it was the Olympic Stadium, it had to be IN Atlanta. Also its adjacent to Grant Park, for those of you who havent spent extended time inside the perimeter since 1978 but love to act like you still know what its like, most of Grant Park these days is WHITE, UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, YOUNG FAMILIES. I doubt they want the Applebees frequent diner card and $3 that are in your wallet. That being said I think the stadium should have been built in West Midtown the land is there and there is a great restaurant and bar scene to surround it the problem is none of that was there in 1996.
BuckheadBrave
May 14th, 2010
10:30 am
i’m not going to post the route around the traffic here because then it wouldnt be “around the traffic” but it involves going east of the stadium.
Soul
May 14th, 2010
10:41 am
J-Hey
Marc in FL
May 14th, 2010
10:52 am
I think some people forget sports are just another form of entertainment. It’s like watching a TV show or going to see a play. If you can’t just sit down and enjoy the game then you need to rethink what the game means to you.
Would it be nice to win a WS? Sure, it would be great. But some movies are better than others, just like sports seasons, and as long as you get to see a really good flick time to time it makes it worth paying for some of the over-hyped films.
My opinion anyways
dudeman
May 14th, 2010
11:58 am
heyward. plain and simple.
Luv 2 Hate Me
May 14th, 2010
12:45 pm
I went to game 3 of the colorado home game. Wanted to see Bobby get ejected more it being his last year but saw Jason hit the winning 2 run single in the bottom of the 9th. Yes I think folks are there to see “J” more than Bobby.
stupup74
May 14th, 2010
3:33 pm
Reason: Jason Heyward (Clap, Clap, Clap)
Next Question.
stupup74
May 14th, 2010
3:35 pm
All joking aside, Jason Heyward has made it cool to be a Braves fan again.
Tomas
May 14th, 2010
3:58 pm
No rain, and Heyward
Steve
May 14th, 2010
4:33 pm
I really don’t think the Bobby Cox scenario is increasing attendance that much. The fans do love him, but the reality is you don’t go to the games for a manager, not even a HoF’er like BC.
I would say J-Hey has the most to do with it, but it probably also helps that the weather has been about as good as it gets for baseball. 70-80 degrees with very few ‘questionable’ weather days like rain outs. You also have factors such as Day/Night, weekday/weekend, opponents, etc.
Too many factors to figure out why, but one thing is for certain .. despite increased attendance you can bet the Braves payroll won’t go up.
John
May 14th, 2010
6:58 pm
J-HEY is why! DUHHHH!