Mixed Feelings

As you might have guessed, Robyn and I went to the second Braves home game of the season last night, and it was a pretty mixed night, it could easily be split in two, the first three innings and the final six… After going to Mondays game, we were able to trade in our ticket stubs for free tickets to last nights game, the downside, they were in the second to last row closest to god, way past nosebleed and into “need an oxygen tank and a band of sherpas to get there” territory.

So I went down early as Robyn had a long day at work, I soaked up the atmosphere, as it was the 40th anniversary of the Braves coming to Atlanta, they wheeled out the 1966 team, a nice touch, especially the ovation Phil Niekro got. Once the game got underway it was a bit dsappointing, Jorge Sosa gave up 4 runs in the second as Robyn joined me and she was unhappy as I was with the seats, so we went looking for new, closer ones…

$20 later and we were in the outfield bleachers, and then the fun began, for us anyways… We’ve sat in a lot of places over the years at Turner Field, we prefer the Lexus Level, we have season tickets for there, we’ve also sat on the lower levels, even the front row once, but the outfield was a different experience altogether. For one, the fans were a lot more vocal, also the infamous wave always starts out there. Last night’s started in our section. So there we were, yelling at fans to throw back Phillies home runs, danced with delight when Brian McCann homered in the 4th with the ball landing close to us, jumping around like maniacs when Brian Jordan got a double and Pete Orr got a triple (Pete Orr!! Triple!!!), but alas poor hitting and the inability to move runners on cost the Braves dear, 14 hits and only 5 runs and the Phillies took the game 7-5. Jeff Francoeur has been disappointing, he might have got a hit last night and scored a run, but his batting average was like .035 before it, pitiful compared to his stunning start last year, his fielding is suspect thus far too… Shame, I wonder how much his benchwarming act at the World Baseball Classic had to do with it.

Opening pitch on another opening day in Atlanta Phillies at second Full moon over Turner Field Turner Field Sosa pitching Andruw Jones alone in center field Me and Robyn in center field YMCA as performed by the leaders of the cheer

And finally, here is a panorama from the “need an oxygen tank and a band of sherpas to get there” section, puts it all in perspective…