I grew up in rural Northeast Alabama. My parents were blue-collar hard working folks. My dad was and is a sports enthusiast. My love for basically any and all sports, comes from my dad. This story is about my family’s first trip to watch the Atlanta Braves in June, 1966.
The excitement of a professional baseball team moving just a little two hours from where we lived had everyone talking. My dad and his parents had always followed major league baseball. My grandmother had been a Cincinnati Reds fan, that is until the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta. She would sit in front of their black and white TV and cheer her “boys” on to victory. She is 100 years old now and still loves sports. When she is watching the Braves or Alabama football, they are all her boys. She does love them, all.
Back to June of ‘66. My dad had to see his new team in person. He got tickets for the family and we all got to go. Dad, mom, my little brother and myself. I was seven years old and my brother five. I realize now just how young my parents were at that time. Dad would have been twenty nine and my mom was only twenty six years old.
We left early on a Sunday morning to make the afternoon game in Atlanta. My dad was driving a solid white 1959 Pontiac Catalina. The car was enormous but my dad loved it because of how fast it would go. He was known to do some “pick-up” races in his time and especially in this Pontiac, she would fly! He kept that car “pegged” out most of the way to Atlanta with my mom screaming at him to slow down. I can remember being in the back seat with my hair blowing in the wind from the open windows. I was very happy and too young to realize the danger.
(Below is a picture of a '59 Pontiac Catalina. Ours was just like this one, only white. )
Like I said earlier, my dad was a blue-collar factory worker and at this time my mom was a stay at home, house-wife and mother. So money was scarce for us. It was a very special deal for us to go to a major league baseball park. My parents had scrimped and saved to have enough money for the tickets and gas to get there. So food was provided by my mom, cooked at home. My dad found a shady spot to pull over off the two lane road we were traveling on. (US hwy 278. This was before Interstate’s in our area.) My brother and I went running into the weeds to use the bathroom. My dad didn’t stop for bathroom breaks, you held it, so we were in a hurry. When we got back to the car, mama had a feast of crispy fried chicken, homemade biscuits and potato salad. She also had a glass jug full of ice cold tea. There were no coolers, she had put a tin washtub full of ice in the trunk and had the tea and food in it. Of course back then, there were no disposable plates, cups or flatware, so we had real glasses, plates and metal forks and spoons. I remember we felt so rich sitting in the grass on a white sheet, under a shade tree with a feast before us.
When we arrived at Atlanta Fulton Co. Stadium, I was in awe of how large it was. To a little seven year old girl it was enormous. I remember one of the first things I saw was a tee-pee in the stadium! At that time, before political correctness, the Braves had Chief Noc-A- Homa (knock a homer) who would come out of the tee-pee and do a dance whenever the Braves hit a home-run or before the games. To a child this was very exciting!
The first time I watched the Braves play in person, they played the Los Angeles Dodgers! The starting line-ups for these teams was a virtual “who’s who” of famous players. For Atlanta there was Felipe Alou, Eddie Matthews, Joe Torre, Phil Niekro (didn't pitch that day) and of course Mr. Henry (Hammering Hank) Aaron! The Dodgers Roster was very impressive with Hall of Fame pitchers, Don Sutton and Don Drysdale but it was the one, the only, Sandy Koufax that pitched that day! Yes, I got to see Hank Aaron and Sandy Koufax in person at my very first MLB game! I was hooked!
That was a very well played game by both teams. The Dodgers won 2-1 in a very hard fought defensive game. The Dodgers would go on to win the National League Pennant that year. Atlanta finished a respectable number five, ten games behind the Dodgers. Not bad for their first season in Atlanta.
I do not remember the ride back home after the game as my brother and I slept in the back seat of that old pontiac, with the windows down in the hot June evening. I do remember telling all my cousins about the experience! I have been to many major league games now, but I will never forget this one.
My dad is in his eighty second year now. He has been hinting this summer how he would like to go to SunTrust Park and watch the Braves. He say’s, “I’ve been to Fulton Co. Stadium, I’ve been to Turner Field, now I want to see SunTrust Park”. Sounds like a road trip for me! But, this time, I’ll drive on the Interstate at no more than 75 mph, with the air-conditioning on in my car. I will stop to go to the bathroom when we need to and we will be stopping to eat at a restaurant and probably eat at the game, too. It doesn't sound nearly as exciting as June 26, 1966.
Comments