My Random Brain Twirls

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on how I became an Atlanta Braves fan. Naturally it does not end there like it does in that post. Like all fans I also have my fondest memories of the Braves. In that post I already wanted to include one of my most precious memories of the Braves but I didn’t. Including that memory would have been out of the scope of that post. However I did not want to withhold it so there was an idea for this post and now the post itself.

World Series 1995, Game 6

There you have it; one of my fondest memories is game 6 of the 1995 World Series. How did I experience this game? Like I previously have told one of the few means I had at that moment was AFN radio^[1], the only source of live broadcasts available to me. In 1995 I was attending my first year in college. During the week I lived in a student room away from home and outside the reception area of AFN radio. On Fridays after class I went home.

I can’t remember if I listened to game 1 which was played on Saturday October 21^st or Sunday morning to me. During the week I could not listen to the live broadcasts of games 2, 3, 4 and 5 but each morning I got up early to watch CNN World Sports on the shared television of my dorm. Because game 6 was on Saturday October 28^th and I was at home, I was able to listen to the live broadcast. With my parents sleeping in the other room I turned on my radio while I lay in bed. With not much scoring in the first innings, no runs at all, my nervousness grew. That nervousness of the first innings became excitement in the bottom of the 6^th with David Justice’s solo home run. David Justice, the player whom criticized Atlanta’s fans for not showing the same support as the past seasons and the Cleveland fans showed for their team, he gave the Braves a lead. I had to temper my own excitement, remember my parents were sleeping in the other room. The 7^th and 8^th innings being scoreless rapidly changed my excitement into anxiety because everything was still possible in the 9^th. However a solid Mark Wohlers did what he needed to do. The last out a Carlos Baerga fly ball caught by Marquis Grissom drove my excitement to the top, I had to do my very best to not scream of joy and wake my parents. I was so emotional that tears of joy started to flow from my eyes. With that and joy in my heart it was difficult to catch some sleep in the last hours of the night.

Now I have to admit that while writing this and remembering my feelings at the time my eyes are starting to water up again.

Visiting Atlanta in 2002

When it was announced in November 1998 that not the Florida Marlins were to host the 2000 All-Star Game but the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, I wanted to go. However for a number of reasons, one being I was not comfortable traveling all by myself, another being as a student I had no income to fund my trip, it resulted in me not making it to the 2000 All-Star Game. However me wanting to visit Atlanta and go to a Braves game stayed with me.

After having to retake a couple of exams in September of 2000 I graduated from college and I finally was ready to start real life. With a steady income I could save some money for who knows a trip to Atlanta. When I talked to a friend about wanting to travel to Atlanta, he told me he too wanted to travel to the US however not for the same reason as me. Having found a travelling companion, we started planning our trip to Atlanta early in 2002. Because I wanted to attend a couple of Braves games against NL East rivals we decided on two weeks in September when Atlanta played at home. In those two weeks we would also be able to experience first hand the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks, an event which equally scarred me for life as it did every American although I am not an American. About a month for we left for Atlanta we had to go to our travel agent to collect all our documents like plane tickets and more. Apparently they forgot to book our hotel and they told us the hotel had no more vacancies, so we went in panic-mode. Back at home I visited the website of the hotel and I discovered that it did have vacancies left so I booked it myself and our travel agent refunded us for that part, disaster averted. On Friday September 6^th 2002 we departed for Atlanta.

We arrived in Atlanta around 7 pm local time with an exhausting flight and transfer in Washington behind us. After collecting our luggage and a trip to the car rental company we set out in search of our hotel in downtown Atlanta. When we finally found our hotel, we checked in, went to our room and at last some sleep.

