The Atlanta Crackers planted the seeds for the city’s Braves baseball team to succeed

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – There is a sense of pride among Braves fans that is on display in Atlanta and a big hit at the ballpark.

The team has won 23 divisional titles, more than any other in the Big Leagues and some say their winning ways come from deep roots planted before their time.

90-year-old Taylor “T-Bone” Phillips has a memory as sharp as his ‘ole pitching arm. But 90 is far from being the most important stat in this baseball story.

“I think I’m probably one of the most blessed people to ever put a uniform on,” Phillips said.

Phillips pitched for the minor league Atlanta Crackers in the 1950s before the Braves moved to the city. The team played at Ponce de Leon Park, across the street from what is now Ponce City Market.

“They had 15,000 people out there. They had people sitting on the sidelines and field and the stands were full,” Phillips said.

The Crackers were part of the Southern Association League winning more games than any other team during a 60-year span and earning the nickname “Yankees of the Minors.”

Crackers historian Joel Alterman recalls going to his first ballgame at the park on Ponce when he was 9.

“There was a little bank about a foot high and the center fielder as he’s going back for a fly ball could actually jump up on the bank because there was no fence. Eddie Matthews actually hit a home run that went into the magnolia tree on that bank,” Alterman said.

The magnolia tree that stood in the centerfield still stands to this day. It’s now located behind a shopping center and is recognized as a piece of Atlanta baseball history.

“I threw some that went in there,” Phillips said. “You think I was perfect?”

Many historians also said that the great Babe Ruth once hit a home run into the magnolia tree and the ball was never found.

“That tree was 450 feet from home plate, and it has to be 25-30 feet high. So that ball would have gone 550 feet,” Phillips said.

T-bone Phillips went on to pitch in the major leagues, winning a world series with the Milwaukee Braves. He later returned to the Crackers to close out his career, throwing out the last pitch in Ponce de Leon Park.

“That is a great blessing. To close down one of the greatest establishments. How many other people could have had that opportunity and it fell on me,” Phillips said.

Once the Braves moved to Atlanta in the 1960s, it was the beginning of a new era of baseball in the city.

“It’s like from generation to generation. It just keeps going and the stimulus is Atlanta baseball,” Alterman said.

To mark the transition, a nonprofit called Trees Atlanta took seedlings from the iconic magnolia on Ponce and planted one outside Truist Park.

“That tree is alive, and it makes everybody that sees it or knows about it, it makes them happy,” Phillips said.

It goes to show that sowing seeds of greatness will allow fans to reap the rewards for generations to come.