SPECIAL: Atlanta Braves Leaving Fulton County; Your Stories, Your Memories, Our Team

Nathan’s Story

Without further ado, I present to you, Mr. Nathan Smith, AKA, @BravesOptions:

"It was 2004. I had just transferred to Georgia Tech to continue my education after 3 years at Furman University, a small liberal arts school in Greenville, SC. I moved into my grandmother’s house to save money (this will come up later). I lived in her basement in the same room that my dad lived in when he was growing up. He would listen to Braves games at night on a transistor radio he kept hidden under his bed. The Braves moved to Atlanta when he was 10 yrs old and as a kid, he & his best friend would hop on a bus and ride to old Fulton County Stadium to watch the Braves greats like Hank Aaron & Phil Niekro play for the Braves. His passion for the Braves started then and continues now. He passed that passion onto me & my sister. I was at a new school in a huge city I’d only ever visited at the holidays when I was growing up. I didn’t know anyone. I was 3+ years older than most of my classmates b/c I was in entry-level engineering classes but had 3 years of college already under my belt. It was foreign and the first month I spent most of my time studying alone in the bottom floor of the mechanical engineering building. A few weeks after the start of the semester, I met Josh. He was a transfer student like me and was even older and was married which I thought was very strange to be married and going to school but whatever. He & I teamed up while we did our school work & studying since we were in the same classes and shared the whole transfer thing. We became pretty good friends. My grandmother was a journalist for the Atlanta newspaper before she retired so she was on several Atlanta society mailing lists and committees. That fall, she was invited to be a guest at a special event/dinner being held in honor of Hank Aaron. She knew that I was a big Braves fan and she had two tickets so I went as her plus 1. I don’t remember much about the event itself. I got close to Hank Aaron but didn’t “meet” him or get to shake his hand. I ended up with a program from the event that he signed. I’m not even sure to this day now what happened to the program. The biggest thing I took away from it was tickets to a future Braves game, specifically, the one on Friday, September 24, 2004 against the Marlins. Each guest got a ticket so I had 2 and the very nice people that we sat with at our dinner table offered me theirs so I ended up with 4 tickets to the game. I was excited b/c it’d be a few years since I’d been to a game. The Braves were in a pennant chase, trying to win their 13th consecutive division title. Prior to the season, most media thought they would finish behind the Phillies & Marlins in 2004. They were actually 6 games under .500 and 6.5 games back on June 23. They then proceeded to go 57-26 leading up to that game on Sept 24. I was watching the standings closely, hoping beyond hope that the game I had free tickets for would hold the possibility of a clinch. The Braves were coming off back-to-back losses to the Reds which put them 9-1/2 games ahead of the Marlins & Phillies with 9 games to play. All the Braves had to do was win and they were playoff bound for the 13th consecutive season. Since I had 4 tickets, I invited Josh & his wife to join me and my girlfriend (now wife) at the game. The seats were in the outfield pavilion, lower level in right field, a few rows up from the wall. The game started of great for the Braves – they went up 2-0 in the 1st inning on a Giles double followed by a JD Drew triple & a sac fly from Chipper. The Marlins tied it with a home run off Russ Ortiz the very next half inning. But then Andruw Jones & Charles Thomas hit back-to-back jacks to lead off the bottom of the 2nd inning. Giles 7 Drew singled in the inning & Giles scored on a throwing error by budding superstar Miguel Cabrera. The Braves led 5-2 after 2. Russ Ortiz was not his reliable self that night. He came out for the 3rd and proceeded to cough up the lead again when Paul Lo Duca hit a bases-clearing double after Ortiz had walked 2 around a single to load the bases. It was tied again, 5-5 and it stayed that way until the 6th inning when Alex Gonzalez (yes, THAT Alex Gonzelez) hit a solo shot off Juan Cruz to give the Marlins the lead again. They tacked on one more in the 7th off Antonio Alfonseca thanks to a throwing error by Braves catcher Johnny Estrada. The Braves