Overcoming the obnoxious

ATLANTA, June 18 -- Sometimes you find a little retribution in a long fly ball.

I can take a lot. I like to think I've become a "live and let live" type in my old age. But I have no tolerance whatsoever for rudeness. Just won't stand for it.

Which is why the Atlanta Braves' 9-4 win here at Turner Field over the Boston Red Sox was so delicious. I've never seen a bunch that deserved a come-uppance more than the Sox faithful in attendance tonight.

Well, maybe it was just my section. But it was bad. Loud chanting and screaming in that obnoxious Yankee accent (shudder). Women in Sox shirts trying to sit in other people's seats. Some jerk putting his fat ass right in front of an innocent fan who's just trying to keep score.

And then, after home runs by Scott Thorman and Brian McCann --- silence. Sweet, beautiful silence. Well, except for the cheering Atlanta faithful.

I'm a little different than most fans. Baseball is serious business. I treat it as such. I keep score. I pay attention. I don't stand up in my seat or disappear for two innings. I could care less about The Wave and whatever stupid promotion is going on the Jumbotron. (Why do we need a Jumbotron anyway? Why can't some old bag just pound away on an organ?)

So maybe I'm biased --- or just crazy. But I don't see the point in acting the fool, especially when such a glorious game is unfolding before your eyes.

At two places can you find me at my heart's content --- the cabin on the lake, and the baseball park. Thus it was today. As the late spring sun began to set over the Atlanta horizon, Turner Field was backlit by the most ethereal glow you've ever seen. I could almost hear Shoeless Joe Jackson (well, let's say Eddie Mathews since we're in Atlanta) whispering from beyond.

The obnoxious Red Sox fans almost spoiled it. The Braves took care of that, though.

To be fair, it wasn't just Sox fans. One Atlanta partisan was thrown out of the stands for fighting. Another was too busy stuffing his face with food to watch much of the game (or give Dewayne Lawson much room to sit down).

So it goes.

But this is baseball, this is offensively-powered, fun to watch baseball. Such a game is resilient. It can overcome a lot -- even the obnoxious.