Joey's World Tour: Peaches and Creamed (Part I - Mets Put the Hot in Hotlanta)

At least it's not Turner Field.  (Photo by Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

Welcome to the latest edition of my baseball world tour.  I'm your Studious Metsimus roving reporter/culinary expert Joey Beartran.  In today's two-part installment (you can read the second part by clicking here), I'll take you to the latest ballparks I visited; the brand spanking new SunTrust Park in Atlanta and the cavernous airport hangar in Miami known as Marlins Park.

The state of Georgia is known as the Peach State, and I was feeling pretty peachy myself after attending the middle game of the three-game series against the Braves.  My colleagues and I arrived at the ballpark about half an hour before first pitch.  We tried to get there at least an hour early to take photos around the park and to explore the stadium before first pitch, but it was impossible to park near the stadium.  You see, most parking facilities within a Juan Lagares throw of the stadium were "permit parking only".  My limo driver (and by limo, I mean rental car from the airport) had to drive around for close to half an hour before she found an area nearly a mile away from the stadium gates.  So after working up a sweat hiking, we arrived to notice that the area adjacent to the ballpark has been developed into an entertainment complex known as The Battery.

For those who don't have tickets to the game, The Battery has several restaurants, such as Wahlburgers, YardHouse and PBR Bar & Grill, where you can drink, dance and ride a mechanical bull.  And no, I did not ride the bull.  I weigh eight ounces and would be tossed from it immediately.

The Battery also has a theater for live entertainment (Coca Cola Roxy Theatre), an area where you can watch the Braves' pre-game show as it's been filmed and a huge floating baseball located high above the concourse that serves as a TV and scoreboard.  All in all, this area has everything for the baseball fan (and non-baseball fan) to see and do before and after the game.

(Above photos by Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

As we walked around the ballpark, we noticed several statues dedicated to Braves legends.  Hall of Fame pitchers Phil Niekro and Warren Spahn (who won four games as a Met in 1965) are prominently featured, as is Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox.  Meanwhile, all the Mets can muster for one of its managers is a gnome-sized Casey Stengel statue-like piece hidden near a window at the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum.

Seriously, Mets?  This is the best you can do regarding statues?  (EL/SM)

We did notice that one statue was missing outside the stadium, and considering that the ballpark's official address is 755 Battery Avenue Southeast and 755 is kind of an important number in baseball history, we thought this was an oversight on the Braves' part, similar to Terry Collins not starting Michael Conforto regularly against left-handed pitchers until a couple of months into this season.

But we were proven wrong once we entered the ballpark.  Oh, how wrong we were.

Behind home plate is an area known as Monument Garden.  This area details Braves history from the team's days in Boston to its 13 seasons in Milwaukee to the last half-century in Atlanta.  From the World Series pennants (Did you know the Braves franchise has won exactly one championship in each of the three cities it has called home?  They won a title in Boston in 1914, Milwaukee in 1957 and Atlanta in 1995.) to uniforms of prominent players over the years, the Braves did a fantastic job honoring the history of the franchise as a whole; not just the team's days in Atlanta.  They even gave Casey Stengel - who played for the franchise for two seasons and managed them for six years - more than just a gnome.

Top to bottom: Monument Garden, Dale Murphy 1982 jersey, Sid Bream's leg brace from his pennant-winning run, Laaaaarrrry, Casey Stengel non-gnome.  (EL/SM)

That's just some of the Braves history in the park.  But you want to see the Hank Aaron stuff, don't you?  There was plenty of that to behold in Monument Garden.

First, there was the jersey worn by Aaron when he hit his record-setting 715th home run on April 8, 1974.  Then there is the massive statue of Aaron making solid contact with a baseball, which sits atop a beautiful waterfall.  And of course, there are the 755 Louisville Slugger bats behind the statue which form a number 755.  (There are 201 bats in the number 7 and 277 bats in each of the two 5s.  I'm not as nerdy as my colleague; he was the one who counted the bats.)  The whole area is truly an awesome tribute to a legendary player and ambassador of the game.

Henry "Hank" Aaron.  Legend.  (EL/SM)

At the other end of the ballpark in straightaway center field is an area devoted to kids.  From rock climbing to a zip line to a whack-a-mole game, kids who are more interested in playing than watching millionaires play will certainly have plenty to keep themselves occupied.  But if I were a parent, I wouldn't be happy with it, mainly because there is no way to see the game from center field.  That concourse area does not have a view of the field so you'll have to depend on small TVs that you have to be standing directly under in order to know what's going on in the game you paid good money to see.

If I were one of those kids' parents, I'd just leave them there and walk around to one of the many food areas.  At least there, I can turn around and watch the game.  What are some of these food choices?  I'm glad you asked.

