House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves Leaving Fulton County: One Last Pilgrimage, Part 2

By Dan Horton

Jul 15, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; A general view of fireworks after the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Colorado Rockies at Turner Field. The Rockies won 11-2. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 15, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; A general view of fireworks after the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Colorado Rockies at Turner Field. The Rockies won 11-2. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 25, 2015; Cooperstown, NY, USA; Hall of Famer Hank Aaron waves after arriving at National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 25, 2015; Cooperstown, NY, USA; Hall of Famer Hank Aaron waves after arriving at National Baseball Hall of Fame. Mandatory Credit: Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports /

Game Day – Part 2

After 22 years, my level of emotion was sky high Saturday afternoon. Arriving to Turner Field was so emotionally fulfilling, that I got choked up.

Many of you probably just read that and thought: “Really, over a stadium and a team that isn’t that special?”

Well, quite frankly, yes. I had tears in my eyes. A Green Lot parking pass put me on the site of my last memory of Atlanta Braves baseball. June 1994 and Dale Murphy’s number retirement.

As many of you know, the Green Lot has a bricked outline of the dimensions of the old stadium and a wall dedicated to where Hank Aaron‘s 715th home run landed.

I rushed to the wall, but took my leaving. I stood in the same spot Dale Murphy roamed in centerfield. I stepped on to the “rubber” that Glavine, Greg Maddux, Phil Niekro, and John Smoltz toed for so many years. I stepped into the same batter’s box where Fred McGriff, Chipper Jones, and Hank Aaron all once swung from.

MAN! If that doesn’t give you goose bumps and get you all emotional, I don’t know what would. Some of you that live there know all this and probably take it a little for granted.

But this was something I had never seen until last Saturday, and it was as glorious as I could have imagined.

I didn’t want to take any of this for granted. I wanted to remember this forever. And I didn’t want to leave.

Next: The Game

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