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Box 21, Folder 18, Document 19
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j 7 >
PLAY BALL—Atlanta’s Mayor Ivan Allan tosses out first ball with assist from Governor Carl Sanders.
Brave New World in Dixie
By FURMAN BISHER
Atlanta Journal
T wasn't a good year, really.
The manager was fired. Some of the coaches got along
like old hens clucking around the same rooster. The town
hero, the player who stood as the symbol of the Braves, was
traded like you trade a horse. As much ink was devoted to
lawsuits and courtroom play, and to Grobschmidt and Rol-
ler, as to Alou and Aaron, Cloninger and Torre.
People complained about (a) parking, (b) price of hot
dogs, (c) price of anything, (d) salt on the peanuts, (e) no
salt on the peanuts, (f) no tickets at the reservation win-
dow, (g) wrong tickets at the reservation window, (h) why
there weren’t more seats when Sandy Koufax pitched, and
(i) Bobby Bragan.
Several people in places of authority picked the Braves
to win the pennant, or to be up there in September. They
finished fifth. They had to come fast out of the shadows to
do this.
For years, transient experts had been saying, ‘Atlanta ts
a major league city.”
Now we knew that Atlanta officially was a major league
city. We had all the aches and pains that other major league
cities had. We fired managers. We had dissension in the
clubhouse. We had fans who groused like hell. We were
picked high and finished among the average. We had every-
thing you want in the major leagues, from the saddle sores
to the satin.
The reason we know it was for the good of all was that
1,540,000 came out to Atlanta Stadium to see what was
going on. People who had never seen a baseball thrown
caught the shuttle bus, or had brunch or dinner at the club
and rode out on a charter.
Baseball became “‘society” again in Atlanta. To be seen
in a box seat, or on the club level, or in the Stadium Club
was the thing.
The night we knew it was “big” was the night that Sandy
Koufax pitched against Denver Lemaster. That was the
night that Billy Hitchcock succeeded Bobby Bragan as man-
ager. At least 10,000 people were turned away, but that
wasn't point of proof that this was “big.”
In the middle of the game, rain came, and it rained for
two hours. People standing around the outfield fence hud-
dled there for an hour before surrendering their places and
finding shelter. Over 40,000 of an original crowd of 54,000
wanted to see the finish, which finally came at 12:35 a.m.,
when Ed Mathews, the symbolic Brave, knocked a home run
over the rightfield fence on a 3-2 count with two men out
in the ninth inning.
No one event has had as much impact on the national
image of Atlanta in 25 years as the building of the stadium
and the arrival of the Braves. It brought business to the city
and industry to the city and prestige to the city, and it was
a thing of value to every facet of life in the city.
There was a time of political crisis last fall when we had
no Governor, We could do without one far more easily than
we could do without the Braves.
69
TWA i/1iitn) LoL
SS eS
‘DIRECT FLIGHTS TO BIG LEAGUE CITIES
As a reporter, you do a lot of traveling during the season. That’s Nationwide
why you’ll appreciate TWA’s one-airline service to most major er ‘
te a + é a 2 ‘epend on
league cities, and top training camps in Arizona, California,
Florida. And if you’re crossing the country non-stop, TWA’s >}
wide-screen movies make your trip seem even shorter. Call the
nearest TWA office or your travel agent.
=By Inflight Motion Pictures, Inc., on most coast-to-coast jets.
Greetings
From
LEONARD J. SIMON
FORT LAUDERDALE
OF
Training Home of the
New York Yankees
WESTON’S SHOPPERS CITY, INC.
THE PLACE TO GO
IN FLORIDA
70
PLAY BALL—Atlanta’s Mayor Ivan Allan tosses out first ball with assist from Governor Carl Sanders.
Brave New World in Dixie
By FURMAN BISHER
Atlanta Journal
T wasn't a good year, really.
The manager was fired. Some of the coaches got along
like old hens clucking around the same rooster. The town
hero, the player who stood as the symbol of the Braves, was
traded like you trade a horse. As much ink was devoted to
lawsuits and courtroom play, and to Grobschmidt and Rol-
ler, as to Alou and Aaron, Cloninger and Torre.
People complained about (a) parking, (b) price of hot
dogs, (c) price of anything, (d) salt on the peanuts, (e) no
salt on the peanuts, (f) no tickets at the reservation win-
dow, (g) wrong tickets at the reservation window, (h) why
there weren’t more seats when Sandy Koufax pitched, and
(i) Bobby Bragan.
Several people in places of authority picked the Braves
to win the pennant, or to be up there in September. They
finished fifth. They had to come fast out of the shadows to
do this.
For years, transient experts had been saying, ‘Atlanta ts
a major league city.”
Now we knew that Atlanta officially was a major league
city. We had all the aches and pains that other major league
cities had. We fired managers. We had dissension in the
clubhouse. We had fans who groused like hell. We were
picked high and finished among the average. We had every-
thing you want in the major leagues, from the saddle sores
to the satin.
The reason we know it was for the good of all was that
1,540,000 came out to Atlanta Stadium to see what was
going on. People who had never seen a baseball thrown
caught the shuttle bus, or had brunch or dinner at the club
and rode out on a charter.
Baseball became “‘society” again in Atlanta. To be seen
in a box seat, or on the club level, or in the Stadium Club
was the thing.
The night we knew it was “big” was the night that Sandy
Koufax pitched against Denver Lemaster. That was the
night that Billy Hitchcock succeeded Bobby Bragan as man-
ager. At least 10,000 people were turned away, but that
wasn't point of proof that this was “big.”
In the middle of the game, rain came, and it rained for
two hours. People standing around the outfield fence hud-
dled there for an hour before surrendering their places and
finding shelter. Over 40,000 of an original crowd of 54,000
wanted to see the finish, which finally came at 12:35 a.m.,
when Ed Mathews, the symbolic Brave, knocked a home run
over the rightfield fence on a 3-2 count with two men out
in the ninth inning.
No one event has had as much impact on the national
image of Atlanta in 25 years as the building of the stadium
and the arrival of the Braves. It brought business to the city
and industry to the city and prestige to the city, and it was
a thing of value to every facet of life in the city.
There was a time of political crisis last fall when we had
no Governor, We could do without one far more easily than
we could do without the Braves.
69
TWA i/1iitn) LoL
SS eS
‘DIRECT FLIGHTS TO BIG LEAGUE CITIES
As a reporter, you do a lot of traveling during the season. That’s Nationwide
why you’ll appreciate TWA’s one-airline service to most major er ‘
te a + é a 2 ‘epend on
league cities, and top training camps in Arizona, California,
Florida. And if you’re crossing the country non-stop, TWA’s >}
wide-screen movies make your trip seem even shorter. Call the
nearest TWA office or your travel agent.
=By Inflight Motion Pictures, Inc., on most coast-to-coast jets.
Greetings
From
LEONARD J. SIMON
FORT LAUDERDALE
OF
Training Home of the
New York Yankees
WESTON’S SHOPPERS CITY, INC.
THE PLACE TO GO
IN FLORIDA
70
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