In addition to the regular ballpark fare, there are street tacos, a build-your-own ice cream bar, a Chick-fil-A, a Waffle House (not pictured), the Chop House (which serves the regional favorite H & F Burger) and a cleverly named stand that specializes in Thai food (Intentional Wok).  Although I was interested in trying the Chicken Pad Thai noodles there, I did not.  That was mainly because the name of the stand reminded me too much of the intentional walks issued by Kenny Rogers to Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan in Game Six of the 1999 NLCS right before the unintentional pass to Andruw Jones that won the pennant for the Braves.  Those walks made me intentionally walk right by the Thai food stand without ordering anything.

Wok on by, wok on by.  (EL/SM)

The game itself was quite entertaining, as Jacob deGrom bested former Met R.A. Dickey in a 7-3 Mets victory.  DeGrom threw seven innings of one-run ball, Gavin Cecchini collected his first three-hit game in the majors and drove in two runs and Dominic Smith got back at the moron who chose to play "Dominic the Donkey" as Smith's walk-up music by lashing a two-run double.  Seriously, if the Braves were going to play a Lou Monte song, they should have picked "Lazy Mary" instead of "Dominic the Donkey".  But what should I expect from a team that can't spell "Lagares" correctly?

Well, he has legged out several triples and stolen bases this year, so maybe that explains the misspelling.  (EL/SM)

So what did I think of the ballpark?  Well, I liked the area around the park.  I also enjoyed Monument Garden and the food options.  Another cool feature was the rent-a-glove station, which allows fans who don't want to injure themselves by attempting a barehanded catch of a screaming Freddie Freeman foul ball to leave their gloves at home.  All that makes it seem like I enjoyed my experience at the ballpark.

But it's the Braves.  As a Mets fan, I will never like anything about them.  So if you're not a Mets fan or if you are but don't have a long memory, come on out to SunTrust Park.  As long as you don't have kids who will keep you in the center field play area all game, you'll have a wonderful time before, during and after the game.

I do give credit to the Braves for trying to give an out-of-town Mets fan such as myself a pleasant experience.  In fact, I'd like to give them a full moon salute for their effort.  You can't say I don't appreciate a team trying to impress me.

Chop this, Atlanta!  (EL/SM)

For previous installments of Joey's World Tour, please click on the links below, where you will be entertained by Joey's wit, photos and love of ballpark cuisine:

World Tour Stop #1: Baltimore
World Tour Stop #2: Washington, DC
World Tour Stop #3: Pittsburgh
World Tour Stop #4: Texas
World Tour Stop #5: Los Angeles
World Tour Stop #6: San Diego
World Tour Stop #7: Toronto
World Tour Stop #8: Chicago (NL)
World Tour Stop #9: Milwaukee
World Tour Stop #10: Seattle
World Tour Stop #11: Cleveland
World Tour Stop #12: Brooklyn (Ebbets Field site) and Manhattan (Polo Grounds site)
World Tour Stop #13: Baltimore (again) and Pittsburgh (part deux)
World Tour Stop #14: Cincinnati
World Tour Stop #15: Colorado
World Tour Stop #16: Cooperstown (Baseball Hall of Fame)
World Tour Stop #17: Detroit

 

Bill Buckner: The Forrest Gump of Baseball

You don't have to have been alive in 1986 to know who Bill Buckner is.  If you're a Mets fan of any age, you're quite familiar with that name.  But Bill Buckner was more than just a wobbly-kneed, high-top wearing error-maker.  In fact, in a career that spanned four decades (he played one game for the Dodgers in 1969 and 22 games for the Red Sox in 1990), Buckner had a very successful extended stay in the major leagues.

Bill Buckner collected 2,715 hits over his long career, falling two doubles short of 500.  He also was one of the toughest batters to strike out in the history of the game.  In over 10,000 career plate appearances (9,397 at-bats), Buckner whiffed a total of 453 times.  To put that into perspective, Buckner was more likely to get a double (he had 498 of those) than he was to strike out.  In 1980, he won the National League batting title while striking out only 18 times in 578 at-bats.  Furthermore, from 1974-1987, Buckner finished as one of the top three players in the league in AB/SO rate a whopping ten times.  That includes the forever-to-be-remembered-for-another-reason 1986 campaign, a year in which he had gimpy legs, but not a gimpy bat, as he collected 39 doubles, a career-high 18 HR, 102 RBI and struck out a mere 25 times in 629 at-bats.  But it was a swing and a miss with the glove that stands out in the memories of Mets fans and baseball fans everywhere.

The 1986 World Series wasn't the only time Bill Buckner didn't come up with the ball in a famous play.  In fact, twelve years before the little roller up along first went behind the bag and not into his glove, Buckner failed to field another ball.  However, this one had a far more historical impact than the grounder by Mookie Wilson did.

