Vandy, Vols, a Bulldog … and a bobble head

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Everything about Thursday night at Turner Field was great: the weather, the friends, the bobble head, the run production. (I’m no mathematician, but replacing three .150 starters with more productive hitters seemed to impact the scoring line.)

Former Vanderbilt pitcher and the best of the Braves’ starters, Mike Minor, mowed down the big Toronto bats. And the improved lineup took a liking to former University of Tennessee pitcher R.A. Dickey’s knuckleballs.

I enjoyed talking baseball with current Vols player Will Maddox, whose dad Andy brought him over to 222 for a chat. The fine-hitting infielder is headed to the Cape Cod League for the summer before returning to Knoxville for his junior year.

Will had high praise for Alex Wood, whom he faced last year in the SEC. Wood went from pitching for UGA to closing out the Braves' win last night — in just a year’s time. His debut in The Show was a good and memorable one.

A lively crowd of nearly 30,000 was on hand to enjoy the game and perfect weather. And the first 20,000 took home a Freddie Freeman bobble head. The tall redheaded first baseman followed proper protocol by hitting a line-drive homer as part of the 11-run bash.

It was good to have other friends come by 222, or earlier during BP, including Scooter Brown, Alex Bonds, Bob Cash and Dave Murphy. And three generations of Kerlins were on hand to cheer and to chop.