A summer afternoon at a ballpark, beer in hand, nerding out watching a ballgame is pretty much perfection for me. I was heading to Atlanta for a conference, and by adding a couple of days onto the front of the trip, I got myself to a game in the brand new stadium in Atlanta. SunTrust park had only seen 11 previous games to start the season so many fans were seeing their first game here. It created a great pre-game and in-stadium buzz. Even a couple of hours before first pitch, there were lots of folks hanging out around the stadium.

Although there was plenty to do, see, eat and drink outside the park, shortly after the gates opened, I took up a spot in the centre field seats to watch the end of batting practice on what was a perfect afternoon for baseball.

No batting practice home run balls came anywhere near me, but I did get a close up view of something much more interesting. Be still my beating heart – the last surviving Montreal Expo, “Big Sexy”, Bartolo Colon. The second last Expo game I ever attended back in 2002 was the first game he ever pitched for them after a mid-season trade.

The only thing that could have made this day more perfect would have been if he had been starting for the Braves. After Bartolo called it a day getting his throwing in, I started a bit of a tour of the stadium. No question about it – it’s a beautiful park.

Like all of the new parks, sight lines are outstanding and there isn’t really a bad seat in the place.

Even from the upper deck, although you’re fairly high up, you’re still close to the action as the seats hug the baselines.

On this afternoon, like most of my baseball trips, I was sporting my baby blue Expos shirt and a few folks stopped to say hi and chat about the team I miss. With the combination of Expos shirt and Roughriders hat, one person tapped me on the shoulder during the game and asked if I was Canadian. They were from Hamilton and couldn’t imagine anyone but a Canadian sporting such a wardrobe combination.

SunTrust Park had a reasonable selection of craft beers including a number that are brewed right at the park. This Terrapin Hopsecutioner IPA was made just beyond the centre field fence.

That beer whet my appetite for some baseball and I settled in with 40,000 others for first pitch. Not the best of luck in Braves starting pitcher – no Bartolo (boo!) and had to settle for Blue Jay retread R.A. Dickey. I knew immediately that would mean at last a couple of Cardinal home runs during the game.

My seat was almost perfectly located – good view of the field and a beer bar about three rows behind me. Into the third inning, I opted not for another craft beer, but for a taste of all the time I spent in Philadelphia: a Yuengling. I had a good afternoon going on!

One of the players I was really interested in watching was Freddie Freeman, the Braves first baseman. He’s kind of Canadian (he played for Canada on account of his parent’s nationality) and over the first month of the season, he was the best hitter in baseball. He didn’t disappoint: a couple of hits and a monster homer in the 8th inning.

For a baseball nerd, there’s nothing better than extra innings. After falling behind 4-0 early, the Braves rallied with runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th. They pushed the game into extras and kept threatening to win the game but managed to find a way to blow their chances. When they couldn’t win the game after loading the bases, a lot of fans made their way to the exits…

… so I made my way down into their more expensive seats and got to watch three innings from a few rows off the field. Bonus baseball from beautiful seats.

Normally, I cheer for the home team when I visit a ball park. As the Braves were one of the Expos’ rivals, I wasn’t too sad to see the Cardinals take the lead and eventually win on a 14th inning home run. Perfect weather, a couple of cold beers, a Bartolo sighting, and five innings of bonus baseball made for a great start to my Atlanta trip.