went 1-2-3 in the 7th and the Matlins led 7-5. The chances of witnessing a clinch were beginning to fade quickly b/c the Marlins had Guillermo Mota for the 8th & Armando Benitez for the 9th, about as lock-down 1-2, 8/9 punch as there was in 2004. Benitez finished that season with an NL-leading 47 saves & a 1.29 ERA. Mota came in for the 8th and did the one thing you never wanna do as a pitcher in the late innings – he walked Julio Franco (yes, THAT Julio Franco, the ageless wonder). Andruw followed with a single to center & then Charles Thomas reached on a surprise bunt single to load the bases. The crowd (almost 30,000) was getting into it now. Hope was coming back. Mota was failing to lock it down. Eli Marrero pinch-hit for the Braves pitcher and promptly struck out. 1 out. Crap. Here comes the top of the order. Furcal is up and hits a sac fly to right-center, not far from where we are sitting. It’s 7-6 now with runners still at 1st & 3rd and 2 outs. Jack McKeon wasn’t gonna mess around and blow this so he went to the pen and brought out Benitez for a 4-out save to try and preserve the Marlins’ season. Marcus Giles came up next. During his AB, Thomas stole second base. Now there’s 2 in scoring position with 2 outs, down by 1. Giles falls behind 0-2 and is down to his last strike with the best chance to put the Braves ahead. He squares up a smacks a fly ball to right field. Fredi Gonzalez (yes, THAT Fredi Gonzalez) windmills Andruw & Thomas around third and both score. BRAVES TAKE THE LEAD!!! The Ted was going crazy!!! The 8th inning ended with JD Drew flying out to center, but the damage was done and every single person in the stadium knew what was coming. Smoltz had 40 saves and a 2.91ERA coming into the game. It was practically a lock for Braves victory. The stadium loudspeakers played the first chords of AC/DC ‘Thunderstruck’, the bullpen door opened, and Smoltzie entered the field of play. The crowd was going berserk. We knew the game was practically over. It was the most amazing sensation. I had chills, goosebumps, butterflies, the whole 9 yards. (I have chills right now while writing this up.) Smoltzie threw his warmup pitches and the beginning of the end of the Marlins season was on. Juan Pierre flew out to Andruw Jones in center. 1 out. 2 to go. The next batter, Luis Castillo, works the count full and draws a walk. The tying run is on base now. Jeff Conine enter the box, Smoltzie winds up, Conine swings and grounds it straight to Furcal at short, who flips to Giles who throws to Franco – game-ending double play! THE BRAVES ARE DIVISION CHAMPS! The crowd was standing and cheering. It was almost as deafening as when Smoltz entered. The team was crowded in the infield, celebrating with the elder statesman that had just saved the game. (Note: Smoltz was the only one who’d been there since the first division championship back in 1991). A little later, the team trotted out the yellow pennant with 2004 on it that would eventually grace the left field upper deck façade. I get chills every time I re-count this tale. It was an amazing experience. I felt like I had somehow connected to the entire City of Atlanta that was my new home while I finished school. I would spend 2 more years living in my grandmother’s basement in Atlanta. I went to a couple more games at The Ted during that time but nothing will top that experience for me. I’m now a father of 2 living in Virginia and the one thing I look forward to the most now is taking my kids to their first Braves game & telling them the story of how I witnessed a comeback victory in 2004 for the Braves to clinch the division."

I want to thank Nathan for allowing us to use his story and share it with all of you. His story epitomizes us all as Braves fans. There is always a moment, memory, or time that solidified our lifelong allegiance.

We all make up Braves Country, no matter our geographical location or situation. For those like Nathan, it was moving back home and rekindling the magic. For some, it was the power of Superstation TBS. But for all of us, it was moments like this that made us not just fans, but passionate die-hards.

Next: Minors September Standouts

If you would like your story told, let us know. Contact us on our Facebook Fan page or reach out to us on Twitter @TomahawkTakeFS. You can also contact myself (@DHorton398) or our Co-Editor, Alan Carpenter (@AlanCarenterFS). Give us a follow. And while you’re at it, follow the rest of our staff and Nathan @BravesOptions.