Terry Pendleton gets outs at school carpool line

Here, the well-known Braves fireplug is simply Dad to third grader Trinity, 8, youngest of his three.

For years, carpool has been Pendleton's 7:45 a.m. call-up for a clutch performance: In about 10 minutes, he and other all-star parents pitch in to get 500 kids and their gear from car to class. It is a squeeze play all around.

“I don’t get home from the ballpark until midnight, so this is the 20 minutes that I get to see my kids,” he said.

Unlike batting, carpool line is all about getting out – of the car safely, as quickly as possible. Like baseball, chatter can spark some energy.

“Good morning!! How ya doing?” Pendleton hollered as he swung open a car door and found another child slowly dawning to a back-to-school Monday morning. “You doing OK?? All right! All right!”

Pop went the trunk latch and Pendleton was in position, hoisting backpacks. He wind-milled his left arm, as if waving a runner around from third base, to keep the cars moving.

Ever the gregarious overachiever, Pendleton tries to turn kids’ yawns into laughter. On holidays, he’s dressed up as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and a Thanksgiving turkey. Last Halloween, he was Elvis.

“Kids and parents pull in and some don’t want to be here,” he said. “You get a smile and that’s a big plus.”

With only a week left in school, his efforts paid off Monday with one shy boy, who has never said anything to a carpool volunteer. The kid saw a photographer next to Pendleton, shielded his face with one hand, extended the other arm and exclaimed, “Oh, no! The paparazzi!”

With Pendleton on deck, other familiar faces cruised through. Behind one steering wheel was Julie Smith, wife of Atlanta Falcons’ coach Mike Smith, dropping off daughter Logan.

Among the six adults along the curb, Pendleton took the 3-hole. Leadoff man Tom Cooksey owns LaVista Associates commercial real estate firm. Second up was Gary Martin Hays, the personal injury attorney who stars in TV ads. Along with two more moms, Terry's wife Cathy Pendleton worked cleanup.

The school’s circular driveway, nicknamed the “Grady Curve” for its slope, is considered too dangerous for the 5th grade school patrols. The backup can get messy, as another notable volunteer, comedian Jeff Foxworthy, discovered.

“I think Jeff got some of his best comedy lines in this carpool,” principal Norma Miller said. “There was one about a mom stopping to change a diaper and something fell out.”

A few parents congratulated Pendleton on the Braves’ thumping Arizona 13-1 the day before at Turner Field. Matthew Hays, 8, and Nick Martinez, 9, rush up to say their Junior Braves League team won a playoff game. Matthew’s own baseball card includes the line, “Favorite Player: Terry Pendleton.” But baseball talk is rare.

“I loved Terry as a player, but here it’s more like, ‘That’s just Terry,"' said Matthew’s dad, Derek Hays.

“No matter how the Braves are doing, I am still a dad,” said Pendleton, who aims for six hours of sleep a night. “Regardless of what happens downtown, I have to separate that from my family. Even as a player, I learned the quicker you can separate home from work, the better your home and work life is. ... Separate them and they’ll flow better.”

For Pendleton, carpool represents progress. He never got a ride to school. At Trinity’s age, he walked to school in South Central Los Angeles, where he saw drug activity and other crimes. Older kids stole his lunch money.

“Then I got smart and hid it in the pocket of my library book,” he said. “They never looked in a book.”

In high school, he met Cathy and in 1995, when he was playing for the Florida Marlins, they chose GAC for their oldest, Stephanie, now a college sophomore. Carpool started not long after that and continued with Terry Jr., a GAC senior.

“It’s good that he opens the door for people,” Trinity said of her dad. “People say hello and they’re friendly.”

Carpool gives Pendleton anonymity that he enjoys. During spring training, a concerned parent asked Cathy, “Where’s your husband? Is he sick? I haven’t seen him all month!”

Monday’s carpool wrapped up about 11 hours before the next first pitch to the Mets at Turner Field. Pendleton would soon switch to batting stances, swings and mental blocks.

Next up, though, was a dash home to meet the plumber about a leak. It’s all in a day for a parent, even a dad who happened to be a National League MVP.