Monday, July 30, 2012

Braves Game! July 28, 2012

My son promised me a Braves game for Mother's Day.  Want to come along with us?
 Turner Field in Atlanta.  This was built for the 1996 Olympics and was used for the track events.  It has been the home for the baseball team since that time, the Atlanta Braves.

I took this photo just before we sang the National Anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner".  Not a lot of people sing along with it.  You know that I always do, don't you? Always, you can count on it.
There are some really nice statues just outside of Turner Field.  This is a statue of Warren Spahn, and in the wording of baseball, " the winningest left handed pitcher of all time".   He played for the Boston Braves and therefore, there is a display about him in the Baseball Museum that we are about to visit inside Turner Field.
This is a a photo of Warren Spahn  and they even have his Purple Heart on display but I am sorry that I didn't get a photograph of that which was alongside his Army uniform.  He is one of those athletes whose career was interrupted by war, in his case, it was World War II.  It seems unfair to look too closely at sports statistics and compare the players when you had men from this time who sometimes had years when they were not playing the game.

Can you see the signature on this baseball?  It is none other than Babe Ruth, who with 714 homeruns had the most homeruns, until Hank Aaron passed this record in 1973 and finished his career with 755 homeruns.  If you are interested in stories about fascinating people, look up both those names: Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.   Both amazing baseball players with interesting life stories.
This is a photo of my son posing in front of Hank Aaron  who is on the left and Chipper Jones on the right.  Chipper Jones will retire after this year and he has been an outstanding player with the Atlanta Braves.   He has been with the Atlanta Braves for nineteen seasons so that means he has been a large part of my son's childhood.  (Chipper's number is 10, so that is the shirt that C. is wearing!)
Look, just beyond the Chik-Fila cow, giant Coca-Cola bottle, and Delta Airlines' sign, it's Atlanta!
Play ball!    STRIKE HIM OUT!  STRIKE HIM OUT! (Can you see the ball?)
The pitcher, Mike Minor, must have heard me.  This means he had five strikeouts, he would finish with NINE for the night!  (The backwards K means that was a left-handed batter).  When I was a kid, it annoyed me that "K" meant a strike-out.
There was a pretty good size crowd.  We were so thankful that we were not in the sun, it was still in the 90's and not a breath of air. That is my son's hand pointing out something to his aging mother who is having great difficulty in seeing things these days.
Nice clouds though.... wait, I feel a sense of Deja Vu... I can almost hear my Daddy say, "Kay, pay attention, you're missing the game!"  (I always kept score with my Dad at baseball games.)
I wonder how close I can get to Chipper Jones in the batter's circle with the zoom lens of my camera...turns out, pretty darn close!  Hey, Chipper, hit a home run for us!  Or better yet, wait until the NEXT DAY when we are not there to see it!  Yeah, you know it, that's just what happened!
Oh well!  The Braves won on this Saturday night that we were there, 2-1.  Thanks, son, I really enjoyed it!  Hope y'all didn't get TOO hot at this game with us in HOT LANTA.

28 comments:

  1. Well, you love that game, you love your son - so what better way to spend a Saturday than with going to a game with your son? :-)
    Thank you for sharing this with us; I don't know anything about baseball, but your description and pictures made me feel a bit of the excitement!

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    1. You can really see a baseball game better on TV but there is nothing like seeing it with a crowd of people. At home you can't experience the smell of hot dogs, peanuts and cotton candy...the sound of thousands of people cheering and doing the "chop" and the sight of all standing to applaud a well played game. (And my son noticed that the person who played the organ, played a minor note at the end of the piece everytime they announced Mike MINOR's name! How wonderful is it to have a son who knows music so well!)

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  2. Glad you enjoyed watching the baseball with your son!

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    1. I hope my son will pass on the love of the game to his children one day!

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  3. Even I have heard of Babe Ruth! Glad you had such a good time.

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    1. John,
      Sometimes, after a job well done, someone might say to you, "You're the Babe". That is a very fine compliment, indeed.
      (Hey, Scriptor, you're the BABE.)

