Richmond Will Be Home of the Braves No More

RICHMOND, Sept. 1 -- Minutes before 12:30 p.m., lines snaked around both sides of The Diamond, the longtime home of the Richmond Braves Class AAA baseball team, in anticipation of the gates opening for the final game here. Overlooking the crowd rested a giant bust of a Native American, an homage to the team that inhabited the city for 46 years hanging on a stadium that represents the very reason for the team's defection.

The first two people at one of the gates were Rich and Jean Silva, Richmond area residents since 1987. Jean wore a shirt that clearly expressed her feelings about professional baseball's future in this city: "If you build it, they will come." Fellow season ticket holders in Section 113 wore the same top. This was a tough day for the Silvas. It was tough for Richmond. After 43 years, many as the Atlanta Braves' top minor league affiliate, baseball will leave after today's final pitch.

"It's a very sad day for Richmond," Rich Silva said. "Knowing there was a Triple-A franchise here made [Richmond] all that much better. It really adds to the quality of life. It's not a major league city, but it's pretty close."

After seven years of seeking a new ballpark here, the Atlanta Braves organization could not reach an agreement with the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, a local government entity that oversees The Diamond. So next season the Braves will base their Class AAA team in Gwinnett, Ga., an Atlanta suburb that is building a ballpark.

A crowd of 11,333 came to The Diamond to bid farewell. The final remaining ticket was sold just after 10 a.m., a small sign of appreciation for a team whose average attendance entering Monday had been an International League-low 4,334.

But as the Braves prepared for their departure, speculation resumed about when baseball will return to The Diamond. Some Richmond fans have paid attention to the minor league affiliate migrations that are set to occur after the season, hoping that in some way the Washington Nationals could enter the Richmond market.

MASN, the Nationals' broadcast network, already airs in Richmond, and the Nationals' top minor league affiliate, Class AAA Columbus (Ohio), has announced it is ending its agreement with the Nationals following this season, most likely in favor of the Cleveland Indians.

"This would become a Nationals town," Tom Schaefer, 54, said while watching a game between the Braves and the Columbus Clippers at The Diamond earlier this season. "Truthfully, it hasn't been as much a Braves town in the past few years because of MASN, because of the Orioles, because of the Nationals. But if the Nationals come here, oh, man!"

If nothing else, having a Class AAA affiliate in close proximity to the major league club is advantageous for promotions and rehabilitation assignments.

When Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes was on a rehab assignment in late July, it was convenient that Columbus was playing in Richmond, where Dukes could get some at-bats within a relatively short drive of Washington instead of a short flight. "It's always nicer when you're in a Triple-A place three hours from your big-league team," said former Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik, now with Columbus. " It just makes it easier. The Braves are making a great decision putting their team 45 minutes away."

Nationals President Stan Kasten said he could not comment about affiliation shifts before Sept. 16, when teams can begin negotiating. Complicating the situation is the Richmond market is still under control of the Braves, and could remain so until the Gwinnett stadium opens or even thereafter. A spokesman for Minor League Baseball said no resolution on the future of baseball in Richmond could occur until the market becomes available.

Another complicating factor is that The Diamond, built in 1985, is the third-oldest ballpark in the International League and does not compare to many of its peers. (One of the two that are older, the Clippers' current ballpark in Columbus, is being replaced.) It lacks individual chairback seats outside of its suites and handrails in its upper deck, and it has one kitchen for all of its concessions areas.

"I can't believe anyone would come without at least the promise of a new stadium in writing," Richmond Braves Assistant General Manager Bill Blackwell said earlier this summer. "I don't see anyone coming in unless there is something concrete by 'X' date. You could play here on an interim basis."

Mike Berry, the general manager of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, said his group worked with the Atlanta Braves to renovate The Diamond. Blackwell said cost estimates for a renovation were greater than for building a new facility. Berry said future options will be discussed once the city can find a new team.

"One of the considerations in any discussion would be the playing venue as well as what the community feels it could invest," Berry said. "A partnership could be created with their expectation and what the local community is willing to support."

The fans in Section 113 wait. Amy Adams, 39, designed the shirts Jean Silva wore for those seated in the section. Adams said she loves coming to the ballpark and developed a camaraderie with those who sit near her between the visiting dugout and home plate.

Now she can only watch her team from afar -- in a new Class AAA market with a new stadium -- and wonder when she will see a ballgame again and where it might be.

"Richmond had a chance to keep this team here for Atlanta, and they needed to do something, and once again, Richmond failed to do anything," Adams said. "It's disappointment. It's frustration. It's aggravation. And it's sadness."