Braves Win in Return to Roots

The Atlanta Braves returned to their birthplace Friday night and confirmed what their fans here have felt since the team moved to Milwaukee in 1953: The wrong team left Boston.

Playing the Red Sox for the first time, the Braves got strong pitching from John Smoltz and home runs by Fred McGriff and Greg Colbrunn to beat the team that chased them out of town.

“Every player on every team would like to get on a team that handles their business like the Braves,” the Red Sox’s Mo Vaughn said after the Braves’ 9-1 victory. “Their players should be thankful to be on a team like that.”

One bright spot for the Red Sox was Nomar Garciaparra hitting in his 30th consecutive game and extending his record for American League rookies. Benito Santiago holds the major league rookie record of 34.

Both teams wore throwback uniforms with “Boston” on the front.

The Braves played in Boston from the time the franchise was formed in 1871 until the spring of 1953, when sagging attendance convinced owner Lou Perini that he couldn’t compete with the Red Sox.

He moved the Braves to Milwaukee to play in a brand-new County Stadium and then, in 1966, moved them to Atlanta. Except for a couple of exhibition games in the ‘60s, they had not been back.

Like Dodger fans in Brooklyn and Laker fans in Minneapolis, though, Brave fans in Boston have remained loyal--forming the Boston Braves Historical Society with the unofficial motto, “The wrong team left Boston.”

“I didn’t know about all that,” said Smoltz, who spent part of his afternoon reading up on the franchise’s history in the Hub. “I didn’t realize that both teams were really here forever.”

The crowd of 32,577 marked the 13th sellout of the season at Fenway Park. The other two games of the series are also virtually sold out.

“I think it’s great that this happened,” said Brave Manager Bobby Cox, an interleague play supporter. “New cities, new ballparks.”