2010 "Love Notes": Pitchers

At the end of 2008, I wrote an end of the year wrap-up on each player in the organization. Work was very busy last year and the wrap-up was skipped, but I have all the time in the world right now. ;) This year will be slightly different – I decided to write “love notes” instead of a semi-objective wrap up for each player. So here are short little notes to the boys, as if they’d ever read them! :D

Player list pulled from Baseball Reference and is in the order they presented – apparently, no particular order. It was the best way to make sure everyone was covered!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

#56

Dear Chris,

When I talk about you, I seem to spend a lot of time defending you against loser guys who mocked the backwards spelling of your name. You’re not that bad. :)

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#37

Dear JoJo,

I totally didn’t remember you made an appearance with the big club this year until I was pulling everyone’s names from Baseball Reference for this post. Sorry about that. I like it when you wear socks up.

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#37

Dear Beachy,

You are super cute, and I hope you don’t get traded away this winter because you showed so much awesome at the end of the season.

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#36

Dear Scott,

Your first day with the Braves, you came out in BP with an extra pair of shoes, put them down in front of you, and when BP was over, you took them back off the field with you. I’d really like to know why they came out in the first place, but it’s probably none of my business. :)

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#56

Dear MikeMinor,

Your beer shower on Braves Live was one of the most memorable interviews of the year. I look forward to seeing you pitch more next year!

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#11

Dear KK,

I wish we had seen some of the impressions we heard you do so well.

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#50

Dear Cristhian,

You creeped my friend and I out. Don’t do that again. You don't get a nice note.

Signed,

Lauren

-------------------------------------- 

#49

Dear JJ,

I loved talking with you in Publix at the Shop with the Braves this summer, and I’m so sad our picture didn’t come out well. I’m glad you took my suggestion to bring back the blow pops! :)

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#46

Dear Kimmie,

Funny, I can’t seem to find your autograph in my yearbook thingie from Baseball 101. I remember us talking about how you weren’t in there yet because you were a pretty recent callup, and I could have sworn you signed somewhere else in there. It’s okay; I’ll settle for a pic together next time we meet. :)

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#43

Dear Kyle,

Sorry if my suggestion to have my Twitter followers follow you caused you to close your account. Thought I was being helpful! :(

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#38

Dear Mike,

I loved the way your face had, like, 16 levels of smiles. You’ll be missed.

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#43

Dear Jesse,

“Low Rider”? Really? Hahahaha!

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#54

Dear Meds,

You’re hilarious, and you’re a doll-face. Heal up soon!

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#32

Dear D-Lowe,

From the stands, it looks as if you treat Meds and Tommy like kid brothers in BP – it’s one of my favorite things to see. I want to give you Gatorade popsicles every 5 days, and I don’t understand your hair.

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#15

Dear Huddy,

Comeback player of the year? Well deserved. Now, can we please see more videos of you pranking your teammates? We’ll love you forever for those!

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#48

Dear Tommy,

Do you have a height minimum for the girls you’ll date? One of my friends is curious.

Love,

Lauren (mostly, her friend)

--------------------------------------

#40

Dear Saito,

So, what do you order at Five Guys? I like that they tell you the origin of the potatoes for the fries every day (even if just a burger or hot dog is usually enough food for me and I don’t usually order fries).

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#34

Dear EO,

What’s the deal with the hat? The readers here are very amused that you take it off so often, even when the sun is beating down and you’re squinting. :) Do you just not care for them? Do you need a larger size?

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#13

Dear Billy,

I loved the way you took the young guys under your wing and the sense of humor we got glimpses of in the occasional interview. You’ll be missed.

Love,

Lauren

--------------------------------------

#39

Dear Jonny,

I'm so glad your arm didn't fall off. I like your socks and that our hair is close to the same color; please don't shave it all off again next year. Thanks for being such a sweetheart at Baseball 101 and at the CNN Center!

Love,

Lauren

PS – Please reconsider the dip. It’s gross, and no one wants you to get cancer. ♥

-------------------------------------- 

#58

Dear Pete,

Early in the season, you demonstrated cricket pitches to a few of the guys during batting practice; it was very entertaining. You used to horse around more – we miss that.

