Play Ball!

Play ball. That phrase is yelled thousands of times each spring. Today, April 30th, the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds will meet. Their paths have been crossing for over 140 years.

The Reds team was founded in 1869 and the Braves in 1871. Both teams started with almost the same name, the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Boston Red Stockings. The stockings are long gone, but not the teams.

The Cincinnati Reds were the opposing team in the scandalous 1919 World Series with the Chicago White Socks. Pete Rose and Johnny Bench wore the Reds uniform which featured the distinctive wishbone shaped “C.”

The Atlanta Braves, which started as the Boston Red Stockings, took the name Braves in 1912, then the Miracle Braves in 1914, also known as the Boston Red Caps, Beaneaters, Doves, Rustlers and Bees and after 82 years in Boston, they became the Milwaukee Braves before heading south at the urging of then Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen. Allen believed in the old saying, “Build it and they will come” as he had the Atlanta Stadium built and then needed a team. In 1966, the Atlanta Braves were born or reborn.

Babe Ruth played his last game in 1935 for the Boston Braves. Hank Aaron broke Ruth’s home run record while playing for the Atlanta Braves. Knuckle baller Phil Niekro, Dale Murphy, Chipper Jones, and Bobby Cox are just a handful of the many famous Braves.

In 1976, Ted Turner bought the Atlanta Braves without paying a cent. He had been broadcasting the Braves games on his fledgling television station and found after looking over the Braves books that they were carrying a huge amount of cash in assets. He just gave the former owners their own money back.

Even if you’re not sitting at Turner Field watching the game, watch tonight as the two oldest teams in baseball meet once again. Play ball!