I’m not sure if I’m going to get to go to Atlanta this year to see my beloved and streaking Braves team play, but I did get to see the next best thing this past Saturday.
There was a lot on my plate this weekend in terms of newspaper duties, but I needed a breather, if not for just a few hours.
With storms looming on the radar, I told Callie I was willing to risk driving to Pearl to try and catch a Mississippi Braves game, even if it eventually got rained out.
I bought tickets, and I also booked a hotel room nearby, since it was going to be a 6 o’clock start.
Turns out, the M-Braves were playing the Biloxi Shuckers, a favorite of my good friend and neighbor, Doug Adams.
The Pearl Braves are on about as good of a roll right now as the Atlanta Braves.
Backing up, I had predicted to my fellow Rotarian Will McDowell about a month ago that the big Braves club would falter in mid-August.
That was before the trade deadline when Braves management added a closer and about half a dozen outfielders to the roster.
The Braves have been absolutely killing it ever since. In fact, they’ve gone from below .500 and in fourth place to 2.5 games ahead of the Phillies in the National League East standings.
I don’t think my pre-deadline criticisms of the Braves were without merit, but I’m glad they made the trades they did and got the team back on track.
Now back to our story.
We left Indianola on Saturday around 4 p.m.
It looked like most of the storms that were west of the Mississippi River were tracking north, into the Delta, so I felt better about chancing the outdoor venue.
We arrived in Pearl about ten to six, just enough time for me to run into the hotel and check in and then drive to the ballpark.
My parents, who started taking me to Braves games back in the 90s, met us there.
It was muggy when we arrived, and there were storm clouds in the backdrop of the outfield, but we never felt one drop of rain hit us the entire night. The temperature actually dropped into the 70s, making it a downright pleasant evening for baseball.
The game was sparsely attended, but that was better for us I guess, as we had plenty of room to stretch out and move about with kids both 5 and 3.
Still, I wish more people would take advantage of the affordable and safer outdoor activities like minor league baseball.
To back up again, I saw my first Major League baseball game in 1998, and it was a Greg Maddux 2-0 shutout win that lasted under two hours.
Saturday night’s win for the M-Braves was 4-0. It lasted longer than two hours, but it was just the kind of game I like to watch, with great defense and great pitching.
In fact, it was the M-Braves’ fourth shutout that week.
The Shuckers ended up losing the weekend series 2-1.
Sorry, Doug.
Meanwhile back at home, the storms did indeed track into the Delta, bringing a lot of lightening and power outages over that lasted into Sunday in some places.
There were several trees and limbs down when we arrived back at the house early Sunday afternoon.
I still had a lot of work to do when I got back to Indianola, but it was good to clear my head for just a little bit, all the while enjoying my favorite sport and some ballpark food with my favorite people.