Love,

Lauren

2010 "Love Notes": Outfielders

At the end of 2008, I wrote an end of the year wrap-up on each player in the organization. Work was very busy last year and the wrap-up was skipped, but I have all the time in the world right now. ;) This year will be slightly different – I decided to write “love notes” instead of a semi-objective wrap up for each player. So here are short little notes to the boys, as if they’d ever read them! :D

Player list pulled from Baseball Reference and is in the order they presented – apparently, no particular order. It was the best way to make sure everyone was covered!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

#53

Dear Melky,

Your expanding hair over the season and that super-wonky throw amused me. Good luck with your next club.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#27

Dear Brent,

I wish I had a dollar for every time I pronounced your name for someone. It’s not that difficult! :) I understand; my last name is an odd one too.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#23

Dear MattE,

Thanks for tripping the Morph Suit (that was seriously awesome), hustling on the field, and occasionally making the day of some loud male fans in LF by talking to them during BP. Pretty much everyone thinks you’re amazing.

Love,
Lauren

-------------------------------------- 

#24

Dear Nate,

I’m not the one who yelled “Go Mighty Mouse!” at you. Just saying.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#1

Dear Gregor,

I’m glad the trade to KC is giving you a shot to start everyday, but I miss your glowy face.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#28

Dear Rick,

You’re one of the few former Braves I have next to no feelings about, one way or another. I have no idea why.

Love,
Lauren

-------------------------------------- 

#22

Dear Jason,

I was in the RF upper deck for your opening day home run, and I honestly thought the stadium was going to collapse from the cheering and I was going to die. :D Thanks for being a player so many fans can passionately cheer for.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#20

Dear He-Man,

I’m pretty sure all my readers were madly in love with you by the end of the season and would die for a SkeHug. Please re-sign! We love your smile and prefer you with hair.

Love,
Lauren

2010 "Love Notes": Infielders

At the end of 2008, I wrote an end of the year wrap-up on each player in the organization. Work was very busy last year and the wrap-up was skipped, but I have all the time in the world right now. ;) This year will be slightly different – I decided to write “love notes” instead of a semi-objective wrap up for each player. So here are short little notes to the boys, as if they’d ever read them! :D

Player list pulled from Baseball Reference and is in the order they presented – apparently, no particular order. It was the best way to make sure everyone was covered!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

#16

Dear BMac,

“All I Do Is Win” was a great choice for an at-bat song this year, and I always enjoyed seeing “everybody hands go up! And they stay there!”

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#33

Dear J.C.,

I was there for your first ML at-bat, and was proud of you for being so patient. Hope you get another shot soon!

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#8

Dear Rossy,

You should be mic’ed up more often. The singing was amazing, and you’re a very funny guy!

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#25

Dear T-Roy,

I started hearting you when I was in college in 2000 and you were with the Angels, and I was so excited to have you as a Brave this year. Thanks for standing in the batting circle with authority.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#5

Dear Freddie,

What is your intro song? Please tell us – it’s driving us nuts! I totally know it and can’t place it.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#27

Dear D-Lee,

I sure wish we had a place for you next year. Loved watching you play for the Marlins and the Cubs, and loved having you as a Brave. Bottom line – you deserve a full-time job, and we have a 1B next year. It was great while it lasted.

Love,
Lauren

-------------------------------------- 

#10

Dear Chipper,

The story about Moylo was both scarring and funny. Pass the brain bleach, please!

Thanks/”Thanks”,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#26

Dear Brooks,

Getting a high-five from you at Baseball 101 this year was one of the highlights of my summer. Your genuine excitement at having so many fans who knew who you were and appreciated your contributions to the team was fun to see.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#14

Dear Martin,

Thanks for being so focused, working so hard, and being so cute you rendered my cousin speechless when we met you. You have no idea how rare that is for her. Heh heh.

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#19

Dear Yunie,

I think I was always more amused by you than other Braves fans were. The worm highlights may have been a bit much for Atlanta. ;) Hope you have much success in Toronto!

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#2

Dear Alex,

Love your intensity and competitiveness, and I look forward to another year with you at shortstop!

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#19

Dear Diory,

Your mug shot is cute. Can’t say that about all the boys!

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#18

Dear Brandon,

Try to be nicer, okay?

Love,
Lauren

--------------------------------------

#4

Dear Omar,

I still don’t understand how people thought you and Martin were the same person. Good luck in Miami!

