Georgia State Stadium

Sunday afternoon I met Johnny Tallant and some of the Hot Stove crew down at old Turner Field for a tour, given by Georgia State head baseball coach Greg Frady. He unlocked the gates to the old fan plaza and we parked right by the old ticket windows. Coach had come out to speak in Johnny's basement a year or two ago. Like us, he had to fight traffic to get there, in his case from Gwinnett. His son plays high school ball with Javy Lopez' son, so he and Javy often hang out together at games.

Before we went inside we asked about the construction across the street, in the green parking lot between Ralph David Abernathy Road and the footprint of old Atlanta Stadium (where the new GSU baseball stadium will be). The new construction is future GSU student housing.

First we went downstairs and stepped out onto the north end zone of the football field, answering questions and talking GSU sports.

The Panthers largest crowd so far has been 28,000.

The north stands.

Then we walked back underneath the stands

and walked counterclockwise around...

...past the football locker room (the old visitor's locker room)…

...to the old Braves locker room, where the GSU baseball team lockers. John Schuerholz designed the shape of the locker room to be like the World Series trophy: round at the bottom and rectangular at the top.

The coach talked about the recruiting aspects of lockering where the Braves had dressed. As a lifelong Braves fan himself, he pointed out the pictures near the ceiling and asked us who the players were.

Everyone knew Chipper, Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, but fewer knew many of the others: Mercker, Wohlers, Pena, Castilla, Marquis, Cabrera, etc. He wanted to know who dressed in each locker, but didn't know how to find out. Then one day he was playing golf with a group of twelve that included Chipper and his dad. Larry Senior was in Frady's foursome, and they got to talking about the lockers. Then Chipper came up and asked what they were talking about. When told his face brightened, and began telling stories. Smoltz owned the locker next to the showers, but Chipper won it from him out on the golf course.

Frady has an office there near the underground batting cages. There Frady told the story that after 9/11 of President Bush warming up to throw out the first pitch in the Yankees underground cages. Derek Jeter had arrived to take a few swings. He saw Bush and advised: "Don't bounce it – they'll boo you." The President went out and threw a strike.

Down the hallway was a small interview room, that still had the Braves backdrop in the corner. Our group gathered for a picture, and Frady willingly snapped pictures he several cameras. He quipped that it was a job better suited for a 16 year old girl. He took one with his camera, saying he'd post it on his social media.

We meandered back to the old Hank Aaron Club, where we poked around to see what had changed and what was the same. I was interested in what was behind the new east stands: not much.

Several large depictions of what the area would look like once fully developed. Frady hopes the baseball stadium will be operational in the next two years.

Then we all sat down in the Braves old "war room, where team officials sat together during player drafts and planning meetings.

The room looked out over the old fan plaza,

the sea of parking lots, and downtown Atlanta.

On his home turf, Frady spoke comfortably on a wide range of topics:

We talked about why the Braves left the area. Originally the team had been promised the area would be developed, but the city used the Sports Authority to block development. When the Braves moved north the city sold the land to GSU and their partner, who would make their money back developing the land.

The five year plan (above) includes (1) a GSU basketball arena to be built between the GSU baseball stadium's outfield wall and Fulton Street, (2) a new grocery store, since there are none for miles around, and (3) more shops, restaurants, offices, and living spaces. Frady played a video showing what they're shooting for.

Braves are real estate moguls, controlling and developing The Battery, and a similar spring training development near Sarasota. The team has bought up all the land all around the new spring training area as well.

The Panthers have a junior pitcher from Sequoia High School that Frady calls "the best I've ever coached…a future major league all star." He'll be pitching on Friday nights. He said college pitchers wear down over the course of the long season (February to late May or June) so many are needed.

About recruiting: all division one teams can give out eleven full scholarships to be divided over 27 players, plus a limit of eight walk-ons. With such a small roster, when contacted by potential players, coaches have to be careful to look for a player who can fill a specific need on the team. Since there is no extra room on the roster, walk-ons who try out either make the team or get cut. His travel budget is over $130,000.00 already, so walk-ons can't travel.

When he coached at UCF, Frady had a player who wanted to transfer to Auburn. The Auburn coach sat him down and told him that he was as talented as any of his other players, but his immaturity, selfishness, unruliness, and other negative qualities would make him a disruption, so he couldn't make the team. The kid went back to Frady and complained, but decided the change and make something of himself, joining the Army and eventually leading eleven special ops missions to Afghanistan. There's a scene in the movie American Sniper when Chris Kyle shoots an enemy sniper, exposing their location, as a commander moves his troops off the roof. In real life that commander was Frady's former player.

Every winter the GSU baseball team trains with soldiers out at Fort McPherson, an experience his players will never forget. Gives them a chance to see other boys their age working out and doing some of the same things they were going – except the soldiers are getting bullets shot at them.

Coaching millennials has been a challenge for Frady. Instead of having to ask authority figures questions (and receiving stern life lessons in replay), kids today can get their answers from the internet. It's made kids less outgoing. Frady has learned how to better reach this generation, changing the way he coaches.

Then he was asked to speak at the week-long 100th anniversary symposium at Fort Mac, along with the CEO of Coca-Cola, two star generals, and the like. Frady called them up and asked if they were sure they had the right guy. Frady spoke about reaching today's young people, and challenged the Army to look into changing the ways they train, instruct, teach, and communicate. In the old days the Army would receive 18,000 recruits every year, then weed out the ones who couldn't cut it. Last year only 1,700 joined the Army: teenagers looking for three meals and a place to sleep, for family and an education. They can't afford to run them off like they used to.

When talking about the way GSU's current ballpark in Panthersville played, Lawyer Dave asked about the sun. Frady made his answer clear: while his team practices battling balls hit into the sun, like any other factor the sun is not an excuse. He goes into great detail outlined the things he checks before a series and game: has it been rainy or dry? Rain = can't mow = higher grass = slower field. Dry = harder field = need faster players. Sun and especially wind can make a weekend series fun or brutal.

As things wound down, old Johnny reached into his bag and handed out unopened packs of old 1993 minor league baseball cards, to play his version of baseball bingo. I got a Jon Lester. Someone else got a Derek Jeter. Frady opened his pack and smiled, and told one last story: he held up the card of a shortstop no one had heard of. His path to the majors had been blocked by a kid ahead of him: Derek Jeter. Instead the shortstop retired and went back to his home country in Europe, where he rose up the ranks and became in charge of his country's baseball federation (where he met Frady, who coached the German national team). Then the shortstop was named head of his country's soccer federation – a most prestigious assignment.