Anyone have any advice to offer about going to see a game in Birmingham???

The Mississippi Braves open a run there Sat, Aug 7 thru Wed, Aug 11, and we are thinking about zipping over for a game over the weekend.  I know the stadium is in Hoover, but have no idea about accomodations, etc in the area and if it's a good part of town to stay in over a Saturday night. There is so much baseball left, but with school starting, our day/road-tripping is getting limited to weekends. :-(

This is always the best place to come for useful information! Is it a fan-friendly stadium? Will I be able to wander around with my camera and take pictures?? (Will try to do better with pics...the ones from Huntsville were not so great....too much time talking/visiting/watching the game and not enough photo shooting.)

Thanks in advance!

Well, on Saturday our much-loved Rome Braves were off in Kentucky wearing out the Lexington Legends, and our son was given some SWEET seats/tickets that included admission to the Braves Alumni Weekend First Annual Celebrity/ Alumni softball game, so we ventured down from the hills to Turner Field. It was our first trip to the Ted since 2007 (that's kind of embarassing to admit!!) On the way, we stopped and got our oil changed ate lunch at the Varsity - 'cause I'm a native Atlantan and that's just how we roll before a Braves game.  We got to Turner Field, hauled in our coolers, found our seats, sweated a LOT (did I mention yet that it was VERY HOT) and had a great time.....more below the jump.......

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I'd love to know why.....you love baseball? What makes you a fan? What keeps you coming back...again and again and again??? The winning times are easy to understand....the times like this are a lot harder. (and ohboy!!!! is everyone grumpy about this.....).  Had an interesting conversation today with someone about this topic, so I'll be curious to see what you all have to say.  Plus, it might be nice to read something HAPPY for a change!!

RBravesfan

(my first post with no photos...this feels wierd....)

Anyone been to Myrtle Beach lately? We are planning a trip for mid-July. Worst possible time price-wise as it's the peak of tourist season. Could use some input on where you stayed. We are looking mostly for something safe, clean and reasonably inexpensive. Beach-front not necessary.  All suggestions appreciated. This trip is mostly for baseball with a little bit of vacation thrown in for fun. (whew, I think I made 75 words. GO BRAVES!!!).

There is nothing so painful as having to wait EIGHT long days to see your team at home after opening day. Although the outcome of the game was not what we hoped for...it was a really great night.  Enjoyed seeing Gondee, and my son got to say "Play Ball" after the ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by legendary broadcaster Pete Van Wieren.  Add in the customary opening night parachuters, fireworks, our own Braves Brigade and I don't think anyone went home too terribly disappointed.  Oh and for once, the weather was PERFECT - for the entire weekend!!!

So I hope you don't mind three games worth of pictures in one post.  There were definatly some highs and lows....those pretty much got covered in the minor league recaps that you all do such a great job with. So without anymore blabbing....photos....hope you enjoy!!!

Luckily, our parachute men didn't land on any players......

Opening ceremonies,

Fan Friendly !!!

Legendary Braves broadcaster Pete Van Wieren throws out the first pitch.

Arodis Vizcaino

Rome is PITCHER COUNTRY !!!

 Rome is Braves Country too.

Alberto Odreman

The view (not from my seat). Actually the view on the way to the $1.00 concession stand which is about as far away from my seat as you can get and still be in the ballpark.

The Braves Brigade

These would've been the perfect ending to a winning opening night. But they were still good fireworks. Thanks Chik-fil-a!!! We probably have helped pay for these over the years.....

 Chris Masters gets Sunday started with an outstanding performance.

Hard throwing Paul Clemens gets the win on Sunday.

Ty'relle Harris comes in and closes it up in style. Rome wins on Sunday!!!

Chris Masters signs autographs after the game.

Another fan favorite, Ty'relle Harris signs autographs after Sunday's game.

So....if you are totally nuts and would like to see some more pictures from this weekend, go here.  Thanks for looking!!!

