Optimism

First off - how bout them Seahawks?

Now, anyway, we took the kidlets to the Braves vs. Nationals on Saturday afternoon, and in spite of a dismal beginning, it turned out to be the best baseball game I've ever seen live.

We'd originally planned on going on Sunday, because it was a one o'clock game, and kids are allowed to run the bases after. My nephew, Bryce, started playing baseball this year, and would have loved to run the bases. But that was a big game, so MLB moved it to 8PM, and we had to change our plans.

We got a great deal on club level seats, which is pretty awesome, because they're great seats, but in spite of that, the game looked like it would be pretty disappointing at first. The main reason I wanted to go was to have one final chance to see Chipper Jones play at Turner Field. If you know anything about baseball, you know that Chipper is a first-ballot hall of famer, and possibly the best switch-hitter to ever play the game. So when we got to our seats, and I saw that not only was Tommy Hanson pitching, but Chipper wasn't starting, I was prepared to be furious.

Then, things got worse when we went down 4-0 by the top of the second. It looked like it was going to be a long, hard day. But I stayed optimistic, and kept an open mind, knowing the kids would enjoy themselves regardless, as long as they got cotton candy and ice cream (which they did), so I was pleasantly surprised when Freddy Freeman and Jason Heyward tied the game up by the sixth, and then Chipper came into the game.

The stands went wild as he stepped to the plate:

And my nephew started choppin':

Sadly, no hit for Chipper, but he did walk, and was on base as a hit batsman (Andrelton Simmons - welcome back!) drove in the eventual winning run. Here is in a powwow at third, while the Washington manager was getting tossed from the game at first:

Then, eventually, it was 5-4 in the top of the ninth, and we got to see my favorite Brave come in for the save:

I wish I could've gotten a better photo, but I only had my phone, so in case you cant' tell, that's Craig Kimbrel, the best young closer in the game.

He let one hitter on base with a single to left, but otherwise struck out the side, and put a perfect ending on what turned out to be a great day.

Here are a few other photos:

Mom and the kids.

That's how I wanna spend my 95th birthday.

Club-level seats, even the kids love em!

So that's it. How was your weekend? I've got some queries coming up soon, and then some tours and guest posts, so hopefully I'm going to be able to get back into the swing of blogging. I hope you all will start coming back to read. Anyway, have as good a Monday as you can!