Say Goodbye to SunTrust Park

Courtesy of AJC Sports: New logo of Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves

Well, I liked the name while it lasted. It had Atlanta ties because the headquarters of SunTrust was in Atlanta. Three years ago when the Atlanta Braves moved from Turner Field just 20 miles north on interstate 75, the big intrigue throughout the baseball world among people that cared about Braves baseball, and not upset about the move, was what the new name of the ballpark would be. When the big announcement came, everyone had to get use to the name, but all was good, including me, because the new home of the Braves had an Atlanta tie to it. SunTrust Park was the name!!! A lot of people just called it STP for short, including myself, but the new era of the Braves playing ball on the outskirts of Atlanta had begun.

Just two years into the Braves move, and just before the 2019 Braves campaign, SunTrust Bank (Atlanta based) and BB&T (Charlotte, NC based) merged to become Truist Bank. Feed in the critics between then and now on what the new name would be. Just this past Monday the baseball world found out that what everyone thought would be then the name, was truly the name given. The Braves new name for the ballpark was Truist Park. Of course, everyone is just going to have to deal with it because it will not change for another 22 years as the Braves are in a 25 year deal with SunTrust (Truist Bank) for the rights to the name.

This is all corporate run, and the bank corporation probably didn't care as to what the park should have been named from the people that truly care about the Braves. As I had mentioned in a previous story, I wish Trust Bank would have taken all this in consideration and named it Hank Aaron Field, Bobby Cox Field, Coca-Cola Field, or even Home Depot Field at Truist Park. My favorite was Hank Aaron Field just because when you think of Braves baseball, you think of "Hammerin Hank."

But what it really comes down to is how the team plays on the field, not the name on the side of the building. All this talk of the new name is secondary if the Braves play their brand of baseball, win, and bring home a second World Series Trophy to the state of Georgia.

Update: Third baseman Josh Donaldson didn't sign with the Braves. He opted for the Twin Cities and signed a 4-year, 92 million deal with a fifth year option with incentives with the Minnesota Twins. I'm not faulting Donaldson because this is a business decision, this isn't a fanbase decision. The one year with the Braves was a stop gap, he got healthy, and put up the numbers that he is use too. Batting average, .259, 37 hr, 94 RBIs. And who knows, at the end of the day Braves GM Alex Anthopolous four year deal might not have been this much, or a fifth year option might not had been added on. Braves now need to turn their attention to fill that 3rd base role. Work has already begun to do just that, and that player might already be in house.

Courtesy of Washington Post: Josh Donaldson

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