Debby's "Retirement" Speech

NOTE: I wrote this speech to deliver at Debby's retirement reception last week, but for fear of breaking down and crying did not deliver it. Some details in this essay may or may not be factual.

Debby Tingle tried to avoid me for over twenty years. I worked over at RMP until 1999. She was doing Lord knows what here in the Blue Building: working in the plant, inside sales, purchasing, blah blah blah. Then I was sentenced to six months at faraway Washington Specialty Metals in Lawrenceville.

At the turn of the century (you know people are old when they talk about the turn of the century – and that's the year 2000, not 1900 you wiseguys), I joined the fabrication department in the main office building. I had finally made it after over twenty years. The same building that Debby Tingle worked in. Or so I thought.

Cunning veteran that she is, Debby stealthily slipped away, moving over to my old haunt: the very same Washington Specialty Metals. Some people will do anything to stay away from me. Later she worked in the RMP office while I was down the road at North Berkeley. I think you can agree that I wasn't going crazy – Debby Tingle was doing whatever she could to avoid me.

Even when we were all forced into the same sales office, Debby was down the way, back behind me, very much out of my line of vision. Lord knows what she was doing behind my back. It was only when we both moved upstairs into the Program Team office that we were officially together.

Ah, those were the days. I discovered that Debby and I actually had several things in common. A love of college football. An unlikely mutual friend. We both sang in church choirs (ok, that was a long time ago for me). Former coworker Hugh Clark went to high school with Debby. My wife had inherited a barnful of yarn (not literally) and Debby loves her knitting, so I was able to smuggle out bagfulls of yarn for Debby. Future shipments will be directed to O'Leary.

Debby likes her some Crimson Tide football. Like most real Bama boosters, Debby was born a Bama fan. Don't mess with her on autumn afternoons. You know she's a real fan when she listens to games on the car radio traveling on backroads on vacation. Kids these days don't even realize they broadcast football games on the radio. Or that cars have radios.

Somewhere along the line either Debby adopted Dennis Arrowood, or Dennis wisely attached himself to Debby, to ride her coattails. Might be the best decision Dennis made in his life, aside from marrying his wife Angie. I have no idea what Dennis will do once she's gone. Dennis and Debby sat next to each other in at least three different offices, right? And took breaks and lunch at the same time for how many years? I entered a work order just to calculate how many lunches they ate together. By my count it's at least 3,500. Over seven million calories. That's almost as many walks as Chris Tarquinio took with Jim Catlin (sorry, that's an old timer joke). Almost as many spreadsheets and mapinators that Bill Baldwin created in his career. Almost as many words that Sandra Born spoke in one day.

But back to Debby. This afternoon Debby was featured on our company's website – shortly AFTER she walked out the door for the very last time. Great timing by the old home office.

 https://ryersoninc.sharepoint.com/ImageCarouselDetailLibrary/Congratulations%20Debby%20Tingle%20073118.pdf

Yes the years working with Debby in Program Sales were filled with fun. But again I say: or so I thought. Me and the EZGo team were summarily booted out of Program Sales, kicked downstairs into the direct line of fire known as the Transactional Sales Team. It's taken me a couple of years of interviews and investigations and research to undercover what really happened. Now some new information has come to light - I have it on good authority that it was indeed one Debby Tingle who was behind my ouster.

Debby had planned on working several more years. But due to these recent new revelations, Debby is now resigning in disgrace. It's certainly a shame that such a long and distinguished career has to end like this. In a related note, the NCAA has announced that the University of Alabama athletics department, and head football coach Nick Saban, are being investigated for their complicity with Tingle in the Murphy incident. Plans to erect the statue of Debby outside the Peachtree Industrial office have been put on hold. So sad, too. The statue had her knitting.

Regardless of these circumstances, I still wish Debby enjoyment in her retirement years. Love you, Debby!

Bowling. And...

We’ve been on the go at least the last four days and nights, so I haven’t been able to chill on the couch. Probably a good thing. Thursday night was the Braves game and Avett Brothers concert.

 

Left work around six on Friday (I think). Got home and Ceil was talking to M and his friend. Ceil wanted to go do something. Nothing good was playing at the dollar movie. Ceil has long been wanting to go bowling, so I suggested it. She was excited. We were both starved, so we grabbed dinner at Pizzeria Lucca at the Roswell Square. While we were there a Bad Boy Buggy golf cart parked next to me. The people had driven it to pick up pizza. No license plate. When they left they had put the pizza in the basket on the front.

