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Tuesday, April 11, 2023

The City Connects Debut

Saturday night was the debut of the Braves "City Connect" uniforms (CC), designed by Nike. Throngs were buying the new caps, t-shirts, jackets, and jerseys. Hoodies. From a distance, the unis look okay out on the field. The royal blue pops. Still a notch below the iconic 70's feather unis. The new cap's royal A looks too cluttered with the red outline.

Only Ozzie wore high-cuffed pants, showing off the $30 CC Stance socks, also available in the team store. Braves are now 0-1 wearing the CC's. They'll wear them every Saturday.

On Friday afternoon I had been awarded the Saturday night Braves tickets, because of Easter, the Masters, and rain and cold were forecasted. But I could see the rain was ending at seven, so I knew the Braves would want to get the game in. I waiting until 6 pm to leave the house, and walked inside the stadium at 6:35. A horribly long line to the Braves Clubhouse Store. I should've joined the que. Concessions were 40% off until game time, but I didn't bite.

Made my way to my seat and settled in. Grabbed some free popcorn. Padres fans were gathering, including the second-baseman's parents, both proudly wearing his jersey.

It was the 49th anniversary of Hank Aaron's 715th home run, so that was celebrated. I should've worn my Aaron jersey, but didn't get the idea to layer underneath. At 45 degrees, I should've worn one of my Braves stocking caps. I wanted to wear my "new" navy Braves windbreaker, so I layered but under that. Wore my matching Braves home cap – the older one, since I didn't want to get my new Braves cap wet. A good night to wear my red white & blue Puma hightops, since they were warm and matched my Braves merch.

First time the Braves played a game without their iconic "Braves" script across their chest since when, the 1940's? Was this an effort by Nike to downplay the team name? Many would say "The A" is a lousy substitute.

The national anthem was sung by the appropriately named Cherokee High chorus, the first pitch thrown by a rep of the Cherokee Casino. Not sure if the fair-skinned blond-haired kid who hollered "play ball!" has any Cherokee affiliation or not.

After a couple of innings I was disappointed to learn the ice cream machine was not in operation.  I should've tried the one in the right field corner. I made my way around the park only to find the Team Store line just as long as before (above). Took me 40 minutes to get inside.

While waiting I spied my old friend Rob and his daughter ahead of me in line, so we got to catch up for a bit.  I tracked down the royal CC shorts I was after, and checked out.

On my way back I checked out what the Chevrolet people were giving out this year. Last year's clear plastic bag didn't grab my attention, but I took the time to get the white cotton "For the A" t-shirt with only a small Chevy logo on the back. Missed out on the designated driver coke.

Okay the City Connects are not the worst. My rank:

1. 70's throwbacks (no longer in use)

2. Cream alternates (no longer in use).

3. Home whites.

4. Road greys.

5. City Connects

6. Friday red jerseys

7. Road navy

I think my next jersey purchase will be the 1969 Braves road grey jersey – Satchel Paige's number 65. Should've got 65 when I bought the 69 home pinstripe. No hurry on this, since I have too many jerseys already.

Interestingly, the Padre relievers returned to the dugout from the bullpen before the game, then after the top of the first returned to the bullpen.
Coworkers Rachel & Angie want to get the beer bat.
New: no longer do guests in the Home Depot Clubhouse hang the K signs for each strikeout. Instead an electronic scoreboard keeps track. What's next, the Green Monster?

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