Bottom of the fifth. The Braves are ahead, 4-3, against the Cardinals. Usher Walter Banks takes the field.
The announcer draws the crowd’s attention to the outfield wall where Banks and No. 79 await.
The giant numerals, visible even from the nosebleed seats, represent the number of home games remaining at Turner Field before the Braves move to Cobb County. Throughout the season the team is presenting this farewell pageantry with notables chosen to take down digits at each home game.
The man yanking the number this Friday night in April grew up not far from where he is standing and has worked for the Braves since they got to town.
“More than career longevity, Walter is known for his humble personality, his razor-sharp knowledge of baseball and his ability to make everyone feel right at home in Braves country,” the announcer booms. A video montage and photos from his 50-plus year career, including one of him with former President Jimmy Carter, beam down from a giant screen.
The number comes down. Banks waves. Turner Field cheers and chops. St. Louis ends up besting Atlanta 7-4, but for Banks, the night is one of triumph. (photo by Pouya Dianat/Atlanta Braves)
Photo: Banks’ home is filled with photographs of family members, including parents Walton and Lillian Banks, visible top right. He also has lots of Braves memorabilia collected over the years, which fills several scrapbooks. Hyosub Shin/AJC
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Sports ambassador
How many seams are there on a baseball? That’s the sort of numerical ice breaker Banks engages in with fans, and his trove of fascinating tidbits is enormous. Pick any number between 1 and 100 and he’ll give you a history, geography or cultural lesson.
“Ten? Chipper Jones was No. 10. His daddy was No. 10,” Banks said one night before the first pitch. “They had a ranch in Texas called Double Dime. Texas was the 28th state. Eight and two is 10. The ranch was on 10,000 acres. When he got hurt in 2010, he hit 10 home runs. His birthday is April 24. Four and four is eight and two is 10.”
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“You’re on row 18,” he said, taking note of a fan’s seat. “Louisiana was the 18th state. The White House opened in 1800 and it’s on 18 acres. Ryan Klesko used to wear number 18. Now Jeff Francoeur does.”
(It felt churlish to Google this, but it all checks out.)
Who wore No. 31? That was a grapefruit floating across the plate, and Banks sent it into the stands.
“Greg. Maddux. He wore 31 for the Cubs, too. I think they retired 31 twice because Ferguson Jenkins wore 31 and Greg Maddux wore 31. Ferguson Jenkins might have been one of the first persons from Canada ever to go into the Hall of Fame. He also played for the Harlem Globetrotters. He was a real athlete.”
(Check, check, check, check).
Banks turns 77 on July 1 (the same birthday as the late Princess Diana and Olympian Carl Lewis, he notes). He is the Atlanta Braves’ longest-serving usher and one of its longest-serving employees.
In the stands, his gait is deliberate but unrushed, like a batter waiting for the right pitch. His gentle Southern accent soaks into each word like molasses sinking into a biscuit. “Fun” and “kid” are two-syllable words when he speaks them.
Spend time in Banks’ section and you’ll pick up trivia such as how Portland, Ore., got its name. (Founders who wanted to name it after their hometowns back east tossed a coin and the guy from Portland, Maine, beat the one from Boston.) Or why the British drive on the left side of the road. (In the day of horseback travel, when a case of road rage might involve swords, it was handy to approach coming travelers with your right hand on the outside. They never bothered switching sides when wheels replaced hooves.)
Banks’ love of learning started with his love of baseball. Growing up, he and his dad would listen to the Atlanta Crackers, the minor league team that pre-dated the Braves, on the radio. The broadcasts filled his young head with numbers as announcers rattled off stats, and they inspired him to learn about the towns from which opposing teams hailed.
“I learned all the names — the Birmingham Barons, the Mobile Bears, the Memphis Chicks, Chattanooga Lookouts, Nashville Vols, the Little Rock Travelers,” he said. “I was interested in people and always wanted to go to different cities, but we didn’t have a car. I said, ‘One day I want to be able to go to different towns.’”
And then one day, the world came to him.
The Home Team
This is the first in a series of articles looking at Turner Field in its final season and those affected by the Braves’ move to Cobb County next season.
Coming Wednesday
Some of the Braves’ long-time merchandise vendors ponder the move to Cobb County
Coming later this season
A generation of fans prepare to say goodbye to Turner Field
A look back at the legacy of Turner Field beyond the Braves
Behind-the-scenes look at ballpark cuisine and the folks who serve it.
HOW WE GOT THE STORY
During the Atlanta Braves’ final season at Turner Field, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution plans a number of stories about “The Home Team,” folks who live and work around the ballpark and help make game day what it is. We couldn’t think of a better story to include in the series than a profile of one of the most dedicated and beloved figures of Turner Field. In the decades Walter Banks has spent working for one of Atlanta’s great institutions, he’s become one himself.
Jennifer Brett
Multimedia reporter /
digital coach
personaljourneys@ajc.com
ABOUT THE REPORTER
Jennifer Brett is a multiplatform journalist and digital coach at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She is a North Carolina native and graduate of the University of North Carolina. She and her husband live in Cobb County, home of Atlanta Braves prospect Dansby Swanson and soon to be home of the Braves themselves.
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