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Game Day Pictures: Braves vs Padres 5-30-11

Memorial Day!

Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer! For Braves fans that was the first regular season game, right? ;) My friend Jey was in town on vacation from NYC and was dying to see his hometown Padres, so we made plans months in advance for this game. Our shady seats were my late birthday gift from him, and I made sure to point out all the boys he'd like in return. He liked everyone, of course (he's as bad as I am in that department), but he did have a few ultra-favorites and that horrified the woman sitting to my left. Sorry lady! :D

Due to the late game the night before and the day game today (we're guessing), the Braves didn't take outdoor BP. The usual swarm of pitchers didn't even come out to warm up! Jey busied himself taking pics of his Padres stretching in left field while I tried to see who from our team was in right -- there were only a few pitchers who tossed and then signed autographs, but I was excited to see...

Cory Gearrin is back! Our bullpen should never be without a sidearmer.

Gearrin, Venters, Moylan, and Martinez signing autographs

So we watched the Padres for a little while, nothing interesting happened, and then we shopped a bit and went and saw some stadium friends. Faye loved Jey's hair and they talked forever about their real jobs and their unnaturally blonde hair while I got a little crispy in the sun. Faye's never met a stranger -- she loves every friend I ever introduce to her. Next thing I know, she's touching my collarbones..."You're pink, baby, you gotta get in the shade now. You got your sunscreen?" Yes ma'am, kisses bye, we'll head to our real seats now. Love you! :)

The players applauding the military

All the players lined up between members of the military around the diamond for some pre-game ceremonies. Very cool.

21-gun salute

Taps

Mac

I don't miss Yunie at all, and I really thought I would. Gonzo is awesome.

Strike on Brooksy

CHEST PAT

Hi Huddy

For Molly :)

Rossy was #2 on Jey's list of new fave Braves

as the moment of silence ended

One of the best parts of the in-game entertainment is the Dance For Your Dinner contest, and one of the only reasons I love it so much is that Kris Medlen dances along in the dugout along with the contestants atop the dugouts! I caught a little of him in this video -- see for yourself!



Brilliant.

Go Joe!!

Seriously. Love Joe Mather.

How long does it take Prado to put all those things on? ;)

CoryGearrin!!

This one on the left is gonna be an all-star this year... wait for it!

Hope he wears socks up in Arizona, too!

infield meeting

Sherrill gave up the winning run... Jey was very happy about this.

Padres win :(

Full album here

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Interesting story... one of my Twitter followers jokingly asked when he should watch for me on TV for this game and I replied I definitely wouldn't be on TV, we had shaded seats! Well, I kinda got roped into being interviewed for a local news segment about the Braves organist that you can watch here, if you want. My hair looks awful! But, my parents were excited to see me on TV and my PawPaw said I looked "so purdy," so that made me feel a little better about stumbling over my words. Some people are meant to be in the spotlight, and I'm not one of those people! Thanks for making me try, Jey. ❤

Jey and I in our shady seats!

Vlog

Screencap from YouTube's statistics...

...

Yep, I took the vlog down. ;) I will do another again soon, probably wearing a turtleneck. Again, thanks for humoring me. :)

Behind...

I'm moving on Saturday. Staying in the same neighborhood (lived in this part of Atlanta for 6 years, don't want to leave!), found an apartment to share with one of my favorite cousins and his awesome dog Max, and my contract job expired last week. I'm nannying for a little extra dough until I get another job, so... I need something soon, as much as I'd love to spend all day every day with kids. :) Several people have suggested I apply for the MLB Dream Job, but I don't know if I want to be "media". I like just being a fan. On the other hand, I breathe baseball and spend all my spare time watching / reading / etc baseball anyway, so... hmm. But video blogging? Do you guys want to see me video blog?


Anyway. I feel so far behind with my Braves news and pictures and things from this week. I'll love you forever if you help me see what I missed? Y'all know what I like!

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.

