Guest Book

Hey now Ryan - I've been a Braves season ticket holder for 23 years and my seats are on the aisle, right behind the owner's box, no more than 30 feet from the Braves on-deck batter's circle. Walter Banks is the VIP usher and has the most seniority of any Braves employee. So the number I picked was 39 -- the number of years Walter has been a baseball usher. Walter has an amazing encyclopedic memory of sporting events and trivia. He has been doing the "pick a number" trick ever since I've known him, but this is the first year the Braves have been featuring his talent on the big screen between innings. I've taken Colonel Bruce to a few Braves games and he and Walter hit it off famously. The two of them have spent many innings trading baseball lore. Bruce is the kind of guy that not only knows the pitcher who threw the pitch Hank Aaron hit to break Ruth's record, but the catcher as well. And the starting lineup of both teams that day. And the time of day the game started. And the temperature at game time. You get the idea ... One of the games I took Bruce to was a World Series game in 1996, the last game ever played at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium. He and I were interviewed live during the national pre-game feed and Bruce horrified the interviewer when he started talking about his uncle who was buried under second base ... Anyway, Walter is a true gentleman and is highly respected by all those who know him. It is very fitting to see him get some recognition. This game, however, was the first in all my years as a season ticket holder that I participated in a between innings feature. As this was father's day weekend I was especially thrilled to be at the ballpark with my kids and have them up on the big screen. It was a night they will remember forever. Unfortunately, it was the same evening as the LRP show in Winder -- but I wouldn't have missed this night with my kids for anything. The Braves won, too!