Other thoughts on my first trip to the Ted this year

1. I'm officially boycotting the beer at the Ted. Previously, my go-to selection was a 24-ounce beer for $7.50, which, in the distorted world of ballpark economics, was a reasonable deal. Now, those beers have been done away with and all that the beer vendors are selling are 16-ounce plastic bottles for $6 and change. I hate those plastic bottles. Aside from the fact that they contain less product and more packaging, the packaging isn't any damn good because plastic does not keep beer cold. The good news is that I'll probably lose some weight and save some money this year. The bad news is that I'll be sober.

And while I'm bashing the concessions at the Ted, kudos to the geniuses at Ballpark Burgers in the upper deck. I waited in line for a good ten minutes to get a grilled chicken sandwich, only to be told by the unapologetic, flat-affect MENSA member at the front of the line that there were no more gilled chicken sandwiches. (Translation: our dumb asses forgot to defrost enough of them and we don't want to spend the effort now.)

All that said, the new Jumbotron is a sight to behold. It's huge, it's clear as a bell, and it actually shows replays of close plays, as opposed to the old, smaller version, which was only used for advertising and between-inning merriment. It also shows more player stats, which is nice.

2. The Braves were completely without a clue against Pedro. He's a great pitcher and he was throwing strikes consistently, which prevented the Braves from working the counts and turning the game into a battle of the bullpens. The Braves only got three baserunners all game and hit two balls sharply. This offense is going to need to get a little better. Right now, good pitching (read: Beckett and Pedro) has made the batters look terrible.

3. Kudos to Rafael Furcal, who made a very smart play in the field to keep the game scoreless yesterday. On the third inning, Miguel Cairo doubled to left center with one out and Jose Reyes at first. Brian Jordan got the ball in fairly quickly, forcing Reyes to make a big turn at third and then stop. Instead of automatically catching the ball and relaying it home, Furcal took a look at the situation, realized that Reyes had stopped, and immediately threw the ball behind him, nailing him at third. Instead of third and second and one out, the Mets were left with a runner on second and two outs.

4. In my obsession with Cox leaving Smoltz in for too long, I need to remember just how dominant Smoltz was in the first seven innings. How about 15 Ks AND NO WALKS. It's so rare to see a pitcher be that untouchable with that sort of control. I need to enjoy Smoltz every time I see him.

Overall, the Braves have won their first two series against their two rivals, so things are good.