When the Atlanta Braves hosted the New York Yankees at Turner Field Tuesday night to open a three-game series, I was among the 40,828 fans fortunate enough to witness two of the more successful franchises of the 1990s.

Sure, neither team is what they once were. The Braves haven’t made the postseason since 2005 and, at 34-38 (as of this writing) and in fourth place in the NL East, odds are they won’t make it again this year. However, the Yankees were also shut out of postseason play last fall after 13 consecutive appearances and find themselves currently tied for the wild card with Toronto this year.

Sure, the Yankees no longer have Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams, all of whom played key roles in leading the Bronx Bombers to four world titles in five years. With the exception of third baseman Chipper Jones, the Braves can say the same about Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine from their 1995 World Championship team, not to mention the fact that the Braves themselves appeared in five World Series that decade.

But you would have thought both teams had entered a time machine and blasted their way to 1996 or 1999 — the last time they faced one another in the Fall Classic (both of which my New York Yankees won, by the way) or their Interleague matchups that occurred regularly through the late 90s. In other words, a playoff atmosphere rocked Turner Field like none I have ever witnessed in that marvelous facility.

While the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, now a parking lot across from Turner Field, dramatically pales in comparison to The Ted, it was there where I had the opportunity to witness both teams achieve some pretty significant postseason victories.

I was at the old stadium in 1995 when Maddux led the Braves past the Cincinnati Reds in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series (they would clinch a World Series trip the following night and win it all within a couple of weeks). The following year, my wife, Denise (a Braves fan) and I were sitting in the stands as the pitching of David Cone and a key home run by Bernie Williams led the Yankees to a 5-2 victory in Game 3 of the World Series.

Just a day earlier, the Yankees had been blasted at home by the Braves to fall behind two games to none and the Braves, the defending World Series champions, appeared unstoppable in their quest for back-to-back titles. The Bombers desperately needed Game 3 and got it, putting them back in Series contention.

The following night, Jim Leyritz smashed a three-run homer against Mark Wohlers to tie the score and the Yankees would eventually tie the series at two with their comeback win, providing momentum they would never relinquish. By the end of the week, New York had won its fourth consecutive game to capture its first world championship in 18 years.

That series set in motion the Yankees last dynasty to date, one that would also see the hoisting of World Series trophies in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

The Braves’ 1995 World Series victory over Cleveland marked the franchise’s only championship in Atlanta. Their last series appearance occurred in 1999 when the Yankees swept the Braves in four games.

However, Tuesday night seemed like old times with Yankee fans invading Turner Field in their pinstripe or grey and blue colors and Braves fans doing the Tomahawk Chop and booing Derek Jeter whenever he came to bat. You could hear comments about the Yankees $200 million payroll, both from Braves fans and even the Braves announcers on the jumbotron prior to the game.

On a typical visit to Turner Field, I wear something “Braves” because, unless they play the Yankees, they are the team I pull for. However, as the enemy Tuesday night, I experienced up close how obnoxious some Braves fans can be — you know, the ones that have to keep getting up and down, are too busy trying to be loud and think they have to be obnoxious to be funny. Of course, every team has those fans but I just don’t remember seeing that from the Braves because they usually aren’t that vocal during the other times we attend games at “The Ted” during the year.

Unfortunately for my son, Gavin, my daughter, Deanne, and me, the Yankees lost 4-0, leaving Denise as the only happy camper. Although I hate to lose at anything and equally hate to see my teams struggle, there comes a perspective with age where it’s not always about wins or losses, it’s about the experience.

It’s about the experience of seeing two bonafide future Hall of Famers in Jeter for the Yankees and Jones for the Braves and, depending on whether A-Rod overcomes the negative press regarding his positive steroids test announced earlier this year, the number may reach three. It’s also about living within a couple of hours of watching the best MLB has to offer — whether you pull for the Braves, the Yankees, the Red Sox (who will play in Atlanta this weekend) or the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies next week. It’s about seeing Braves pitching phenom Tommy Hanson and Yankees top pitching prospect Phil Hughes (in a relief role). It’s about seeing the most successful franchise in ALL of professional sports — the New York Yankees and their record 26 world championships — and it’s about seeing Derek Jeter break Babe Ruth, yes BABE RUTH’S, career doubles record with the Yankees with my own eyes.

Certainly, I would have preferred the Yankees won, just as they did the last time I saw them play in Atlanta in 1998 and four of the previous five times I’ve seen them play. But considering that having the opportunity to see my favorite MLB team in person has been about as rare as Hailey’s Comet, I have learned to appreciate the experience at least as much as the end result.

Standing there after the game, witnessing Braves fans hooting and hollering as if they had finally beaten the Yankees in the World Series when, in reality, it was a meaningless regular season game, led me to remember just how thrilling the games were between these two franchises when both were playing for all the marbles. For one brief moment, it was if the ghosts of those 1990s Braves squads had inhabited the bodies of the 2009 team and inspired them to play at a level not seen since the days of former owner Ted Turner.

Hopefully, both teams will eventually make it back to the World Series and face one another again. Considering it’s been a decade since that occurred, that would really be something.

All in all, the experience of just sitting with my family and talking baseball was the most enjoyable part of Tuesday night. While Gavin and Deanne were five-and-a-half and eight years old, respectively, the last time they saw the Yankees play in Yankee Stadium in 1999, now, as teenagers, they can now vividly remember witnessing Jeter, A-Rod and their other favorites in action. That is what makes sports, especially baseball, so great — the opportunity to sit back and experience memories that will last a lifetime while passing down the love of the game from one generation to the next — something that was again proven on a hot, muggy evening at Turner Field.