In 1974, Hank Aaron was approaching Babe Ruth's all-time home run record.  He had finished the 1973 season with 713 career home runs and was poised to break the record early in the 1974 campaign.  He wasted no time doing so, blasting his record-tying 714th home run on Opening Day  against the Cincinnati Reds.  Four days later, on April 8, Aaron broke the record with a home run off Dodger pitcher Al Downing.  The video below has footage of the home run, but I'd like to call to your attention the Dodger outfielder who gave a valiant effort by climbing the left field wall in a failed attempt to catch Aaron's historic blast.  (The wall-climbing takes place at the 0:24 mark of the video.)




The athletic outfielder who did whatever he could to catch Aaron's ball, even if it meant ripping his pants on the chain-link fence, was none other than William Joseph Buckner.  Buckner failed to come up with the ball, allowing Aaron to circle the bases (with his overexuberant bodyguards joining him between second and third base).  It was the first of two times that Buckner would be thrust into the spotlight for not catching a ball.

In essence, by failing to come up with Aaron's fly ball in 1974 and Mookie Wilson's ground ball in 1986, Buckner has become the Forrest Gump of baseball.  As any astute moviegoer would be able to tell you, Forrest Gump always seemed to find his way into memorable moments in American history.   From teaching Elvis Presley how to swing his hips to exposing the Watergate scandal to inadvertently creating the "have a nice day" t-shirt, the famous resident from fictional Greenbow, Alabama couldn't help but contribute to historical events, even if he didn't realize he was doing it at the time.  The same can be said about Bill Buckner.

Buckner was just trying to catch a high fly ball off the bat of Hank Aaron in 1974.  Instead, his body hanging on top of the left field fence became part of baseball history.  Similarly, he was just trying to field a ground ball in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.  Instead, he left Red Sox fans hanging, having to wait another 18 years before the Curse of the Bambino could be lifted.

Bill Buckner was a great baseball player who played for a very long time.  His 22 years in the major leagues alone should have cemented his place in baseball history.  But Buckner carved his own place in baseball history that had nothing to do with what he did best, which was making contact with the ball and collecting hit after hit after hit.  In 1974, Buckner was on the wrong end of a historic home run.  Twelve years later, it was a ground ball that trickled under his glove and into endless video replays.  To add insult to injury, I'm sure it would surprise no one to know that Buckner played in only two World Series in his 22-year career.  Naturally, those appearances came in 1974 and 1986, with both series ending in defeats.

Perhaps it was Bill Buckner who was running alongside Forrest Gump when Gump stepped in a heaping pile of doggie doo during his multiple runs across America.  For a player who had such a wonderful career in the big leagues, "it" has certainly happened to Buckner, and "it happened" more than "sometimes".

Legendary Broadcaster Vin Scully Returns For 61st Season

Bronx-born Vin Scully will be back in the broadcast booth for the Los Angeles Dodgers for a record 61st season in 2010. No other broadcaster has spent so many consecutive years working for the same team in baseball history.

In 1950, Scully began his broadcasting career working in the Brooklyn Dodgers' radio and television booth alongside Red Barber and Connie Desmond. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles following the 1957 season, Scully left his roots behind but brought along his Hall-of-Fame voice with him.

In addition to baseball, Scully also called NFL games for CBS from 1972 to 1982. He left football after the 1982 season to work as a baseball broadcaster for NBC. Longtime Mets fans might remember one particular call from Scully during the 1986 World Series.

"Little roller up along first. Behind the bag! It gets through Buckner! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!"

Vin Scully and Shea Stadium. Can't help but feel nostalgic for 1986.

That wasn't the first time Scully had mentioned Bill Buckner's name in a memorable call. Back in 1974, Hank Aaron hit his record-breaking 715th home run against Dodger pitcher Al Downing. A young Bill Buckner was the leftfielder in that game for the Dodgers so he got a perfect view of the home run while he was chasing it towards the left field fence.

Naturally, since the feat came against the Dodgers, Scully was in the ballpark calling the game. Here was his call when Aaron made history.

"It's a long drive to deep left. Buckner to the fence. It is gone!"

After a short pause (similar to his pause after Ray Knight scored the winning run on October 25, 1986), Scully offered this to baseball fans.

"What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly Hank Aaron."

Vin Scully has never been about himself. He has always been about the game. For sixty seasons, he has taken out his canvas in the broadcast booth and painted a beautiful picture for baseball fans to watch and listen to.

In 2010, Hall-of-Famer Vin Scully will be entering his 61st season as a Dodger broadcaster. If you ever watch a Mets game against the Dodgers and can get the audio of Vin Scully, do yourself a favor and listen to it. I'm sure Gary Cohen or Howie Rose won't mind if you do. After all, they owe everything to a legend like Mr. Scully.