'Battleship,' Son of Baconator and some tears as Braves' Dansby Swanson makes MLB debut
ATLANTA -- Remember to exhale.
No, not Dansby Swanson. The Braves' No. 1 prospect, who just over a year removed from being the top pick in the draft out of Vanderbilt, was in the starting lineup Wednesday night for his MLB debut against the Twins, hitting eighth and playing shortstop. Hours before the game he smiled at the thought of his even getting the call, the wait over, and a dream a reality.
"I didn't know what to think," he said."... I still don't."
It's not Swanson that needs to remember to exhale. It's Braves Country.
A digital billboard cycled through on I-75 near Marietta -- the suburb that produced Swanson -- saying "Welcome Home Dansby," featuring Swanson's smiling face. The hype that began the December night the Braves acquired him in a swindle of a Winter Meetings deal with the Diamondbacks, and built as the team unveiled a preseason commercial with Swanson and famed Atlanta Opera tenor Timothy Miller -- it included Miller belting out He comes from Marietta, a home town hero with lots of fans -- reached its inevitable fever pitch. The centerpiece of the franchise's rebuild, a potential cornerstone of a new era of Braves baseball, donned a Braves uniform for the first time.
The right hander came up to bat for the first time in the second inning at Turner Field to a loud ovation before a hard-hit line-out to center off Minnesota's Kyle Gibson. Two innings later, he delivered his first hit, a one-out single on a sharply hit ball to right field, then in the ninth he sent a line drive up the middle, giving him a two-hit debut in the Braves' 10-3 loss.
Swanson realizes there are expectations for the fastest No. 1 overall pick to reach the majors since the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg in 2010, and the first position player taken first to debut a year after his selection since Darin Erstad in 1996. But he is neither denying nor embracing them.
"External (pressures) aren't the ones that matter," he said. "It's the internal ones and the ones you set for yourself and basically having comfort and confidence in that help me get through that personally."
He was cool, polished and professional dealing with a horde of reporters before the game, because, frankly Swanson has a habit of drawing attention. City after city on the road for Mississippi he drew countless media requests, and at this year's Southern League All-Star Game, organizers recalled having needed security to get three players out of stadiums at that level: Deion Sanders, Michael Jordan -- and Dansby Swanson.
"I got some experience at Vanderbilt ... I'm not going to say it's super-familiar, but I've done it a couple times ... Just be yourself and that's what I always do. Whether it's talking to you guys or guys on the team or family. Just always stay true to who I am and it always makes things a little bit easier."
Hitting .261/.342/.402 with eight homers, 13 doubles and five triples with 45 RBI in 84 games for Mississippi, where the 22-year-old had teamed with second baseman -- and expected future Atlanta double-play partner -- Ozzie Albies, Swanson was well positioned to make the jump after the Braves traded shortstop Erick Aybar to the Tigers on Tuesday night. But he was too caught up in the team's playoff chase to think about anything prior to a September call up when rosters are expanded.
It made what unfolded all the more surprising.
On the Tuesday off day Swanson was in a hotel room across from the M-Braves' home, Trustman Park, with first baseman Jacob Schrader. The two were watching 2012 box office bomb Battleship and planning on hitting up a Redbox to rent another movie, when Swanson saw an unfamiliar number on his caller ID.
"Normally I don't answer numbers I don't know," Swanson said. "But I was like 'I'll answer it.'"
"I'm here to grow & learn." Dansby w/ HOFer & @Braves legend Tom Glavine prior to his 1st #MLB game. #DansbyDebut pic.twitter.com/dfvUinvUEL
— FOX Sports Southeast (@FOXSportsSE) August 17, 2016
"Hey," the voice on the other end said. "It's Sally (Luis Salazar), your manager."
Swanson didn't think anything of it, instead expecting that Salazar -- whom he had never talked to before on the phone -- was just checking in on him. Instead, he wanted to know how long of a drive it would be for Swanson to get back home.
"I was like 'Six hours, why?'" Swanson replied. "I had no idea."