My 1^st Braves game ever

The next day our first stop was Turner Field. Finally I saw the Ted on the outside with my own eyes. Because I could hardly wait to see the inside of the Ted and the Braves play, we bought tickets for the game that evening against the Montreal Expos. Where is the time that Montreal still had a MLB-team and Washington only dreamed of one? After buying the tickets we still had some time before the game so we explored the city some more. When game time got near we went back to Turner Field and I finally entered Turner Field. In the past I heard about people getting emotional when entering Bernabéu in Madrid or Camp Nou in Barcelona. This time I was the one whom got very emotional and my eyes got real wet. Seeing the players I only read about on the internet in real life that was amazing. Greg Maddux coming from the bullpen and walk right by to start the game, two 2-run home runs from Andruw Jones and John Smoltz closing the game to give Maddux a 4-0 shutout win that was wonderful. My 1^st Braves win 🙂

Ticket to my first Braves game

Leo Mazzone, Greg Maddux & Henry Blanco walking to the dugout

Panoramic photo of the first Braves game I attended at Turner Field

Outfield scoreboard after the first Braves game I attended.

My 2^nd Braves Game

The next game we went to was against the New York Mets on September 10^th. We had chosen for seats in the upper box behind home plate. With a marvelous view of the Atlanta skyline as a backdrop we saw the Mets come in front with a lead-off home run by Roger Cedeño, two run scoring singles in the 2nd and a 2-run home run by Mike Piazza also in the 2^nd. In the bottom of the 2^nd Andruw Jones homered and Keith Lockhart hit a 2-RBI double. The Mets scored a single run in the 4^th inning and with 3 solo home-runs the Braves tied the score. In the 5^th the Braves doubled their runs. For the rest of the match both bullpens did their work and the Braves won 12-6. Great!

Mets vs. Braves 9/10/2002 – Chipper Jones at bat

Field being prepared and downtown Atlanta in the background

My 3^rd Braves Game

My third game was against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 18^th. We got tickets right next to the Braves bullpen and I really do mean right next to the bullpen balustrade^[2]. I remember a couple of things from that game, one is some guy somewhere to our left was constantly taunting Gary Sheffield, our right fielder at the time. For as far as I could tell it did not unsettle him. Another thing I remember is seeing John Smoltz up close in the bullpen. I saw other fans having their picture taken together with Smoltzie but I was to overwhelmed with it all to ask. Philadelphia came in front by scoring 1 run in the top of the 2^nd inning and the Braves scored 2 runs in the bottom of the same inning. In the top of the 3^rd the Phillies again scored 1 run and again the Braves scored 2 runs in the bottom of the same inning. In the top of the 5^th pinch hitter Jeremy Giambi hit a 3 run home run off of Kerry Ligtenberg who in that inning came in for Brett Myers. The Phillies added a run in the 8^th. In the bottom of the 9^th Gary Sheffield got on base with a walk and Chipper Jones hit a double which scored Sheffield. However with fly balls from Andruw Jones and Matt Franco the Braves ended the game 1 run short of extra innings. My 1^st Braves loss 🙁

John Smoltz in the bullpen

Some southern belles

My 4^th Braves Game

My forth game was against the Florida Marlins, now the Miami Marlins, on September 20^th. Again we chose for tickets high behind home plate in the upper box. While enjoying the beautiful Atlanta skyline before the game and not only the skyline 😉 we were unaware that the game was going to end in another Braves loss. The Marlins scored 5 runs in the top of the 3^rd and added a single run in the 6^th. The Braves scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 3^rd with a solo home run of Mark DeRosa and with a run scoring single by Gary Sheffield which scored Rafael Furcal. That was all production of the Braves offense and thus the game ended with a 6-2 loss.

That loss made the Braves record with yours truly attending: W2-L2.

View of downtown Atlanta from the upper deck

Twitter

Yes, Twitter! How strange as it might be to include it here, I feel like it belongs here. Since I have started following other Braves fans on Twitter I have gotten to know some wonderful people. People with ups-and-downs like myself. People who made me laugh on more occasions than I can possibly remember. People who I consider to be friends. People who I would love to visit and spend time with someday. People I would love to attend Braves games with. To these people I would like to say: I love y’all, friends for life!

Notes

1. See my post: “How Did I Become an Atlanta Braves Fan?”
2. Did I say it correctly? Or is “parapet”, “breastwork” or “rampart” better? Or perhaps just “the bullpen wall”?