A crowd of more than 42,000 at Turner Field roared its approval when Braves newcomer Nick Swisher stood at second base Saturday night and did the chopping motion with his arm, just like so many of them were doing.
His two-run double pushed the Braves’ lead to 5-2 against the Marlins, and the charge he sent through the crowd with that hit was only amplified by his doing “the chop” afterward, like David Justice, Ron Gant and Deion Sanders did a few times back in the Braves’ heyday.
Only this time it happened on a August night where there was more excitement at the ballpark than anyone could have expected for a game between third- and fifth-place teams, the Braves having fallen from 42-42 a month ago to 10 games under .500, the last-place Marlins’ season having long since gone into the toilet.
Part of it had to do with alumni weekend at Turner Field, with a large crowd turning out to honor the 1995 World Series champions and get a replica ring as a promotional giveaway. But part of the buzz was also the energy with which the Braves have played again recently, supplemented by the additions of the ever-enthusiastic Swisher and outfielder Michael Bourn from Cleveland in Friday’s three-player trade that sent Chris Johnson to the Indians.
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was asked before Sunday’s series finale if adding Swisher and Bourn might help maintain the energy level over the remaining seven weeks of the season.
“There’s no question,” he said. “And also they’re good baseball players. There is a lot of energy. We know Michael Bourn. Swish has been fun so far – he’s only been here 12 hours or so, but he’s been fun, he comes as advertised. But we’ve got some big games coming. We’ve got the Yankees coming to town. We’ve got the Nationals (seven) more times. We’ve got the Mets. Toronto coming in. And like I told these guys in Philly after that road trip, these are big games for us and big games for other teams. I don’t want them coming in here to play the Braves and saying, OK, that’s three games we’re going to win.
“We need to (change) some people’s vacation plans, make them take them a little earlier. So yeah, it could really help us.”
Braves center fielder Cameron Maybin said Swisher’s seemingly boundless energy “can spark the clubhouse.”
After Saturday’s 7-2 win, and after Swisher was interviewed on the field in an interview carried over the stadium P.A. system, the 34-year-old outfielder ran up the tunnel from the dugout and into the Braves’ clubhouse, where he encountered a large bell that has was mounted just inside the entrance earlier this season. It’s a Navy Seals bell, an idea that Seals admirer Gonzalez came up because he liked how his sometimes-overmatched team never stopped scratching and fighting all spring, how they wouldn’t give up.
The Seals use the bell during Hell Week, when instructors tell trainees they can quit by simply ringing the bell, at which point they can enjoy coffee and doughnuts while their classmates continue to toil through the rigorous training. Needless to say, the bell is rarely rung by the Seals.
Swisher didn’t know the story behind the bell, and assumed it was a victory bell. So when he ran into the clubhouse after Saturday’s game , he rung it emphatically, shouting something along the lines of “That’s what I’m talking about, boys!”
Some Braves and team personnel could hardly keep from laughing. They loved the energy, even if the bell’s significance was lost on the new Brave.
When Gonzalez told Swisher in the manager’s office a little later, the veteran player had a sheepish look. Gonzalez laughed and told him no problem, that he just wanted him to know the story behind the bell.
For one night, it served a different, but also effective, purpose. The Swisher victory bell.
“He’ll be a cult hero after the double and at second base doing the chop,” Gonzalez said Sunday. “And that’s not fake. That’s not fake stuff.”
Welcome to this Braves August. Things just got more interesting.
