Gwinnett Braves rookie first baseman Freddie Freeman has been named the International League’s Rookie of the Year:

20-year-old first baseman Freddie Freeman of Gwinnett lived up to his billing by MLB.com as one of the top 40 prospects in the game, earning IL Rookie of the Year honors.

Freeman will be called up to Atlanta tomorrow, according to the AJC’s Mark Bradley and many suspect he’ll be there next season as well.

USA Today is running a poll on who folks think they should select for Minor League Player Of The Year. Braves 1B Freddie Freeman is currently in second and needs your help!

Click here to vote and be sure to forward this to your friends.

Here are the five finalists:

OF Domonic Brown, Phillies: He turns 23 on Sept. 3. Brown had 20 home runs and 17 stolen bases at Class AA and AAA before joining the Phillies earlier this month.

1B Freddie Freeman, Braves: He turns 21 on Sept. 12, at which point he could be playing in Atlanta. Freeman has put up big numbers as a 20-year-old at Class AAA and figures to be the Braves’ first baseman next year.

RHP Jeremy Hellickson, Rays: The 23-year-old went 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA at Class AAA before being promoted to the majors, where he has won his first three starts.

3B Mike Moustakas, Royals: He turns 22 on Sept. 11 and has emerged at Class AA and AAA this season. The second overall pick in 2007, Moustakas had never had an OPS of more than .822 until 2010.

RHP Michael Pineda, Mariners: The 21-year-old has split the season at Class AA and AAA and averaged more than a strikeout and inning at each stop. He figures to be in the Mariners rotation at some point in 2011.

Hat Tip: Bravesheart via Twitter

The Gwinnett Braves picked a name for their mascot: Chopper.

The name was unveiled during ceremonies at Lawrenceville Elementary School.

“We plan for our mascot to be a major representation of our team and our brand in the community,” Gwinnett Braves General Manager Bruce Baldwin said in an earlier press release. “For this reason, we wanted our community and future fans to be actively involved in the naming, origin and character of the mascot.”

Chopper is inspired by General Beauregard Lee, Ph.D., the groundhog star of the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn and “Georgia’s Official Weather Prognosticator” fortelling the coming of spring.

The Richmond Braves season has ended and the club is in the process of moving to Gwinnett. A stadium is being built and should be ready by the time the new Gwinnett Braves play their first home game on April 17 against the Norfolk Tides.

The complete schedule is available here (in PDF).

The County Commission will vote soon on a 50% increase in the cost of building a stadium for the Gwinnett Braves. The breakdown of the cost increases are:

> $7.5 million to extend the concourse all the way around the stadium, put a canopy over part of the stadium and upgrade finishes

> $1.5 million to allow for the use of highly treated wastewater to irrigate fields and flush toilets, saving 5 million to 7 million gallons of drinking water a year

> $6.8 million to put the stadium’s storm water detention pond underground, remove unexpected rock, beef up retaining walls to maximize use of the site and increase the size of sewer pipes to deal with a longer-than-expected run to hook up with county facilities

> $1 million to account for increased material costs

> $2.2 million in management fees and other costs that are charged as a percentage of the overall contract

That the stadium will cost more is not a surprise, but a 50% increase over the original projections is quite astounding. Nevertheless Richard Tucker, Chairman of the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau doesn’t see what the big deal is. Tucker told the AJC:

“While it appears somewhat shocking I guess how big the increase is, it is not shocking to us,”

Tucker also told the Gwinnett Daily Post:

“This happens every day in the real estate business,” said Tucker, a developer. “You adjust to it and you do it. In this case, they are public funds, so we are even more careful.”

Richard Tucker is a smart businessman and you can’t tell me that he would simply smile and “just do it” if one of his developments suddenly cost 50% more than originally thought. Wouldn’t it make sense to step back and recalculate the viability of that project? Yet Tucker and others involved in this have no need to worry because the County Commission has absolutely no choice but to approve spending this money. The Richmond Braves are coming, opening day is next April, and the stadium better be ready. If Gwinnett were to back out now they would never get another shot at minor-league baseball.

Over time this will be forgotten and sure, I’m still excited about the Braves coming to Gwinnett, but the ease at which Richard Tucker and the others involved in the construction of the stadium spent an additional $19 million is mind-boggling. I guess it’s easy when it’s not coming directly out of your own pocket.

Win tickets to see Dave Ramsey Live at the Gwinnett Arena on September 13th. Click here to enter. Deadline for entry is Midnight Friday August 29, 2008.

Fun Stuff

The Gwinnett Braves want your help in naming their mascot. Read about it here.

Sports

Former Parkview High School star Eric Shanteau made it to the semi-finals of the 200m breast stroke at the Beijing Olympics but sadly no further. Another athlete with Gwinnett ties is in the Games. Former Norcross track star Jangy Addy will compete in the Decathlon for Liberia.

The Atlanta Silverbacks take on the Charlotte Battery on Saturday at Silverbacks Park. The match starts at 7:55 PM. You can watch the game live by clicking here.

