2012-04-13 Brewers (Wolf) at Braves (Jurrjens), 6:35 PM CDT [Brewers lose, 10-8]

[dlk9s]

My brother and I discussed IBB or not while sitting in the upper deck last night and we leaned towards no IBB. Loading the bases with K-Rod on the mound just seemed like a bad idea. Plus, you had a righty at the plate who is prone to striking out.

 

Overall, I thought RR did a fine job managing the game. Yeah, I would've liked Wolf to get the hook earlier, but he imploded so fast that it was tough to get someone ready quickly.

 

The fans were horrible, by the way. I already talked about the booing in the Braun thread, so I won't rehash it. I don't know if Miller Park opening day is normally like this, but Casual Fan was out in force. My seats were just past the infield on the first base line, next to one of the concourse tunnels. A few thousand people had to have gone up and down and up and down and up and down throughout the night, all of course walking in our view. The same people often left their seats 4-5 times. Plus, it literally took 2-3 innings to get any food because of the lines. I tried, but when I saw the lines, I went right back to my seat (to Atlanta's credit, it's not normally that bad, but you'd think they would have taken steps to prevent this on opening day). Also, despite the announcement that it was a sellout, the stadium was about 80% full.

 

The scoreboard operator also had a really, really bad day.

[logan82]

Never walk the bases loaded. Even with a GB hitter vs a GB pitcher your odds of a DP are not good.

 

The odds are better with the infield in and 1 out, men on 2nd & 3rd? No force play anywhere?

You never walk the bases loaded because you force your pitcher to throw strikes. Maybe with the pitcher coming up next but only maybe. K-Rod is a strikeout pitcher against a guy who strikes out a lot. The infield should not have been brought in though.

[hawing]

The fans were horrible, by the way. I already talked about the booing in the Braun thread, so I won't rehash it. I don't know if Miller Park opening day is normally like this, but Casual Fan was out in force. My seats were just past the infield on the first base line, next to one of the concourse tunnels. A few thousand people had to have gone up and down and up and down and up and down throughout the night, all of course walking in our view. The same people often left their seats 4-5 times. Plus, it literally took 2-3 innings to get any food because of the lines. I tried, but when I saw the lines, I went right back to my seat (to Atlanta's credit, it's not normally that bad, but you'd think they would have taken steps to prevent this on opening day). Also, despite the announcement that it was a sellout, the stadium was about 80% full.

 

The scoreboard operator also had a really, really bad day.

First of all, it makes me happy to see out-of-region fans get a chance to provide "I was there" commentary in an IGT. Yay for you, dlk9s.

 

This has been rehashed elsewhere over time, but Casual Fan tends to be out in force at Miller Park's opening day as well. As a diehard, I don't expect to ever fully understand their perspective, but it just seems goofy (to me) to put so much effort into one day and then be meh about the rest of the season (until the postseason, when applicable). Of course, not everyone rolls that way, but there are some who definitely fit that extreme stereotype.

 

Spectators being up and down from their seats frequently, in front of me, is a normal occurrence, but that is probably because we sit in the family sections - though it's not always parents/young kids who can't stay still or need a steady stream of concessions.

 

How many of last night's crowd stayed to the end? I don't know what the norm is for Turner Field.

[dlk9s]

A solid percentage stayed until the end, probably helped by the fact that there was a fireworks show after the game. I really didn't want to go to Opening Night, but I'm leaving town in an hour or two and can't make either of the other two games. I was lucky, though, and somehow got tickets for below face value (not difficult normally, but for last night, that was an achievement).

 

I will say that normally Atlanta fans aren't that bad. They are typically pretty tame and probably about average when it comes to baseball knowledge. I actually really enjoy going to "run of the mill" Braves games because it's a good game day experience. Getting to the stadium is easy from the northern suburbs where I live and parking is a breeze. The stadium is nice - enough frills to be catch your eye, but not so much of a circus that it takes away from baseball. Not many bad seats, either. My seats of choice tend to be front row upper deck behind home plate because I can usually get them for cheap and it's a good view. Great scoreboard, too, as long as the operator isn't failing all over the place like last night.

 

Despite it being easy to get to the stadium, I didn't drive last night. Opening night combined with Friday rush hour made for horrible traffic and the lots filled up really fast. My brother and I went to a MARTA (subway system, though it's above ground) stop by his apartment, took it two stops to the state capitol and walked about a mile to Turner Field. Easy peasy.

 

First Brewers game I've seen in person in two seasons. I went last year in Atlanta, but it was the rainout.

[ninja33]

I woke up to make a post about my gameday experience last night....and it was EXACTLY the same as dlk9s from the beginning (so many casual fans), the middle (turner field normally being a good experience for random braves games, taking the MARTA last night), and through the end (going to one game in Atlanta last year before I went out of town....and it was the rainout). Well played.

[3and2Fastball]

Opening Day is really "Casual Fan" day in any town. Atlanta fans are right on up there with my least favorite fans, in large part because of the tomahawk chop. Yes, I know I live in a state where people wear cheese on their heads.

[Baldkin]

The crazy thing is that the 'Chop is all Dieon Sanders' fault.

 

It was never around until some FSU fans brought it to Braves games.

[FVBrewerFan]

Usually don't like IBB but would have done it here. Soley because it was Bourn at 3rd. In that situation,he's going on contact. Even if its hit directly to someone, he coulstill easily score. You walk Ugla, then hope for a dp, pop-up or so. Its not like dp is the only way out of the inning.