The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite loss, fans stick it out,
Braves were eliminated Monday, but fans were still all atwitter about rookie’s grand slam in Game 3.
It was the hit that caused more than 45,000 fans in Cobb County to stand and cheer in unison as a sea of red Styrofoam tomahawks waved furiously.
“I was just thinking, ‘There’s no way he’s going to hit a grand slam.’ And he hits it, and literally, I had a drink in my hand and I almost dropped it,” said lifelong Atlanta Braves fan Madking Kelly, 34, of Atlanta. “As soon as it left the bat it was like, boom, it’s gone, out of here.”
Kelly was one of many Braves fans at SunTrust Park on Monday who couldn’t stop talking about Ronald Acuna Jr.’s grand slam from the night before, in Sunday’s Game 3 of the National League Divisional Series. With one swing of his bat, Acuna drove in four runs for the Braves, helping them top the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 on Sunday.
The Braves were eliminated Monday evening, falling 6-2 to the visiting Dodgers, but much of the announced crowd of 39,586 fans in the ballpark were still on a high from Acuna’s hit the day before.
The season might be over, but with a young core led by the Venezuelan outfielder, many fans believe the best is yet to come.
Lauren Villnow, 35, of Cumberland, and Christine Hom, 34, of east Atlanta, have been coming to Braves games together for four years. When the ball left Acuna’s bat to the tune of a thundering crack in the second inning Sunday night, it created a scene the pair of friends had never seen before.
“I don’t know how often you see something like that, with the first postseason game in SunTrust Park and this amazing young player hitting a grand slam. I wanted to watch the players run, but the stadium was so excited,” Villnow said. “People were going crazy. You couldn’t see anything, it was just people hugging and slapping and kissing.”
Facing a 3-1 count with the bases loaded, the 20-year-old Acuna stood to the left of the plate. Walker Buehler delivered a 98-mph pitch that hung up high in the strike zone. Acuna swung and connected, driving the ball into a sea of frenzied fans in center field.
The dinger made Acuna the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit a grand slam in the postseason, breaking a mark set by Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle.
Sunday night wasn’t the first time the outfielder not old enough to legally drink has injected excitement into Atlanta baseball fans. Acuna leads the Braves in home runs with 27 bombs. The rookie’s .293 batting average has helped him quickly become a fan favorite.
For Hispanic fans, Acuna’s heritage has made him easy to root for.
“Obviously there’s a lot of Hispanic players in baseball, but it’s fun to see Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies and Ender Inciarte,” Villnow said. “It’s clear that they’re all really good friends. It’s the fun thing about this team; they’re a really young group of guys that really has a good time. It’s fun to watch.”
Acuna, Albies and Inciarte are among eight players on the Braves roster who were born in Spanish-speaking countries.
When Kelly was a kid about 30 years ago, he’d tag along with his grandfather who worked as an attendant in the parking lot at Fulton County Stadium. As he chased foul balls, that’s where Kelly’s love of baseball began.
Back then, the rosters weren’t as diverse, and he realizes that players like Acuna, Albies and Inciarte can connect with new fans.
“They’re reaching a different audience. When people see folks that look like them, they’re more apt to follow them,” Kelly said. “It is something you think about in the back of your mind, because I can say to my son, ‘Hey, look. That guy looks like you, and he plays baseball.’”