At Home Plate - Swift Thinking - Memories of Mine

At Home Plate

Swift Thinking - Memories of Mine - The Atlanta Braves

Written by Rob Swift (Contact & Archive) on May 27, 2009

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about the Atlanta Braves is WTCG or Channel 17 which was the predecessor of TBS. Back in the 1970’s it was the only non-network channel on aside from the local PBS station. I do not recall what else, if anything, they had on besides Professional Wrestling and Braves Baseball.

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I remember some of the players being Bob Horner, Dale Murphy, Phil Niekro, and one of my favorite all time player names….Biff Pocoroba! YES! They were a terrible team back then and the telecasts were soothing to sleep by, but for a fan of the game it was more baseball than just the Saturday afternoon network game of the week. Plus, during rain delays they would show old episodes of This Week In Baseball with Mel Allen!

Additionally, the very first Major League game I saw live, aside from Spring Training, was at Fulton County Stadium. I remember a foul ball hit a guy selling cotton candy, bounced off of his head, rolled down the walkway towards me, and then was scooped up by some old man. I was so mad! Then I saw the cotton candy guy and his eye was bleeding….still mad though! Shortstop Johnnie LeMaster hit the ball.

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I recall I bought three of those batting helmet hats and I don’t know why but the teams were the Orioles, the Yankees, and the Braves. Why did I not buy a White Sox helmet? It is a mystery that haunts me to this day!

All I remember is that Skip Carey could put me to sleep by the 3rd inning; it was a good thing too. Watching some of those games was duller than watching weeds germinate. Whatever happened to Biff Pocoroba anyway? Did he form the 70’s super group Poco?

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