Atlanta Braves offer free tickets for Hurricane Dorian evacuees

COBB COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - The Atlanta Braves will have some newly-minted fans in the stands as they take on the Toronto Blue Jays.

The team is offering free tickets to evacuees of Hurricane Dorian on Tuesday and Thursday.  

"We're the team of the south," explained Greg Mize, senior director of marketing and innovation for the Braves. "We have fans all areas that are impacted--North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and obviously Georgia and so, you know, as they have to, you know, leave their home and come here to Atlanta, we'd like the opportunity to give them something to do."  

The ticket window opened a little bit before noon and people had already lined up down the sidewalk.

"We're big baseball fans," said Jeff Butcher, who heard about the ticket offer while he and a friend evacuated from Brunswick. "I'm an Indians fan, but I can watch the Braves. Still a little bit upset about the '95 World Series."  

The game offers not just an activity for evacuees, but also an escape.

"It does help the anxiety – just clears our mind about what we left at home," said Danielle Brown, who evacuated from Bluffton, South Carolina with her daughter and several other family members.

To qualify for tickets, fans must provide their driver's license proving their zipcode is in one of the coastal communities under mandatory evacuation orders. Tickets are free while supplies last and should not be sold.