A VISIT TO THE MAGNOLIA STATE FOR BASEBALL--JACKSON, MS

We left Montgomery heading west, driving through rural Alabama, passing through many small towns, including Selma, before eventually getting on I-20 and crossing into Mississippi. 

The state of Mississippi needs to spend more money to keep their highways in better condition.  Our motor home bounced along some rough patches of highway.  This was evident when we set up camp at an RV park in Jackson.  Many of the clothes that were hung on hangers in our wardrobe closet were now in a pile on the closet floor.

We drove to beautiful Trustmark Park, where the Mississippi Braves play, hoping for a more enjoyable experience than the evening before.  The Mississippi team is the AA team in the Atlanta Braves organization, as you can tell from the team name.

Trustmark Park is a modern ballpark with lots of free, yes, free--not a misprint, parking. The scoreboard was impressive too.

Concession prices were reasonable and included the traditional ballpark fare.  Tuesday was ladies night, so Ann was a cheap date that night.  The jumbo drafts of Sam Adams Lager were only $8.  We did try several tastes of craft beers that they sold, but none were to our liking.  Over the last few years, we have become beer connoisseurs, or as some might say, beer snobs.  We like the more hoppy beers, especially IPA's. What is more American than enjoying a beer and a hot dog at a baseball game? Only if you are given a free Mississippi Braves cap too.

This entertaining game had lots of between innings contests involving the fans. The PR staff did a great job keeping the crowd involved. Trusty, the Braves mascot, arrived in a golf cart.

Trusty made frequent appearances during the game, mingling with fans.

Trusty posed with Paul between innings.

The Braves won the game by a 4-1 score over the Chattanooga Lookouts.  Although there were no home runs, the Braves did bang out 10 hits, including a bunt hit in the 3rd inning.  There were several thousand fans in attendance on a nice spring evening.

Florida connection:  The Chattanooga manager is Doug Mientkiewicz, who played high school baseball at Westminster Christian in Miami the same time Alex Rodriguez played there.

If we lived in the Jackson area, we would certainly go to more games at Trustmark Park.