Perhaps it was fitting for Brooks Conrad, a player with a gritty reputation, to receive this celebration for his walk-off pinch hit on Sunday: a dirt bath.
After reaching first base following his game-winning single that provided a 6-5 win over the Cardinals, Conrad was smothered with infield dirt by Martin Prado. It was on his head, down the back of his shirt, down the front.
While playfully punched by teammate David Ross, Conrad had his shirt held open by another teammate, enabling Prado to dump dirt on him.
“It was pretty nasty,” Conrad said. “[I] spent a little extra time in the shower to get everything off.”
When Conrad got his previous walk-off pinch hit -- a grand slam off the Reds last May -- he got mobbed with hand sanitizer in the Braves clubhouse. Usually, it’s shaving cream. Prado said he wants to set a new trend.
"I'm tired of shaving cream," said Prado, who first used the dirt treatment last year following Brian McCann's video-reviewed, walk-off homer against the Marlins. "You've got to go down there and get the shaving cream. You've got a lot of dirt. It's easy."
Whatever Prado chooses, Conrad will gladly take it. He hasn’t had much to celebrate since his defensive lapse during at the end of last season, culminating in his three-error game against the Giants in the Division Series.
Heyward commercial to debut
Jason Heyward received a sneak preview Monday of the new Sports Center commercial featuring him. Heyward said the commercial will air for the first time during the ESPN broadcast of the Braves-Phillies game on Sunday night.
The commercial is already available on YouTube, and Heyward had fun sending it out on his Twitter account on Monday.
“I didn’t know what people would think,” Heyward said. “It’s pretty funny. Fits in with the other commercials SportsCenter does.”
The commercial features him explaining to SportsCenter anchors Scott Van Pelt and Steve Levy how the wood is cut up to make his bat, and the Stanford "Tree" mascot faints while istening nearby.
Heyward didn't crack a smile in the commercial, but said he and the others were busting up between takes.
“You couldn’t be there to see how hard the tree fell,” Heyward said. “Oh my god, he was falling pretty hard. We had to give him a round of applause when we got done.”
Heyward did about 16 takes in all, causing five or six of them.
“It was a good experience,” said Heyward, who shot the commercial at ESPN’s headquarters in late October. “They made it a lot easier on me. They said, ‘Just be yourself, don’t worry about anything else and if you mess up, we can do it again.’”
Ross to catch Jurrjens regularly
Rather than work Ross into starts here and there, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has decided to put him in a regular rotation catching Jair Jurrjens.
McCann, the regular catcher, got his rest Monday night, while Ross caught Jurrjens for the fourth consecutive time. Jurrjens was 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in three starts this year caught by Ross.
Gonzalez said he wants to use Ross with Jurrjens the same way manager Bobby Cox used Eddie Perez as Greg Maddux's personal catcher.
“Basically what I’m trying to do is give Mac a little breathing time,” said Gonzalez, who will break the pattern when certain pitching matchups dictate it.
Ross said he prides himself on working equally well with all Braves pitchers.
“When my name is in the lineup, I try to do the best I can for whoever is in there,” Ross said.
Braves donate to tornado relief
The Braves announced they’ve made a $100,000 donation to the Salvation Army to help in relief efforts for tornado victims across the Southeast.
The team also will hold a drive to collect donated items for tornado victim at Turner Field, their minor league ballparks and Express Oil Change stores.
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