A List of My Top Braves Home Openers Over Last 12 Years

With the Atlanta Braves home opener supposed to be on Friday, April 3, we take a look back at some of my favorites over the past 12 years.

I’ve been fortunate enough to go to every Atlanta Braves home opener for 12 straight seasons, and I had tickets to go this year.

Hopefully whenever baseball is back I’ll be able to continue that streak as there is nothing like a home opener.

I’ll never forget my very first one. I was in college and had a Monday night class at 6 p.m. (yuck).

My friends had a better idea for that evening and wanted to go to the Braves game, so of course, I skipped class and went.

It was an epic game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but we fell short in 12 innings. They scored 3 in the top of the 12th, and then the Braves got our hopes up scoring two in the bottom half to make it a one-run loss.

Perhaps my favorite Opening Day moment came two years later when Jason Heyward hit a home run off Carlos Zambrano in his first career at-bat.

That is by far the loudest I had ever heard Turner Field (postseason games included). I still get chills thinking about that moment and running around high-fiving everyone under the Gas South sign.

From 2009-2013 I was really on a hot streak as the Braves won five straight home openers. I had worn the same shoes, shirt, and hat to every one of those games because, well, that’s baseball.

But then 2014 happened. And hopefully my wife isn’t going to read this (I know she’s not), but she’s the reason the streak ended.

Every year I went to the home opener with either my friends or my dad.

This particular year was the first time to take my then-girlfriend.

We probably deserved to lose because I was a terrible boyfriend and left early because I knew she was going to be late for the game, but I couldn’t miss first pitch, and it’s not like we were married.

So she and a friend drove to the game and were late, and the Braves never really stood a chance losing that game 4-0.

The streak was over, and when I got home I threw that shirt, the shoes, and the hat in the trash can.

Fortunately, my relationship didn’t end with the streak and me and my wife are still together today with the most amazing kid (awww).

Seeing the first-ever game at SunTrust Park (now Truist Park) was a pretty cool moment, but the game wasn’t that memorable as we beat the Padres 5-2.

But 2018 is probably the best home opener I’ve been to in the past 12 years.

As you all know, Aaron Nola was dealing and the Philadelphia Phillies were up 5-0 through five-and-a-half innings.

The all-wise Gabe Kapler took Nola out in the sixth because that’s what the computer said to do, and the Braves broke through against their bullpen making it 5-2 after six.

Still, it felt like the Phillies were in control on a cold night where the Braves’ bats had been even colder.

After the Braves failed to score in the seventh, my dad and I moved down to the lower levels so we could be closer to the exits for an early escape.

And then BOOM went the dynamite. Standing in the concourse behind some shocked Phillies fans that were ready to fire Kapler after one game (and who could blame them), the Braves scored three in the eighth to tie itand then Nick Markakis walked it off with a 3-run homer in the ninth.

Reliving these memories is making me even more sad that the home opener won’t be happening today. But I’ve been lucky enough to see some great ones. Let me know your favorite home opener moments in the comments below.