Next was bowling at Stars & Strikes in Sandy Springs, just across the river. We went in with no coupons, but since it was Ladies Night we were able to rent shoes and bowl three games for less than twelve bucks. The place wasn’t packed, but over half the lanes were filled. Not like the lanes in the old days. Music blared over the loudspeakers, often interrupted by announcements and trivia questions. I knew several answers but didn’t know where to go to answer. ESPN aired silently on the TV screens.

The bowlers were are ages and races. A group of black ladies to our left, a group or two of white guys further down to our right. Way down on the left was a couple of Hispanic families. Later a black guy with his own shoes and ball practiced to our left, then he was joined by several buddies. We were placed on lane eleven next to a family of WASPs.

The only ball I could find that would fit my big thumb was a 14 pounder. Not wanting to throw out my shoulder, I took it as easy as I could. My only goal was to roll the ball down the middle, which I did with middling success. Made two or three strikes or spares per game, and hit 100 in two of the three games.

The couple next to use left and I discovered a 12 pound ball I could use – and I threw a strike with it on my very last roll. If only I had found it earlier. Ceil didn’t do as well, but she had a great time. She even squealed with delight when the clerk told her it was Ladies Night. Didn’t get home until ten.

After two busy nights, on Saturday morning I had no trouble sleeping past 10:30. I cleaned upstairs and took a shower, so I didn’t go downstairs until almost one. Washed three loads of laundry and helped Ceil clean up the garage. Got a lot done. Took a carload to Goodwill. Still can’t get my car in the garage.

 

At 5 pm we went to JFBC for a sendoff of a young couple from our Sunday School class: Randall and Hannah. They’re headed overseas. The JFBC kitchen provided dinner: BBQ pork and chicken, some good coleslaw and baked beans, and peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream. Also salad and rolls. Several of their friends came from around the Southeast, from as far as Texas. It was a sweet time. One of Ceil’s art students had come. She was born with one hand, so Ceil introduced her to Hannah, whose baby girl hand just been born without a hand. Ceil’s student had recently been contacted by an ad agency in New York, and she’s now appearing as a model in several ads for clothes.

 

People were telling encouraging stories about Randall and Hannah, and there were many. Very encouraging. They had helped guide another young couple through rough waters – marriage-wise, financially, etc. The couple had a baby, and the baby had to stay in ICU. The couple was walking through the hospital when the wife saw the husband pull something out of a trashcan. When they got on the elevator the husband whispered to the wife “I just found a bunch of money in the trash can” and held up a stack of hundred dollar bills. “Count it!” It was $1,600.00. While the wife was thinking about what they could spend it on, the husband said “I think we should give it to Randall and Hannah.” The wife thought “of all times to be obedient, why now?!” They gave the money to Randall and Hannah, who were in the process of selling all their possessions so they could move overseas. They were having a yard sale, so Hannah went to the gas station to change a hundred to smaller denominations for give out as change. All of a sudden police surrounded the store – the bills were fake.

 

At 7:30 we drove over to Perimeter Mall. I was thirsty so while Ceil was shopping I cashed in my Chickfila calendar card for a free soft drink. We were halfway home when Ceil realized she had left her phone in the store. We barely made it back before they closed. Had to gas up the CRV on the way home, so we didn’t get in until after 9:30.

 

Saturday one of Will’s teammates wrote me a nice note on Facebook, complimenting me on my blog. I responded, and congratulated him  and his new bride on their recent wedding. Later I wondered if I had used “saw” or “seen” correctly in my message, but what I didn’t do was get his bride’s name correct. Big faux pas.   

 

Saw Mary Ann Hall’s son David at JFBC Sunday morning. He and his wife are expecting their second child this fall. I had forgotten that I had taken him to the Olympics 22 years ago, but correctly guessed that it had been water polo.

 

Bryant Wright very well could have been at SPdL. Yesterday was the last Sunday in his sabbatical. Not sure how often he gets one, but the ministers at JFBC get sabbaticals every few years. This summer our SS teacher got a sabbatical, six weeks I think. I don’t get a sabbatical at my job, though I do get vacation.

 

JFBC has a couple of “teaching pastors” who often fill in when Bryant is out, plus guest speakers can always be brought in. Both teaching pastors are younger and do a good job. They’re often told what to preach on – sometimes controversial topics that Bryant wants to stay away from. Since it’s almost time for deacon and elder nominations, yesterday Stephen Bonham had to preach on church organization.  

