Braves set to christen new stadium

ATLANTA — The new Braves stadium is ready for its first real unveiling.

The new Braves team remains an unfinished work.

After opening the season on a long trip, the Braves are only 2-6 and again last in the NL East.

But a sellout crowd will be watching Friday night when the Braves finally play their first regular-season game at SunTrust Park against the Padres.

It will be the first real test of the suburban park’s ability to accommodate Atlanta’s traffic. The issue was complicated by a fire under an overpass that has shut down a section of Interstate 85, one of the major interstates in the city, for several weeks.

After only 20 years at Turner Field, originally built for the 1996 Olympics, the Braves moved north to Cobb County.

A large complex around the stadium will include a hotel, apartments, restaurants, a concert venue, office buildings and other businesses.

Commissioner Rob Manfred, who plans to attend Friday night’s game, said the development is a game-changer for baseball.

“There has never been some- thing this massive around a baseball stadium, and it’s really an amazing accomplishment,” Manfred said last month.

The park handled its first test when many fans arrived early for an exhibition against the Yankees two weeks ago, but only seasonticket holders were invited.

On Friday night, an expected crowd of 41,000 will double the demands on access and parking.

A strong finish to the 2016 season could not lift the Braves out of last place, but it bolstered hopes the 2017 team would be more competitive.

So far, at least, those have not come to fruition. hopes