Description: 70s baseball in all of its funky glory
Though my wife Katie and I split up last year, we remain good friends. So when she asked if she could write an Opening Day guest post here in tribute to her late father Steve — a massive Braves fan who passed away in September 2020, a year before his team won their first World Series in 26 seasons — I was happy to oblige...
For better or worse, the Atlanta Braves occupied a large part of the relationship I had with my dad. He rarely went a phone call or visit without an update on the current season, most of which were grim. The older I got, the more I spaced out during these "Braves du jour" talks. I always tried to throw in enough mmmhmms to seem like I was listening, but got called out every damn time. My dad would have been a great umpire, now that I think about it.
No question my dad was a loyal man — to the Braves and, more importantly, to me. My parents split when I was two, so the only life I remember is the one where he lived apart from me and my brothers. It was complicated, to say the least — much like being a Braves fan I suppose. It would take me decades to understand the difficulties of either situation. But there were two things I never doubted: My dad would always be there for me, and our summer vacations would always be to Atlanta for the annual worship of
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