Barring one of Atlanta’s frequent apocalyptic traffic jams, it takes about 20 minutes to drive the 10 miles between Marietta High School and Truist Park. It’s the distance the Atlanta Braves' Dansby Swanson has traveled in his baseball career, but it’s so much more than just mileage.
Swanson, who hit a game-tying home run on Saturday night to spark what would end up becoming a winning rally over the Houston Astros, spent all of his early days on or around an Atlanta-area ballfield. The youngest of three children, little brother to two athletes, Swanson was the kid lurking just outside the fence line, bouncing a tennis ball off the dugout wall, staring in awe at the older kids striding the baseball fields like giants.