8/8/93 & 8/15/14
The first time he was in this stadium he was a fan. Sure it wasn’t this exact stadium but it all felt the same. Five years old and at his first major league baseball game. It was little league day at the ballpark and his coach had gotten tickets for the team. He was a bundle of nerves as they drove into the parking lot, something that wasn’t much different 21 years later. At five he had only been playing the sport for about a year, but his parents could already tell it was going to be his first love in life. Jason bounced in the backseat of the family Volvo, face pressed against the window as his dad paid for parking. He couldn’t sleep the night before, this would be his first major league game and to get to share it with his dad and teammates was the best thing he could ask for.
His best friend elbowed him and Jason was about to make some crack about it when he turned in his friend’s direction only to be rewarded with a view of the stadium looming before them. After what seemed like hours they finally parked the car, Jason and his best friend went spilling out of the backseat, both wanting to be the first to set their sights on Fulton County Stadium. Jason could hear his dad rattling off instructions as they waiting for the rest of Jason’s team to arrive but he couldn’t focus on anything but the baseball field standing in front of him. One day, he promised to himself, one day he’d be playing on that field.
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This was considered his hometown crowd, having been born just about an hour away. It was the first time in his professional career he was playing in Atlanta, having been traded from the Cubs before reaching the big leagues. Playing in a different league the opportunity hadn’t presented itself until this year. When the schedule had been announced Jason had been a ball of energy, knowing his mother would already be planning a big Helmsley family reunion to watch him play.
As the team bus pulled closer to Turner Field Jason found himself looking out the window toward the empty parking lot that use to house Fulton County Stadium. If he closed his eyes briefly he could still picture that day 21 years ago when he first laid eyes on a professional field. It spurred his desire to make a career out of the sport, to achieve the highest level. He wasn’t the only one of his teammates to have memories of that stadium, to have gotten up within spitting distance of Atlanta.
“Welcome home.”
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