Nothing Like a Night at the Park
What could be more fun than relaxing at the park, watching future Major Leaguers (25 already from the M-Braves) and laughing at loads of extra entertainment?
Braves 49-year-old GM Steve DeSalvo admits he’s partial to a night with the M-Braves.
But when he’s not running Mississippi’s AA farm club for the Atlanta Braves (a 365-day, year-round job), DeSalvo loves watching his children play.
Daughters Jessica (19 at Ole Miss now) and Hannah (17 at Pearl High School), have played years of fastpitch softball. Son Brandon, 12, plays youth baseball in the Brandon leagues.
DeSalvo enjoys seeing the very young “play for the age-old love of the game,” he says. Running to the wrong base. Piling rocks in the outfield. No pressure yet—just fun.
He’s watched his children mature from coach pitch to kid pitch; he’s seen baseball help kids overcome fears. “Every year makes a huge difference in baseball in youth leagues.”
DeSalvo hopes “parents will remember that it is really about the game, enjoying the game, developing as an athlete and a person. Yes, you should try to win, to be the best, but at the end of the day, someone is going to lose and it’s not an embarrassment if you lose.”
The M-Braves staff swells from 14 year-round full-timers to about 400 on a game day. Of the 140-game schedule, 70 are at Trustmark Park. The goal is nonstop entertainment for about three hours. Expect fun giveaways again this year, mascot nights and hijinx like the dizzy-bat race, human hamster races and Friday night fireworks.
With gas prices high this summer, a family could do worse than staying at home and taking in some M-Braves games together, DeSalvo notes. “I can’t think of anything anywhere in the state that will offer all we offer in that short period of time,” he said.
The M-Braves also have a great youth-baseball team fundraiser. Players sell game tickets, keep 50 percent of the profits, and come free to the game and go on the field with the players for special introductions. SS
For M-Brave ticket information, call 601-932-8788 or order online at http://www.mississippibraves.com/tickets.
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