My Young Life: Braves' Game

The BYU Alumni Association hosted a "Mormon Night at the Braves" last night, so we took the whole family to Turner Field to cheer on the home team. Dale Murphy was a special guest last night. He played for the Braves from 1976 until 1990, and quit impressively so. He was a great player and a great guy. His jersey, No. 3, was retired after he retired from baseball in 1994.

We had perfect seats - not necessarily the best seats, but for our family, they were perfect. We sat right beside the Mets bullpen, down the third base line. We were only three rows back, but we were on the inside isle (right against the bullpen), so the kids had a big "play area." They could move around without bothering anyone, and they watched the Mets' relief pitchers alot when the action on field was stalling.

We also had a steady supply of cotton candy, Reese's pieces, and blue slushies going :-) We missed the meet and greet with Dale Murphy, but we made it in time to see him throw the opening pitch. The weather was great (a little overcast so the temperature was not in the 90s like it has been for the past month), the kids were happy, and the Braves won (4 to 1), so it was a great night :-). Even the one thing that started out as a hassle ended up being great...

Sydney needed to go to the bathroom 4 times during the 3 1/2 hour game. The last time I was a little annoyed because it was the 8th inning, and since the Braves were ahead, the game would be over soon. I asked Sydney to try to wait, but she was adamant. Reluctantly, I took her to the bathroom. As we were coming back to our seats, we were walking right by the bullpen wall, and I heard someone whistling. At first I didn't pay it any attention, but after the second whistle, and a "Hey!" I turned to look.

Raul Valdes, one of the relief pitchers, was trying to get our attention so he could give Sydney a baseball from the bullpen. Sydney was so excited! She proceeded to tell us for the next hour (the rest of the game, the walk to the car, and the entire drive home) what a great time she had at the game, and how happy she was to have a real Braves baseball.
Jaxy had fun doing the Tomahawk Chop (especially when the Chick-fil-A cow would do it too), and watching the "fireworks" (for every strike out the Braves pitch, the Atlanta Gas light display shoots a burst of fire into the air). When Chipper Jones hit a home run, they actually shot off real fireworks, so Jaxy liked that too.

The view of home plate from our seats