Concerts/Music/Movies

The big event comes up on Monday August 18 as the American Idols Live tour rolls into the Gwinnett Arena. The concert begins at 7:00 PM.

Duluth has another installment in their “Flicks on the Bricks” series with The Waterhorse on Saturday the 16th at dusk.

Edwin McCain, Sam Thacker and Gareth Asher will perform at the Suwanee Town Green in a free concert on Saturday at 7:00 PM.

Two shows at Wild Bill’s in Duluth. Friday features Babe’s Bayou and Saturday Bill Gentry.

The Sweetwater Showdown continues this weekend at the Sweetwater Bar and Grill. Click here to see which bands are playing on Friday and Saturday.

Departure plays at Luby’s Bar and Grill on Friday night August 15th.

Atmosphere hosts Kush on Friday and Radio Cult on Saturday.

Theatre/Arts

Damn Yankee’s continues at the Aurora Theatre through September 7.

The Red Clay Theatre has a Saturday performance of Playing in Traffic

Folk Fest 2008 art show and sale takes place this weekend at the North Atlanta Trade Center in Norcross. Click here for details.

Connect/Contribute

Planning to attend one of these events or any other event that happens in Gwinnett? Let me know. Click here and fill out the form to tell us what happened.

You can follow Exurban Adventures on Twitter (click here) and become a fan (click here) on Facebook. Don’t forget to sign up for our RSS feed.

The Gwinnett Braves have picked a mascot and want your help in naming him.

Inspired by General Beauregard Lee, the well-known
weather forecaster that makes his home at the Yellow River Game Ranch in
Lilburn, the fuzzy, burrowing rodent was the first choice for the face of Gwinnett’s
own minor league team.

“We’re pretty pleased to be able to deliver something that has some local ties,”
Gwinnett Braves assistant general manager Toby Wyman said.

Wyman said the Gwinnett community didn’t have an opportunity to name the
team, as communities typically do when getting a minor league organization, but
naming the mascot may be the next best thing.

“The mascot, for us from the minor league standpoint, is a really important
representation of our brand and our team,” Wyman said. “It will be an
approachable, fun character.”

Contest entries can be submitted online at www.gwinnettdailypost.com or by mail
through Aug. 27. Three finalists will be selected by a panel of Atlanta and
Gwinnett Braves staff members and announced Sept. 1. An online poll will then
be conducted to determine the winning name, and voting will conclude Sept. 5.

Click here to submit your entry.

I stopped by the site for the new Gwinnett Braves stadium today and snapped a few photos of the construction so far.

Sorry to break the news to the kids out there but school starts in less than a month. No need to worry as there’s plenty of fun stuff still to do – below are a just a few of them.

Remember we want your submissions. Use this form to tell us about the movie, concert or event you went to.

The Atlanta Silverbacks host the Portland Timbers at Silverback Park on Friday the 18th at 7:55 PM. Meanwhile the Gwinnett Braves inked a deal to broadcast 144 games on WDUN.

“WDUN 550 will be a great partner for us and we look forward to having them start the team’s new chapter in Gwinnett,” said Bruce Baldwin, Gwinnett Braves General Manager.

Current and longtime WSB radio sports director, Tony Schiavone, will be heard on all WDUN games as the play-by-play announcer. He will be joined in the booth with Judd Hickinbotham for all home games.

“Our affiliation with The Atlanta Braves goes back to 1966 and now to launch a new affiliation with The Gwinnett Braves to serve the growing Gwinnett – Northeast Georgia community is even more exciting,” said Jay Jacobs, President of Jacobs Media and WDUN Newstalk 550.

The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Regional will be at Road Atlanta this weekend. A schedule of events can be found here.

The Simon dTour comes to Discover Mills and the Mall of Georgia. On Saturday July 19, Kate Voegele will perform at Discover Mills from 3:00 – 9:00 PM. Then on Sunday July 20, The All-American Rejects will be at the Mall of Georgia from 12:00 – 6:00 PM.

The City of Duluth continues their Supergigs concert series with the New Rascals on Friday the 19th at 8:30 PM. Saturday the 20th Duluth’s Flicks on the Bricks series features the Princess Bride.

“Beauty And The Beast” is the latest production of the New London Theatre beginning Friday and running through August 3rd. Click here for more information on the New London Theatre.

Last week I interviewed talk show host and author Dave Ramsey about his Total Money Makeover LIVE event coming to the Gwinnett Arena on September 13th. Next week I’ll announce details of a ticket giveaway for this event and how you can enter.

You can follow Exurban Adventures on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Over 5000 have signed a petition asking the Braves to reconsider the decision to move the Richmond Braves to Gwinnett.

It’s time to finally, for the first time as a city – as a region – to stand and be heard. We love our Braves. We want them to stay. It’s not too late for Atlanta to change it’s mind about moving OUR Braves. Let’s convince Atlanta that it’s beneficial for them to keep their developed fan base in Virginia. Despite our city’s broken leadership, we support our team staying for another 40 years.