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Spring Training Report: Braves Play Some Other Team, Win
By Jay Busbee | March 21, 2007
One of the finest vacations of our life took place way back in 1994, when we hit a bunch of baseball stadiums for a spring training tour. This was back before the mega-mini-stadiums like Legend
s Field in Tampa and the Disney Baseball Complex in, well, Disney — back when all that separated you from the major leaguers was a chain-link fence, and sometimes not even that. We’ve seen softball fields with better security.
This was during the Michael Jordan Experiment, so we got to hang along the right-field fence and watch as MJ “played” baseball. He had a couple fly ball catches, and on the basepath did a nifty spin move to try to avoid a tag. John Stockton would’ve been faked out of his short-shorts, but the eighteen-year-old second baseman just stood there waiting for Jordan to complete his 360, then calmly tagged him out. Jordan also struck out to end the game; we then waited with baseballs and pens in front of the players’ clubhouse, but when we saw him walk right past a girl in a wheelchair holding up a ball to be signed, we didn’t even bother asking. (We also saw Pearl Jam that night at the height of their popularity and power. Yeah, it was a good trip.)
Anyway, our pal Jordi over at The Serious Tip has been reminding us of how much we’ve been missing this spring with his series of spring training dispatches. Sunday, he filed a report on a Braves-Reds tilt, which brought back memories of that Jordan trip, since it was at the same Ed Smith stadium. (Actually, Jordan, being in the minors at the time, didn’t even warrant playing in the big stadium; he was on a scrubby field out back.)
Jordi’s report? It’ll stun you — the Braves split-squad hit well and relieved poorly. Jordi himself also hit 68 on the speed gun game, which should win him the #3 spot in the Nationals rotation. Check out his reports…it’s much better for your soul than scanning the police blotters to keep up with the NFL these days.
