Recap: Bobby Cox Night

“Greatest Braves game I’ve ever been to” was how Matthew described it. Bobby Cox Night was a pretty decent evening, all the way around.

Picked up Will and Matthew at 3:30 in Roswell. Took 50 minutes to make it to the parking lot. The line for dollar tickets wasn’t as ling as I thought it would be, so Will had no problem. We certainly weren’t the first in line, but we were virtually the first ones into the leftfield stands for BP. We grabbed front row seats. Since it was a 7:30 start, BP hadn’t even started yet. Eric Hinske trotted out to left field, smiling broadly at the fans. He returned my greeting, stretching out his arms to the crowd. “Who wants a ball?” he hollered.

Will decided catching BP home runs with a glove wasn’t challenging enough, so he fought for balls with his bare hands. He came close several times. Once my acquaintance Marshal Kerlin robbed Will of a ball. Marshal is the season ticket holder/former GT BSU student/campus minister/friend of BP maven Johnny Pierce.

Soon Tom arrived, and we caught up on the past 20 years during BP. He had roomed with me at Tech, in the Greenwood Avenue Hubcap, and my grandfather’s house. I was in his wedding, but then we lost touch. We recently reacquainted on Facebook, and he came down from Louisville for the game. Tom wondered if there would be a fight, since Zambrano was pitching.

Matthew and I walked him to his seat in aisle 106, then circled the stadium clockwise, checking out the numerous ex-Braves giving autographs. Steve Avery looked great. Todd Pratt had put on the pounds. Denny Neagle looked the same, to put it nicely.

Next to the big drum, legends Dale Murphy, Ron Reed, Phil Niekro, Ralph Garr, and Rick Camp sat in a row. A LONG line stretched past Buck Belue, winding underneath the stands. The 1991 Braves wore white jerseys, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the worst to first team. The rest of the ex-players wore red.

Another crowd gathered in the center of the fan plaza to see Dave Justice, Jim Nash, Brian Hunter, Clarence Jones, and Johnny Estrada (and his ponytail!). Tommy Gregg looked old. Upstairs, Smoltz was tying his tie. Greg Olson followed dutifully behind. Jimy Williams looked OLD…he had a hard time following his group as they exited.

Interestingly, while Glavine signed, Maddux did not. The Braves Hall of Famers took their places on the stage, with Terry McGuirk. Besides Chipper, scout Paul Snyder and Garr were the only ones in casual clothes. Maddux wore a crewneck shirt with his suitcoat, slightly plumper than his playing days.

As they were introduced, the current Braves lined up along the dugout fence to watch. As the battery warmed up in the outfield, both Minor and Ross stopped to applaud the HOFers. The empty Cubs dugout suddenly swarmed with attentive, applauding opponents. Don Sutton MC'd, introducing speakers Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper, and Schuerholz. Hank Aaron was nowhere to be found, perhaps not wanting to take any attention from Bobby.

Just after the meeting at home plate, Cox threw out the first pitch…to Chipper. An umpire signaled strike (it was), then the entire crew walked out to greet Cox. They exchanged pleasantries, and then one ump playfully tossed Cox out of the game. Smiling, Cox threw up his hands in a familiar gesture.

Beyond first base the Braves starters were stretching and sprinting. I’ve noticed that at this same time the relievers begin their journey out to the bullpen. The players exchange elaborate handshakes, signifying a team more close-knit than I can ever remember. Venters and Kimbrel also greeting two security guards along the way.

Thanks to my friend Rob, we had great seats in the section behind the Braves dugout. He rarely misses a Friday home game, but had to sacrifice the game for his family vacation. This time he missed a memorable night.

The game started late. Uggla homered in the second, breaking Rico Carty’s Atlanta record. Uggla has raised his average to .227. After his streak ended, Carty's average was .417. Constanza’s sac bunt plated Chipper, who earlier had to turn on the jets to go first to third after first letting Ross’s hard-hit single go thru to right field.

Uggla was hit in his next at bat, and I thought back to what Tom had said. The umpire warned Zambrano (and both benches). Chipper homered to center. Later Freeman and Uggla homered on consecutive pitches…to the same spot in left-center. Zambrano promptly buzzed two pitches at Chipper’s midsection, and the fiery pitcher was immediately tossed. Both teams (and bullpens) charged out of their dugouts, but quickly stopped. Fredi was the first one out, and he quickly turned around and stopped the players. The plate umpire had the situation under control: Zambrano went quickly, and quietly. This is when Matthew uttered his “greatest game ever” line.

The next inning was sponsored by Moes. Should a Brave homer, the entire crowd would feast on free Homewreckers the next day. I checked the on-deck circle: Ross, Constanza, and Minor. Not exactly Murder’s Row. But lefty Constanza reached out and poked a line drive just inside the left field foul pole for his second big league homer. Burritos for everyone! Later I learned Kevin’s dad grabbed the ball, right next to Kevin and Will. Joel captured the moment off the TV.

I noticed the Braves had eight hits, with five of them being home runs. It was the most homers for the Braves all year. Thrice they’d hit four in a game, all B.C. (before Constanza, tweeted Bowman).

Anna came to visit, with friends Brittany and Jack. I introduced Anna to Tom, and then the youngsters took off for the Coke Sky Field. Drew Kelly facebooked that Ernie Johnson Sr had passed away, and later Mark Bowman confirmed the Braves would wear a memorial patch the rest of the season.

After the game Will, Matthew, and I made our way to Anna's group sitting in section 231, near the right field foul pole. On the way we looked for Coke caps and extra tickets, to fuel a second Moes expedition. During the fireworks I enjoyed chatting with Jack's dad, who’s quite the baseball fan. He rocked a red jersey and official cap, and talked of coming out early for BP. Though quite wealthy, he still collected several souvenir schedule cups on the way out. So we do have some things in common.

As I suspected, the ushers handed out Bobby Cox posters on the way out. Traffic was heavy, but we made it home in 40 minutes…including the $6.00 RaceTrac / Taco Bell stop.