Sunday, October 9, 2011

Welcome to Chicks Dig Diamond & Dugouts!

I've been toying with the idea of writing a baseball blog for a little over a year now and needless to say, I'm very thorough in my thinking.  I love baseball.  I love going to games.  If I'm not at the ballpark I'm either watching the game on tv or I listening on the radio.  That's the beauty of baseball, any way that you watch it is magical! 

For me, there's nothing like the sights, sounds and smells of the ball park. We all love the excitement of seeing our favorite players in real life, settling into our seats on a warm summer night with a hot dog, peanuts and in my case, an adult beverage.  Sometimes we're kicked back and relaxed, other times, on the edge of our seats.   On any given night you don't know what you'll see.  You might see a future Hall of Famer hitting his 599th and 600th home runs.  Or perhaps you'll see one of the games fiercest competitors throwing his 3000th strikeout.  Sometimes you know something big is on the horizon, but there's always the excitement of the unexpected too.  A perfect game, an unassisted triple play or manager getting tossed for the 153rd time. 

However, there's a lot to be said for watching the games on television.  The insight of the announcers, a much better view of where those pitches actually went, instant reply on a controversial play and most importantly, no lines for the bathroom!  As for radio,  personally, I love it!  The images that the faceless voice creates in my mind.  It's a voice that becomes a friend and oftentimes, my co-pilot on the drive home.

I have several purposes in writing this blog.  I want to give the world a view from the ladies side of the plate.  There are quite a few of us with ovaries who love the game!  I've been told by many a male friend/coworker/whatever that I know more about baseball than any other girl they know.  I'm flattered by the compliment but I also know that there are many more ladies like me out there.  If you're looking for nightly updates on games, box scores and such, this isn't the place for you.  I'm here to write about what I see, what I hear and what I feel about my favorite game.  In addition to all of that, I love to write! 

For purposes of full disclosure I will tell you that I am from Atlanta and I am a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan.  I'm not happy with how our season ended but honestly, I don't think the Braves would have made it too deep into the post season.  A friend recently said to me, "I don't know how you still go to so many Braves games.  They always break our hearts."  Maybe, but being a lifelong Braves fan includes the 1970s and 1980s.  Now that my friend is heartbreak!  The highlights were few and far between.  Thank goodness for Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy and 1982! 

The past 20 years of Brave fandom have been stellar.  Yes, we've become spoiled but I always stay grounded and appreciative by remembering the lean years.  We've been lucky to have players like Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux, the Jones' (both Chipper and Andruw), McGriff, Lopez, Nixon, Pendleton and so many others.  But I also love and appreciate the players from the lean years...Niekro, Horner, Benedict, Chaney, Walk, Camp, Butler and again, so many others.

I didn't really expect my first post to be this long.  Please subscribe.  I'll definitely make it worth your while!  And now, to get this baby up and rolling there's really only one thing to say...PLAY BALL!

10 comments:

  1. Nice job!
    Remember me when you make it big...

    When they start the game, they don't yell, "Work ball." They say, "Play ball." ~Willie Stargell, 1981

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  2. Woooo-hooo! I am so proud of you! You and my friend Google are my most knowledge baseball pals. I wish that... uh, wait a minute. we didn't win the Wild Card? Wasn't that in the bag?

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  3. Look at you! Cheers for making your dream a reality!! I plan to learn much about baseball from you.... :)

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  4. Bravo!! I love it and I cant wait to hear more..Little known factoid about me that you dont know. I started playing baseball when I was 6, played thru college and I was good. Not great, just good. I was a starter the entire time from beginning to the end. But somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't have that little extra...the moxie (or whatever word it is) to take it to the next level. I could recognize it in some of the other guys I played with. But I persisted on playing because I was in love with it. In a large part because I was and still am a huge fan of the game. I loved the Tradition, the history and at the root its just a stick, a ball and a glove.

    Like you, I remember Fulton Co Stadium w $1 hotdogs and $1 beers, empty one year then sold out the next! I also grew up in St Louis, and will always be a Cards fan because my grandpa was...Well heck all of my family was and some of the most vocal at their happiness and disappointment of the team was the women I grew up with.

    So I look forward to reading your ramblings. It will take me home, back to my early years. Where I listened to my grandma, and aunts talking about the closer failing to close or cleanup not cleaning up. So its tradition in my household. Fly your baseball flag love.. I cant wait to read more!

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  5. Wow! I didn't know that you played baseball that long or that you had such strong ties to the Cardinals. St. Louis is such a great baseball town with an amazing fan base. I guess I don't need to ask where you post season loyalties lie!

    Like you, I have some wonderful memories of Fulton County Stadium. In fact, I have two pieces on concrete from it!

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  6. Thank you for all the wonderful comments and hello to all my followers!!

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  7. Awesome Doiane! Who's our new Hitting Coach going to be???

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  8. Hmmmm...that's a good question. Either Larry Jones Sr. or Wally McCann would be a good choice. Look what they've done for their sons! But seriously, I don't think that would or should happen. I don't know who the viable candidates are but I'm sure there are some good ones out there. The Braves took a bit of a chance putting Larry Parrish in that position and obviously it didn't work out. Perhaps the Braves will moved TP back to hitting coach and they'll put someone new at first base. I didn't always think that TP did the best job as hitting coach but he had better results than Parrish. What surprises me most is how quickly the Braves acted on this.

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  9. Hey! I've got your tagline for your blog - "Baseball, the soundtrack of my life"! You can buy me lunch for that one!

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  10. I like it! Does that mean that the scent of my blog is hotdogs?

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