Stopping two streaks in on weekend...

{waiting for our tickets}

Ted Turner, like him or not, was a genius.  He started national broadcasting of sports.  He is the reason ESPN is what it is today.  Years ago he had the strangest idea to buy the Atlanta Braves and put them on a station called TBS. They were not a winning team or anything news worthy.  Probably just cheap.  That allowed little boys like Mike Willits to watch them consistently.  At the start they were the worst team in baseball.  Mike didn't care, he loved them anyway.  Then they got good.. really good.  I will never forget the teams they had in the 90's. They could be down by double digits and then magically pull it together to win.  You could never count them out.  They stole bases like it was breathing...they made double plays like clock work.  That was the kind of baseball I "learned on" because that was early Mike and Monica days.  We always made plans to attend a game someday.  Then we moved around the country and had Matthew and going to a Braves game took a backseat to seeing family again.  

{look, I am in a photo!, Thanks to an nice Atlanta fan}

Friday my husband got to attend his very first live Braves game.  I would honestly guess that he has seen or at least listened to over 1,000 games in his life. My husband who never gets excited....

looked like this for hours!

He got to be this close to  so many of his favorite players

I should mention that it rained all day.  Then a little before the gates opened the sun came out and shined down on the stadium.  Mike said his Grandpa Joe had called in a favor for him.  Grandpa Joe was a huge baseball fan.  He lived his whole life waiting to see the Cubs win.  I have to say that Target Field is incredible. There are no bad seats in this stadium.  They really did it right. I just wish they would have put a roof on it like Milwaukee did.

We ended up sitting next to this player's sister. She was so sweet. I think she and her husband knew everyone in the stand by the end of the night.

Terry Pendleton is MY favorite all time player.  He was know for being the team cheerleader when he played.  He helped keep a lot of the young guys out of trouble.  He was known for having Oreos and Diet Coke when the other players would get together.  He is just an all out nice guy.  It was fun to watch him give out a few hugs to the twins players.  I was so happy to see him as he is now a hitting coach for the Braves.

Everywhere you look a Bravo!

One of the first presents I ever gave Mike was a Chipper Jones autographed bat.

I love this picture

Glen Hubbard is one of Mike's favorite all time players.  He loves Glen.  You can't see it in this picture but Glen is actually holding a ball in his glove as he stands here talking to Terry.  Shortly after I shot this He turned around and looked up.  Mike held his hand up and Glen threw Mike the ball.  Mike totally choked up.  I have never seen a heart of a man turn to a little boy so quickly in all my life. That ball will be a lifetime treasure.

Here is the Braves newby.  Jason is a great kid and a great ball player and I hope he plays for the Braves for many more years.

Getting ready to play some real ball now

Mike kept score of the game so he could stay focused and remember every moment.

We had amazing seats. They were 23 rows up from Home plate. This picture does not do them justice as I was trying to frame in the city scape.  My friend Dawn from Atlanta provided us with tickets to the game.  It was really fun to be in a section that was mostly Braves fans too.  I have to say it is really fun to be rooting for your team with a minority crowd.  You just feel so connected to anyone that is a fan of your team.  Mike and I met so many cool people.  Atlanta fans were so nice.  It was unreal. Thank you again Dawn!!!!!

Well this was game one.  The Braves lost despite a really hard effort by Tim Hudson.  He pitched his heart out the entire game. He even held off a loaded base inning.  However, the Braves still lost.  The only record being broken on Friday was for Mike Willits.  The Braves would have to wait until Saturday to break the no wins in Minnesota streak.  

Game 2 coming soon:-)