Love,
Lauren

2010 Rookie of the Year: Not Heyward

source

After Jason Heyward's electric home run in his first at-bat of the year, most Atlanta fans fully expected him to win rookie of the year. While I understand the BBWAA's choice of voting Buster Posey as the winner (I am a bit partial to the battery, if you haven't noticed!), I was a bit disappointed when I read our Heyward didn't win. I'm not going to go into comparing their stats and all that mess -- there are plenty of sites who do that much better than I could -- but I will say I'm glad they don't let the fans vote. It would just turn into a popularity contest (like the All-Star starters), and I don't think that's any more fair.

As for the end of that chart, I'm very happy someone put a vote in for our Jonny Venters. I'd love to know who this was, because middle relievers don't get enough love and I'm curious if this was an Atlanta beat writer, an NL East writer, or another writer who was impressed with his mid-to-upper-90s sinker. It's really amazing to see in person, and I hope Jonny's a Brave for a very long time. :)

Oh! As I was writing, I got an email that identified San Francisco's Andrew Baggarly as the Jonny fan!

I was one of the 32 voters and I can reveal my ballot to you now: 1. Posey 2. Heyward 3. Jonny Venters.

Here's a link to his blog. Thanks for recognizing talent, Mr. Baggarly! You're awesome. Love, Braves fans.


PS -- If I'd voted, and there was a 4th place vote, it would have gone to Gaby Sanchez for clotheslining Nyjer Morgan. I never get tired of that footage.  ...And this is why I'm not a serious sports writer. :) I'm too easily biased!

Video: The Braves thank the fans for an awesome 2010

If you're on the Braves email list you've probably seen this already. :) If not, here's the link...

Video Link

Braves who speak into the camera are listed below, with my comments. Please excuse the extraordinary number of exclamation points -- I miss baseball too much. :)

• Heyward - So smiley and handsome!
• Hanson - Looking less uncomfortable than usual!
• Rossy - Playoff beard starting? Looks good!
• Jonny - Aww, love ya! ♥
• Brooksy - Should definitely be a broadcaster when his playing career is over.
• Ankiel - Scares me a little, haha!
• Ske - He-Man! ♥
• Wags - We will miss him - he came across as one of the good ones.
• MattE - MattE is awesome. What else is there to say?

Brian McCann: Four-time Silver Slugger

July 13, 2010; Anaheim, CA, USA; National League catcher Brian McCann of the Atlanta Braves holds the game MVP award after the 2010 All Star game at Angel Stadium. The National League won 3-1. Photo via Newscom

Congrats, BMac! I'm pretty sure he won this award on July 13, right? :)

MLB.com Video Link

The first time I met BMac was at a charity golf tournament, a day or two after his first Silver Slugger was announced. I congratulated him on the award, and he was exactly as modest as you'd imagine. Sensing he didn't want to talk about his awesomeness, I dropped the subject and we ended up talking about Frenchy the rest of the time -- he liked that much better. It was pretty hilarious. :D

Four Silver Sluggers in five years. Amazing.

Last interview with Wags

This aired on MLBN on 10/10/10. How awesome is Billy? Most Braves fans are wishing he'd choose to come back for another season, but he's stayed firm in his decision so far that he's retiring, he's done, the end.



We're gonna miss you, Wags. We loved having you here. :)

"Come on, baby"

I love it when they talk to themselves. :)


10/11/10

A little Sunday Ske Love

AP Photo/John Bazemore

Hinske keeping postseason magic alive in Atlanta

Connie Hinske, Eric’s mom, said it has been exciting to see him progress from team to team. While he is no longer a day-to-day starter, Hinske is the kind of solid player who is popular among coaches and teammates.

“I think it’s so cool,” she said. “He’s happy being a bench player. And he’s still playing.

“It is way beyond what I had hoped. It was great when he signed with Toronto. It’s nine years later and he’s still finding a niche.”

Hinske embodies Braves' resilient spirit (with video!)

"I don't think it's a coincidence that these last three years he's been on clubs that are World Series-caliber clubs," Braves right-hander Tim Hudson said. "I don't think it's a coincidence that we're here in the playoffs back again with him."

Love Ske! So glad he's part of the team, and we hope he'll be here next year. :)

Happy 25th birthday, Kris Medlen!

Too cute, from Goldpanners.com

The first time I saw him in BP - 5-20-09

Socks up!
(July 12, 2009 - Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)

Get well soon, Infinity Heart! Happy happy birthday!

