'The Battery's where it's at': fans revel in World Series atmosphere

Oct. 31—CUMBERLAND — The Battery Atlanta was abuzz Saturday afternoon despite the chilly, overcast weather, as Braves fans from all over came to eat, drink and shop ahead of Game 4 of the World Series.

Restaurants and bars were packed while outdoors, fans set up lawn chairs in the greenspace outside Truist Park or waited in long, snaking lines to buy World Series memorabilia at clubhouse shops.

Brothers Mark and Ricky Zoller had waited for two hours but were nearly at the front of the line to shop in the clubhouse. They had time to kill, however, as the game was still seven hours from starting.

The brothers, natives of Gainesville, came to town after securing tickets for Saturday night's game. Mark Zoller, who now lives in Kentucky, brought his 8-year-old son, James. Ricky Zoller lives in Watkinsville, just outside Athens. The brothers' wives encouraged them to get together for a "guys' trip."

Mark Zoller was 8 years old in 1991, when the Braves began their famous division title streak, and remembers the famous slide one year later by Sid Bream, whose run punched the Braves' ticket to the 1992 World Series. Now, he's attending his first World Series game with his 8-year-old son. Young James said he planned to get a jersey once inside the clubhouse. Max Fried, a fellow lefty, is his favorite player.

The father and son went to a game during the last season at Turner Field, but had never been to Truist and The Battery.

"It feels like this is a true test of what they built here, and it's been working out pretty good," Mark Zoller said. "I mean, some problems, but overall, the fan experience has been great."

The trio were at The Battery Friday night, watching the game on the artificial lawn outside the stadium.

"Everyone was living," Mark Zoller said. Despite the cold and rain, fans stayed "warm (by) jumping up and down every other pitch ... When Travis d'Arnaud hit that home run it was an explosion. It was pandemonium."

Ricky Zoller added that he high-fived a stranger so hard he hurt his wrist.

On that same lawn, a family from Charleston, South Carolina, had set up lawn chairs to watch the game outside the stadium. Bobby Ayers, wife Kim, son Zac and Zac's wife, Caylin Curtis, were one of the first groups to claim a spot there, around 9:30 a.m. Saturday. They had a front row seat to the bands playing on the stage in front of the lawn, as well as the TV screen where the game will be shown.

Bobby Ayers and his family weren't able to get tickets, but made the drive from Charleston anyway to experience the atmosphere. Ayers first became a Braves fan growing up in Virginia, following the Richmond Braves, the minor league affiliate that has since moved back to the Atlanta area and become the Gwinnett Stripers.

Smyrna residents Kay Williams and Rose Myers didn't have tickets either — they prefer to watch the games in the warmth and comfort of their homes. Friends since attending college together at Hampton University, the two came to The Battery Saturday to "feel the vibes" and get into the spirit of the fall classic.

As Cobb residents, they love the convenience of The Battery and sometimes bring visitors there, game or not.

"Most people today are just relaxing and chilling out," said Williams, who has lived in the area for 30 years. "I'm not sure half these people even have a ticket."

For Myers, the positivity and unity brought by the Braves' postseason has been a breath of fresh air.

"We need something like this to pull everybody together ... this is timely for Georgia," Myers said. "We need this."

Williams attended Game 6 of the 1995 World Series, when the Braves won it all.

"I saw Dave Justice hit that home run ... that was the tightest game I've ever watched in my life," Williams said. "Nobody would score! And when you heard that bat hit that ball, you could tell by the sound. That was extraordinary."

The opposition

While more than 90% of fans at The Battery wore blue and red, a few orange-clad Texans were milling about. Houstonian Francisco Amaya, wearing Astros gear, spotted San Antononian Scott Maier, who was sporting a jersey of the Corpus Christi Hooks, an Astros minor league affiliate.

"In lieu of wearing Astros paraphernalia, right now I'm wearing this," Maier said. "So whenever we see orange, even if we don't know each other, it's a brotherhood. It's an Astros nation, so we bump fists and catch up."

Amaya works as a bartender at the Astros' Minute Maid Park and has therefore attended several World Series games, owing to the success of the Astros in recent years. He didn't have tickets for the Saturday night game, though, coming to Atlanta simply "for the party" and to "rep my city."

"Actually a Braves fan told me, 'Don't buy a standing room ticket, just go to The Battery, because The Battery's where it's at, it's a stadium outside a stadium,'" Amaya said.

Maier, an Astros fan of 40 years, hasn't been to a World Series game since 2005, the Astros' first ever World Series appearance, but had bought tickets for him and his wife for Saturday night.

"I remember the ticket prices then (in 2005) for the upper deck were about $500 and we were like, 'Wow, that's going to be expensive,'" Maier said. "But now here it is, 16 years later, and it's just a little bit more."

Maier marveled at how many fans had come from out of state, being the main MLB outfit in the Southeast.

"The Braves really are the only team in this area," Maier said. "When you count Tennessee and Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina."

'Cautiously optimistic'

Fans of both sides predicted a win for their team Saturday night.

"I feel like if we can get through this game, I think we got a shot," Bobby Ayers said.

Williams, the Smyrna resident, was confident.

"We are going to win. ... A lot of the batters haven't even shown up yet," Williams said. "So we still got batters to go. And the pitching looks good."

Don't forget home field advantage, Myers added.

Mark Zoller said a championship was a long time coming. He was encouraged by Friday's result, the Astros' first scoreless game this postseason.

His brother, Ricky, was eager to end the theme of Atlanta sports teams choking.

"As Georgia sports fans, you're always waiting for the other shoe to drop," Ricky Zoller said. "So we're cautiously optimistic ... The narrative is now that, 'When are the Braves going to drop the ball,' and I hope that we can finally put that to rest now. After so many close calls, and so many almosts, and so many 'There's always next seasons,' I'm tired of it."

Mark Zoller thinks the Braves have a bright future, no matter the outcome.

"Now we're back in the contention," he said. "We feel like this is going to happen for the next many years, based on what the Braves have built. So, the '90s are back."

Amaya predicted the Astros would win in six games. Maier said he's enjoyed the action so far.

"It's a good series, it brings back the memories of the late '90s and the early 2000s, when the Astros were in the National League, and they played each other," Maier said. "It's nice to be out here, around the fans that we were interacting and mingling with about 20 years ago. And for the most part, they've been nice. Yes, they're gonna give us the heckling. Yes, they're gonna give us the cheater taunts and all that. But all in all, it's been great. ... it's not a vicious little rivalry as we tend to have with other teams, like the Dodgers and the Yankees.

Amaya, referencing the Astros' sign-stealing scandal, said he needed to give Braves fans "a quick lesson on how to decipher the trash can."