Go Braves!

Go Braves! Or maybe I should say, Way to Go, Braves! Sitting here this Monday afternoon after the Braves won a doubleheader on Sunday feels pretty darn good.

For those of you who are not baseball fans, baseball has begun. And for us sports-hungry fans, it is none too soon.

It’s (obviously) an abbreviated season, since the first game is typically in April, and I think it was scheduled for late March this year. But, alas, there was this thing called COVID-19, and, realistically, the players and owners had some disagreements.

I didn’t follow the fallout between players and owners, and was not even initially aware that talks were what were holding up the season. I just blamed it on Covid…like everything else.

But, if you are a fan, and have tuned in, you may have noticed the cardboard cutouts in the stand. Yes, for fans they have cardboard cutouts.

Hannah said she was going to get one for me and for herself. They cost $50, and proceeds go to the Atlanta Braves Foundation that does a lot of good stuff. I was so excited. But, then I heard they actually cost $250…no way she would pay that much, nor should she. So I looked it up…it is only $50. But, they aren’t taking more orders at this time. Rats!

But, cardboard cutout or not, I sure enjoy watching baseball! Some of you say it’s boring. Well, when you go to a real game, in other years, you can people watch if you get bored. But, the joy of watching at home is you have the sheer entertainment of the sport, but you aren’t on pins and needles making sure you don’t miss a minute. You can cook and watch the game over your shoulder. You can do like me and sit in front of the television and play games on your phone between batters. (Or you can read a magazine or any number of other things.) There’s lots you can do if you don’t want to just sit and watch.

I don’t remember when I became a Braves fan, but I suspect it began in 1966 when the Braves came to Atlanta. My Daddy quickly learned you could entertain the family at a game for not too much money.

Things have changed. I don’t think it falls in the inexpensive category to go to a professional ball game any more. And now that I live here and they basically moved to Kennesaw, it’s a long haul. I really hated to see them move.

I was at the old Atlanta-Fulton County stadium when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s record. I was at Turner Field both for the first exhibition game ever played there and again for the first real game played there. (Those tickets were compliments of the late Thurman Willis, Jr., and Bank South, I believe.)

Daddy loved the Braves, and instilled a love of them in me. My eldest, Hannah, shares my love of the Braves, although she’s not as diehard. (The Braves game will be on in my house if it is telecast.)

Hannah and I accompanied my Dad to many a ball game. It was fun. We still share his silly jokes…like there goes the no-hitter when the opposing team gets a hit in the early innings…like anyone had even thought of a no-hitter by then.

Daddy loved his peanuts, which in the olden days we bought from kids on the corner. Then we went through a spell where we cooked our own and took them. And the last few years, we got lazy and just bought them.

Daddy didn’t live to see SunTrust Park, the new Braves Stadium which was named that initially but has already changed to Truist Park. And, I’m kinda glad. He wouldn’t have liked going that much further any more than I do. And, we had a real affinity for the old stadiums.

I remember when I was a child. Daddy would park in the neighborhood around the stadium in someone’s yard. He always paid the guy and said there’d be a bonus when we came back, but the car was always there and the attendant never was when the game was over.

Then at Turner Field, we made friends with the parking lot attendants right across from the stadium. We knew them by name. We said Daddy was handicapped so we got a close-up space every time. Daddy wasn’t handicapped, and they knew it. He was kinda old…but that didn’t slow him down much. We were there frequently, so they rewarded our loyalty.

Now, I just watch them on TV and root from my chair.