Well, it’s a sad day for generations of Atlanta braves fans as one of the most beloved and most important figures in the history of the franchise has passed away. Former Braves owner and media mogul Ted Turner has died at the age of 87. Turner Enterprises announced the news in a press release and naturally, the first news outlet to report on it was CNN.
It is extremely difficult to imagine where the Braves would be at if not for Ted Turner’s contributions to helping the team’s fanbase from a regional
one to a national one. To this day, you will hear players from all over the country and all types of different backgrounds claim that they watched the Braves when they were growing up as a kid — and for the older veterans, it was very likely that they watched them on TBS when they were kids. The Superstation played a vital role in growing the team’s fanbase and it also had an indelible impact on baseball’s media landscape.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Turner during his time as owner of the Braves. For starters, the on-field record for the team from the time he bought the Braves in 1976 through the entire 198os was pretty poor as the team scuffled most years (outside of a brief period of relative success in 1982 and 1983) seemed far and away from being contenders. Those days were still eventful, with the first thing that comes to mind being the stunts like when Turner made himself manager in 1977 in a pique of ego — only to be shut down by the National League (back when the National League was an actual organization) and then-Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn.
There was also the time when he had players wear nicknames on the back of their jerseys — this too also got the kibosh when Ted flew a bit close to the sun and had Andy Messersmith go out there with “CHANNEL” and the No. 17 on the back of his jersey, which was a clear violation of advertising rules at the time. Ted Turner’s time as a hands-on owner was fun but it didn’t amount to too much on the field — even if he does deserve credit for elevating Bill Lucas to the position of General Manager during his time as owner which was a historical moment for Black baseball executives at the time (despite never receiving the official title from Ted).
It was only after Turner decided to take a more hands-off approach that the team began to thrive under his stewardship and this eventually culminated in the Braves winning a World Series title in 1995. Here’s more on the legacy of Ted Turner from the Atlanta Braves organization, themselves, via a press release:
“Our good friend and former owner, Ted Turner, was one of a kind – a brilliant businessman, consummate showman and passionate fan of his beloved Braves. Ted’s visionary leadership and innovative approach to broadcast television transformed the Braves into “America’s Team.” Under his stewardship, the ballclub experienced one of the greatest runs of sustained excellence in Major League Baseball history and brought a World Series championship to Atlanta in 1995.
“Ted was also a legendary philanthropist whose compassion and generosity extended across the globe.
“We will miss you, Ted. You helped make us who we are today, and the Atlanta Braves are forever grateful for the impact you made on our organization and in our community.”
If I had to guess, the Braves are probably going to wear a patch or something like that on their jerseys going forward and they’ll very likely pay further tribute to him for the rest of the season. For now, it’s time to mourn an Atlanta Braves legend — one whose unorthodox style eventually led to Atlanta’s team becoming America’s team.
