Coca-Cola Stadium
Oh, that's not the name?
If you notice, the entire thing is made up of baseball equipment.
So, Saturday, I met stayed with a friend in Georgia on my way down to Orlando for overseas training. And since I had not yet been to Turner Field (and more importantly, because it was baseball) we went to a Braaves-Phillies game. Which Shunta was, of course, very jealous of...but also excited that I could see her Phils.
I have already mentioned the Pat Burrell homer, but other than that...
*They had a ridiculous variety of hotdogs you could order, from traditional chili-cheese, to Chicago style, to combos of just about anything you could put on one. I ended up going with a plain jumbo dog, which was the cheapest (but still over $5) and oddly, it was not jumbo in the way I had thought. It was really just a footlong, which is apparently the rough southern equivalent of a jumbo dog. I was ok with that except that the bun was waaay too thick and also really dry...overall, just crappy.
*I liked the park, which has its charms, but overall I don't know that there is anything special about it. I did like that there was an area of the upper deck promenade(?) with a dugout in front of a baseline kids could run on...and outside the bleacher area there is a mural timeline of the different team names and such which was pretty cool (also boasting the longest continuously running franchise in baseball).
*For $9 (eBay, down from $12) we sat in the left-centerfield bleachers, which is a great price. On top of that there was a random giveaway in the statue park beyond left field before the game. It was not at the gates when you come in, like promotion nights, just bags being handed out to passersby in that area about an hour to game time.
Contents of the bag:
twill Braves hat--good quality, not cheap
foam tomahawk
cheapo waterbottle
bag of Cracker Jack
Skittles
bag of salted peanuts in the shell
Combos crackers (disgusting, it turns out)
Not a bad haul!
The game was fun, a pitcher's duel until late...which was partly brought on by a foolish move by Bobby Cox.
The Braves had the bases loaded with two out and the starting pitcher, Jo Jo Reyes up to bat...in the bottom of the sixth in a tie game. Bobby let him hit. And he got out. WHY didn't he pinch hit? He got six great innings and had a great chance for a lead. Was the bullpen taxed? Does he not trust the pen? Is Jo Jo another Micah Owings? I thought it was weird. And a bad move.
Well, he pitched well in the seventh, then gave up a couple in the eighth and that was the game.
Final score 6-2 (with a couple more late runs).
