Atlanta caught fire in two ways on July 20, 1993.First, a couple ofhours before the Braves' game against the Cardinals during batting practice, in fact part of the stadium's pre s box burst into flames when a food-heating unit Jarrod Dyson Jersey ruptured, leading to a scaryinferno of bangs and explosions that delayedthe game by two hours.MORE: Entering the day's play, the Braves, two-time defending NL West champions, were 53-41 and in second place,nine games behind the Giants for the division lead. To try to chip away at the lead, the Braves traded for slugger Fred McGriff, who had been in a Braves uniform only a fewhours when the pre s box fire erupted.Given the timing of it all, everyone had jokes.As the smoke and flames bellowed out that evening, Curt Schilling Jersey fans and media members cracked that the fire was symbolic of McGriff's arrival the spark the team needed to catch the Giants.Once the game started, though, a lot of people changed their minds. The Cardinals jumped out Matt Andriese Jersey to a 5-0 lead, and the Braves looked flat hitle s into the fifth inning, and McGriff 0 for 2.Then came the sixth.Bill Pecotaand Deion Sanders singled with one out, then Jeff Blauser blasted a homer to narrow the score to 5-3. After another single from Ron Gant, McGriff stepped up. Then this happened ...The Braves went on to win the game 8-5, and they won a lot more after that.From July 20 forward, theywent 51-17,erased the Giants' big lead and won the division by one game on the last day of the season with their 104th win Paul Goldschmidt Jersey .Nearly a quarter-century later, the pre s box fire is still revered as a positive, symbolic omen that portended both McGriff's offensive Clay Buchholz Jersey spark and the surge thatsent the Atlanta ninetoward a third straight division title. (For a vintage report on the game and what it meant for the team, click .)It's hyperbolic to say, but it's hard to argue against: The day their stadium caught fire in 1993, the Braves did, too.