AAGPBL Uniforms

You know, I've probably I've been to over 100 weddings and most of the bridesmaids' dresses have been just gross. I've been lucky that the weddings I've participated in have allowed me to wear whatever I wanted, I decided a few years ago that when I get married? I won't have bridesmaids unless I have in-laws-to-be who will be horribly offended unless they have that title. (My closest friends are very okay with this decision!)

Well, then I saw a retweet from thrwnglikeagirl today, where bookavore was considering wearing one of these AAGPBL unis as her Halloween costume and I thought, Best Bridesmaid Dresses EVER. Yes friends, if I decide to have bridesmaids when I get married, prepare yourselves to be Rockford Peaches. ;)

"A Musical Home Run"

A great profile on the Braves organist was just posted on the Georgia State University website, and there's quote of mine in there. Nice! Thanks to Matthew, the Braves, and GSU for including me -- it's always appreciated when a fan to feels like her voice is heard. :)

Game Day Pictures: Braves vs Mets 8-2-10

Mormon Night at the Braves! ...Yeah, not kidding. :D Here's the flyer, and while I remember going to these "all the time" as a kid, the only one I can find proof of online is from 1987:

LDS Scene
“LDS Scene,” Ensign, Oct. 1987, 80

Approximately 4,000 members and 38,000 nonmembers attended the sixth annual “Mormon Night at the Braves” in Atlanta, Georgia, July 3. The baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals was broadcast nationally to a potential audience of 42 million homes. Elder Robert E. Wells of the First Quorum of the Seventy attended with his wife, Helen, and threw out the first ball. Their daughter, Sharlene, 1985 Miss America, sang the national anthem. Braves star Dale Murphy was also honored.

Anyway, as a perk, we got to do the on-field parade before the game. It was freakin' hot down there -- I don't know how the players do it every day. As as we walked past the dugout the only Brave in there was David Ross, so I waved as we walked by and casually called in, "Hi Rossy!" I didn't stop or wait for a reply, so I didn't hear him, but my brother, his girlfriend, and the two guys I was with all said he called back something like, "Hey, how's it going?" Heh, I was just being silly; I didn't expect an answer. What's up, Rossy!

Well, that wasn't going to be the only time the Braves were going to notice me this evening, and that's not necessarily a good thing. :D I may have been taking pictures of Huddy stretching (I was taking them for you ladies!), and Eddie Perez caught me and pointed out the girl with the camera to Rossy and Huddy. Oops!

So sad this pic didn't come out well; at least Eddie and Rossy were laughing. (Huddy was mega-focused!) I gave Huddy a "Have a good game, Huddy!" fist pump as we walked past. He was too focused to respond - and I certainly didn't expect a response - but my cheering obviously worked, right? ;)

Here's another family's story of their experience at the game, and now I'll move into the usual gameday post. (I don't know the family - I just thought their stories were cute!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched batting practice alone, waiting on my brother and friends to arrive, and since it was overcast I didn't hide out in the shade like I usually do. Everyone around was friendly, as usual, and I loved watching little things like Heyward tossing balls to the African-American kids in the stands, Prado playing center field with his broken knuckle, and Lowe playing with his kid brothers Medlen and Hanson...




Here's another video, of the bullpen guys taking their daily BP jog:




Chronogically next was the parade. I talked to a nice Braves employee who was trying to herd people into the line while I waited on my brother and friends, then we stood in line for.ev.er. before being led down to the tunnel. The groundskeeping area we walked past was pretty cool, and I especially liked this dumpster:


Snotty girl behind me: "Why are you taking pictures of the TRASH."

Me, pointing: "No trash."

Girl: "Oh... I didn't read. I just thought you were taking pictures in the dumpster."

Me: smh


One last thing about the parade around the field -- it was weird. A few days ago on Q100, Wendy made a blanket statement, "Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame," and you know what? No. Everyone doesn't want to be the center of attention of thousands. I wouldn't do the parade again unless I was taking my (future) child around. When we got back to our seats, I very was glad it was all over.