"They want you there tomorrow," Salazar said. "You're going to big leagues."
He tried calling his mom, Nancy. She didn't pick up. Neither did his father, Cooter, or his sister, Lindsey. At that point, he logically should have moved on to his brother, Chase. But "But I was mad at my family for not answering," Swanson said. "Called my agent and then my mom texted me and she's like 'Hey, honey. I'm at church doing some community service." I'm like 'Mom, pick up your phone right now and call me.'"
The M-Braves' clubhouse attendant helped Swanson load up his truck and after hitting up Wendy's -- his first fast food in eight months and he ordered "A No. 5 ... Son of Baconator, if you didn't know," he said. -- he hit the road and arrived back in Marietta at 2:30 a.m. setting off the family's alarm, a pit bull mix. His father had waited up on the couch, telling his son it felt like waiting for him on prom night all over again, and they were joined by Nancy, the three exchanging hugs.
"I didn't even think I'd be emotional," Swanson said, fighting back tears when asked what he'd said to his parents. "... Yeah ... I can't even say it, really. ..."
He barely slept -- an estimated four hours -- before having to get to Turner Field early Wednesday morning. Seeing his nameplate above his locker and jersey - No. 2 instead of his typical No. 7, which belongs to infielder Gordon Beckham -- was a special moment, but didn't come close to when he first arrived at the stadium.
"Just because I'm driving up to play," he said. "Not to watch. Not to do fan fest. Not for any of that, but to actually play in the major leagues."
A five-tool player who in pre-draft scouting reports had been compared to future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, he's expected to be an un upgrade in the field over Aybar and his minus-5 defensive runs saved and minus-2.8 defensive WAR. Swanson didn't get much chance to showcase his glove work, though, with no grounders hit to shortstop the entire night.
The veteran Aybar's offense, though, may not be so easily replaced.
As much as Aybar struggled early, hitting .212 in the season's first half, he was producing at a .313 clip after the All-Star Break and .333 in his final month with Atlanta. Along with facing a new level of pitching, Swanson is also in the midst of the longest season of his career. He played a maximum of 72 games a year at Vanderbilt, and after his final year for the Commodores, appeared in 22 last year for Arizona in short season A-ball. He already has 105 games under his belt in '16 before arriving in Atlanta.
"I have to be (ready), don't I?" Swanson said, laughing. "This is a moment that you've always been waiting for and preparing for your whole life. Ever since I was a little kid I've played this in my head a million times. As far as this stage, I feel like I'm ready for it. Time will tell as far as the baseball."
His is a place only amplified -- both for the Braves' benefit and to the chagrin of the Diamondbacks -- given that the main piece that went back to Arizona, Shelby Miller, was demoted to Triple-A. Meanwhile, Atlanta's return earned them their starting center fielder, Ender Inciarte, pitching prospect Aaron Blair, who has made 11 up and down -- more down than up -- starts, and now the debut of Swanson.
He requested 17 tickets for the game, though Swanson joked that the whole of Marietta would likely be in attendance. After all, they'd be coming to see the Braves' future on display, and the reception he received in his first at-bat spoke to the anticipation of his arrival. Swanson, though, was prepared for it, rolling over the moment time and time again on his six-hour drive back to Atlanta from Mississippi.
While this franchise has a penchant for producing storybook debuts by local products -- think Jeff Francoeur homering in his first game in 2005 or Jason Heyward going deep in his first at-bat in '10 -- the touchstone moment for Swanson wasn't whether he followed in their footsteps. Amid a season that has been largely rocky, and has already seen 11 Braves make their MLB debuts, the defining moment is simply that he had arrived.
"Just as long as you're playing," Swanson said before the game. "That's all that really matters."
He meant it in regards to hitting eighth, a place so unaccustomed in the batting order to the shortstop that he couldn't recall the last time it had happened. But it may as well set the tone for the night.
Dansby Swanson is here, Atlanta. Remember to exhale.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His book, 'Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,' is out now, and 'The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners' will be released Nov. 1, 2016.
