Anyone want tickets to the 9/21 game? I’ve got two in 113 row 3. I had a Braves and UT weekend planned. Until my jackleg brother decided to get married and ruin everything.
I was at the 1st game of the Dodgers series on Thursday over a week ago, but let me talk about the last game I went to before this one. Prior to this one, the last game I attended was in Sept 1997. Greg Maddux was on the hill at Turner Field against Colorado. Mad Dog took a 4 hit, no walks, 1-0 lead against The Rockies (off a Ryan Klesko HR) through the 8th only to see Mark Wohlers blow the save giving up hits & throwing wild pitches in the 9th to lose 3-1. This was a crushing blown save. It cost Maddux a 20 win season seeing him finish the year at 19-4. He placed 2nd in Cy Young voting with a 2.20 ERA & a league leading .826 win percentage. I can't help but believe that not getting to the 20 win mark might have been what kept him from winning another Cy Young. I never missed a game Maddux pitched for the Braves if I could help it. I loved his intensity and his surgeon-like control and approach to his craft. In my opinion, he's the greatest (not the flashiest of fastest) pitcher of my lifetime. Watching Maddux was pure joy to me. I also enjoyed getting to watch Todd Helton play in The Show. Last time I saw Helton play before this was a UT/ETSU game at Cardinal Park in Johnson City, TN while I was getting my 1st degree at ETSU. The game ended in an ETSU loss on a collision at the plate. I may or may not have followed the home plate umpire to the parking lot where an altercation may or may not have happened. But that's another story.... Back to the recent game. The Braves got smoked, 8-2, I think. I kinda got disinterested when the Dodgers went up 8-0 & despite it being an evening/night game, it was hotter than 20 rats fornicating in a wool sock, so I felt pretty much like crap. Had some issues walking out of the park, which brings me to my views on the new stadium. I loved the escalators. Without them, I might still be there. Park was nice inside and while I liked the surrounding baseball "village" atmosphere outside the stadium, it just doesn't look like a baseball stadium to me from the outside. It's no big deal, I'm just a fan of the new parks that have the old throwback ballpark feel but with modern amenities. That's just me. My brother lives in downtown ATL. I know many there refuse to call them the Atlanta Braves anymore, opting to call them the Cobb County Braves. The move probably cut 20-30 minutes drive time to the stadium for me, but the lack of parking semi-near the stadium (or maybe it's my lack of knowledge of such parking) is not ideal, imo. I don't do long hikes & especially don't do them in central Georgia heat. We opted for a shuttle service, at $12 (before any gratuity) for a family of 4 each way, to get to the stadium & back to our hotel. It wouldn't have been too bad, but there was long waits for that service due to poor traffic flow plans. Maybe they should come to Knoxville on a football Saturday or Bristol on a race weekend for some traffic flow pointers. If that area would agree to the tax, an extension of MARTA train service to the stadium would be a huge step in addressing the issue, imho. But apparently the folks there were willing to fork over however many millions of dollars for the stadium, but too cheap to try to solve any transportation issues it has caused. That's an outsider's view who is, admittedly, not completely informed on the ins & outs of the whole deal. The game: From what I saw, the Braves' middle infield just sucks. They played terrible in the game. The only other thing I really noticed was that Freddie Freeman is a very large human being. Looked like that dude took up the entire batter's box. I enjoyed the trip, minus my mobility issues & the heat. Take my review with a huge grain of salt. I have not followed the Braves, or any MLB Baseball for that matter, very closely at all for several years now. Since I had kids, I just don't have the time to regularly devote hours per week to do so. Sorry for the novel. I'm a former Baptist and can get extemely long-winded. Old habits die hard. You can take the man out of the Baptist church, but you can't take all the Baptist church out of the man.
When you buy a ticket in advance, also buy a ticket to a parking lot. Or... just a few blocks from the stadium is a KFC and a couple restaurants. If you spend $20 at KFC, you can park your car there. We opted for a storage unit strip that has parking for $20. About a 10-15 minute walk from there. I’ll echo the sentiments about the area around the stadium. Very nice. Some kid friendly joints as well as some bars. You really get the feel that the stadium area is its own little community.
Albies is going to be a stud. I really like how he plays the game. Swanson reminds me of the guys I didn't really like so much at Vanderbilt, many of whom seemed to have names like "Dansby."
My sample size is far too small to draw definitive conclusions, but on that particular night, the middle infield played like they were running through a field full of boobies & they were trying to touch them all. Momma said there would be days like that.
Albies is the real deal. Swanson sucks. I do think the Braves have pushed Acuna through the system too fast.
I just looked that up and that was a load of sheet to get tossed. Jackass move by the ump. Disclaimer: I have Soto on my Fbb team.
Can’t continue to argue a previous at bat before the next one. Let it go and play ball. And Kevin Long is a piece of shit.
Must be the first player to get tossed before he bat's. If that's a rule I doubt it's enforced that much. Kind of like getting a ticket for going 56 in a 55. Just seems a little odd if there wasn't a history between the two of them. Either way it doesn't really matter to me but thanks for the info on the rule. I did not know that.
Well it’s not necessarily a rule. And i can imagine a magic word may have been used as well. Greg Gibson is generally a well liked umpire and pretty good as well.
Now that I think about it maybe the Ump was making Soto aware of the rule. Welcome to the big leagues kid! The Ump is always right.
It's amazing sometimes what a move in the lineup can do to a guy. He's lights out right now. He may have also been playing through some nicks when he hit his lull.
100%. Dude is freaking 20 and is a monster. He also appears to be having the time of his life while he's playing.
