Augusta, GA

Park # 54

What I Remember

We almost never got tired of the drives on our Excellent Adventure, even the long ones. This was an exception.

It should have been only about eight hours from just south of Tampa to Augusta, GA but with traffic and construction it took more like ten and the heat and humidity was stifling. I recall feeling a little rung out when we finally got out of the minivan and shot the intro to the stadium.

Heaton Stadium felt less like a stadium and more like a collection of its pieces, grandstand here, bleachers there, concession stand over there but it was a pleasant place to watch a game and reintroduce ourselves to the South Atlantic League.

The Game:

Augusta Pirates 7 Sumter Flyers 4

This story was the only archive I could find of this game but it comes from the Sumter, SC paper and thus is written from the point of view of the visiting (and losing( team. Mark Johnson, who later went on to a short career in the majors was the first baseman and one of the stars of the game for Augusta. He had two hits including a triple and two RBIs. Johnson was a graduate of Dartmouth College and thus, I interviewed him as part of my column for the local paper back in New Hampshire.

The Box: (Click on the arrows to see more images)

The Trip:

The Video: