Digi-Blog goes to Braves’ spring training at Disney (no charge)
LAKE BUENA VISTA — Welcome to Braves’ spring training and our first Digi-Blog in a while. If you’ve missed past episodes, we’ve taken you on photo tours of every place from SEC Media Days to Stillwater, Okla., to camp to Falcons’ training camp to the Masters (Part I: looking for Tiger Woods) and Part II (looking for squirrels).
You can find them all archived here.
Today, I’ll give you a little peak of the Braves at Camp DisneyRip. I’m just so happy that they actually let me in here for free. Most folks they actually charge for the privilege of watching David Ross stretch. OK, let’s begin our tour.
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This sign is not on the Disney property. On a completely unrelated matter, I was late to practice Friday morning.
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OK, finally made it. Disney officials considered taking down the, “Where Dreams Come True” sign a few years ago, but fortunately Mike Hampton’s contract finally ran out.
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This is the entrance to the Braves’ spring training home at “ESPN’s Wide World of Sports,” which used to be just, “Disney’s Wide World of Sports,” until Chris Berman punched out Mickey.
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It’s a sparse crowd for today’s workout at the ole’ ballpark, not that we should expect a sellout. There’s not even a game scheduled. But that doesn’t stop Disney/ESPN from charging an admission.
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Disney charges $14.50 for adults to watch practice. Practice! Disney even charges $10 for kids ages 3 to 9. Also, pregnant women are charged an extra $3.50 if they’re in their first trimester, $7.00 if they’re in their second trimester and double admission if they’re in their third trimester. (I might’ve made that up.)
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“But I’m a Hall of Famer!” … “Doesn’t matter sir.” … “But I’m dead!” … “I’m sorry sir, it’s company policy. You still have to pay $14.50.”
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Damn it!
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This is the view from the pressbox. There’s an important meeting going on. “Does anybody have an idea how we can beat the Phillies?”
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This is a sign in press box, adjacent to the windows. True story: Disney officials put it up because David O’Brien kept opening the windows, which property officials have deemed too dangerous. David was given a stern lecture and promised he would never do it again.
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This is O’Brien, being O’Brien.
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OK, time to venture back outdoors. I went with the shorts and of course took some abuse. Frank Wren commended me for my courage. Fredi Gonzalez just looked down at the pale legs, then quickly turned away for fear of going blind before the first spring game. I told Adrienne Midgley of the Braves PR department, “I had a decision to make. Wear long pants or try to get some color on these puppies.” She responded, “I won’t say you made the right decision. I also won’t say you made the wrong decision.” Nice and political.
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You might’ve heard of these tents. Jason Heyward crushed so many windshields and dented hoods on the cars of Braves’ executives last spring that these protective tents were put up for the VIP parking spaces behind right field. The fronts were zipped closed when batting practice started. True story: When I went to take a picture of the tents, I was stopped by a 70ish Disney security guard, who initially said I couldn’t take pictures because, “This is technically a backstage area.” He finally relented when I threatened to withhold his green jello at lunch.
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Dan Kolb is in the locker second from the right.
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Are you serious? Can’t you get away? OK, no kidding, I talked to Bobby Cox, who for some reason after 197 spring trainings is still showing up in retirement. Why is he here? “I like it,” he said. Is he going on vacation? “Sure, Pam and I already have been to Mexico. Twice, actually.” Anything else. “Yeah, we’re going on a Mediterranean cruise in April. Spain, Greece — all over.” Looking forward to it? “Yeah, sure. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to see the games when we’re on the ship. I don’t know why Pam had to go and book the trip in April.” Oy.
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That’s new hitting coach Larry Parrish facing you, with three of the players that will lead to him either being either praised or vilified (because that’s the life of a hitting coach): Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward and Brian McCann.
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Last shot: It’s Chipper Jones and he’s still standing. Maybe I should’ve gone with the high socks look, too.
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By Jeff Schultz
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85 comments Add your comment
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:47 pm
Sherry and Tucker — I shall have my gams George Hamilton-bronzed in no time!
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:48 pm
KnightInATL — Thanks.
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:49 pm
5150 — I’m a hairy man — except on my head.
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:50 pm
Chef — I always need a fallback plan.
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:50 pm
ATLgirl29 — Thanks, I do Digi-blogs periodically. Check out the archive.
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:51 pm
Thanks Jimbeauxtiger . . . and Mike
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:51 pm
Bozudeco — Haha, I’ve got a lot of ammunition on O’Brien.
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:52 pm
Thanks Bat. — Laughter is a wonderful elixir.
Jeff Schultz
February 25th, 2011
8:52 pm
You’re Gumby, damn it!
Mike
February 25th, 2011
9:01 pm
Funniest piece I’ve ever read in AJC since 1968 — Ok 1968 was the FIRST time I read the AJC – I was 7…True Story – Our family opened the gates to the GD Northerners moving in… Southerners – Please accept my sincere apology!!
Zach
February 25th, 2011
9:05 pm
Schultzy, when you coming down to Miami to visit? We don’t have Micky, but we do have…well I think you know what we have.
Mike
February 25th, 2011
9:10 pm
Zack – Keep the working girls busy — you don’t need our help.
Zach
February 25th, 2011
9:13 pm
Haha, Mike sobe doesn’t start to get going for another 2-3 hours. I’m just waiting for things to kick up a little.
Younger Than That Now
February 25th, 2011
9:52 pm
Schultzie… my wife’s comment after seeing your “legs” photo was… “well, I guess ya gotta start somewhere”.
Thanks for all the photos! I love the detailed reports from Darkstar… or DisneyRip as you call it… but I really love the behind the scenes photos and reports. Why they don’t have pay toilets as Disney I’ll never know. Can’t wait for tomorrow or really for March 31st!!
GO BRAVES!!
Thomas
February 25th, 2011
9:57 pm
I feel that baseball fever. “VIVA LOS BRAVOS” GO BRAVES!
Brave4life-1995 all over again??
February 25th, 2011
10:01 pm
It would be pretty sweet if Chipper went old school with the “high socks” for the regular season too.
2 words....spray tan
February 25th, 2011
10:21 pm
to shake things up, show up with a dark spray tan tomorrow…….thanks for the hilarity and for slamming Disney………I thought your legs looked a little like Glenn Hubbards
Bravefaninok
February 25th, 2011
11:28 pm
Brave4life-1995 all over again??
February 25th, 2011
10:01 pm
It would be pretty sweet if Chipper went old school with the “high socks” for the regular season too.
He said he is going high socks this season.
Trey
February 25th, 2011
11:48 pm
Jeff, I liked that. Has Sonny gotten a chance to see these pictures yet? I can’t wait to see a wise crack or two from him.
Bill
February 26th, 2011
12:09 am
Great job Jeff……I’m ready for the game.
Matt
February 26th, 2011
1:51 am
Bobby Cox the Classiest Man in Baseball. A true Great leader among men even in Retirement you can still see his leadership in the Dugout. If only we had great leaders like that in our Government.
Stinger2
February 26th, 2011
5:11 am
Saint Simons: You messed up a great blog with an irrevelant comment. Not typical of most UGA fans. Go
to Athens and watch spring practice if they will let you in.
Otherwise great pictures and captions Schultzie. You are the best!!
Stinger2
February 26th, 2011
5:25 am
Schultzie: Forgot to mention that I do not normally look at men`s legs. Since those are presumably yours in the picture, I did give them a glance. I would suggest you opt to get your tan in the backyard….just kidding.
Pond John
February 26th, 2011
10:07 am
Shultzie
The AJC needs to put a statue of you in front of the building so we can whitewash your legs & paint yer tootsies!
You make make me look forward to the AJC amazing, are you sure that pen that you wield isn’t a magic wand?
1eyedJack
February 26th, 2011
10:12 am
Let ‘em in to watch practice for free and there’ll be nobody left to ride the rides.
Schultz what color toenails are you going with at spring training this year? Red? Pink…or just the natural yellow?
Just breathe through your eyelids.
Gil In Mechanicsville
February 26th, 2011
10:47 am
Great piece Jeff, any truth to the rumor that Fred Wipon is looking for a similar deal from Sea World? Got to pay those loans off somehow..
PS.. And here we all thought O’Brien was mechanically challenged, can he tie his shoes and chew gum too????
Gil In Mechanicsville
February 26th, 2011
10:49 am
Yeah, I checked out on of those “We Bare All” places too, Was real disappointed to learn that the sign painted could not spell and it turned out to be a petting zoo….
John
February 26th, 2011
10:57 am
Nice work Jeff. Please do more of these. Taking us behind the scenes works great for me.
Dr. Phil
February 26th, 2011
11:08 am
My first visit to the Braves camp was in 1967 at West Palm. In those days, the players just walked from the practice fields to the stadium that resembled that of an affluent high school. You could chat with those players who were so inclined. I can’t remember if there was a charge for watching spring games. We had a Carl Hiassen character-like friend who had been kicked out of the University of Florida and had an apartment in Ft. Lauderdale where we stayed. We went down there in ‘ 67, ‘ 68, and ‘ 69. I recall meeting Clete Boyer in a West Palm bar, probably in ‘ 67 or ‘ 68. In one of those years, we saw Ted Williams at Pompano Beach, who was managing the Senators, Joe DiMaggio, who was a hitting instructor for the Athletics, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, and saw Frank Howard hit a ball that probably landed in the Atlantic Ocean. Howard hit the longest and highest home runs I have ever seen. I graduated from college in 1969, and a year later, found myself chest deep in rice paddies. I went back to West Palm in ‘ 92 or ‘ 93 and saw Greg Maddux pitch his first spring game with the Braves. I have gone to Orlando each spring for at least the last 10 years. Last year, I went to Pompano to find the old Senators’ camp. It had become a city park, but the practice fields were still there. Things have certainly changed over the years. Disney is a maze that confounds state of the art GPS systems. Any false turn in Mouseville takes you back to the Magic Kingdom, a place that I have grown to hate. The Astros complex at Kissimmee is fan friendly, more like the old days. The Phillies camp at Clearwater is nice and populated by friendly retirees from St. Pete who are great fans of the game and enjoy good play regardless of the team. It is a great experience going to spring baseball. Even Cub fans can hope that this will be the year.
Supes
February 26th, 2011
11:14 am
Jeff,
good pic blog from Spring training. Thanks for keeping it light
LIVE: Braves open spring season, looking for 2010 chemistry | Jeff Schultz
February 26th, 2011
12:50 pm
[...] – Digi-Blog goes to Braves’ spring training at Disney (they charge, I don’t) [...]
idot
February 27th, 2011
9:32 am
Shultz is proud be white.
idot
February 27th, 2011
9:33 am
How much is a beer? $14?
idot
February 27th, 2011
9:34 am
Meant, Shultz is proud to be white.
Chip
February 28th, 2011
11:51 pm
It was my first spring training so I can’t really speak of “how it used to be.” Like I said, $14.50 for stadium access didn’t raise the ol’ eyebrows nearly as much as the $3 Cokes in the ESPN Grille. At the end of the day, that $14.50 covered parking, a dependable wi-fi signal, a seat behind the dugout or home plate, a picnic on the grassy knoll in left field, tons of awesome pics and autographs / pleasant exchanges with Diory Hernandez, Gonzo and Terry Pendleton, plus a peek at Terry’s Harley. Technically, $14.50 gets you into the whole ESPN Sports Complex, not just Champions Stadium. It really wasn’t a bad place to spend a day – sunny, warm, beautiful grass fields everywhere, good people watching… Those grass fields are SO nice, Disney could call the place “The Lawn and Turf Hall of Fame” and a lot of people would probably pay twice as much to get in. And it’s not just Disney. Daytona Speedway now nickel and dimes you also. Once upon a time, you could walk to the back of the gift shop and shoot pics with the winning car for nothing. Now, of course, it’s part of a pricey tour. The US government now provides the most “bang for your buck” in Central Florida, literally. Shuttle launches are amazing!