April 14th, 2002
Jodeman's Reaction to the Signing
Montreal ExposWoo-hoo! He's back in town! Hopefully, he'll play in the games that I will see this year. Who knows how many games I will be able to attend in what will surely be the Expos last year. I checked the schedule but didn't see any "Photo Day" in the listing of events. I may not get the chance to get that photo that I've long awaited to get with the Big Cat.
San FranciscoOh well.. back in the National League but I've taken a break from baseball for the time being.
Texas RangersMy reaction to Andres' signing on with Texas Rangers? Well.. for one purely selfish reason, I'm not that happy about it. I was hoping to get a photo with him when he came to town with the Atlanta Braves. Now that he's in the American League, I doubt I'll ever get the chance. I had tried going the hotel for a photo two years ago in hopes of catching him for a photo before he left for the Braves' final game of the year in Montreal. I got there a bit late and I missed him by some 15 minutes.
I now receive WGN which broadcasts all those Atlanta games. Well.. he's not on the team anymore. *sigh* Probably the only time I'll get to see him play now is when the Rangers play the Toronto Blue Jays. Eesh.. I can't believe I'm going to have to watch Blue Jays Games. *ugh*
Anyhow, I wish you the best of luck for the coming season, Andres!
Atlanta Braves
Instantly, friends were thinking, "I wonder what's going through Jodeman's mind right now?"
Well.. as you may know by now, my loyalty remains with my hometown of Montreal. The Expos have always been the team to root for. Ever since Atlanta entered the same Division as the Expos, they have been, year after year, just ahead in the rankings (except for 1994). In 1995-1996 season, the Expos remained in the race for the Wild Card spot until the last week of the season until the Braves eliminated them with two games left. I guess since they joined the same Division, I've always viewed them as the rivals.. taking over where the Pittsburgh Pirates left off when MLB re-aligned the divisions.
It was somewhat of a shock when I woke up to find an article in the November 21, 1997 edition of the Montreal Gazette about his signing with the Braves. I was met with mixed emotions when I saw him on the news later on that evening wearing an Atlanta Braves cap & jersey. Here he was, my favourite player, wearing the uniform of the rivals. Kind of leaves ya speechless.
At least, by being in the same division, we may see more of him than when he was with the Colorado Rockies on the West Coast. I must admit, I've been following Atlanta Braves' & Andres Galarraga stats much more this season than in the past.
So far this season, he's been doing great! At age 38, in his first season out of batter friendly Colorado, he's well on his way to hitting his first 50 homerun season.
Best of luck to you, Andres!
Thanks to Amanda Jennings & her ChopTalk magazine editor for pointing out that our hero had signed with the Braves as a free agent & not traded as I had previously stated.
