New Jersey

Broke down and bought a replica of the jersey Ted Turner wore when he managed the Braves for one game in 1978. I’d had my eye on it, and after the Braves wore those road unis in Philly this summer the favorable reaction was overwhelming. The Braves offered them for sale in the team store, but I had to special order number 27 with TURNER on the back. As usual the knockoff isn’t perfect – the BRAVES wordmark isn’t slanted correctly, which is often the case. But good enough for the price. Wore it to SunTrust on Labor Day, but didn’t see Walter Banks to show it off.

This brings my Braves jersey collection total to ten, which is plenty. Still don’t have a home white jersey since I sold the authentic late-1980’s era #37, but I’m in no hurry to add more.

 

1963 #08 cream Uecker from DH Gate

1969 #16 home pinstripe from DH Gate

1972 #44 home jersey tee SGA

1972 blank road royal from Marshalls

1977 #17 red pinstripe Channel 17 from DH Gate

1978 #27 road Turner (new) from DH Gate

1982 #03 road Murphy jersey tee from DH Gate

1992 blank road grey from thrift store

2012 #22 navy Heyward from thrift store

2018 #82 green Acuna from DH Gate

 

If I add another jersey anytime soon it will be a home red UGA #98 Rodrigo Blankenship jersey, to wear when I’m at a UGA watch party.

 

I also have enough Braves golf shirts to wear every day of the week. Four were official shirts worn by game day staff. Navy Braves Operations, Red Braves Retail, Navy A polo, Blue A polo, Grey Braves Video, Red Braves Usher. Guess I don’t need any more of these as well.

 

Also ten Braves t-shirts: grey dri-fit Under Armour tomahawk, grey Crackers, navy dri-fit Braves Country, red Nike Braves Country, navy SunTrust Park, white Turner Field, white Chevy Braves, grey Gwinnett, white Gwinnett, cream Braves. Need a green one. And don’t get me started on my caps.   

Now I am reading a 15 year old Rick Reilly book: “Who’s Your Caddy?” Reilly went around and caddied for various golfers and wrote a book about his experiences. He started with Tommy Aaron at the Masters. Also John Daly and Donald Trump so far. Learned that in high school Daly kicked a game-winning 46 yard field goal. In basketball Daly made like 36 straight foul shots.

 

Next in Reilly’s book: David Duval and Tom Lehman. A really interesting look into the lives and personalities of these players. Lehman employed a fellow Christian as a caddie, and they often talk about the Bible during rounds. Reilly caddied for Lehman during the Disney tourney, so every evening after his round Lehman would take his family to the park. Duval is less outgoing, but mostly happy inside. Was good friends with Tiger because David didn’t need anything from Woods – they could just be themselves around each other, playing golf, having fun, giving each other the needle.

 

Reilly learned pro golfers are slaves to their routines. Once on a par three Chris Demarco paced off the distance from the permanent tee box and that day’s tee position – a distance of one yard. Several times with Lehman Reilly would pace off the distance between the ball and the nearest yardage marker – say nine yards – then add the yardage when he was supposed to be subtracting, and telling Lehman the wrong distance. Didn’t take Lehman long to figure it out.

 

Reilly went with a high stakes gambler from Vegas, who pretty much was addicted to gambling at the expense of his family. Won and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars every week. Said he’d played Smoltz in high stakes golf games.

 

Jack Nicklaus had kept turning Reilly down. Said his sons enjoyed caddying so much. Finally let Reilly caddy at the opening of a course he’d designed out in Colorado, located in the highest elevation for any course in the US. An audience of 300 followed Nicklaus, who was miked up to narrate his route and comment on the course. The banter between Reilly and Nicklaus was heard by the gallery. Reilly knocked over Jack’s bag, spilling clubs and balls that rolled down the hill. Later Reilly asked who Jack’s worst caddy was. Nicklaus quipped “present company included?”

Wednesday: left work at 5:30. Ceil decided to go to a meeting at church. I fixed quesadillas on the panini press(above). A quesadilla (or taco or burrito) can have any number of ingredients on the flour tortilla: cheese, rice, beans, meat, sliced peppers, sauces, etc. I add whatever’s on hand / left over. Anna fried an egg and made toast. Not much on TV. Finally turned on the Braves replay. I was pointing things out to C, saying “Remember? You were asking about this guy last night?”

 

I left work Thursday shortly after five. Right when C headed to a meeting. Got home and cleaned up some. Anna and Christian arrived before C. Since M wasn’t home we ate beef and gluten – burgers, fries, and tossed salad. Very good. A&C had to visit his sister in Vinings, who was hosting a pancake supper for her friends.

Thursday night a show I was watching went off. I didn’t have the remote nearby and an e-sports show came on: Overwatch League. The Vancouver Titans have great colors and logo – Bigfoot. Might have to get their jersey.    

I did turn on the game. W&MC went, as did Joel and his buds. Also my high school bud Tim. I broke down and bought a ticket to the Phillies game on the 17th.

Nine game lead. If the Nats win the next two the division lead is still six. Acuna homered on a 3-0 count. Nice to have Acuna heat back up. Fried is in the zone. Donaldson made a great play at third. Dansby started a clutch double play. Joyce made a leaping catch. Albies had a great play as well. McCann knocked in a key insurance run.   

Mack brought in CFA biscuits Friday morning. Another hot dog fundraiser today. We have a meeting at lunch. Not much on tap for the weekend.

 

Anna’s boyfriend Christian just landed a job waiting tables at Mama’s Boy, one of Athens most famous restaurants. Every day customers wait in line for hours just to get in. Mama’s Boy closes at 2 pm. So for a while he’ll keep his afternoon / evening job at the chocolate place as well.

 

I’d heard about the GT doctor who’s passed away. Hadn’t ever heard of him.

My work neighbor finally had her cruise cancelled last Friday afternoon. She had been planning on driving to Miami last Sat for the cruise. By last Friday morning gas stations all over the state of Florida were out of gas. They were to get credit for a future cruise. They thought about booking a trip to Hawaii instead. This Friday afternoon they were on the phone booking the Hawaii trip when a call came in from the cruise company. They booked a cruise leaving Port Canaveral at 4 pm Saturday. She had to go home and pack so they could leave out EARLY Saturday morning.