Tim Hudson: Comeback player of the year!

from the 2007 Braves pet calendar

Congratulations, Huddy!!

AP article, via the AJC

MLB.com article

I'm sure y'all have already read those, so here's a fun Huddy story from the Canadian Press that you may not have seen...

PROJECT RUNWAY: Braves pitcher Tim Hudson was preparing for Atlanta's flight to San Francisco for Game 1 of the NL division series when he realized something.

"Oh my God," he said, staring at the suit hanging in his Turner Field locker. "I don't have a shirt!"

Hudson promptly disappeared for about five minutes before coming back with a light blue gingham-check shirt — probably from his suitcase. He then held it up to his suit, which was beige with light blue pinstripes, and looked for approval.

"This looks OK, right?" Hudson said to closer Billy Wagner, who has a neighbouring locker. "Will this work?"

"You'll pull it off," Wagner responded. "You've got the whole redneck thing going, you'll be all right. Rookies!"

"Playoffs, man," said Hudson, back in the post-season for the first time since 2005. "I don't have a shirt!"

Hudson, who won the NL comeback player of the year award Tuesday, was just lucky reserve outfielder Eric Hinske wasn't at his neighbouring locker. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Hinske keeps a dozen dress shirts in cleaner's bags in his locker at all times, figuring the clubhouse is the only time he will need one.

The 6-1, 174-pound Hudson likely is too small to borrow one from Hinske, and probably wouldn't have found much sympathy on that side either. The proud Hinske calls his shirts stash a veteran move.

Now...someone tweeting from the AJC account (don't know if it was Carroll or DOB in the clubhouse yesterday) has this to say about the shirt...

Hudson forgot his dress shirt today for the trip. Visiting clubhouse man John Holland to the rescue. Came through with a blue Gingham shirt.

Oh well, as long as he had one, right? Right. :D

Best wishes for a wonderful post-season and a fantastic 2011, Huddy! Lovvies, thanks for reading. Here's a prize: your favorite Huddy pic of the year. Cheers!

From the 8-2-10 game, parade on the field

Game Day Pictures: Braves vs Phillies 10-1-10

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

This was my last regular-season game of the season, and while Alison and I had tix in 406, we ended up being coerced into watching the entire game from the CF side of the bullpen. We just love our bullpen friends too much -- I mean, if you had a super-fun security guard saving you seats and a silly bullpen coach blowing you kisses (haha!) and you loved the bullpen anyway, wouldn't you sit there too? Yes, you would. :D

Anyway, as has been the case lately, the boys made me very self-conscious of my camera, so there aren't as many in-game shots. Here's the full album, here are Alison's corresponding game pics, and below are some I've picked out to talk about...

Kimmie, covering up a yawn

"Okay, let's get him" ... right before a whole squad of guys went over and goosed Freddie!

I love Joe Blanton's calves. I have no idea how many pictures I took of them, but I kept nine. Here are two of the best pics...

A few members of the Tomahawk Team and I follow each other on Twitter, so I promised @BravesJennifer I'd stop by and say hello to them. After stupid Jayson Werth smashed my phone, we headed over to Fan Plaza and luckily, they weren't busy and we got to chat with @BravesJamie and @BravesMarcie too. They're so sweet - they're all, "We're so glad you're not a creepy old man!" They seemed genuinely happy I wasn't a dude (hilarious), and wanted a picture with me. Alison took one of us with Jennifer's phone, then one with my camera.

Fun!

OK, gametime!

Freddie's first time competing in Closest to the Pin! (He didn't win.) ;)

He has soooooo many friends! :D

This just isn't the best angle for game pictures. ;) That's Ske at bat.

JC Boscan's first major-league appearance!

He walked! Way to go!

Braves...did not win. And my phone was broken. But I got a home run ball? I guess that was awesome. And as we now know, the Braves are in the playoffs, so the outcome of this game didn't matter!

See you if you have a game on Monday, boys! ♥ Let's go Braves!

Wild Card Braves!!

Mike Zarrill/Getty Images

WOOOOOOO!

I wasn't at the clinching game yesterday, in spite of six different ticket offers -- I had family matters to attend to, and was with my family out in west GA literally all day yesterday. I haven't even seen the game yet! BUT! I was able to look at Twitter and talk to a few friends during the day and these pictures and videos definitely need to be preserved.

