Sunday at the Braves Game

Tidbits from today's Braves 3-0 loss to the Phillies....

...Crazy Darrell entertained the ticket line, decked out in a full Braves uniform. At home after the game Anna remembered him from a game last season.

...telling a story, Roy Oswalt emphatically made his point to Kyle Kendrick, waving his arms.

...Cliff Lee threw in LF during Braves BP, then ran in the OF.

...Braves strength coach Phil Falco stopped Brandon Beachy in the outfield during BP, who then dutifully started his running regimen.

...not many home runs hit to LF during BP.

...the designated driver lady is back for another season.

...Rick Camp, Tony Brizzolara, and Jeff Treadway were being interviewed in the fan plaza. I think the fans would’ve rather they sign more autographs. Born in 1957, Tony looked good. Born in 1952, Camp looked pretty scary.

...I felt weird wearing a Teixeira Braves jersey, though no one said anything. Saw at least two others. Saw 2 or 3 light blue fake MURPHY jerseys from Kohls, that I'd almost bought. Also saw one authentic light blue pullover MURPHY jersey.

With little to do and an hour before game time, we cued in the long line for the pregame parade. Lots of boy scouts and several little league teams, but it was open for kids under 14. Took the following pictures…

…coming through the dark tunnel out onto the sunny stadium.

…Fredi Gonzalez sitting in the dugout.

…looking out onto the field from behind the plate.

…Matthew in centerfield, with the full stadium behind him.

…Matthew at the centerfield wall, at the 400 foot mark.

…Brian McCann stretching in RF.

We didn’t walk out onto the field until 1 pm. Still, we made it to our seats on the other side of the stadium before the national anthem. Thankfully, our seats were in the shade.

Quick game/pitchers duel. First pitch at 1:37, final out at 3:31.

We moved downstairs for the Avett Brothers post-game concert, and happened to sit in front of Will’s baseball teammate Ryan Tammuci. RT was there on a double date. Like about half the crowd, the Pope teens danced to the music. One of the girls commented on the singer’s “perfect teeth.”

Of the 35000-40000 fans who attended the game, only 15000-20000 stayed for the concert. Many were college students, who knew all the words to their songs. Matthew liked them better than Switchfoot. They did sing Paul Simon’s “Slip Sliding Away.” I liked them fine, except for the over-dramatic Chinese cello player.

The band rocked the crowd for an hour, and left to a huge ovation. Traffic wasn’t nightmarish on the downtown connector, and I stopped at Taco Bell to get M two burritos to wolf down. We made it home for the dramatic final thirty minutes of the Masters. Then we took Anna to Willys, and Matthew snarfed down ANOTHER burrito.

It was a long day. We all took Will up to Living Science for his 8:30 departure. Ceil went straight from there to North Point. I took the Zech Suburban home, then stopped by Kroger and the bank before picking up Matthew at NP at ten. We made great time, making it to the ticket line in 50 minutes.