Thursday, August 02, 2007

Big “Tex”

If I was excited about Mark Teixeira yesterday, I’m thrilled today.  Last night, Big “Tex” made a big splash in his Atlanta Braves debut, driving in a run with a bases loaded walk in his first plate appearance, and later crushing a three-run homer to left.  It all adds up to 4 RBI for Teixeira, and a 12-3 win for the Bravos. You can’t give Tex all the credit for the spark to the Atlanta offense.  The string of three straight double-digit scoring efforts started in Arizona on Sunday, back when Mark Teixeira was just a glimmer in Atlanta GM John Schuerholz’ eye.  Still, the rest of the Braves’ lineup appears to be energized by the fact that the front office was aggressive at the trade deadline, picking up a big bat and three big arms. If your boss believes in you, and gives you the tools you need to get the job done, it has an impact.  And right now, the Braves know their bosses believe in them, and now they’ve got another big tool in place.

I still remember the first time I saw Mark Teixeira play, still the only time I’ve seen him in person.  I went to the Georgia-Georgia Tech baseball game in Athens during Tex’s last year with the Yellow Jackets.  All eyes were on Teixeira, since he was being hyped as a can’t-miss first round draft pick.  The Georgia fans were all over him, and I was fairly unimpressed as Tex booted a couple of balls at shortstop in the early innings.  Then, he silenced the crowd.  He reached out and blasted a mammoth home run over the left field fence, which disappeared behind a stand of trees that separates Foley Field’s left field fence from the parking lot.  I have no doubt that somebody’s car wound up with an unwanted souvenir from the at-bat.  Since it was college, obviously he was using a metal bat and that made it much more impressive.  But, to this day it’s one of the three or four hardest hit balls I’ve seen in person.  The media relations staff at Georgia and Auburn tell the story of big Bo Jackson belting a homer in the same stadium that cleared a light tower in left field.  Teixeira’s homer didn’t come close to that… but it still made a big impression on me.  Now, Braves fans are going to get the chance to see it every day, at least until he becomes a free agent after the 2008 season.  Hopefully, there will be plenty more home run clout in store for the Braves for the stretch run.