Braves News World

This year the Braves won’t be able to hold their annual FanFest at Turner Field because of the construction going on at the stadium. Instead, the team will be staging a two-day caravan whereby players, coaches and broadcasters interact with Braves fans in the Chattanooga, Birmingham, Columbus, and greater Atlanta areas on February 4th and 5th. Radio stations 640 WGST and 96 Rock, which will broadcast Braves games this season, are sponsoring the events.

Among the Braves personalities who have agreed to participate are Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Johnny Estrada, Horacio Ramirez, Nick Green and both Skip and Chip Caray. The locations and times of their appearances have yet to be announced. Each player or broadcaster will appear at their own separate location for a couple hours. The players and broadcasters will be signing a limited number of autographs and only one per person.

The Braves Community Caravan stops in the greater Atlanta area are listed below. The details of the Birmingham, Columbus and Chattanooga stops have not yet been announced.

Friday, February 4
11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET ~ Publix at Highland Plaza (3605 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta)
11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET ~ Publix at Dunwoody Hall (5550 Chamblee Dunwoody Road, Dunwoody)
11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET ~ Home Depot Sandy Springs (6400 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd. N.E., Atlanta)
5 p.m.-7 p.m. ET ~ Publix at Coweta Crossroads (100 Glenda Place, Newnan)
5 p.m.-7 p.m. ET ~ Publix at The Peach (2900 Peachtree Road, N.E., Atlanta)

Saturday, February 5
10 a.m.-12 p.m. ET ~ Publix at Promenade (1625 Pleasant Hill Drive, Duluth)
10 a.m.-12 p.m. ET ~ Home Depot Merchants Walk (4101 Roswell Road, Marietta)
Publix at Dacula Village (720 Dacula Road, Dacula)
4 p.m.-6 p.m. ET ~ Publix at Alpharetta Commons (4305 State Bridge Road, Alpharetta)
4 p.m.-6 p.m. ET ~ Publix at Rose Creek Plaza (4403 Towne Lake Parkway, Woodstock)

“Camp Leo", the Braves’ annual pre-spring training pitching minicamp started by Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone in 1991, gets underway on Wednesday, February 2nd. The 10-day gathering of Braves pitchers leads up to the voluntary reporting date for pitchers and catchers on Thursday, February 17th.

The camp will allow Mazzone his first chance to impart his pitching philosophy to new acquisitions like Tim Hudson. Relievers Dan Kolb, Gabe White, Kevin Gryboski, Chris Reitsma, and Tom Martin will not be in camp this week. Ditto for John Smoltz who is in Michigan honoring an old coach of his.

Mazzone asks his starters to throw from a mound twice between starts rather than the one time most pitching coaches espouse. Each pitcher will throw off a mound five times during the minicamp, presumably giving Braves pitchers an advantage in terms of endurance throughout spring training and the regular season. Last season Braves pitchers used the disabled list only four times, lending yet further credence to Mazzone’s teachings.