 

After lunch I was watching Sean Newcomb’s near no hitter. Ceil was napping, but I had to meet a guy after the Braves game. Couldn’t believe he left early with a no-hitter going on. Arrived at our meeting spot with two out in the bottom of the ninth, so we listened together when the guy got the hit. With Newcomb, Folty, and Soroka they do have three good starters, and soon to be a fourth and fifth with Allard and Touky tossing aspirins in Gwinnett. And the Braves traded for Venters plus they got another reliever yesterday from the Orioles.

 

On the way home I stopped by RaceTrac for an ice cream. Also the library, Kroger, and Dollar Tree. Made for a long afternoon. Watched some Braves postgame and golf.

 

At 7:15 we walked 6/10 of a mile to our friends the Bates house. Their son Preston, a longtime friend of Will’s, had just returned from a year overseas, ministering in 14 countries. Stories of conversions, fellowship, healings, and even the casting out of demons. His group traveled by plane, car, bus, taxi, cargo ship, by foot, horse, and camel. Saw several friends and neighbors we hadn’t seen for a while. Didn’t end until almost ten. Luckily Matthew was asking where we were, and he came to pick us up.  

 

I have my little things I like to check and do every day. If I have a busy evening, everything doesn’t get done. Of course none of what I have to do is required, and I really shouldn’t do it all. Every night I post something to my blog. It’s kinda a creative promise I’ve made to myself, even if only ten people read it. I have a streak going, so I might as well keep going.

 

Then I have my contests to enter. A real time waster, but it’s fun. I limit it to only certain sweepstakes, but right now there are too many. I don’t get it done every night, and that’s ok. Also every day I get an email with a list of new sweepstakes that I can review for any good ones. I try to not fall behind more than a week on those. Found a sweepstakes giving away a refurbished VW bus. That would be cool to win.

 

Lastly I have my Yahoo email to go through. I get over one hundred emails a day, and most need to be deleted. I need to unsubscribe from at least one email list a day. Something else that doesn’t always get done. All this I usually do after supper, when we’re watching TV.

July 26 Jersey Parade

Interesting jerseys we saw at Thursday night's Braves game.

In honor of Chipper's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame today,

I'll start with number ten.

That big guy that pitched here last year.

 From the recent all star game.

 Another all star t-shirt.

Didn't see anyone wearing a Marcakis or Folty.

 Javy. Always several Murphys and an Aaron here and there.

Saw a Gatiis as well.

 The old school couple in front of us.

 Even a Babe Ruth Braves jersey.

 A guy name Mo.

Lots of Dodger jerseys, including dude below.

Several Kershaws. An old Garvey. Koufax.

Problem with the Jackie Robinson jersey, other than the name on the back, as that it was a home white jersey that read BROOKLYN instead of DODGERS.

Late 90's outfielder Dwight Smith?

Late Night Avett Brothers

When the game ended (at 10:30 pm) many of the fans moved down to the seats between the baselines. Anna and Matthew found us seats behind the first base dugout.

The stage was rolled through the centerfield gate to short centerfield, and a fence was erected so fans could come out on the infield dirt in front of the stage.

Anna’s friend messaged her: she had an extra field pass,

so off Anna went to join the fans on the field.

The concert began shortly before 11 pm. Great music. Ceil and M stood. I sat so the shorter ladies behind us could see. I enjoyed the music and videotaped two or three of the familiar songs from my seat, and also edited the pictures I had taken throughout the evening.

At one point as he sang, Seth Avett hopped off the stage, ran through the outfield grass, and hopped up on the railing by the seats.

He made his way toward the dugout, and soon he was standing right in front of us. A big stage hand jogged after the singer, and held him up as the singer stood on the rail.

Reminded me of the time Jon Foreman of Switchfoot did the same thing a few years ago – and looked to me to hold him up on the rail. That's me in the purple shirt holding up Jon in the video. 

It was after midnight when the band came out for an encore.

They played three or four more songs,

and the concert finally ended around 12:30 am.

Anna bounded up from the field,

and we walked back across the pedestrian bridge to the car.

Traffic wasn’t bad going home, but it was well after 1 am before I got to bed. Woke up just after 6 am, stopped by McDonalds on the way to work, and made it in a little later than usual: just before 7:30 am.    