RBravesFan

How many regulars on here are Braves gals??  Nothing against all the guys, but I am just about getting worn out from not being taken seriously about being a "real" baseball fan because I am an adult female.  The problem is not here, obviously, this is an awesome place, but I am just curious if other female fans have the same problem....(and I am also struggling to get to seventy-five words, but no one will ever reply to this if it gets stuck in a fanshot....lol)  If nothing else, maybe it will spark a lively conversation.

I have to admit it - I think baseball addiction is becoming a problem in my household. My family loves baseball. My son plays baseball. I'm a native Atlantan and a life-long Braves fan. I've sat in the top row of Atlanta-Fulton County stadium when there probably weren't 500 people in the entire place ('cause that's where your seats were when you got free tickets for getting all A's...lol) We now live in a town with the low-A franchise (come visit - it's totally awesome!!) pretty much everything revolves around baseball now.....

So....when everyone started telling me how AWESOME spring training is, I just still wasn't convinced. How fun could it be to chase a 7 yr old all over an enormous sports complex for an entire week???!!! Well...let me tell you.....IT WAS TOTALLY AMAZING !!!! The accessiblity of players, both major and minor leagures was insane, and it was by far one of the best weeks ever.  I'm not much of a writer, so I'm gonna try and just let the pictures speak for themselves.  I met Gondee and CB (and one of his friends), and it was really nice to put faces with names. It was the best. Some of the pics had a little late-afternoon sun issue going on that I couldn't see at the time, but I hope you like them. Save your mone and go!!!! It's SOOOOO worth it.  Rbravesfan :-) 

Freddie Freeman is REALLY TALL !!!

Mac attack!!! 

My favorite picture. Too bad I bumped the setting on my camera and the lighting is awful. :-( 

You know who....

The view from my seat - vs. Marlins, Tuesday, March 16

Scott Proctor (this guy works SUPER hard..wow!!)

Jordan Schafer

 Billy Wagner

Jair Jurrjens

 Troy Glaus

 Brandon Hicks

Glaus's INSANE averge at the beginning of the Marlin's game last week.....

Check out what's left of the bat. We saw this a LOT, in both the majors and the minors.

David Ross

 Takashi Saito

If you made it this far, thanks. If you are interested, there are lots more. They are roughly sorted into MLB and MiLB albums now....Atlanta Braves Spring Training 2010  and Braves MiLB Spring Training 2010.

Since the old thread on this topic was closed, I made a new one. Anyone coming to Rome Monday night to attend this? The guest list has grown from Tommy Hanson to also include Kris Medlen, Ryne Reynoso, and Atlanta Braves 3rd base coach Brian Snitker, along with the coaching staff of the Rome Braves.  It's always a good time, with good food, door prizes and a great silent auction of really cool collectible stuff from other MiLB teams all over the place.  Will be there with my family and would love to meet any of you who are coming.

Here's a link if you need more info:
http://rome.braves.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100115&content_id=7921588&vkey=pr_t432&fext=.jsp&sid=t432

Here are just a few pics from 2009. If you'd like to see more, I'll be glad to post a link to the albums. They are on facebook but you can still see them, even if you are not on FB. Hope you enjoy them.  If you take time to look at the albums, you will really see why Rome is THE most fan-friendly place. (and you'll also see who my son's fav players are because there are lots of pics of hime with them..lol).  I'm not too good with all the stats and descriptions, will leave those to CB and the guys, so I just stuck names under the pics.  I do have to say that this ENTIRE bunch was really good to our son and I'll always be big fans of all of them, just for that reason. They are great ballplayers, but really nice guys too.  Wish them the best of luck always.

Rome Braves - ParrotHead Paradise Night

Yoel A. Campusano

 Adam Milligan

Paul Clemens

 JJ Hoover

Matt Kennelly

G-Rod and Tom Glavine

 G-Rod (Gerry Rodriguez)

Braeden Schlehuber

Mike Minor

Cody Johnson

Double Trouble.....

There are a few more if you click on the link, including the ones of John Smoltz.  Somehow in my newness I deleted my original post when I added the photos.. lol. Will put 2009 in it's own post there are TONS of pics from there.

 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32286&id=1071090848&l=7b9634d921

Hope you like them, it's not a fancy camera... but we have a good time up here !!!