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NL: Plenty of seats still available in Atlanta

ATLANTA -- Turner Field looked as though it were shutting down for the season, not gearing up for the playoffs.

The Braves opened only one set of ticket booths in the outfield plaza Monday, and that was easily enough to handle demand for the opening-round series against Barry Bonds and the Giants.

There wasn't even a line.

"It's somewhat embarrassing," Antoine Dunams said on his way to a ticket window. "Atlanta is just not as big of a sports town as the other cities, I guess."

Indeed, empty seats at Turner Field have become as much a postseason tradition as, well, the Braves reaching the postseason.

"You know, expectations are high and it's only the first round," fan Fred Mabry said. "People around here will start worrying about it when they get to the World Series."

As of late Tuesday, the Braves had sold about 35,000 tickets for Game 1 today. About 33,000 have been sold for Thursday night's Game 2.

Turner Field holds 50,091. The Braves failed to sell out any of their four 2001 postseason home games.

WHOM DO YOU WANT? Atlanta manager Bobby Cox still was pondering the makeup of his roster a day before Game 1.

Cox was considering whether to keep 11 pitchers or go with three catchers as a precaution in case of injury.

Atlanta starter Javy Lopez has been bothered by a sore shoulder. His backup is Henry Blanco.

"Our catchers are pretty healthy," Cox said. "But carrying a third catcher is on my mind right now instead of an 11th pitcher."

BAKER REMEMBERS: Giants manager Dusty Baker began his playing career with the Braves.

As a black man, he still has poignant memories of playing in the South during the early 1970s.

"It was a very, very trying experience for me at the time," Baker said. "It was a very enlightening experience. It taught me a lot about myself, a lot about people."

He played with the Braves while Hank Aaron was in the waning seasons of his career. Baker, in fact, was in the on deck circle when Aaron hit his 715th homer to break Babe Ruth's record in 1974.

"I first got here when I was 18 years old," Baker said. "It was a lot deeper than sometimes I wish to talk about or think about."

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