Thursday afternoon I was going to leave work at 2:30 to try to beat some traffic. I knew they were raffling off the company Braves tickets, but unfortunately several others threw their names in the hat for the drawing. Steve wasn’t free to draw a name until 2:45 so I started packing up. My name was called, so I grabbed the tickets and headed out the door. Still spent most of the commute arranging a red hot shipment of parts.
Traffic was backed up to Lenox Road, and a nice thunderstorm beat down on the downtown connector. But my the time I pulled into the Blue Lot at 3:50 the concrete was beginning to dry out, so I didn’t take an umbrella.
I took the steps down to the footprint of old Atlanta Stadium and made it to the dollar line while the line was still relatively short. John Parkes was at his usual place at the front of the line. RL appeared with Darrell in tow, then Kevin and Bobby. The gates opened early but the Braves didn’t take batting practice. Joe The Kid Shirley stopped to say hello. After a while I took my backpack back to the car to retrieve my glove, cap, and Braves jersey.
Back inside the Mets took BP, crushing several home runs into the stands. Johnny had stayed in Macon for his daughter’s volleyball game. Norman took Johnny’s usual BP spot and caught a home run ball. Marshall came close to a couple of balls, but again was shut out. Justice of the Peace Johnny walked by and we added his stash to our pile to guard. John made his way to the Designated Driver booth, but before he did I gave him a ticket to sit with me behind the Braves dugout.
As BP was ending all at once the ground crew started moving extra quick. Instead of prepping the field for the game they rolled out the tarp. Sure enough, soon it began to rain. And rain.
Then the skies really opened up, and soon the entire outfield was covered in water. RL, Kevin, and I moved back to the last row in left field and waited. We were amazed at the amount of the water coming down and accumulating on the field. Finally the deluge lightened, and while it was still raining the ground crew began squeegeeing water off the outfield. Eventually they removed the tarp. As the ground crew continued to work on both the infield and outfield the umpires and managers strolled out to the outfield to check out the grass. At the same time in right field starting pitcher Shelby Miller headed for the bullpen. He was wearing his long baseball pants, as usual. Shelby began to run, but splashed few a few puddles and stopped.
After making a quick walk over to the Designated Driver booth under the right field stands to say hello to Sandy and Connie, I grabbed a Coke Zero from the concession stand and returned to our left field perch. Since it was after 8 pm Kevin headed back to Birmingham. RL and I meandered over to section 115, running into The Chief on the way. By now it was almost 9 pm. It was finally announced the game would start at 9:30. Shelby Miller reemerged from the dugout and headed back out toward the bullpen. This time he wore pants cuffed just below the knee, with his navy socks stretched high – his normal attire on days he didn’t pitch. Later I realized he may have been trying to change his luck.
In the bottom of the first the Braves got two hits but did not score. In the top of the third former Brave Kelly Johnson sliced a line drive into the left field corner. Nick Swisher dove but dropped the ball. Johnson rounded first and headed for second. With shortstop Andrelton Simmons and second-baseman Jase Peterson moving out to serve as cutoff men, first baseman Freddie Freeman correctly sprinted to cover second base – running right next to his former teammate Johnson, jawing him all the way. An interesting sight.
Around 9:45 pm RL and I deserted John and made our exit. First we stopped to say farewell to Sandy and Connie. On my way out I stopped by to chat with Marshall, and we gabbed for over an inning. Sounds like their run of season ticket seasons may be coming to an end in the next year or two. While we talked the bottom of the Mets order dumped hit after hit in front of Braves fielders. Portly 42 year old pitcher Bartolo Colon capped the scoring with a line drive RBI single.
I finally headed out and walked back to my car, and drove home without stopping. Took about 40 minutes. It was almost 11:30. A long but fun day and night.
I finally headed out and walked back to my car, and drove home without stopping. Took about 40 minutes. It was almost 11:30. A long but fun day and night.
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