Atlanta ? A change of scenery may be all that Mike Hampton needs.

The left-hander had a chance two years ago to join the Atlanta Braves as a free agent but opted instead for a $121 million, eight-year deal with the Colorado Rockies instead.

After spending two miserable seasons in Colorado’s hitter-friendly Coors Field, Hampton is getting another opportunity to pitch in Atlanta, arriving via a three-team trade on Monday that wound up with a record amount of cash ” $36.5 million ” changing hands.

“It’s pure excitement,” Hampton said Wednesday during a news conference introducing him to the Atlanta media. “It’s something we had a chance to do two years ago, but I’m a little hard-headed. So it took me two years to find the right airplane, and we finally made it.”

The Braves got $30 million to help pay Hampton’s huge contract. The Rockies got rid of the expensive contract although they will wind up paying him $49 million for his two seasons there, and the Florida Marlins ” the third team involved in the trade ” saved about $23 million.

Hampton, 30, was terrible in Denver’s thin air. In two years, he went 12-26 with a 6.62 ERA for the Rockies. Last season, he was 7-15 with a 6.15 ERA, the highest in the major leagues among qualifying pitchers.

“I’d really rather focus on here and now,” said Hampton when asked about his Colorado experience.

“That was really a time that’s in the past. You know if anything, confidence might have been the main factor,” he said. “But, I’m looking forward to moving ahead. So I’d like to put those Colorado questions on the side and talk about what’s ahead.”

Hampton said what kept him going was thinking about his success in the past with the Houston Astros ” six consecutive winning seasons, including 22-4 in 1999 ” and his 15-10 record in his only season with the New York Mets.

Overall, he has a 106-81 record and 3.98 ERA in nine-plus seasons in the majors.

“I felt like that’s about all I was doing the last year-and-a-half,” said Hampton. “I was trying to figure out what I could do to get back to the way it was.”