The Braves on Thursday during a media tour of SunTrust Park's interior "revealed new details of the ballpark and its amenities," according to a front-page piece by Ricky Leroux of the MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL. While most MLB ballparks, including Turner Field, point northwest from home plate, SunTrust Park "is the opposite: home plate is at the northwest portion of the stadium with a southeast view when looking at center field." Braves Vice Chair John Schuerholz said that this "provides a view of the Atlanta skyline from seats behind the plate." He added that "only three MLB teams" -- the Tigers, the Rangers and the Reds -- have ballparks "with this orientation." Populous Founder & Senior Principal Earl Santee, whose firm designed the ballpark, said that "one of the main qualities the Braves wanted when SunTrust Park was being designed was a sense of intimacy." He said that the seats at SunTrust Park "are between 30 and 50 feet closer to the field than their equivalents at Turner Field, a feat accomplished by bringing the non-field level seats closer to the playing surface by having them projecting further into the stadium." He added that the a 108,000-square-foot canopy -- the largest in MLB -- "will cover about" 60% of fans. Also unveiled during Thursday’s tour were "more details of the Xfinity Rooftop area above right field, which will offer views of both the stadium and the adjacent mixed-use development, The Battery Atlanta." The rooftop area, "open to any ticket holder, will feature an indoor lounge area with a bar, an airstream trailer that will serve as a food truck-style eatery and even ping pong and foosball tables" (MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL, 5/6).
