My life has been filled with a lot of twists and turns over the last few years. College came and went, relationships formed and crumbled, loved ones have passed away. I've lived in four different states, held many jobs, gotten laid off for no reason at all, traveled into the deepest depths of nature, experienced highs previously thought unimaginable and lows I never thought I'd dig out of...



...but through it all, the Braves have been there. In a time filled with so much uncertainty, so much chaos and emotion, the one constant has been baseball.



That's the most beautiful thing about this game: It's always there. People, they're unreliable - some more so than others. They let you down, often when you least expect it. But baseball never lets you down.



Sure, baseball can crush you, and it will. September collapses, heartbreaking playoff defeats, losing seasons, "infield flies" - they happen. But no matter what we get to go on a long, winding ride with our team for seven months, for 162+ games every year. Isn't that all we can ask for?



There will always be those Tuesday match-ups, when the crowds are light and every ambiance of the stadium can be heard; those Sunday afternoon contests under the sun, when a cold glass of beer tastes better than ever; those long nights during west coast swings, when staying up past midnight becomes the norm, and though you're always a little more tired during those stretches, it always feels worth it.



There are those grueling pitching duels that keep you on the edge of your seat for hours on end; those inside jokes that keep you entertained on social media; those walk-off wins that, even in the darkest of times, can get you through the week. Remember Heyward's game-winning catch in New York last summer? That catch got me through MONTHS.



I now find myself in a position where I can write about this beautiful game for a living. For that I am so very grateful. Whether I'm out at a high school field or penning a column on the big leagues, it really doesn't matter. To do this on a daily basis is a tremendous blessing.



At some point this season - I'm not sure when - I'll have the opportunity to cover a Braves game at Turner Field. I've covered hundreds of professional sports games in my life, but this will surely be different.



I think about that a lot these days, what it will be like to sit in the press box at The Ted. I think about my dad, teaching me the six steps of pitching in our front yard, my grandpa telling me stories of the Golden Age, my glory days in little league, and I think about how it's all led me here - to this chance to live out my dream.



All these experiences over the last 23 years have added up into a kind of love that cannot be explained nor replicated. How could this EVER be replicated?



The 2014 version of the Braves is very different from those of my childhood, that's for sure. Gone are the Hall of Famers, in is a new wave of young talent. There's Heyward and Freeman and Teheran and Kimbrel and a host of others, and together they carry on the legacy of this franchise, one that means more to me than words could ever describe.



A lot of people have asked me in recent weeks if the Braves are going to have a good season. I don't know the answer to that question. Maybe they'll win the World Series, maybe they'll finish in third place in the NL East.



But one thing I do know is that it's going to be a blast. Isn't it always?

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