Computer Monkey:  `The

ATLANTA As an aviation technician, Paul Gallagher has been in the control tower to help land plenty of jumbo jets at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Yet no matter how bad the weather or how dicey the landing, he has never been as nervous as he was Saturday night sitting at Turner Field.

It was the second inning, the Braves were pounding Jason Marquis and suddenly here was his son, Sean, taking the mound to make his major league debut for the Chicago Cubs.

"I have to admit, I got a little teary-eyed seeing him come out of the bullpen," Paul says. "I don't know how to explain it. It's tough to put into words."

His mind flashed back through every level his son, 21, had mastered.

All the way back to T-ball and on through Little League. Back to 12-year-old travel ball with the Sunrise Gators and on through high school at St. Thomas Aquinas.

Through a disappointing 2004 draft day that saw the Florida International signee wait until the 12th round to hear his name. Through parts of four seasons in the minors, including that eye-opening no-hitter at Class A Peoria in 2005.

Now here was Paul Gallagher's boy facing the meat of the Braves' order.

How crazy was that?

Sean gave up an RBI hit to Brad McCann, struck out Andruw Jones and gave up a two-run homer to Edgar Renteria along the way. The well-regarded right-hander got 10 much-needed outs, gave up just those two runs and even got hit by a pitch.

All of it was sweet.

"This is what you want for your son," says Paul Gallagher, 47, and retired from the Coast Guard. "This is what he wanted ever since he was a little kid."

The father was speaking early Sunday evening during the endless drive back home from Atlanta. The cell signal kept fading in and out, which was why he wasn't even sure his wife knew what their son had done yet.

Karen Gallagher -- a.k.a. "The Wife" -- flew to Ireland on Friday with her mother and a few other relatives in a long-planned vacation to the old country. When Sean got word this past Tuesday he was going up from Double-A, she tried to change her ticket but the fare would have become exorbitant.

She took Sean's old laptop with her, but neither her son nor her husband was very confident she'd be able to fire up mlb.com across the pond.

"I have no comment on that," Paul says with a laugh.

At least there had been one neat moment for Karen as she waited for her connection at Boston. Her cell phone rang, and an official-sounding voice she didn't recognize was wishing her a pleasant stay in Ireland.

"Mrs. Gallagher," the voice finally said, "this is [reliever] Scott Eyre, one of Sean's new teammates."

Karen Gallagher returns from Ireland on June 18, and, provided Sean is still in the majors, she will join her husband 10 days later for the family's first trip to Wrigley Field.

Even before Sean's debut, the Gallaghers already had a great story. Sean called home this past Tuesday and casually mentioned to his parents they could cancel that trip they'd been planning to see him in Tennessee.

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Computer Monkey

Monday, June 11, 2007

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