Braves Fall to Dodgers

Left work shortly after 4:30 yesterday. Anna had been in downtown Norcross all afternoon working on a group project. We left for the game around six. Usually I beat traffic and arrive early. Since we were staying late we were in no hurry to get there early. But since I was driving I was the one who had to deal with traffic and turned left into the parking lot on a gridlocked street. Walked around looking for something to eat. M got fries covered in buffalo sauce with bleu cheese. Anna got a hot dog, and Ceil and I got a dog and fries. Made it to our seats just before first pitch.

Had decent seats down the right field line, right by the ball boy. Just to our right was where the stands jut out near the foul line. In the first inning a high foul pop came near the corner. The fans were good about staying out of the way, but rightfielder Matt Kemp was too slow to make the play. The fan made a barehanded catch just before Kemp arrived, so Kemp gave him five with his glove. Later Kemp was replaced defensively by Andrew Toles. The first batter Toles saw lofted another high pop down the line. Toles sprinted over but he too was a tag late. A different fan made a barehanded catch.

A few seats down on our left was a young kid completely absorbed with the game. He was excited about everything, and he couldn’t sit still. Somehow he had collected two baseballs. He was hollering and eating Cracker Jack. Typical sports kid with the unmatched Braves cap and Freddie Freeman t-shirt, long shorts, sneakers, and basketball socks.  Then a foul pop headed his way, and his dad made a clean catch. You should’ve seen the look of pride on that boy’s face when his dad handed him the ball.

Between innings there was no Beat the Freeze race nor a RaceTrac Home Run Inning. There was a Home Depot Tool Race. The Braves also ran a video on the just announced ThyssenKrupp office tower to be built in The Battery at the corner of Cobb Parkway and Circle 75. Thyssen is one of our steel suppliers. They also make elevators. The tower will feature exterior elevators on the southern wall, giving riders a  panoramic view of downtown Atlanta, Buckhead, Stone Mountain, and Perimeter Center.
 

Ran into legendary usher Walter Banks on the concourse. When I said hello he brightened and shook my hand. He complimented me on the old school Greenville Braves cap I was wearing. I was dressed like an usher in my Braves Facilities golf shirt, kaikis, sneakers, and Braves cap. As the game ended a lady asked if I worked for the Braves. I was tired and said no, but we both had a chuckle.

 

Saw Matthew’s former baseball coach George White. His daughters had brought him to the game for his birthday. 

Sloppy game for the Braves – three errors, including two poor throws by Albies, who should know better. Plus Albies flipped too high to second on a double play ball. Shortstop Culbertson had to leap off the bag to catch the toss, and everyone was safe.   

 

Albies is a joy to watch, though. Glides around the infield and hustles on the bases. Batting style similar to Stan Musial. Serios expression on his face, but he’s quick to smile and joke around with a teammate or opponent. Freeman did make a nice play on a bunt, charging in and firing to second in time to nail the lead runner. Not crazy about Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp. Spent his entire time with the Braves either hurt or overweight. Goes back to the Dodgers and get in shape, plays great, and makes the all star team.

 

The game almost ended on a replay. Pinch hitter Preston Tucker blasted a two-out line drive off the padded wall in right field. He hit it so hard that Toles was able to grab the ball and fire to second. Tucker rounded first and never stopped. With the Braves down six runs, perhaps not the smartest of decisions. He barely avoided the tag, and we all watched the replays on the jumbotron while the umpires awaited the decision from New York. Tucker was ruled save, but rookie outfielder Michael Reed’s line drive to centerfield ended the game. 

Thrift Recap

I’ve been too busy to hit many thrift stores lately. Doubt I’ve missed much. Haven’t done a good job of tracking my buys. But in the past week or three I’ve made a few purchases that were memorable enough to list here.

Allbirds natural grey men’s wool runners. All wool. Simple design. Supposed to be super comfortable. Look similar to Yeezys or the other popular adidas sneakers. So often I get a nice pair of shoes and wind up selling them. I need to hold onto these for a while.

Red Puma Seude sneakers. Worn in enough that I don’t feel bad getting them dirty. Added thin white shoestrings. Not sure I want to switch to a thicker string. Already wore them to a game in Gwinnett. Might make my pair of red adidas Campus shoes expendable.

White adidas shell toe sneakers. Green stripes. I need to keep a pair of clean white sneakers on hand. They’ll look better than the all-white leather Nikes I sold. Better probably than the all-white leather Nikes with green swooshes. Cleaner than my white Puma tennis shoes with black trim.  

