Article: Red Sox Road Trip No. 5: The Braves Heritage Tour

[Steve Trefz]

The Red Sox will follow the Braves Heritage tour at the end of May 2025, traveling to Milwaukee then Atlanta. Boston may have lost its team and its name, but can they avoid losing games against these National League powers?

Milwaukee Brewers – May 26-28
American Family Field - Capacity 41,900
2024 Attendance: 2,537,202 (Averaged 21,328 - ranked ninth in NL, 16th overall)

The Red Sox last traveled to Milwaukee in April 2023, and they came away with a series victory. They have only played three series at American Family Field since 2003, with five wins and four losses over that stretch. Now that Boston will be making the road trip to Wisconsin every other year, it will be interesting to see if it remains a neutral field.

American Family Field began as Miller Park in 2001, and 2020 brought new cash inflow and a new name. This retractable-roof complex looks like a combination of an airplane hangar, the Metrodome, and an advertising convention. And yet, when the Brewers have it going on, the place also brings out an energy that can deliver electric baseball.

The Brewers isn’t just a fun name, it’s a destination reality. Local and global-level breweries make this city a beer connoisseur's playground. The Harley-Davidson Museum, Milwaukee Art Museum, and Lake Michigan coastline provide travel stops for a variety of tastes. Once inside the ballpark, the immortal sausage race sometimes goes digital. Bud Selig and Bob Uecker have statues and museums, and this season will carry a special meaning after Uecker's passing.

From Milwaukee, the Red Sox travel to the next and current home of the Braves moniker, Atlanta, Georgia, and the Truist Park megaplex.

Atlanta Braves – May 30-June 1
Truist Park - Capacity 41,084
2024 Attendance: 3,011,765 (Averaged 37,647 - ranked fourth in NL, fifth overall)

In 2024, the Red Sox came to Atlanta in search of a victory and left empty-handed after only mustering two runs in a two-game series. Boston has been traveling to Truist Park to compete in the interleague rivalry home and home series since 2018. The Red Sox have gone 9-5 in that stretch, but it's been a tale of two streaks. Boston won eight of the first nine games there, but Atlanta has taken four of the last five. The Red Sox hope the trends flip again in their favor for the next few seasons.

Baseball arrived in Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1966, but the national audience for the Braves arrived with TBS. Even a kid in the middle-of-nowhere South Dakota could watch the Braves, and this made their runs in the 1990s must-see TV. The Atlanta Fulton County Stadium we watched in 1991 made way for Turner Field (also known as Olympic Stadium) in 1997. The Braves' most recent move in 2017 took them to the suburbs, to mixed reviews. On the one hand, the Braves got a chance to build a baseball community center with neighborhood revenue-gathering machines. On the other hand, the racial component to the move was indefensible, and folks now need cars and cash to get to the games.

Truist Park resides in a mixed-use entertainment district called The Battery. Designed to curate the entire baseball consumer’s experience, it's arguably the wave of the future (see also Globe Life Field in Texas). The park is clean and modern in stadium style, with Hank Aaron tributes and historic moment monuments scattered throughout. “The Freeze” (@beatthefreeze) race between innings is also a highlight.

Atlanta boasts the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, MLK Jr. National Historical Park, and the Center for Puppetry Arts. I would steer clear of the puppets, but to each their own. The airport serves as a major hub, so travel to and from Atlanta shouldn't be hard, but travel to and from the ballpark will probably require renting a car or an expensive cab.

Following this week-long road trip, the Red Sox return home for a quick three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels (formerly the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). Will the Red Sox enter this series having held their own against two playoff locks? Or will they be limping home to face the Angels?

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