If you were there, please email your pics to me here, along with any stories, and I'll add those in a separate post. Thanks and loves! GO BRAVES!!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The following are not in chronological order -- I opened them all at once, there were a lot of duplicates, and I ended up grouping them by the star(s) of the photo.

Video - Bobby dancing!

AJC Gallery - http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/sports/braves/phillies-braves-100310/

Bobby - http://plixi.com/p/48631851

Bobby - http://twitpic.com/2ugndh

Bobby - http://plixi.com/p/48633408

Bobby - http://yfrog.com/08kwkmcj

Bobby - http://beta.daylife.com/photo/0f4T5wvdLw3ZK

Bobby - http://beta.daylife.com/photo/06wsfxA5pp65F

Bobby - http://beta.daylife.com/photo/0bGD3Jaev74CT

Bobby and MattE - http://beta.daylife.com/photo/01YL4cB0iteud

Bobby and MattE - http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/searchpopup?picId=217783638

Bobby and JJ - http://plixi.com/p/48631626

Bobby and Saito - http://yfrog.com/87i9sz

Dancing - http://plixi.com/p/48630291

Flag - http://plixi.com/p/48631275

Flag - http://twitpic.com/2ugp1t

Flag, DLowe - http://yfrog.com/jkyf1wj

DLowe - http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/104696837/

DLowe and Huddy - http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/searchpopup?picId=217800381

DLowe and Moylan - http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/104696808/

DLowe and Saito - http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/searchpopup?picId=217804957

Hanson and DLowe - http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/104696841/

Heyward and Hinske - http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/104696806/

Huddy - http://plixi.com/p/48629819

Huddy - http://beta.daylife.com/photo/0fqY5OFcGceSZ

Huddy with fans - http://bit.ly/9vrjBT

Huddy, Lowe, and fans - http://bit.ly/cYB6kO

Huddy, Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Ross, Mrs. Venters - http://yfrog.com/mulqcij (Those are the only wives I could ID, maybe others are in the pics?)

JJ and Heyward (SO CUTE) - http://yfrog.com/g4w9rej

Jonny and EO - http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Jonny+Venters/Eric+O%27Flaherty

McCann and Hanson - http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/104696630/

Moylan, Saito, Wags - http://plixi.com/p/48630053

Moylan - http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/104696803/

Mystery Brave (Chip?) - http://yfrog.com/jb20858369j

The whole team - http://plixi.com/p/48628760

The whole team - http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/104697186


More to come, I hope! :)

Bobby Cox's Retirement Festivities

Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

Bobby has been an Atlanta institution for the last 25 years, and many will miss seeing his spikes in the dugout when 2011 rolls around. Here's a collection of articles, photos, and the retirement ceremonies from Turner Field on Saturday, October 2, 2010.

The Braves honor Manager Bobby Cox
 

Full Video from MLB.com

ESPN - Bobby Cox is a 'one-of-a-kind' manager (Jayson Stark)

MLB - Braves pay tribute to Cox's impact in Atlanta (Mark Bowman)
MLB - Cox's legacy unmatched in Braves history (Mark Bowman)

AJC - Bobby Cox: A tip of the cap to the face of a city (Kyle Wingfield)
AJC - List of former Braves players, coaches and staff in attendance for Cox tribute (Carroll Rogers)

Tribute videos from former players, via the Braves Twitter
Phil Niekro ~ Dale Murphy ~ Andres Galarraga ~ John Smoltz ~ Gaylord Perry ~ Gary Sheffield ~ Greg Maddux ~ Fred McGriff ~ David Justice ~ Tom Glavine

All the pictures below are Getty Images - photographer credit to Scott Cunningham. Click to enlarge.

And one final pic of Bobby and his wife Pam, photographer credit to the AP's John Bazemore. So cute!

We love you, Bobby! Thanks for everything!

Jayson Werth broke my phone

Friday night. Phillies batting practice at Turner Field. Alison and I were sitting in the top row of the left field Field Pavilion, she was taking pics of Roy Halladay and I was taking pics of Joe Blanton's socks & Cole Hamels. We were getting ready to go meet up with a few of the Tomahawk Team (more on that in the gameday post) when we hear, "HEADS UP!" and all of a sudden, there's a ball in my lap and a security guard asking if I'm okay.

 Oh yes. It busted my phone.

