Sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
Braves players in the Baseball Hall of Fame include Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Eddie Mathews, Fred McGriff, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry, John Smoltz, Warren Spahn, Bruce Sutter, and Hoyt Wilhelm.
Braves executive John Schuerholz entered the Hall in July 2017 for his accomplishments in that role.
The Augusta GreenJackets play in the Carolina League and have been affiliated with the San Francisco Giants since 2005.
After the relocation of the Sand Gnats, Savannah's Grayson Stadium became the home of the Savannah Bananas of the Coastal Plain League, a wood-bat collegiate summer league, In 2020, the Bananas gained nationwide attention for an unorthodox style of play dubbed Banana Ball, starting a professional exhibition team that plays under that rule set.
[2] After the 2022 season, the Bananas shut down their collegiate summer team to focus entirely on their professional exhibition operation.
Notable current and former Hawks include Walt Bellamy, Cliff Hagan, Connie Hawkins, Bob Houbregs, Moses Malone, Pete Maravich, Ed Macauley, Bob Pettit, Lenny Wilkens, Dominique Wilkins, and Trae Young.
The Falcons have won seven Division Championships in 1980, 1982, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2012 and 2016 and two Conference Championships in 1998 and 2016. Notable current and former players include Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Eric Dickerson, Tommy McDonald, William Andrews, Jeff Van Note, Michael Vick, Jessie Tuggle, Mike Kenn, Marion Campbell, Dan Reeves, Greg Brezina, Ray Buchanan, Buddy Curry, T. J. Duckett, Bill Fralic and Wallace Francis.
The Atlanta Legends played in the Alliance of American Football in 2019, with home games at the Georgia State Stadium.
This team initially played at Philips Arena, but later moved its home games to the suburb of Duluth.
The AFL was relaunched in 2010, and a new version of the Force arrived in 2011 when the Alabama Vipers relocated from Huntsville.
[10] Hockey's history in Georgia goes back to the 1970s with the Atlanta Flames, who played in the state until 1980 when they were relocated to Calgary.
It was not until October 2, 1999 that hockey formally returned with the Atlanta Thrashers' first game against the New Jersey Devils.
They only won one division title during the 2006–07 NHL season and were swept in the first round by the New York Rangers.
The Atlanta Gladiators play all of their homes games at Gas South Arena in Duluth.
The Augusta Lynx were first formed in 1998, but due to financial concerns were forced to cease operations halfway through the 2008 season.
The Macon Mayhem is currently the only team in Georgia that is part of the Southern Professional Hockey League.
The club succeeded the former Atlanta Beat of the defunct Women's United Soccer Association.
The tournament was created in 1931 by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, a financier from New York City.
The Atlanta Rhinos joined the North American Rugby League for its inaugural season in 2022.
LaGrange College is in the NCAA Division III with 14 sports, and competes as a member of the Collegiate Conference of the South.
The school's most successful athletic program is its men's golf team, which is perennially among the nation's best.
[25] It was during this time, on July 27, 1996, that a bombing took place in Centennial Park killing two and injuring 111 people.
