And you may wonder what “The Ted” is. It’s a fond nickname for the home of the Atlanta Braves, Turner Field, named so after Ted Turner, the founder of CNN and former owner of the Braves. However, “The Ted” is now the former home of the Braves seeing that they played their final game there Sunday, October 2, 2016 after 20 years of great success. And fortunately for me and my family, Lynndee and Yogi, we got to attend the historic final game as special guests. That actually came to be, believe it or not, because of this blog site. As my wifey Lynndee promised in her post about this day, I’ll now tell my story.

Earlier this year during the broadcast of a Braves’ game, contemplating the close of Turner Field, the Braves offered fans the opportunity to share their most favorite Turner Field memory. For me, that was simple. Back in 2012, I took the family to Atlanta for a vacation which included two games at Turner Field. Since they are natives of the Philippines, I so wanted to introduce them to the great American city of Atlanta and enjoy the great American pastime that I love so much. And, besides, they were already familiar with the Braves seeing that I watched every game I possibly could on TV. So when offered the chance to share my favorite memory, I sent in the part about going to the games from my 6-part blog post about our Atlanta vacation .

I’d tried so hard to purchase tickets for the last game but had no luck; they sold out early on. But lo and behold! On the Monday prior to Sunday’s final game, I got a phone call from the Braves front office offering me the opportunity to attend the game because the blog post I sent them had caught their attention. They had closing ceremonies planned after the game which included a Parade of States honoring the six states they considered to be Braves Country: Georgia; Tennessee; Alabama; Mississippi; South Carolina; and my North Carolina. And of all the people invited to participate in this, one from each state was asked to carry their state’s flag and, for whatever reason, I was chosen to lead in the North Carolina contingent while carrying the NC colors.

So we took off early that Sunday morning for the three-hour drive to Atlanta. After arriving, we had a fun time finding the parking space I’d reserved since our GPS sent us in the wrong direction due to two streets with the same name! But we finally made it. It was an exciting game with the braves winning 1-0 over the Detroit Tigers after a stellar pitching performance by Julio Teheran who gave up only three hits while striking out twelve. And then the fun really began!

As a year-long goodbye, the season started with #81, and during each game Braves celebrities would remove the current number. The final #1 was removed by the former Braves’ General Manager John Schierholtz and the former manager, Hall of Famer Bobby Cox, the two men most instrumental in the Braves winning 14 consecutive division titles, 1991-2005.

The flags signifying the pennant winning years for the Braves during their time in Atlanta.

The man who will certainly be a hall of famer, Freddie Freeman. This is on the center field scoreboard. He drove in the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the 1st inning.

All the states had lined up and we started into the stadium. While marching in, there was a camera on us displaying the image on the field screen, and they actually told the story of my post and bringing my Filipino family to their first ever baseball game. You can see my moments of fame here on a youtube post, beginning at 26:52, ending at 27:57. Too cool!

I recorded the game on DVR and took this photo off the TV. But you can see it all in the above posted link.

A podium was set up on the field and presentations were provided by several Braves’ celebrities, including the great pitcher John Smoltz and the former great manager Bobby Cox, as well as Braves TV announcer Joe Simpson and radio announcer Don Sutton, the former great Dodger pitcher. The ceremony concluded with the former Braves’ General Manager John Schierholtz leading the stadium in a final Tomahawk Chop, made famous by the Braves in their worst-to-first season of 1991, which has since them became a legendary Braves’ namesake, followed by a shower of confetti along with fireworks.

The all-time home run king, Hank Aaron  (sorry, Barry, you’re not the king – YOU CHEATED!) ceremoniously removes home plate from Turner field and transported it to its new home at Sun Trust Park. And Aaron was the one who delivered the home plate from Atlanta Fulton County Stadium to its new home of Turner Field back in 1997.

Now it’s on to the future. After a terrible beginning to the 2016 season, the Braves won 20 out of their last 30 games, have named a new manager and will open their new stadium, Sun Trust Park, on April 14, 2017. After seeing the final game at Turner Field, I’d love to see the first game at Sun Trust, but don’t have a chance at that. Still, at some point during next season, me and the family will attend a game there. And by doing so, I will have seen games at all three of the Braves’ Atlanta homes: Atlanta Fulton County Stadium; Turner Field; and the soon to be dedicated Sun Trust Park. So I’m at the point of saying, “Wait till next year”, a phrase commonly used by the old Brooklyn Dodgers back in the day when they’d lose the World Series to the Yankees. And I can hardly wait till next year when my old winning Braves return in a new home to a new winning season. GO BRAVES!