AJC > Blog > Archives > 2008 > June > 06
Friday, June 6, 2008
Singles Night lures the ladies to the Ted
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The name is Bonds. Jane Bonds. My mission was to infiltrate the Braves Singles Night and report back to Chop Chick, who, by virtue of Mr. Chop Chick, was disqualified from Singles Night.
The Braves’ singles event was held on a patio on the Golden Casino level, behind the Chop House in center field. If you were at the bar, and that definitely was the most popular place to be since every ticket came with two complimentary drinks, you couldn’t see the field. Not good. At least there was some shade to give you some relief from the 80-something degree heat.
Women showed up thinking the odds were in their favor. How could you go wrong at a baseball game? But no. At one point, I counted the people who were sitting at tables on the patio near the bar. Three-to-one ratio. And based on the way some of the women were dressed, they could have cared less whether Chipper has been hitting above .400.
About that. One of my pet peeves is when my gender dresses inappropriately for a baseball game. Skirts or dresses and heels are acceptable only if you were invited to the game that day and didn’t have time to run home and change after work. Yes, it was a dating event, but if a guy doesn’t like you when you’re dressed down for a ballgame, do you really want him?
When I got there, it looked more like a junior high dance, with the women sticking with their girlfriends and the men talking among themselves. But as it got closer to first pitch, and as people used up those complimentary drink tickets, they began to interact more.
If you weren’t happy with the selection of singles at the game, the Braves provided other options. You could film a profile for Comcast’s Dating On Demand or sign up for Eight at Eight. And if you didn’t want to pony up the money for Eight at Eight, you had the chance to win a gift certificate. Throughout the two-hour event, a DJ drew names for door prizes between spinning oldies.
I didn’t find anyone I was interested in; in fact, the most action I got was when a guy who had obviously used up his drink tickets, and then some, threw his arm around me to show me the Teixeira bobblehead he had just won. Had I been smart, I would have tried to convince him to give it to me so the night wouldn’t have been a total wash.
Actually, saying it was a total wash is unfair. I aborted my mission after the fourth inning to go hang with my married friends. And then in the sixth, it happened. Chipper came up to bat. He took two balls, then stepped out of the box for a minute. And you just kind of knew it was going to happen. When he stepped back in, he hit his 400th home run, a shot to right field. Definitely a happy ending.
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Chipper’s having himself a season
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With a solo shot in the sixth inning last night, the Braves’ third baseman took a big step toward replacing the question mark associated with the words “Chipper” and “Hall of Fame” with a period.
As Jon Sciambi would say, Chipper had himself a night, hitting his 400th career homer while going 4-for-5 and raising his average to an incredible .418. He’s the third Brave in the 400-homer club (Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews are the others) and the fourth active player with at least a .300 career average, 400 homers and 1,300 RBIs, (Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Frank Thomas).
Chipper has had his ups and downs with the fans here (last night’s was only the second curtain call of his career), but surely even his biggest critics have to admit that he’s doing something special this year. And this quote from Dave O’Brien’s story in which he says he wants to retire a Brave rather than go for the big money in the free-agent market is definitely refreshing: “I’m never going to turn my nose up at $11 million. I understand that I’ve had the luxury of playing in the same place for a long time, for the same manager. I made my money.”
He may come off as a good ole boy who rubs some people the wrong way, but he’s the guy the writers go to when they want a straight answer and a thoughtful quote — he’s well-spoken and a lot smarter than some want to believe. And this year, he’s really got it going on.
I’m one Braves fan who’s happy to see him having such a great year and finally getting some of the national attention and respect he’s earned.
On an unrelated but extremely interesting note, the team’s strength and conditioning coach, Frank Fultz, has been replaced. According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, minor league strength and conditioning coordinator Phil Falco was told about his promotion Tuesday night and Fultz made his decision after a meeting with Braves officials on Wednesday morning.
Hmmmm … That doesn’t sound a lot like the “resignation” that GM Frank Wren called it, does it?
Have a great weekend, everybody! Go Braves!
Upcoming TV Schedule
Friday: vs. Phillies, 7:30, Peachtree TV
Saturday: vs. Phillies, 7:00, Peachtree TV
Sunday: vs. Phillies, 1:30, SportSouth
Monday: off-day
Tuesday: at Cubs, 8:05, Peachtree TV
Wednesday: at Cubs, 8:05, FSN/ESPN
Thursday: at Cubs, 2:20, Peachtree TV
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