View from our seats. I know I've mentioned it was mega-hot, but seriously, it was hot. I hate outfield seats. I ended up with a little bit of heat exhaustion, if that's the one where you stop sweating and your skin gets dark red. I ended up having to go into the AC and guzzle some Powerade for a little while. (BTW, blue Powerade on tap at Chick-Fil-A! Yeah!!) So I don't have a ton of in-game pics, but I do have a good video of the bullpen boys walking out! We were right next to the Braves 'pen, and who is Venters waving at? His fans, I hope! He has tons!



Great pic of MattE on the Jumbotron - wish I'd had a better angle.

Frenchy watching the Jumbotron - some things don't change. ;)

Diory is back and wearing Yunie's old #19.

Braves win!! Let's go again soon! Full album here, see ya there Friday night for Glavine's jersey retirement ceremony. :)

‎"When your song gets chosen, it's always exciting!"

Hey, the NPR piece on the Braves Organist that I was asked to participate in? It went national this morning!! I heard it on the way to Tennessee -- we were around Dalton, GA and there was my voice, on Weekend Edition! What a great Saturday it's been. :)

Here's the permalink: Baseball Organist Keeps Tradition Alive With Twitter

Welcome, new Twitter followers, and if you're not following, jump on the bandwagon! @BravesLove -- feel free to tweet ideas for the blog. I try to respond to all meaningful mentions. :)

NPR feature on the Braves Organist

There will be a special piece on the Braves Organist, Matthew Kaminski, airing on Atlanta's NPR affiliate 90.1 WABE Wednesday June 23 at 6:35am and 8:35am. Oh yeah, and you might hear my voice in the feature too. :) Check it out!

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Update, 6/23/10 7:00am: Here's a link to the spot if you missed it, you're an out-of-towner, or you just want to listen to my nervous voice talk about Chase Utley. ;)

MLB.com quoted one of my tweets!

Link to article

A fan named Lauren at @BravesLove on Twitter said in a tweet: "Ooooh, look at the new Braves BP cap -- no more weird red ear flaps! I love this one!"

That's me! Thanks for the tip, Alison. :)

Now, who thinks they should give me a free hat? ;)

I feel special.

Awesome. :)

1000

Dear Lovvies,

This is blog post #1000. Sometimes I can't believe it's been around this long, and sometimes it feels like 10,000 posts! Hey, maybe one day we'll get there. :)

For now, thanks to all of you who comment, email, tweet, and Meebo. I'm so grateful for all the readers I've met, whether in person or through internet communications. You make it all worthwhile.

I know posting has slowed since I joined Twitter. Sometimes I just don't have many comments but still want to share a link, so if you're not following, here's the link to my Twitter feed. (You don't have to join Twitter to see my tweets, and I do occasionally put personal stuff or comments on TV shows I'm watching there, so follow at your own risk.) :D

Anyway, thanks again all. Go Braves!

Love,
Lauren

Happy belated birthday, blog!

Heh, I'm a bad blog mom. Braves Love turned two last week (ha ha, "turned two"! I didn't get that till I typed it out) and I totally forgot to mention it. Sorry blog! I still love you!

In honor of the birthday, here are some baseball-themed cakes from Cake Wrecks. :)

Thanks for reading, everyone. I am so grateful for the friends I've made here. *hug*

Go Braves!

Renewal

Dear Lovvies,

Around this time last year, we ran into a tiny bit of a bandwidth / storage crunch, and several of you generously donated to the cause. It's time to renew the Photobucket album upgrade, and if you have a couple of dollars to spare, I would be most appreciative. I'll even go to the game tonight and take lots of pictures for you!! :D The link to donate via PayPal is on the right sidebar.

If you'd like to see the entire Photobucket album to see if it's worth your contribution, here's the link. Make sure you click on the album links in the left sidebar!

The largest donation before Monday, August 3 will receive this Brian McCann mousepad!



