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Saturday, July 16, 2016

Hank Night at Gwinnett

Tonight was the Gwinnett Braves Hank Aaron Bobblehead Night, so naturally I attended. Storms were popping up all over town, and the sprinkles (and God) provided a nice double rainbow over CoolRay Field.
As usual I arrived early, though Bobblehead Bobby Myers beat me. We traded my cute Chopper bank for last night's Atlanta Braves' Zombie AJ bobble, which I missed. In line I chatted with a wounded warrior, the nurse wife of a bobblehead addict from Kennesaw, my old friend LJ, and my new friend Dusty from Kennesaw. The nurse snapped a selfie with the CoolRay Field sign behind her, so I did the same (above). Mine turned out perfect!
Gates opened at six. LJ needed three Hanks and I needed four, so we couldn't help each other. The nurse needed two. We went in, got our first Hank, and hustled out to our cars. The outfield gate had yet to open, so we got back in the long line still qued at the main gate. We were waved over to the empty season ticket holder gate, which saved us some time. The nurse had her two, but she agreed to get my fourth. After dropping off our second Hanks at our cars, we hit the now open outfield gate, and I had my four (one for me, one for Hot Stove Johnny Tallant, and two for Birmingham Kevin.
I met up with Sam Bradley, who'd bought my UGA Gordon Beckham bobble. LJ and I dodged raindrops, copped free GBraves T-shirts, and nabbed sweet seats behind the plate. Good to see Omar Infante back in a Braves uni. Also starting pitcher Aaron Blair pitched to former Met Ike Davis.
It was also Pokémon Go night at the game. People picked up game cards and walked around the stadium with their faces glued to their smartphones, searching for Pokemons to win prizes. I got a game card, but did not participate.
When my Facebook friend Bob posted this picture of him and his son, I tracked him down and chatted for an inning. We'd been FB friends for two years, liking each other's posts and sometimes commenting on them - but we'd never met, until tonight. Nice guy.

Wore my blue Jordan RCVRs, which I love (but might sell on eBay).
The cute Chopper bank I traded to Bobby for an AJ Zombie bobble. It completed his Gwinnett collection and is super rare. I'd bought it for a dollar at Goodwill, and traded it for a $22.00 AJ. Not sure who got the better end of the deal.
I didn't see the rainbow until I was leaving. Here it is from the parking lot. Stopped my the adjacent Racetrac, then headed home. 

Profitable evening. Paid $37.00 for four ticket and parking. In return I received:
30.00 Aaron bobble to sell.
30.00 Aaron bobble to keep.
40.00 Aaron bobble traded for a rare Rome Freddie, which I'll sell.
21.00 profit from the Chopper/AJ Zombie trade
25.00 profit from the UGA Beckham sale.
20.00 in bobbles for the two Hanks traded to Kevin.
20.00 nice new free grey GBraves T-shirt
01.00 candy prize I won
01.00 free bag of popcorn
02.00 bacon cheddar hot dog RaceTrac free coupon
01.00 free RaceTrac soft drink refill
$191.00 minus 37.00 equals a $154.00 gain - plus the actual baseball game!  

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