Sunday, Jul. 08, 2007

Shirley: Music worth the wait on Fourth of July

It took more than a month, but my family made it to a Macon Music baseball game Wednesday night.

And other than a few hiccups that aren't really in the team's control, it was well worth the wait.

The four of us, along with more than 3,800 of our closest friends, enjoyed a good show by the Music on and off the field.

Let's start with the on-the-field action.

There is some solid talent on this team, and it's easy to see that Phil Plantier is doing a good job in his first stint as a professional manager. Sure, it's just a one-game sample, but the Music look pretty fundamentally sound: They play good defense, they pitch well, and they do things on offense that make it easy to score runs.

On Wednesday, that included another home run by Scott Robinson. My wife was the only one of the Shirleys who saw that, by the way, because my sons were enjoying the kids zone playground, a good example of what the team is doing right off the field.

There was plenty more of that, as well. There were promotions at the gate, and the dead periods in the game were filled by constant action with mascot skits and contests for the fans to enjoy. And the fireworks display after the game was also well done.

I wasn't around Macon when the other teams that were here left, but the reasons why they did are well-documented. But I've been around other minor league operations, in pretty much every sport, and what was on display Wednesday night was well done all the away around. It was professional, well thought out and entertaining, and that's about all anyone can expect from any minor league activity.

That the baseball team is solid is icing on the cake and makes things that much more enjoyable.

Were there problems? Sure. But most of those are out of the control of the team.

Now, someone could have told us that the bouncy toy in the kids zone was wet so my youngest son wouldn't have jumped right into a puddle. But he's tough and didn't seem to mind the water, and at least he dried out a little bit before his mother saw him.

The bigger problems involve Luther Williams Field itself. People who defend it will call it historic or tradition-rich. Those are nice terms for ancient.

There are problems that typically go along with old venues: small, uncomfortable seats, tiny walkways with little room for more than two people to get by at one time and long waits at the few concession stands. The other problem took place after the game when it became quite obvious that getting out of the parking lots was going to be a long, drawn-out affair.

That wasn't helped by the fact that some of the fans don't know the proper etiquette for getting their cars in line: You let someone in and then move up, and the car behind you lets someone in, and then it moves up. Riding the bumper of the car in front of you and not letting people in is not the way it's supposed to go.

Still, even dealing with that foolishness didn't ruin an enjoyable night.

Daniel Shirley is the sports editor of The Telegraph. Contact him at 744-4227 or dshirley@macon.com