Introduction

There is a saying, “Baseball finds you when you need it most.”  I don’t know who said it first, but I read it in Alyssa Milano’s book Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic.  I can certainly relate to this idea.  I grew up watching the Braves.  My parents were big fans in the 90’s.  If the Braves were on, we were watching.  And it wasn’t just my parents.  My birthday falls in July.  One year I called my great grandmother (on my dad’s side) to thank her for my birthday card and the $10 included inside.  I could hear the game on the in background.  I told her, “Thank you for the birthday present.”  She said, “You’re welcome.  I love you.”  Click.  She hung up on me!  I never called her during a game again.

Despite that event, most of the baseball love comes from my mother’s side of the family; my mother’s mother’s side to be exact.  My great-grandparents were huge Braves fans.  I never new my great-grandfather; he passed away in 1981.  It still makes my mom sad to think that there wasn’t a World Series that year because of the strike.  I remember my great-grandmother watching or listening every time the Braves played.  There are stories of her walking around the kitchen table trying to summon a rally.  I would say that’s crazy, but I’ve been known to sit in my living room wearing a rally cap myself; so I cannot judge.  My great-grandmother passed away in December of 1994.  I never thought about it until now, but she passed just ten months shy of the Braves’ 1995 World Series win. 

I am sad to say that my parents tapered off as fans.  They were two of the many discouraged by years of division titles, but only one World Series win to show for it.  Now that I am grown it makes no sense to me.  Were fourteen division titles in a row not good enough for you?  How could you turn your back on them?  They gave us such great memories.  I remember watching Otis’s catch, Kent Mercker’s no hitter and Sid’s slide.  My eyes water to this day watching replays of Sid’s slide.  I remember towards the end of a couple of seasons pulling for the Giants and not understanding why.  And who could forget years and years of the amazing pitching rotations anchored by Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz?  I am also sorry to say that I tapered off as well.  I just wasn’t old enough to really keep up with them on my own.  I live in Alabama, so while the Braves are the closest team, they are not covered by all media outlets and the internet wasn’t around back then.  College football is king here and it gets almost all of the media coverage.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my Auburn Tigers; but I can honestly say that my first memories of sports include the Braves.      

After college I moved to Birmingham in 2006.  I lived with my grandfather and one of my uncles for two years before purchasing my first home in 2008.  I moved in December and watched my regular television shows until they ended in May.  When my shows went on their summer hiatuses I found myself with lots of free time.  What to do with all of this free time?  I don’t remember why, but I decided to see what the Braves were up to.  I didn’t recognize anyone, except Chipper, Bobby Cox and Joe Simpson.  I felt so lost, but at the same time it was so familiar.  I was instantly hooked, and now I’m in love.  Now, I don’t just watch in the summer.  I constantly watch the MLB Network in the off-season and I love learning more about the game and the history.  That is what this blog will be about.

By the way, I loved Ms. Milano’s book.  It is a very fun look at female fandom.  I could really relate to her love of the game and really enjoyed reading the historical information she included.  I would highly recommend it.  There was only one thing wrong with the book.  At one point she mentioned the 1996 World Series.  She said that the Yankees beat the Padres in six games.  Sorry Alyssa, the Braves won the NL pennant in 1996.