I was so fortunate to be old enough to be able to go to Atlanta for games when the Braves first came to town. I saw both Drysdale and Koufax pitch and Johnny Roseboro catch. Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey. Mantle, Maris, Ford for an exhibition game. Bob Gibson, Curt Flood, Lou Brock. Pete Rose, Lee May, Tony Perez, Tommy Helms - all of whom I’d seen in the minors. Clemente, Mazeroski, Stargell. Orlando Cepeda with the Cardinals and Braves. Cletis Boyer with the Yankees and Braves.
But the strangest of all was Satchel Paige. The Braves learned in 1966 that Paige lacked one month on a major league roster to qualify for the MLB pension, so in September when the rosters expanded,the Braves signed him. Late one Sunday game, he got up in the bullpen and started warming up. The crowd was screaming for him to go into the game. Of course he didn’t, but I at least got to see him throw the ball.