City of Atlanta and the Braves: A Doomed Affair

In reviewing the emails, one wonders, was the writing on the wall way back in October 2011, when the Braves outlined four options for the team’s future post-2016, when its existing lease would expire?

Greetings from spring training

Spring has arrived in Atlanta, still-melting black ice be damned, because I’ve heard the crack of Evan Gattis’s bat and the pop of Craig Kimbrel’s fastball sticking in the catcher’s mitt. Today was the first spring workout for your Atlanta Braves.

The Braves asked for an awful lot-and Cobb is evidently prepared to give it

You can dig into the twenty-page acronym-loaded MOU - or "Memo of Understanding" - between the Braves and Cobb County at your leisure (here's the pdf) but here’s the main takeaway: the Braves asked for lots of control and they’ve been promised it in a sweetheart of a deal that would run through the 2046 baseball season.

So, who knew about Cobb Commission Chair Tim Lee’s ties to a turf company before the Braves deal was announced?

When Tim Lee isn’t running Cobb County government, he's promoting an artificial turf manufacturer. But the Cobb County commission chair doesn't see that job conflicting with his newfound role as cheerleader-in-chief for a $672 million Atlanta Braves stadium. "I am so far removed from the process of what goes in what stadium, it's not even funny," Lee told me last week.

Cobb steamrolls ahead with vote

The deal was done. Every person packed into the Cobb County Board of Commissioners meeting last night knew that the officials were moving forward with their shotgun marriage to the Braves, whose leaders were sitting in the front row. Two of the commissioners had already voiced support of Chairman Tim Lee’s agreement, fresh out of the smoke-filled room. Three votes out of five. The math was simple.

Commentary: Dear Braves fans, stop taking it out on Cobb

Listen you ITP people, there’s no reason to get personal. We Cobb residents didn’t ask for a baseball stadium any more than you Atlantans lobbied to kick the Braves out. Please direct your anger at Braves owner Liberty Media and your *own* elected officials. Hating on Cobb County is like an ex-wife blaming her husband’s new spouse, even though she’s the one who initiated the divorce.

Can Bonifacio and Russell give the Atlanta Braves the jolt they need?

For both millenials and long-time fans, this Braves season is starting to bring flashbacks. Young fans recall the collapse of 2011 as the long-sufferers fight off visions of the late 1980’s. The team has lost six straight games—falling to three games behind the first-place Nationals. Despair over this slump is mitigated by a trade with the Cubs that could give the team a needed jolt.

What Cobb businesses might be taxed to help cover Braves stadium costs?

The Braves' new neighbors in Cobb County may be in for sticker shock. A proposed tax district planned to help subsidize stadium construction would comprise more than double the taxable property in the existing Cumberland tax district.

Attorney says she filed an SEC complaint against Cobb for Atlanta Braves dealings

Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee must feel like he’s sitting in a dunking booth. During the Public Comment portion of the bi-monthly Board of Commissioners meetings, it has become almost customary for citizens disgruntled with Lee’s handling of the new Braves stadium to take their best shot at the chairman.

Flashback: That one time Ted Turner coached the Braves

On May 10, 1977, Ted Turner—the budding media mogul and owner of the sad-sack Atlanta Braves—told manager Dave Bristol to take 10 days off after losing 16 games straight. Too bad Turner had no clue what he was doing.

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