Pretty easy drive down from Atlanta today. I left around 10:45a and got here around 2:45p. I actually made pretty good time in spite of a long construction delay in Dublin and a lunch stop in Metter. It's getting harder and harder to drive long distances on these interstates.... The construction that you run into in rural areas just seems to get worse. There was a 3-4 mile stretch around Dublin where I never got above 10 mph.... I think that may have been at least partially related to an overturned truck in the middle of the construction zone. Though it was pulled all the way into the closed lane, I assume that it stopped traffic for quite awhile to clear the one good lane. I got in some really bad construction traffic on I 16 coming back from Ga/ Fla in 2013 too. It never ceases to amaze me that one can sit in stopped or barely moving traffic when there are so few signs of civilization more than 3 feet from the interstate itself.
Anyway.... I had lunch at Papa Buck's BBQ in Metter. I liked it.... Very clean restaurant with very good service. I had the brisket and it was legitimately fork tender. Very good flavor to it.... My one complaint was that the portions and sides weren't very big. I was really hungry though, so that may have had something to do with it.
You can't emphasize enough how young we were on our last trip here. Two years ago, in the hours before the game, you're thinking "I wonder how this McLaughlin guy is going to hold up..." All told, on Opening Day two years ago, we had three pitchers who made their debuts for us (Grant Earls and Jared Walsh being the other two). And we overcame some early trouble to win on Opening Day and that was the only time all season that we were above .500.... The next day, Patrick Boling made his first appearance since 2011. Mike Mancuso and Austin Wallace also made their debuts that weekend. Now, you know what you have in Robert Tyler. You know what you've got behind him. Bo Tucker and Ryan Avidano made their first appearances during their first weekend too, but those guys are just so much more advanced that your average freshman. We know what we've got in Ryan Lawlor.... We know what we've got in David Sosebee. Part of that is that this isn't the first weekend of the year, but I'm still struck by how fewer question marks there are this time around.
Last thing that I should have pointed out last night.... We'll hit some HRs this weekend.... The weather is good and it's a short porch here at JI Clements. We hit 3 by my count last time here, one each day, despite Ga Southern's pitching being a little bit better and us dealing with the high seamed ball. I don't want to try to put an exact number on it, but +5 is a good bet, I would think.
Though I hope that this is will be the last time that we come to Statesboro for a weekend, I'm glad that we are on the road and I'm excited to see how we respond to the environment this weekend.
Anyway.... I had lunch at Papa Buck's BBQ in Metter. I liked it.... Very clean restaurant with very good service. I had the brisket and it was legitimately fork tender. Very good flavor to it.... My one complaint was that the portions and sides weren't very big. I was really hungry though, so that may have had something to do with it.
You can't emphasize enough how young we were on our last trip here. Two years ago, in the hours before the game, you're thinking "I wonder how this McLaughlin guy is going to hold up..." All told, on Opening Day two years ago, we had three pitchers who made their debuts for us (Grant Earls and Jared Walsh being the other two). And we overcame some early trouble to win on Opening Day and that was the only time all season that we were above .500.... The next day, Patrick Boling made his first appearance since 2011. Mike Mancuso and Austin Wallace also made their debuts that weekend. Now, you know what you have in Robert Tyler. You know what you've got behind him. Bo Tucker and Ryan Avidano made their first appearances during their first weekend too, but those guys are just so much more advanced that your average freshman. We know what we've got in Ryan Lawlor.... We know what we've got in David Sosebee. Part of that is that this isn't the first weekend of the year, but I'm still struck by how fewer question marks there are this time around.
Last thing that I should have pointed out last night.... We'll hit some HRs this weekend.... The weather is good and it's a short porch here at JI Clements. We hit 3 by my count last time here, one each day, despite Ga Southern's pitching being a little bit better and us dealing with the high seamed ball. I don't want to try to put an exact number on it, but +5 is a good bet, I would think.
Though I hope that this is will be the last time that we come to Statesboro for a weekend, I'm glad that we are on the road and I'm excited to see how we respond to the environment this weekend.