Black Chuck Taylor low top sneakers. Nice and worn in. Never know when they’ll be needed, but I’m ready.

All black knockoff Nike Haurache running shoes. Bought them at Goodwill in like new condition. They have the Nike logo but you can tell they’re not legit. Will look best with black pants in winter.  

Black Atlanta Braves hoodie, made by Majestic. Weird color, but official. Worn in the postseason when all teams wore the same thing. 2XL so I can layer underneath it. I needed more Braves warm weather gear. Matches my all-black Braves road cap.

Lee Corso ESPN College Game Day Coke Zero bobblehead. Broken, but worth the dollar I spent. Sells for $75.00 in good condition. Goes with the Kirk Herbstreidt bobble I got a few years ago.

Black Nike Golf stand bag. Lightweight and perfect for walking. At four bucks I couldn’t resist. Need to give away Will’s old red bag, plus maybe one of mine.

Two Columbia PFG t-shirts size XL. One is light orange with the big triangular PFG logo on back. Black tee has an American flag on back, with fish instead of stars. I am giving away several old golf shirts and t-shirts and swim trunks.

Swim trunks with tacos on them. Nuff said.

With five pair of new shoes, I need to get rid of some shoes. Give away: Navy canvas Sperry boat sneakers. The red Nike Air Max sneakers with the blowout, some rain boots in the garage, several pair of flip flops. Need to sell: (1) black Footjoy soft spike golf shoes, (2) red Roshes, (3) kids black Chuck Taylors, (4) kids white Chuck Taylors, (5) brown Vans, (6) high top Vans, (7) Reebok basketball shoes, (8) grey/orange Nike Lunarlons, (9) my white Chuck Taylor low tops.

Every Wine has it's Time

Here are the stats for some of the young Braves starting pitchers. Call them pitchers A, B, C, D, and E.  All have losing records and high ERA’s. WHIP (walks & hits per inning) is also sky high. Good pitchers have a WHIP near 1.000 and great pitchers have a WHIP under 1.000. 

 

Question: should the Braves keep these guys, or give up on them?

 

W-L..ERA..IP…HITS.ER.HR.BB..K..WHIP

2-07 5.48 064 074 039 10 33 37 1.672…A

2-04 5.54 050 055 031 05 33 20 1.748…B

7-17 4.56 195 201 111 12 63 84 1.352…B  

2-04 5.52 031 044 019 03 11 20 1.774…C

6-14 5.62 155 181 111 17 74 99 1.638…C

4-09 4.32 100 051 048 10 57 99 1.570…D

4-06 5.71 086 112 063 17 29 77 1.627…E

 

Look again at those stats above. Here’s what pitcher put up such poor numbers in their first major league season…

 

A = John Smoltz

B = Tom Glavine (first 2 years)

C = Greg Maddux (first 2 years)

D = Sean Newcomb.

E = Mike Foltynewicz – now he’s an all-star

 

Newcomb is like 9-1 this season when he pitches the day after a Braves loss. He received all-star consideration as well. Teheran is too inconsistent. Once someone is ready to take his place he is a goner. When Julio becomes a free agent the Braves will not re-sign him. McCarthy won’t be back this year. He’s hurt right now. Sanchez won’t be around long term either.  

 

Tuesday: showing the new employee things slowed down my work, so I stayed till seven to get things done. Got a lot to do and I can’t work late on Thursday, and Friday we have a long lunch meeting.

 

Left work and stopped by Taco Bell. Long wait at the barber shop, but I passed the time deleting emails. Didn’t get home until nine. Had to pick up M at work at ten, so I took Barney with me. I went to bed when I got home. Barney wouldn’t get in bed again last night. He slept on the wood floor in the foyer at the bottom of the steps, but by morning he had come upstairs under the ceiling fan. After I dressed for work he hopped up under the bed, but didn’t burrow his head on my pillow. Instead he just took his usual spot at the foot of the bed, under the ceiling fan.

Rattlesnake Pasta

Friday we got back in time to pick up Barney at the kennel. He was glad to see us. Anna and I went to get him. It was hot and he was panting so we blasted the AC on the way home. You could tell he was tired from the week. Friday night I noticed he was sleeping downstairs, which is where he sleeps when he is really tired. But when that bad thunderstorm blew through he came upstairs and jumped in bed.

