The Night Mommy Met Dale
Mommy was able to meet her "hero" on September 29, 1989 at the age of 16. It was a night she had waited for her whole childhood. So, in Mommy's words that were printed in the Dale Murphy Induction Society's Newsletter as the "Member Spotlight", here's her account of that unforgetable night.
As a kid growing up in Atlanta, it made sense to have Dale Murphy as my "hero". Actually, the Braves were so bad in the 80's that I think I was more of a Dale Murphy fan instead of a Braves fan. I had one brief meeting with him at a charity sports carnival at the age of 14, but all it entailed was a quick hello and an autograph. THE meeting came two years later……
My father does a lot of charity work and when I was younger, he would take my brother and I along most of the time. My dad first met Dale in the early 80's through his work with the Huntington's Disease Foundation. In 1989, my father was given the opportunity to meet Dale before an Atlanta Braves game as a thank you for helping out with a Huntington's Disease fundraiser. He knew the guy who put the group meeting together and managed to get my father two more tickets. He then told me that I'd get to meet Dale before a game. . . I
couldn't sleep I was so excited!!! I was finally going to meet him!!!
I remember the night well. It was Friday, September 29, 1989- I still have the autographed ticket stub from that game. I was 16 years old. My father, brother and I arrived at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium several hours before the game. We waited in the visiting football clubhouse for Dale. Dale not only paid for our tickets to the game, but also for the food and drinks while we were waiting. As soon as BP finished, in he came! Boy, was I excited! I remember him shielding his eyes because of all the flash bulbs we were using to take pictures….LOL!! He gave a speech thanking everyone for their hard
work and he was presented with the check from the fundraiser during a little ceremony. Then, Dale stayed for what seemed like half an hour talking to everyone, signing autographs and taking pictures. I finally got to talk with him, even though I don't remember what I said to him- I was too overwhelmed! He was nice enough to autograph a picture for me, my ticket stub and he had several pictures taken with me. I do remember him saying that he wasn't getting much sleep this past week because his newborn son was keeping them up at night! All good things must come to an end so he had to leave. In a strange twist of events, the game was rained out that night!
We tried to trade in our tickets, but the ticket office wouldn't allow it unless we gave up our ticket stubs! I was thinking "No way! Dale Murphy autographed it!!". The fans around us in line were on our side and were just as mad as we were at the ticket people…..lol. The ticket manager came down, we told our story and he gave us tickets for the next day anyway AND I got to keep my stub! The whole weekend ended up getting rained out, but that's another story. Another side note. . . I was to meet Dale again in 1990 before a game, but he was traded two weeks earlier to Philadelphia.
So, I have the ticket stub and the pictures (as well as the memories) of that great night. The picture is framed and is on display. My ticket stub and the picture he autographed are also framed and on display. I am waiting for the day to take my picture of us together up to Cooperstown to show him and thank him again for a memorable night and mostly for his love and respect for the fans.
"One Moment In Time" -Whitney Houston
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