With alumni in town, Braves unveil Memorial Diamond

ATLANTA -- With over 50 former players in town for Alumni Weekend, the Braves unveiled a new Memorial Diamond outside the stadium before Saturday's game against the D-backs to honor deceased Atlanta alumni and Braves Hall of Fame members.

Flanked by six former Braves, including pitchers Steve Avery, Steve Bedrosian and Greg McMichael, Braves president John Schuerholz explained the decision to honor every Atlanta player, coach or manager who spent two or more years with the team with a brick installed in the diamond containing their name, position, years they played and the year they died.

"We'll get a chance for our fans to walk by, to see a name that they remember as a player and pay their respects however they like, or just remember the good times and the contributions that person has made to our organization," Schuerholz said. "We thought this was a most appropriate weekend to do this."

"We're excited about how it turned out," McMichael said. "It's beautiful, and I can't think of a better honor for the alumni to be able to have a place for some of our deceased alumni to be memorialized."

Double bricks were installed for deceased members of the Braves' Hall of Fame, including pitcher Lew Burdette, whose daughter Mary Lou Burdette-Wieloszynski was on hand for the ceremony.

"To be able to be here is very special, because whenever we come up every year, it's like an opportunity to feel closer to our dad and memories of seeing the family, the Braves, that he was a part of for so long," Burdette-Wieloszynski said. "Just the way that the Braves' organization treats us, we're very humbled by that and very grateful."

The unveiling ceremony took place in Monument Grove and was followed by the Legends softball game featuring former Braves players split into teams captained by John Smoltz and Sid Bream.