Thank you so much for all your contributions. I love it when y'all send over pictures, IM some gossip, and comment on the posts, and I'm grateful that several of you have become real friends (not just internet friends). :)

Love,
Lauren

Should I be honored or pissed off?

A picture of Peter Moylan that I took at batting practice in 2007 was swiped for DOB's AJC blog last Sunday.

Photo credit: not given to me.
Picture: a great one, and I'm glad more people are seeing it.

But come on!

Video hosting

Hi Lovvies,

Well, we've run into another problem with the video hosting services. Since I don't have "the express written consent of Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves", our videos have been removed from a remote hosting site yet again, and the account has been closed. While I understand why -- it's not my original content and I'm not paying MLB/the Braves for the rights to stream their content -- I don't really understand why those of you who don't have access to local cable shouldn't be allowed to see an occasional Braves Live interview. I've never recorded and rebroadcast an entire game or program; I just offer bits and pieces that I feel draw more fans into the game!

If you have any suggestions, I would appreciate hearing them. Sites I cannot use include YouTube, Google, Blip.tv, and while Photobucket works (for now), the video quality is very poor. I am not interested in selling the blog, selling the rights to the blog, or having the entire blog hosted on another website. I just need a place for our videos or the videos are going to completely stop. The hosting site will need to be able to handle a lot of traffic and multiple viewings of each video (yes, I know you all do that!), and the videos range in length from approximately 10 seconds to 4 minutes. I am certain that other mainstream sites -- Tinypic, MySpace, Facebook, etc. -- will shut the videos down just as quickly as YouTube does.

Please email me with suggestions or post them in the comments. Thank you for your contributions to this community!

Love,
Lauren

Braves Love on Facebook?

Hi Lovvies,

If I started a Facebook page specifically for Braves Love, would you be interested in joining? Group or Fan Page? Please post in the comments! :)

XOXO,
Lauren

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ETA: Facebook is up! Link in the sidebar (under Meebo) or click here! :)

How an NKOTB concert is like a Braves game

Well, it's not really, minus the screaming fans. :D But! Between the opening acts and the main act (NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!!), you could text messages to the big screen, and the one on top made me giggle:


Replace "backstage" with "in the clubhouse" and I'm there!

In real news, three Braves filed for free agency today. I'm gonna miss Greg and Will.

Happy Birthday, Braves Love!

Dear Readers,

Today is the one-year anniversary of Braves Love. I wanted to take a few minutes today to write a little note of appreciation to all of you. Nearly 80,000 individuals have visited the blog in the past year, and I’m grateful for each and every one of you – for your comments, for those who send in pictures and videos, for my “insiders” that I never would have met otherwise, and for the friendships we’ve all formed.

The internet is an interesting place. It brings together people from all cultures, countries, and social standings. We bond over our love of baseball (and specifically, the boys with tomahawks on their chests), and it’s been a truly enjoyable experience. Did you know that visitors from 93 countries have stopped by? Braves Love is EVERYWHERE!! :D

I’m glad you’re here. Thank you for making this blog fun to share, and I look forward to playing out the season hard and starting fresh in 2009.

Go Braves!

Love,
Lauren T.


PS – In case you’re interested / curious, here are some of the most popular posts of the past year...

I Heart Brian McCann

An intro to the Gay Lumberjacks

Smoltz on TBS

Teixeira has officially relocated to Georgia! (Sad, considering how that turned out)

Peter Moylan ready for another crack

Don't you want to blow a raspberry on it?

Happy Birthday, KJ!

Baby's first triple

The cameras are always rolling

Psssst! I have a SURPRISE for you!

Goo-Goo eyes

Frenchy kisses Kots

Baby's house - a video tour (Frenchy likes OKT's camo pants!)

Teix and his Gatorade bars

Topless KJ

Will Ohman + Harry Caray = AWESOME

The Eye

"It's not my fault!"

And the newest classic, Ham