PONCE DE LEON PARK

Well before the Braves came to town, Atlanta was home to one of the most majestic Minor League stadiums in the country: Ponce de Leon Park, or “Old Poncey,” as the locals affectionately referred to it. Originally built in 1908 (it burned down in 1923 and was rebuilt), Poncey was a marvel. It seated 20,000, and even sat next to train tracks on which conductors would occasionally stop to take in a game. But one of Poncey’s most distinctive features was an odd one — in deep center field, there was a giant magnolia tree.

Poncey is believed to be the only professional park to ever include specific ground rules for a tree — it remained very much in play until 1946, when the team’s owner moved the fences in because we can’t have nice things. The tree was only rarely a factor, though. The park played 462 feet to dead center, and legend has it that only two players ever managed to reach the tree on the fly: Eddie Mathews and Babe Ruth.

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