Gwinnett Stadium Now Coolray Field

The Gwin­nett Braves and Cool­ray have agreed to terms on a deal that will change the name of Gwin­nett Sta­dium to Cool­ray Field.

The agree­ment  between the Gwin­nett Braves, the Triple A minor league team of the Atlanta Braves, and Cool­ray Heat­ing and Cool­ing gives Cool­ray nam­ing rights for six­teen years. In addi­tion, Cool­ray has the rights to dis­play a promi­nent  LED sign­board along High­way 20, ans sig­nage at both the main entrance to the ball­park and above the right field scoreboard.

Atlanta Braves Exec­u­tive Vice Pres­i­dent of Busi­ness Oper­a­tions Mike Plant stated “after our first full sea­son of oper­a­tion, the Gwin­nett Braves con­tinue to show­case our strong ties to the com­mu­nity and we are proud to part­ner with a great community-oriented company,”

The Gwin­nett Braves cur­rently play at Gwin­nett Sta­dium and are the Triple-A affil­i­ate of the Atlanta Braves. The first game at the newly named Cool­ray Field will be on April 8th against the Char­lotte Knights at 7:05 p.m. All Gwin­nett Braves 2010 tick­ets pack­ages, start­ing as low as $6 per game, are avail­able now at gwinnettbraves.com, the Cool­ray Field Box Office and by call­ing (678) 277‑0340.

Braves Fan Club Announces Banquet

The Braves 400 Fan Club will host its annual win­ter ban­quet and fundraiser on Sat­ur­day, Feb­ru­ary 13, at the Mar­riott Perime­ter Cen­ter. A gala recep­tion, silent auc­tion and raf­fle of Braves mem­o­ra­bilia begins at 5:30 p.m. with the awards din­ner and pro­gram fol­low­ing at 7:00 p.m.

This year’s theme, “Great Atlanta Braves Pitch­ing Rota­tions”, will fea­ture some cur­rent and for­mer Braves pitch­ers and guests recall­ing sto­ries of the great pitch­ing rota­tions. Braves announcer Jim Pow­ell will emcee the evening’s fes­tiv­i­ties. Early RSVPs include Phil Niekro, Tommy Han­son, Kris Medlen, Char­lie Leibrandt, and Braves minor league stars Jason Hey­ward, Craig Kim­brel, Greg Creek, Ryne Reynoso, Danville Braves man­ager Paul Runge, for­mer Geor­gia Tech star Luke Mur­ton (Yan­kees), and Metro-Atlanta High School Player of the Year Zack Wheeler (Giants) from East Pauld­ing High School. Addi­tional celebrity guests are anticipated.

For­mer New York Yan­kee great Bobby Richard­son will accept the Luke Appling Nos­tal­gia Award. Other awards include the Ivan Allen Jr. “Mr. Base­ball” Award, out­stand­ing per­for­mances by Braves minor lea­guers, and the 2010 Phil Niekro Col­lege Schol­ar­ships being awarded to the More­house Col­lege and Geor­gia State base­ball programs.

Admis­sion is by advance reser­va­tion only, and the dead­line is Tues­day, Feb­ru­ary 9; no tick­ets will be sold at the door. Tick­ets are only $65 and include din­ner and a well-stocked goody bag. Make reser­va­tions on the Club’s web­site www.braves400.org or by mail­ing a check to the Braves 400 Club, P.O. Box 7689, Atlanta, GA 30309. Infor­ma­tion is avail­able on the Web site or by call­ing the Braves 400 Fan Club’s hot­line, 770–416-4539, to hear a recorded message.

The Braves 400 Fan Club, the offi­cial fan club of the Atlanta Braves, was formed in 1965, a full year before the Braves made their move from Mil­wau­kee to Atlanta, and has been an inte­gral part of the fan base for the Atlanta Braves ever since. The club is a non-profit orga­ni­za­tion sup­port­ing base­ball at all lev­els — award­ing base­ball schol­ar­ships to metro-Atlanta col­leges and rec­og­niz­ing metro-Atlanta high school all-stars as well as minor and major league play­ers in the Braves organization.

Braves Putting Pressure on Phillies

Don’t look now, but the Atlanta Braves are red hot and try­ing to close the gap for the lead in their divi­sion.  Atlanta Braves are play­ing base­ball the way we’re used to as they open up a key series tomor­row night in Turner Field against the divi­sion lead­ing Philadel­phia Phillies.

So far this year the Braves have owned the Phillies win­ning seven of the first nine games. On the mound tomor­row night for Atlanta is right hand pitcher Jair Jur­rjens. So far this year Jur­rjens has pitched well against the Phillies, throw­ing over twelve score­less innings for two wins.

The Braves  have been play­ing good ball since the All-Star break thanks to a solid pitch­ing staff that may only get bet­ter. Derek Lowe got his 5th con­sec­u­tive win last night against the Nation­als in a 6–2 vic­tory. Javier Vazquez and Jair Jur­j­jens have had strong years so far. Add to that the stel­lar rookie per­for­mance of  Tommy Han­son and the Atlanta Braves have one of the best rota­tions in the league.

Mean­while, vet­eran Tim Hud­son is mak­ing a return after Tommy John elbow surgery.  He is sched­uled to return to the Braves lineup in Sep­tem­ber and makes a rehab start tonight for the Triple A Gwinnett.

The addi­tion of power hit­ting first base­man Adam LaRoche is already pay­ing div­i­dends. LaRoche sparked the Braves to a win last night with two home runs and three RBIs. LaRoche also pro­vided the go ahead run in the sev­enth inning Tues­day nights game with a home run.

Momen­tum has clearly shifted to the Atlanta Braves who have won six out of their last seven games. The Braves took 3 out of 4 against the National League lead­ing Los Ange­les Dodgers and swept the Phillies in their last series at the end of June.

If you’re search­ing for things to do in Atlanta this week­end con­sider putting this sports event at the top of you list.

Atlanta Braves Tick­ets and Schedule

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