The ushers and security guards were in consensus that Jayson Werth hit the home run that smashed into my bag, and the kids to my left thought it was "so cool!" Honestly, I don't even care that I got a ball. I have a busted phone and I was recently laid off. :( I'm on my way to T-Mobile now to see if they can re-activate my old flip phone (the one with an outside screen that's currently reading upside down and backwards). Awesome.

A few words about Bobby Cox from the players

AJC Video Link

What a nice little tribute. I read MLB.com is going to live-stream today's tribute from the stadium for those who can't attend or watch on television, so make sure you check that out!

Last week of the season video jumble, part 2

Continued from Monday's post...

Sweet Cheeks' first save...




A special tribute to Bobby Cox on a national television program 9/25/10...




And the "good luck charm", our favorite He-Man Hinske...

Game Day Pictures: Braves vs Marlins 9-29-10

Next-to-last game of the regular season for me! Boy, is this getting depressing. :) Thanks to blog readers Chandra and Crista for sharing their season tickets, and letting me sit three! rows! from the field with them for this game. What a great game!!

I went early for batting practice and planned to meet up with Alison, but she didn't arrive till after the Braves ran in after what felt like a very short BP. (Here's her post -with gorgeous pictures- about the game.)

Jonny had some fans in left field, including a very little kid wearing a #39 Venters tee. He tried to toss the kid a ball but it was snagged by someone else! I hope it was someone in the family and not just a random jerk. (There are a lot of ball hogs at the Ted -- let the kids have the baseballs! You're an adult; go buy one. If a player gives you one, that's different... but to steal one from a kid? Bad karma.)

Meds, contraption-free! And Craig, looking super-cute. He's 22, y'all. 22.

Moylan threw a fake right hook at Farnsworth, then ran behind him acting scared! Kyle is amused.


The Marlins came out for BP, and I think Will Ohman knew we were taking pictures of him (from the terrace level), because he was totally posing. :D Love ya, Will! Nitram Odarp! Here are a few shots: pic 1 ~ pic 2 ~ pic 3  He was yelling "Heads up!" every time a home run flew into the stands, and was talking to some boys down on the wall about baseball stuff. He's so fan-friendly, and I say that in a the best way possible. He always seemed like such a good guy.

The gallery above the bullpen was packed to watch DLowe warm up. Alison got some great pics while Eddie waved at us and Rossy tossed a baseball at him, like, hello, it's gametime! Pay attention! Heh heh. Eddie motioned for us to go over to the side, immediately tossed us baseballs, and we chatted for a bit. He was disappointed we were choosing to sit on the tarp instead of in the seats Faye was holding for us (Hi Faye!), but come on, our view was great over there! I promised him I'd come back and say hi on Friday, and told him to go back to work before he got in trouble again (pointing at Rossy). :D The other people around were not amused that their requests for autographs and baseballs were ignored, but hey, we didn't start anything. He waved at us, he spoke to us first, he tossed us the balls. That's how it works! Also, Eddie's a sweetheart. Hi birthday buddy!

All right, rookie backpacks time!

Moylan hugging Mike Dunn!

Mike Dunn: Tinkerbell

Mike Minor: "Believe in Fairies"

Jonny Venters: Disney Princesses

Cristhian Martinez: Fairies

Craig Kimbrel was blocked from my view most of the time I was snapping these shots, but we already know he has the awesome pink Hannah Montana backpack that matches his cheeks. Do you know how many meebo IMs I've gotten from random girls who looooooooove him? It's a lot. A LOT. He's a cutie.

Let's see, as for the actual game, (which I really do watch and love), Rossy got 3 doubles (awesome, especially for a catcher), Brooksy hit a HUGE home run (that provided all the runs we'd need to sweep the Marlins), our bullpen was lights out (as usual), and Mike Stanton is beautiful. Beautiful.

My camera batteries died before the game was over, but there are some great in-game pics in the full album. Check them out!

------------------------------------------
Fascinating searches that led people to Braves Love in the last week (actual searches):

- all i do is win win win no matter what what what brian mccann

- best pic of jj braveslove

- brian mccann going bald

- chipper jones married [16 searches clicked through here in one week, no kidding, and yes he IS]

- craig kimbrel cheeks [♥]

- what is freddie freemans entrance song [it's on the tip of my tongue, and I can't come up with it... help, please?!]


Tons more inquiries about Jonny and Craig and a bazillion about Kris Medlen -- is that a hint I need to post more about those three? :)