MD88 CREW ABORTED TKOF WHEN #1 ALTERNATOR FAILED.

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WE WERE ON A SCHEDULED FLT FROM LGA TO ATL. ALTHOUGH THERE WAS A STEADY RAIN; VISIBILITY WAS GOOD. WE HAD BEEN DISPATCHED WITH AN INOP APU; WHICH HAD IT BEEN WORKING I WOULD HAVE USED TO PROVIDE A BACKUP ELECTRICAL SOURCE ON TKOF. DUE TO WX AROUND LGA; WE WAITED ON THE TXWY NEARLY 2 HRS AS DEPS WERE ALTERNATELY STOPPED AND STARTED. ULTIMATELY; WE WERE CLRED INTO POS ON RWY 13. RAIN HAD NOT LET UP; BUT THE DEP CORRIDOR SHOWED NOTHING MORE THAN RAIN ON RADAR. I ADVISED THE FO WE WOULD DO A STATIC TKOF; NORMAL (NON DERATED) THRUST HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY BRIEFED AND SELECTED. CLRNC FOR TKOF WAS RECEIVED; AND THE FO APPLIED TKOF THRUST AND BEGAN THE TKOF ROLL. I TOOK THE THROTTLES; OBSERVED NORMAL ACCELERATION THROUGH APPROX 85 KTS WHEN I OBSERVED A FLICKER IN COCKPIT LIGHTING AND HEARD THE CLICK OF AN ELECTRICAL XFER RELAY. ASSUMING A GENERATOR FAILURE; I CALLED FOR AND EXECUTED AN ABORT. ALL SYS (ELECTRIC AUTOXFER; AUTOSPOILERS; AND AUTOBRAKING) OPERATED NORMALLY. I BEGAN MANUAL BRAKING; THE FO ADVISED THE TWR OF OUR ABORT AND DECLINED THE OFFER OF ASSISTANCE. I CLRED THE RWY AT THE END; ADVISED THE PAX THAT WE WERE IN NO DANGER; AND RETURNED TO THE GATE. L GENERATOR HAD FAILED. ASIDE FROM THE OBVIOUS CONTRIBUTING FACTORS (RAIN; SHORT RWYS; NIGHT) THE INOP APU WAS A BIG FACTOR. ALTHOUGH LEGAL FOR DISPATCH; IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO HAVE TO BACK UP THE ENG GENERATORS ON TKOF. HAD THE AUTO XTIE FEATURE BEEN LOCKED OUT FOR WHATEVER REASON; THE ABORT WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE CHALLENGING. I DID BECOME A BIG BELIEVER IN AUTOMATED REJECTED TKOF SYS. MY BRINGING THE THROTTLES TO IDLE AND DEPLOYING REVERSERS CAUSED THE SPOILERS TO ACTIVATE; APPLIED MAX AUTOBRAKES AND BEGAN A RAPID DECELERATION MORE QUICKLY THAN I COULD HAVE MANUALLY. IT WAS THE FIRST DAY OF OUR TRIP; SECOND LEG; SO MY FO AND I HAD NOT HAD A LOT OF EXPERIENCE TOGETHER; BUT AS A TEAM I CONSIDER OUR PERFORMANCE MOST EFFECTIVE. THERE WAS NO CONFUSION; EACH OF US PERFORMED OUR TASKS AS PUBLISHED AND DECISIVELY. WE HAD DISCUSSED REJECTED TKOFS PRIOR TO THE FIRST LEG AND HE HAD JUST RECENTLY RETURNED FROM RECURRENT TRAINING; ADDING TO HIS EFFECTIVENESS. THE CABIN CREW ALSO PERFORMED FLAWLESSLY; REASSURING OUR FULL LOAD OF PAX AS WE MADE OUR WAY BACK TO THE GATE. BOTTOM LINE: I WOULD NOT CHANGE A THING IN THE WAY I OR MY CREW PERFORMED. THE DECISIONS MADE I CONSIDER CORRECT. BACKUP SYS WORKED AS ADVERTISED; AS DID CREW COORD. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE TO THE ACFT; NO INJURIES; AND AN UNEVENTFUL RETURN TO THE GATE.