 

Friday night Ceil and Anna had to take something back to the Avalon. Anna met Emily at the new Chuys there for dinner, then she drove back to Athens. After the long drive I didn’t do too much the rest of the evening. Watched the British Open.

 

Late Saturday morning we drove down to Howell Mill to pick up my car. We took Barney and let him play with Okie for a while. When we got back Ceil had to go off and buy something that was on clearance – plates. At 2 pm I drove out to Gwinnett for the Stripers game. Beautiful weather. Traffic wasn’t too bad. Stopped at Taco Bell on the way home.

 

Sunday morning a bobblehead friend was driving through town on the way from Myrtle Beach to Gulf Shores – an eleven hour trip. He had bobbles to drop off in Atlanta and people had given me parts to give to him. Met him down at old Turner Field. The football stadium looked good but the parking lots had debris and weeds growing in them. They’re supposed to build a shopping center there. They’re working on something, but they haven’t started on the Georgia State baseball stadium yet.

 

Stopped by Taco Bell again and several thrift stores. At one Goodwill they came on the loudspeakers and made an announcement – there was a little 2 year old boy who had lost his parents. It took five minutes and two more announcements before the boy was claimed. I couldn’t believe it took so long.

 

After church Ceil stopped by Publix and Whole Foods. We ate baked chicken and grilled vegetables. Watched more British Open, then I went outside to cut grass. Took Ceil to Trader Joes to get pancake mix. Later I delivered a bobblehead to Smryna.

 

Catching up at work. Already got my in box down to 17 emails, but I have eight emails I have to work on. We have a new team member who started work today. She has 38 years of customer service experience in an environment similar to ours, so she should work out good. We had a longer than usual morning meeting.

J Christopher’s was good last night. We had a group of eleven for dinner – the team plus Kevin and Eric. I sat at a corner table with Brad, Jeff, Kevin, young Rachel, new Rachel, and Angie. Probably should’ve ordered something better than the Southern Chicken Salad, but it was good. The chicken was so tender. The croutons were a full one inch square, still warm, with a crust but a tasty soft middle. I had to cut the crouton with a knife. For appetizers we had cheese dip and chips, as well as calamari. I ate my share of the calamari.  

 

Young Rachel ordered the Rattlesnake Pasta. I told her the last time I was there I ordered the rattlesnake pasta and the waiter looked hesitant. He started to say “I’m sorry sir, but…” and I interrupted him – “Ah ha! You’re out of rattlesnake, aren’t you?” The waiter replied “Actually, I’m sorry to say - we’re fresh out of pasta!”

 

After dinner I had to scoot back to the office for 20 minutes. Got home at nine, just before the rain hit. Barney has finally started to eat again, but he’s still sleeping on the floor, instead of jumping on the bed. It was pouring down rain when I took him outside last night. Usually in the rain the trees block most of the rain, but last night I used an umbrella.

 

Yesterday was our new team member’s first day, so training New Rachel has slowed down my other work. We went on a plant tour, plus I had to inspect some material. It was hot, and we were outside a long time. She was asking a lot of questions. When we got back my hair was a mess from the hardhat. When I washed my hands at first I thought I had splashed water from the sink onto my shirt. Then I realized my shirt was soaked with sweat. Then we had to go eat with the VP at the nice restaurant. Luckily I had time to cool off and fix my hair.

  

Joel Norman’s new business Bellwood Coffee is now fully funded – they were able to raise over $20,000.00 in a little over a week.

 

Shoot the Braves need relievers even worse than they need anything else. Hopefully sooner than later but surely by the end of the month. I hear there’s a reliever in Baltimore they might get. The Braves don’t mind giving up a prospect or two but want a reliever that won’t be a free agent in two months in return.

July 21st Jersey Parade

Last Saturday at Gwinnett the jersey-watching was decent,

mostly thanks to the visiting Pawtuckett Paw Sox fans.

I wasn't the only one sporting a late-70's Murf.

 Might've been kin to outfielder Lane Adams?

Props for a kid wearing a game-used Ron Washington spring training jersey.

 Former Braves catcher Mike Heath?

Spotted lots of Red Sox swag sitting over near the visitor's dugout.

 They start the indoctrination young.

 Xander.

 Ted Williams?

 Not every day you see The Big Cat.

Huh?

 Mookie

 Man were there a lot of Red Sox jerseys.

 Georgia Tech connection.

 More Mookie