The M-Braves 4th of July Extravaganza

We all have our Proud to be an American 4th of July traditions- grilling, shooting fireworks bought illegally from a stand on the side of the road, and watching Joey Chestnut dominate the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest all the while chanting USA! USA! USA! and then immediately talk about how disgusting the activity was once the contest is over- hypocrites. Well, my tradition for the past few years has been to watch the M-Braves and then watch their fireworks show immediately following the great American game of baseball. The above picture is a snippet of said show.

It was hard to top last year's game- much like the British in the Revolutionary War, the M-Braves hired two mercenaries- Matt Diaz, on a rehab assignment, and Jeff Francouer, who was on a "rehab" assignment after hitting a sizzling .210 or so for the Braves and needed to "work on his swing", which is code for needs a swift kick in the pants, to put it politely. Last year's game came down to the Mighty Francouer having a chance to win the game for the home team. Instead, he promptly grounded out to end the game. We should have known better- a mercenary with a French last name is not a good combination on the 4th of July. Alas, the M-Braves came back to win the Southern League Championship and vindicate their Indpendence Day short-comings.

This year, the Braves didn't bring in any mercenaries from Atlanta, but they did have Jason Heyward, one of the Braves top prospects. Heyward stands out in part because he is 6'4" 220 and looks like a Big Leaguer, but also because he has a beautiful swing that causes the ball to jump off of his bat- one of the balls he hit for a triple was hit hard enough to probably be a home run at Turner Field, and he also runs like a gazelle. The only question I have about Heyward is which need will he meet for the Braves- left field or first base? He has the abillity to play both and do well. I suggest you go to Pearl to watch Heyward now, because he won't be in Pearl for long. And for the record, Heyward made it to the Future's Game in St. Louis, which is the most prestigous All-Star game for minor leaguers.

One thing I always look forward to on the 4th of July is to see what the M-Braves festive costumes aka jerseys will look like. They are typically pretty hideous, unless you design uniforms for the University of Oregon, of course. This year was better than last, but still laughable. As you can see from the picture below, the unidentified M-Braves is hiding his face, and justifyably so.

The game itself was once again eventful. The first three innings took an hour and a half to play, which would have meant fireworks at 11:30. Thankfully, the last six innings went by rather quickly. And while the M-Braves won 8-6 over the Jacksonville Suns, there was one play that the entire stadium was talking about- it will go down as the Bermuda Pentagon. The Suns had runners on second and third and two outs. The M-Braves pitcher threw the ball and the Suns batter launched the ball into the night a distance of 60 feet and 6 inches. I know this because the ball landed on top of the pitchers slab on top of the mound and then shot directly towards home plate. Apparently the M-Braves shortstop failed to read the flow chart on page 215 of "the book"- you Mississippi State fans know what I'm talking about-which says that the shortstop has priority on all fly balls on the infield. And in the shortstop's defense, he may have told the first baseman to take it, but the first baseman clearly lost the ball in the lights, I suppose, and by the time the shortstop realized it- it was too late. It was definately a minor league caliber play to say the least. A player for the Suns also launched a ball over the batter's eye in center field, which is indeed a feat. Although, I must say that it seems like the ball carries well out in center field at the TP.

But of course, win or lose, as long as there are fireworks, everyone is happy. And I will say this on behalf of the M-Braves- they do it right. Everything that they have ever done is always first class, if you get a chance to go, take advantage of it, and enjoy it.