Longtime Braves fan Dan McCorkle went to his first game at Truist Park, and it was the experience of a lifetime.
McCorkle is a patient at PruittHealth Hospice Center in Columbia, South Carolina, and a massive baseball fan to boot. While McCorkle is a former professional baseball player himself — he played for the Chicago Cubs and in Japan briefly — he’s always had an affinity for Atlanta.
In a video posted by PruittHealth, McCorkle went to his first Atlanta game, despite cheering for them for quite some time.
“I watch the Braves any night they are on, when I can,” McCorkle said. “And I have learned so much.”
Braves fan gets trip of a lifetime
McCorkle’s nurse, Hannah Burris, went with him to the game, and discussed her patient’s love for his boyhood team in a little more detail.
“Every time I walked in the home, he was watching the Braves, whether it be a new game, an old game, whether it was 8:00 in the morning or 10:00 at night, he was watching the Braves,” Burris said, per the video above. “And so we our conversations focused on the Braves.”
McCorkle was emotional when he got the news that he would finally, after all these years, be attending a game.
“And he said, ‘I never imagined anybody in the world would make this big of a stink over me.’ And I was like, But this is it,” Burris said. “This is for you. And you’re special to all of us and all of us that are here.”
No matter the result, Burris helped make McCorkle’s dream come true. In a way, this is what baseball is all about, no matter the age.