Augusta Greenjackets Tickets

Sports leagues usually follow a historic perspective before naming their teams and at times in this process quite unlikely names come in the forefront. There is one such team that was named in honor of The Masters golf tournament held in Augusta, where the winner receives a green jacket. The fame touching The Augusta GreenJackets are a minor league baseball team that plays in Augusta, Georgia as a Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Although Augusta has fielded a team in the South Atlantic League since 1988 but at present Lake Olmstead Stadium has been the home of the Greenjackets since the 1995 season.

Before the Giants took over the club's affiliation after the 2004 season, the GreenJackets were a part of the Boston Red Sox organization. The Red Sox' relationship with Augusta met with immediate success when the Greenjackets won the South Atlantic League championship in their first year as an affiliate team.

History leaves behind marks that are often hard to scratch and replace. Augusta has a long and storied baseball history that predates the GreenJackets. Baseball has been entrenched in the fabric of Augusta 's community dating back to 1885 with the Augusta Browns. Over the next 122 years, Augusta was home to twelve minor league teams culminating into nine league championships. Over the years, Augusta has seen many different team name changes over the years from the original Browns (1885-86), to the Tourists (1904-11 & 1914-16), Dollies (1919), Tigers (1923, 1936-42, 1946-52 & 1955-58), Yankees (1962-63), Pirates (1988-93) and many others too but the satisfaction was gained finally when Greenjackets became an emblem of victory and passion of young baseballers.

After going without a baseball team for 25 years, modern day baseball returned to Augusta in 1988 with the Augusta Pirates. In 1994, the team was renamed the GreenJackets and moved into their newly built home, Lake Olmstead Stadium, in 1995. Before the San Francisco Giants took over the club's affiliation, the GreenJackets were a part of the Boston Red Sox organization. In October 2005, a new era of professional baseball in Augusta began when Ripken Baseball officially took over the daily operations of the Augusta GreenJackets.

Augusta was also the Spring Training home for several Major League Teams in the early 1900s with the teams like Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Boston Braves and the NY Giants getting Spring Training in Augusta before the start of their big league season. Since baseball returned in 1988, Augusta has seen countless players move up to the Major League level, including players such as Tim Wakefield, Moises Alou, Bronson Arroyo, Jason Kendall, Estaban Loaiza, Aramis Ramirez, Freddy Sanchez, and back to back Rookies of the Year in Hanley Ramirez (NL '06) and Dustin Pedroia (AL '07).

Arena selection has now become a hallmark symbol for the teams to attain privacy, training and fan assurance too. Lake Olmstead Stadium has been the home of the GreenJackets since the 1995 season, although Augusta has fielded a team in the South Atlantic League since 1988. Built primarily as a baseball facility between 1994 and 1995, Lake Olmstead Stadium has been transformed by the GreenJackets into a versatile entertainment center for Augusta and the surrounding communities. With a seating capacity of 4,822, Lake Olmstead Stadium is the third smallest ballpark in the 16-team league.

With the seating capacity of nearly 1,000 box seats, 830 reserved seats and over 2,500 general admission seats, the management felt the need of expanding it to suffice the public turn over. Practically applying the expansion plan in 2006, the Budweiser Party Pavilion was built down the right field line. This new area can host picnics anywhere from 20 people to as many as 500 people. Since 2006 Lake Olmstead Stadium has seen a renovation of the Kid's Zone thus catering to all types of public which provides more fan comfort.

Lake Olmstead Stadium has been the site of events associated with The Masters golf tournament, many concerts including Bob Dylan, Augusta State Baseball, high school baseball games and many social events like the Alzheimer's Association Memory Walk, the Annual Masters Beach Blast Concert, and other special events as well.