Double Header 10/11/04

You have to hand it to the Braves. They know how, especially in the post season, to play with you, scare you, make your heart skip beats and then hang on to pull it out at the end. What a Game Four it was in Houston! I didn’t have much hope against the Astros, with their nineteen game string of home wins, their hot bats and the legendary Roger Clemens on the mound. An early lead changed hands, and then again. Then a surprise rookie homerun tied the game again until the Braves eeked out a run in the top of the ninth inning. Finally, with John Smoltz on the mound and the tying run on third in the bottom of the ninth, the Braves’ infield turned a game-winning double play to send the series back to Atlanta for a deciding Game Five. We were jumping up and down, hollering and hanging on every pitch, getting ready for our game during the commercials (well, I was, but I think the boys were flipping over to a football game), hoping desperately that the Braves didn’t go into extra innings, but ready to tear out of here and get to the park in time for batting practice, at the last minute, with water and ice for the team all loaded in the car, even if we had to listen to the end on the radio on the way to the park. It ended perfectly and we made it to our game on time. It was a beautiful evening for baseball, overcast and threatening rain that never came, cool and breezy. It's a beautiful park, two full-sized fields, one upper and one lower (down the hill), completely surrounded by mature trees, except over the left field fence of the upper field (where the older boys play), just up the hill, you can see the back deck of the firehouse, where the fire fighters lean on the railing and watch the baseball games. It's really nice and feels more "small town" than "big city". Last night the bell rang in the late innings (we play 7) and they quickly disappeared before we heard the sirens. With our catchers back in the line-up, we were a much better team than we had been only one day earlier, and won easily against a good team. We don’t play again until tomorrow evening and rain is still possible, but the Braves and the Astros will face off one last time this season tonight, with the winner advancing to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. For luck (since it worked yesterday), Go Braves!