Richmond Braves

Richmond Braves
1966–2008 Richmond, Virginia
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-level
Triple-A (1966–2008)
Minor league affiliations
International League (1966–2008) South Division
Major league affiliations
Atlanta Braves (1966–2008)
Name
Richmond Braves (1966–2008)
Ballpark
The Diamond (1985–2008) Parker Field (1966–1985)
Minor league titles
League titles	1978, 1986, 1989, 1994, 2007

The Richmond Braves were the Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and played in the International League. Colloquially referred to as the R-Braves, they were based in Richmond, Virginia, where they played from 1966, when the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta where their AAA team, the Crackers, had been playing for four years, until 2008. They played their home games at a stadium called The Diamond (Parker Field), which is currently home to the Richmond Flying Squirrels and the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams baseball team. The Diamond is located on Boulevard near the interchange with Interstate 95 and features a sculpture of a gigantic American Indian brave (named "Connecticut") on the outside walkway. The current stadium was established in 1985 at a site that had been used for minor league baseball since 1954. The former stadium was called Parker Field.

On January 14, 2008, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Richmond Braves would relocate to Gwinnett County, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, in 2009.^[1][2] The Gwinnett Braves moved into a new ballpark, Gwinnett Stadium.

Upon news of the move, a fan-run website started a petition to keep the Braves in Richmond. SavetheRbraves.com set up an online petition, hoping to convince Atlanta officials that Richmond would rally to support the Braves. The group hoped to spur enough support in order to make the Braves rethink their plans before it was too late to stop the construction process in Gwinnett. Multiple local radio stations, including ESPN Radio 950, as well as local television and print media reported on the groups efforts. The group collected more than 5,500 digital signatures, and amassing a more than 4,000 member Facebook group. Printed copies of the petition and Facebook group membership were mailed to Richmond Braves general manager Bruce Baldwin, Atlanta Braves Vice President Mike Plant, Richmond Mayor (and former Virginia governor) L. Douglas Wilder and Richmond City Council President Bill Pantele. However, only Pantele would respond to the group, thanking them for their efforts. Braves leadership and Mayor Wilder never acknowledged the groups efforts publicly.

The end of the R-Braves franchise marked 43 years of affiliation or ownership of the R-Braves. It followed an ongoing dialogue between the MLB club and Richmond authorities over building a new stadium that never made any significant development. In 2004, a project was proposed to build a new stadium for the Braves in the Shockoe Bottom district of downtown Richmond. The aging Diamond is said to be in disrepair, including the fact that the field used to flood after heavy rains due to the clay soil under the playing surface. The field was rebuilt before the 2005 season. After Tropical Storm Gaston devastated Shockoe Bottom, the proposal lost some popular support but was still being heavily promoted by some city leaders. The deal with a Washington-based developer fell through late in 2005, but Shockoe is still being looked at as well as the former site of Fulton Gas Works, and Chesterfield County to some extent. There is also discussion of a plan to build a sports complex in the area near the current ballpark.

The Braves played their final game on September 1, 2008, against their long-time intrastate rivals, the Norfolk Tides. Richmond won, 9–3, in front of a sellout crowd of 12,167. After the game players and alumni threw balls and other keepsakes to fans in the stands, and fans were able to walk onto the field.

The San Francisco Giants relocated their Double-A Connecticut Defenders to Richmond for the 2010 season, where they became the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Titles

The R-Braves won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the International League, five times, and played in ten championship series. Their predecessor team, the Richmond Virginians, a New York Yankees International League franchise from 1954 through 1964, played in only one championship.

Alumni

All Star Jason Marquis

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richmond Braves.

• Gwinnett Braves web site
• Press Release Announcing Connecticut Defenders plan to move to Richmond