Atlanta Braves Spring Chop: Notes from Monday Feb 19

Today marks the first full-squad workout for the team… and they’ve got a lot to get organized ahead of Friday’s first game.

The Atlanta Braves are all together in one place now – the training facilities at Walt Disney World’s sports complex.  All players were to report by yesterday and there’s quite a few extras in the house, too, which we’ll see in a bit.

Sun Trust Park Renovations?  Already?

More from Tomahawk Take

• Show the bullpen some love
• Braves News: Atlanta’s left field situation, Dansby negotiations, more
• Alex Anthopoulos discusses the Atlanta Braves payroll, rotation, Grissom, Swanson, Acuña, and more
• Braves News: Braves 2023 rotation speculation, Correa deal on hold, more
• Atlanta Braves: Current Left Field Mix

Tim Tucker has the story for the AJC today… changes that will actually reduce the seating capacity of this still-new and still-compact stadium.  But mind you – this isn’t about numbers… okay, that’s not quite true:  it’s being done for the money numbers, not the attendance numbers.

In short, six rows of seats have been taken out to make way for extra 4-person tables next to the Inifiniti Club… sections 220-231 that wrap home plate and end roughly where the dugouts begin.

Seems that the Braves realized too late just how popular this ‘tabled’ seating was going to be.  It was the first section to sellout, in fact (80 of them!).  But at that point in the construction of the stadium – which was already being accelerated – the team couldn’t really change anything… until now.

Tucker reports that getting a seat at the table will cost $205 per game – $820 per foursome.

But the seats removed weren’t empty very often last year, and those had been bringing in $160 per ticket – if you’d bought them as part of a season ticket package.

A quick check of StubHub found a random game (April 20 vs. the Mets/Inciarte bobblehead night) with several tickets being sold in the $120-145 range.  No word right now of the specific rows involved, so if you’re considering a purchase, you may wish to check with the Braves’ ticket office before you end up buying tickets that might have been recalled.

The Braves have already ‘relocated’ a few season ticket holders.

Chipper Still Livin’ the Dream

Must Read: He (okay, his brother!!!) Won Daytona yesterday... but talked to us last Summer

It’s been a fun week for Chipper Jones.  First, he was named an honorary race official for the Daytona 500, and now he’s made his way down I-4 to Disney World to be a guest instructor for the rest of the month.

But he’s not the only one… in fact, he’s not even the only ‘Jones’ there:

Chipper is already giving the media wonderful sound bites about Johan Camargo (most improved) and Ronald Acuna (ahead of himself at this age).  But standing around with a microphone in his face isn’t his main focus.

The Braves have brought in a bevy of ex-players over the past few years – heck, Tim Hudson was among those in town last week as the pitchers were getting into town.  But this is an interesting line of distinction being drawn by O’Brien.

Both Joneses, it seems will be investing a lot more time with the players than a ‘guest instructor’ would.  While Chipper, in particular, has publicly professed a distaste for the idea of being an actual hitting coach at this time of his life, this forum does afford him the opportunity to do a lot more with players that might need an extra hand here and there.

It’s a welcomed sight… and hopefully the extra attention pays some dividends down the road.

Next: Rule 1: the Commisioner Rules

As if we needed a reminder:  there’s a lot of road to travel in February and March.