Braves / Pirates: July 28

Thursday Ceil was headed to Decatur, so I met her on Peachtree Industrial to pick up Matthew shortly after three. Made it downtown in time to get near the front of the dollar ticket line. John Parkes was first in line. As we settled into the leftfield stands to watch BP I instinctively looked to my right for Johnny Pierce, who worked in Macon for a Baptist magazine. He immediately called to me, from my left. He’d been at SPdL earlier in the day visiting with his friend Charles Qualls.

After seeing the cover of last week’s Sports Illustrated, I immediately turned to the “Loving Baseball” article. It was good, though it didn’t blow me away. I did love the photo of the Red Sox taking the field in throwback uniforms. For some reason the photo looked familiar, and last night I figured out why. There’s a Budweiser ad in the Braves’ “Gameday” handout with several nondescript Braves taking the field, quite similar to the Red Sox photo. Similar, but not exact.

For the Pirates series, Jordan Shafer was on the Gameday cover…the week he went on the DL. During BP he was quite active in centerfield. He almost made a great catch to rob a HR from someone, but the ball rolled out of his glove onto the top of the fence, and back onto the warning track. Neither the Braves nor the Pirates hit many BP HRs.

Just before BP ended the grounds crew drove their small tractor around the outfield warning track, around to the Pirates dugout. On its trailer they loaded the fence where fans can watch BP behind the cage. As it rolled away I noticed the hand-lettered sign: a target with the words “Welcome back Matt”. When it passed Diaz, he smiled and waved.

The anthem was sung acapella by a young Cumming girl from the Rally Foundation. Both teams lined up in rows outside the dugouts, perhaps spurred on by Brian McCann. After a shaky start she gained momentum, and ended strongly. Both teams gave her an extended ovation, as did the crowd. Later I texted Mary Hurt. She had almost come to the game just to see the anthem. It always rains when Mary comes to games, but with few clouds overhead I felt safe sending the text. But sure enough, it immediately started raining. Forty-seven minute delay.

Later Mark Bowman tweeted that McCann was arguing with an umpire, but I missed it. Jerry Meals, who became famous early Wednesday morning for missing the game-deciding call, was Thursday’s second-base umpire. He and Uggla carried on a long conversation during the first two innings. In the top of the seventh Ross fired to Gonzo, attempting to pick the runner off second. Close play. Meals signaled safe (he probably was) but the crowd lustily booed.

Uggla’s infield hit drove extended his hitting streak to 19 games. During the “stolen base” contest Uggla tossed the base closer to the contestant, helping him win. Perhaps things like that will help Uggla earn favor in the fan’s eyes…his unsmiling demeanor doesn’t come across as warm. Not much emotion, but I’m glad he’s relaxing more at the plate.

After the top of the sixth ended, Matthew and I left our seats behind the RF foul pole and walked around behind the Pirates bullpen. We left at 10 pm, just after the stretch. The earlier rain made for a cool walk back to the car. Ran by Taco Bell and Racetrac (49 cent / 32 ounce soft drinks), making it home at 11 pm, just after the game ended.