Sunday, March 5 2000

Good morning and welcome to Day 2 of the 7th Annual Spring Training Trek 2000!

Baseball at Disney's Wide World of Sports. There is nothing like it in either the Grapefruit or Cactus leagues. From the traditional manual scoreboard to the color spectra vision video board, from the Floridian decor to the perfectly groomed field, Disney has created a standard Spring Training baseball that can never again be met.

Prior to today's game, Andres Galarraga was recognized for his successful battle against cancer. He invited a half dozen kids also fighting for their lives to participate in a communal first pitch ceremony with other Braves players. Today's lineup: #7 Keith Lockhart (2B), #16 Reggie Sanders (LF), #10 Chipper Jones (3B), #33 Brian Jordon (RF), #14 Andres Galarraga (1B), #8 Javy Lopes (C), #25 Andruw Jones (CF), #13 Ozzie Guillen (SS), and John Smoltz is the starter for today's game.

Smoltz gives up a hit, but Lopez throws the runner out stealing 2nd.

Smoltz gives up a walk, but Lopez is unable to prevent a second stolen base attempt. Runner on 2nd, 1 out. Another gives up a hit and the runner moves to 3rd. A deep fly to left scores the run. A line drive to left puts runners at 1st and 2nd. Another line drive scores a run with runners at 2nd and 3rd. A ground out to 3rd ends the inning. , but not before the Devil rays get 2 runs off 3 hits. Smoltz was getting 2 strikes on a lot of batters, but was unable to reel the fish in.

In the bottom of the inning, Keith Lockhart pops up to 3rd. Sanders grounds to short. Chipper lines to 3rd for out number 3. Smoltz gets a K for the first out, but gives up a ground ball up the middle. Gerald Williams sends another one through, putting runners at 1st and 2nd. A pass ball moves the runners to 2nd and 3rd, and a pop fly to left scores a second run. And that is it for John Smoltz. Probably at his pitch count, Bobby Cox brings in #37 Mike Remlinger who gets a pop-out to right to end the inning. But not before the Rays get 2 more hits and a run.

Brian Jordon leads off the bottom of the 2nd with a double down the left field line. The Big Cat lines out to 3rd moving Jordon to 3rd. Lopez flies out to center, Scoring Jordan. Jones grounds to 3rd to end the inning. #73 Toby Rummfield takes over behind the plate in the 3rd. A ground ball to 1st, Galarraga tosses the ball to Remlinger for the first out. A pop-out to short, and a deep fly ball to the warning track for Sanders ends the inning. Guillen grounds to first, and #62 Steve Torrealba pitches for Remlinger with another ground out. Lockhart draws a 2 out walk, but Sanders flies out to center to end the inning.

In the 4th inning, #56 Everett Stull takes the mound and #60 Freddy Garcia replaces Sanders in left. Out #1 is a ground ball to short. Jordan makes a great catch at the wall to rob the Rays of a home run. A hit and a double put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. A foul pop caught by Rummfield ends the inning. Jordan hits a home run over the left field wall, but the Big Cat strikes out, ending his day. A pop out and a ground out by Rummfield ends the inning.

Rocker Report: There was no sighting of John Rocker. This has been the Rocker report.

Top of the 5th finds #19 Brian Hunter at 1st, Stull gives up a couple more hits and a couple more runs before Rummfield catches the Devil Rays stealing to end the inning. But the Devil Rays now lead the Braves 6-2. In the bottom of the 5th, Jones draws a walk and Guillen hits into a double play that pulls the first baseman off the bag. Garcia bounces one of the 3rd baseman for a hit. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Lockhart

draws a walk to load the bases for #22 Walt Weiss. A wild pitch scores a run, and the runners move up. Weiss walks and the bases are loaded again. #18 Wes Helms drives one into right, scoring another run and keeping the bases loaded for #26 George Lombard grounds into a double play, but again the 1st baseman is pulled of the bag allowing the run to score. With runners on the corners, Lombard steals 2nd but Hunter strikes out to end the inning. Scoring 3, the Braves are down by only a run 6-5.

Pitching the 6th is #61 Damian Moss, who takes the Devil Rays 1-2-3. In

the bottom of the inning, Guillen strikes out, Jones walks and steals second, Weiss and Garcia end the inning. Top of the 7th, #57 Junior Brignac takes over in center. A strikeout, a pop out to center and a ground to 1st ends the inning. Lockhart drills one into right, Weiss sends one up the middle that the 2nd baseman can not handle but gets picked off stealing second. Helms strikes out, but Lombard legs out an excuse me bunt and scores the tying run. Hunter draws a balk to move Lombard to 2nd before drawing a walk. But Rummfield flies out to center to end the inning.

#60 Steve Sisco takes over at 2nd in the 8th along with #74 Winston Abreu on the mound. Abreu hits the leadoff batter to give the Rays a free base runner, who then steals second. A strikeout is followed by a run scoring double to left. A second hit batsman and a pair of ground outs give the Devil Rays the lead again. Brignac gets hit in the bottom

of the inning, and Sisco pops into center for the first out. Brignac steals 2nd, but Garcia strikes out for #78 Rafael Furcal who grounds to 1st to end the inning.

Today's food report: BBQ Pork with Cole slaw, fries, and a souvenir coke ($11).

#51 David Cortes pitches the top of the 9th successfully, and the Braves are down to their last three outs. Weiss grounds to 2nd, Helms grounds to short, and Lombard is the Braves last chance. Ball. Strike.

Timeout. Strike 2. Strike 3. Game over. Devil rays 7 runs, 14 hits,

1 error. Braves 6 runs, 6 hits, no errors. The only highlight of this game was Brian Jordan.

After a quick trip back to the Caribbean Beach to change, I headed to Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow), just in time to catch the Tapestry of Nations parade around the World Showcase. This odyssey of the imagination shows the diversity of the human spirit to the beat of revolving drums and the hypnotic repetition of a millennium chant, building to a symphonic rainbow of brass, chimes, and bells as 120 enormous, fanciful puppets reach high into the air. Disney has good writers.

Walking through Mexico and Norway, I reached my destination in China, the Nine Dragons Restaurant where I had 3 Cup Chicken and a delicious glass of wine that nullified the spice perfectly. The cost was $30, but still better than last night's bill. After eating was a second performance of the Tapestry of Nations parade, this time with enhanced night time lighting effects that made it even more a treat. By now, it was 9pm and time for the Illuminations 2000 supercalifradulisticexpialidocious finally to Disney's Millennium Celebration. Combining pyrotechnics, fireworks, water fountains, lasers and music, Illuminations starts with the creation of Earth and takes us through each millennium to the present.

The day was not done, however, as I bussed over to Downtown Disney's Pleasure Island for Mardi Gras. After a bead-throwing parade, I stopped in at the Comedy Warehouse where I had my second Hurricane drink (in yet another souvenir container). A quick stop in the 1920's Adventurer's Club and I decided to call it a night.

Tomorrow, ROAD TRIP!

Fuskie