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Wed 16 Jan 2008 8:17
by Kevin McGehee
32° and fair
in Coweta County, GA
[Our Times]
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I’m poleaxed.
Such was the secrecy surrounding efforts to bring minor league ball to Gwinnett that the plan seemed to spring fully formed from the landscape Monday in leaked news reports. The county reportedly would build a stadium near the Mall of Georgia and import the top farm team of one of the top sporting franchises in modern history to play in it.
But Tuesday’s formal announcement was in fact the product of lengthy secret negotiations that began with Nasuti’s private brainstorming session in 2006 and ended Tuesday with the announcement that the Richmond Braves would be relocating for the 2009 season.
The team will play in a new $45 million stadium to be built on land the county also purchased Tuesday, located on Buford Drive east of I-85. Under the county’s agreement with the Braves, construction on the stadium must begin by April and conclude by March.
At first, it all seemed so unlikely.» Nasuti wanted baseball in Gwinnett and made it happen
I wish Gwinnett the best. I can’t imagine myself going all the way to Buford for a ball game, but it’s more likely than going to <glurg> Turner Field for the overrated and ever-choking-in-the-playoffs “major”-league Braves.
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