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  4. A great way to spend a day with your lovely son. Wish I had some of that sunshine and heat!

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    1. And I wish I could box it up and send it to you! ;-)
      I really am ready for October and long walks among the yellow daisies at Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain!

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  5. Looks like you had a fab day with your son. Your pictures are great. I'm glad you were in the shade too, can just imagine how hot it would have been in that sun!!!
    Many thanks for visiting and commenting on my post. I've read your posts on the Olympics - you did a great job of describing it and itwas very interesting to see everybody's point of view. I did wonder if people would understand what was going on as sometimes I did struggle myself. Glad you enjoyed it though :))

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    1. Thanks, Ellie! You have a great blog!
      And thanks for reading my posts about the Olympics. Please visit me again!
      xx

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  6. Beautiful photos of a beautiful day spent with your son. You must have had a wonderful time. How fabulous that you were in the shade. Sitting in the sun on a boiling hot that can be very stressful!

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    1. Hey Martha!
      Thanks! And I took these photos, Richard had to work!
      It was HOT but FUN! :-)

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  7. A special Mother's Day gift worth the wait!

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    1. Dear Mimi,
      Worth the wait most certainly. My son knows what I like, keep your diamond jewelry, give me diamonds at a ballgame!

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  8. Go Braves! Nice picture of your son and Chipper!! I have good memories of Braves games with my son, too! But we were in the sun!!
    ~~Dorothy~~

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    1. Yay! Go Braves! Can you see my son's excited smile to be inside a baseball museum? He loves baseball, we discussed how much we would love to visit Cooperstown!

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  9. We're big Braves fans too, we were there a couple of years ago when they retired Greg Maddux's number, plus we won the game.

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    1. And hey, about on July 20th, when they came back from the game at 9-0 and then won it at 11-9! Exciting!
      (I just wish it wasn't so expensive to go to the game!)

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  10. What a wonderful Mothers' Day gift. The closest I have got to a baseball game is playing it on the Wii!
    I was surprised when you said that not a lot of people sing along with the National Anthem, I always think of you as a very patriotic nation.

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    1. It was a GREAT Mother's Day Gift!
      And I might have to do a post about the Star Spangled Banner. I think most people are patriotic but it is such a hard song to sing! Doesn't stop me though! :-)

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  11. How fun! I've been to a couple of Braves games and I always loved it. I often wear my white Braves cap with a pink "A" because it's my initial. Ha! You should know that I also always sing along. ALWAYS! I can just picture you proudly singing now!

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    1. HA! I can just see you in your pink "A" cap singing "The Star Spangled Banner"! You can take me out to the ballgame anytime! (And of course, I sing "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" during the 7th inning too!)

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  12. I'll say it was a pretty good crowd! What a wonderful son you have to take you out to the ballgame for your Mother's Day gift :) I wasn't the least bit surprised to learn you always sing the National Anthem - you are just that kind of gal - and an inspiration to others around you, I'm certain.

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    1. HA HA Jane! Yes, I am absolutely SURE that I inspire others with my wonderful singing voice! My son has a wonderful voice, so it was nice to be beside him because he sang it too!

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  13. Great report on the game. And great photos. I've never been to Atlanta but loved it when we first got cablevision and saw all the Braves game because Turner Broadcasting billed them as "America's team." Made it fun and exciting. As a former little league parent and coach, I love baseball. It's one of the truly great inventions of mankind! Or so I've always thought.....

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    1. Oh, yes! It was so much fun when we were "America's Team", and people from all over were Braves fans, I loved that!
      I really like sports but baseball is my favorite.

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  14. Looks like a great experience and glad you had some quality time with your family.

    I have not been to Turner Field, but would like to go someday--maybe in May rather than steamy GA in late July, but you are more courageous than I am .

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    1. Don't blame you for wanting to go when it is cooler!
      It was great fun!
      Thanks for your comment!

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