The Atlanta Braves Absolutely Ruined Father’s Day For One Of Their Players

Father’s Day and baseball, what could be better than that?

Shared sporting experiences are an essential part of many father-son relationships. And perhaps no sport exemplifies this better than baseball.

Heck, that’s basically the entire premise of Field Of Dreams.

The Atlanta Braves had initially planned to celebrate Father’s Day in a special way on Sunday.

Charles Culberson, who  was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 16th round of the 1984 MLB Draft and then spent five seasons in the minors, was slated to throw out the first pitch. Culberson’s son, Charlie Culberson, is a utility player for the Braves.

Or, should we say, was a utility player for the Braves.

Instead, Atlanta designated Culberson (the younger) for assignment on Sunday morning. The Braves then nixed the planned first pitch and instead gave the honors to the father of 2022 National League Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II.

The move to send Culberson down shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Culberson didn’t actually have any at-bats for Atlanta this season after spending most of his time in AAA. The Braves also had to call up catcher Chadwick Tromp after an injury to start Sean Murphy.

But it’s still a crazy decision for a number of reasons.

For one, why schedule his father of all people to throw out the first pitch if there’s the potential he’s not with the team. Also, Culberson arrived to the ballpark with his son in order to witness the incredible family moment.

You’re telling us Atlanta couldn’t have afford to send anyone else down for like a game or two?

We get it, professional sports have no room for sentiment when teams are spending hundreds of millions of dollars. But this feels especially cruel, and it’s not a good look for the Atlanta Braves organization.