Tony’s Take | Reality | Twice | Bold | Edition 96 

By Tony Duckworth, [email protected]

Reality.  As I sit in a VRBO in Orlando, I am looking forward to a family vacation following my one-year anniversary at the Albany Area YMCA.  My son’s two-year-old daughter and the recent gender reveal of our second grandchild will serve as a distraction from running a non-profit.      

The Braves own the best record (37-18) in MLB and lead the NL East by 8.5 games.  It has been a remarkable season to date, but Atlanta fans need to prepare for rough stretches. The MLB season is a marathon and not a sprint, and the Braves have been sprinting since the first pitch of the season. 

Monday will serve as my back to reality when I return to my office on Gillionville. Following the Nationals series, the Braves may have come back to reality.  Atlanta has only lost two series this season to prove this team is mortal.   

I’m not one to panic, but it will be interesting to see how the Braves respond to recent poor performances at the plate.  The Braves own the best team batting average (.260) in MLB, and according to mlb.com, Atlanta is among the highest-scoring teams in baseball, buoyed by their league-leading overall hit rate.  For a team that has produced runs at a furious pace, the Nationals limited the Braves’ offense to a run in games two and three of the series.  Game two of the series was the fourth shutout of the season, and three of these shutout losses have occurred during a recent scoring slump between May 14th – 24th.    

The Red Sox, Reds, and Blue Jays are the next three opponents for Atlanta.  Only the Reds are playing .500 baseball, so there is an opportunity for Atlanta to get back on track in the win column and ideally begin swinging their sticks as they have most of the season.   

Despite the recent offensive woes, the Braves pitching staff has been remarkable this season, despite entering the season with several starters down. According to Baseball-reference.com, Atlanta currently possesses the best pitching staff in MLB, pacing the entire league with a dominant 3.04 Team ERA. The Braves’ pitching staff across both the rotation and the bullpen is outperforming the MLB averages in nearly every major statistical category. 

I believe this version of the Braves are built to withstand struggles that will inevitably occur throughout the season.  This fan hopes struggles will be short-lived as we enter the dog days of Summer.   

Twice.  I know I sound like a broken record.  We are experiencing a generational NBA talent.  Wem”bany”ama, ok – he is from France – not SW Georgia, but now I have your attention.  This 22-year-old 7’4” prodigy continues to rewrite the record books.  Wemby (the Alien) is the youngest player to ever win the Defensive Player of the Year award; he is also the only unanimous choice for the award.  Russell, Rodman, Mutombo, Olajuwon, “the glove”, and Wallace – you get the point.       

Wemby has now etched another noteworthy statistic as the first player since Bill Walton (‘77) to accumulate 300 points | 150 rebounds | 50 blocks in their first post-season since the block became an @nba stat in 1974, reports @espn Michael Wright.  Tune into the Western Conference finals. 

Bold.  Theme parks can be loads of fun while creating memories of a lifetime.  When our children were young, we made trips to Orlando multiple times.  During that time, we opted to stay on-site, which afforded us quick access to the entrance and, more importantly, guest passes as part of the package, bypassing excruciatingly long lines.  We could ride multiple times in the time it would take most to ride once.       

As our family has grown, we decided to stay off-site and enjoy the comfort of renting a home with a pool.  Life is about tradeoffs.  We love the space and cement pond, but we now commute to the parks and no longer enjoy those passes.  While standing in long lines gives you a chance to visit, it took me back to the days of going to Six Flags over Georgia where ride hoping was an all-day affair. 

There was a particular roller coaster I had not ridden in 41 years. Two of my sons and I were 10 minutes from boarding when the ride shut down due to mechanical issues. Following a 90-minute wait for the most popular ride at the park, we went back to try again.  After a few minutes in line, I encountered a park staffer.  I politely told them our experience, and they should consider allowing guest quick access to the front of the line.   To our surprise, she scanned our tickets, which allowed us to walk past several hundred people to cut our wait by 50 minutes. 

I told my sons there is a lesson in this experience.  “Fortune favors the bold”. 

I hope they will apply this lesson in life. 

Follow Tony Duckworth on the X platform at @tonyduckworthsr or eMail him at [email protected].  Duckworth is a native of Macon and is the President and CEO of the Albany Area YMCA.  Tony worked in intercollegiate athletics for thirty-one years.  He was an NCAA Division II Director of Athletics at three universities, including Albany State, following ten years as a head men’s basketball coach at two colleges.