August 26, 2016
For our third, pivotal game between the El Paso Chihuahuas and the Albuquerque Isotopes, I’m watching the Gameday tracking. No radio. The Internet feed was pre-empted for High School football coverage. I got really depressed when I realized that next Friday, when my co-workers are at the game, I won’t even be able to listen.
The worst of it was that this looked like a heck of game. The Isotopes went up 3 runs in the 1st. The Chihuahuas answered in the 2nd with 3 runs of their own. No tight pitching battle for 5 innings this time. Watching Gameday is hard, especially when you’re at work, working. The dogs managed to pull away later in the game and won 10-4. Austin Hedges came up big with 3 RBI’s and a home run. It’s also hard to write up Gameday viewing and have any hope of making it interesting.
The MLB.tv free game, that I found myself turning to, was the Mariners vs the White Sox. It was Elvis night on the South side of Chicago. The camera kept picking out the people with the big sideburns and wigs and sequined jumpsuits to the amusement of the audience. In spite of 13 strikeouts by Chris Sale, it was a 3-1 Mariners win. Where’s Hawk Harrelson? I thought he was still doing games. It just wasn’t the same without a “ducks on the pond” or a “He gone.” At least those phrases will live on with other broadcasters.
Let’s look at the scoreboard. Kansas City beat Boston 6-3, but they don’t gain any ground as Cleveland rocked all over Texas, 12-1. Corey Kluber versus Martin Perez was not going to be a good match up for the Rangers. I didn’t mention it last weekend, but Perez was pretty much blamed for the bad loss to Tampa. He’s not looking good for the rotation. On the back end, Jeremy Jeffress was picked up for DWI. His future is uncertain. We have pitching issues.
8-27-16
With nothing better to do or watch on Saturday afternoon, I watched the Little League World Series. Sigh. Am I really doing this? I understand most people like this event. I used to. I’m not sure what happened. We likely start with this being an ESPN production. “Let’s see if we can turn a 7 inning game with kids into a 3-hour, highly sponsor-friendly, well-padded typical ESPN sports showcase.” The announcing doesn’t help. The guys doing MLB games are typically more light-hearted and having more fun. It all feels a little too serious. Maybe I’m not taking it seriously enough. Who can say?
The International championship lost me immediately. First, the South Korean coaches were complaining to the ump about the Panamanian pitcher. Then, there was a catcher’s equipment failure. When a pitch was finally thrown, the ump blew the call and it had to go replay. I gave up for the morning on it. South Korea won big. I tuned back in for the consolation game, also called the American championship. This might be another reason why I dread the LLWS: my team doesn’t win it often enough for me to get excited for it.
The game was more involving this time, but hugely more disappointing. This was entirely because of the ESPN news ticker running below the action. In between international soccer scores (how does an American go about choosing a favorite English, Spanish, Mexican, or German soccer team?), the lead story was that Tony Romo is out basically out for the season with a broken back. My Cowboys season is at least ended before it had a chance to hurt me worse later on. Don’t hold your breath waiting for me to do weekly NFL posts. Anyway, the story for game was New York pitcher, Michael Mancini. His line was 11 K’s, 1 hit, 1 walk before being taken out for his pitch count. Tennessee mounted a comeback in the 7th, but New York prevailed 4-2, and will go on to the championship tomorrow.
I got to hear a couple of innings of the Rangers vs the Indians, owing to bad reception, possibly weather-related (it rained all evening here). But, I got to hear the best of it. Through the static, Matt Hicks in the 1st (where’s Eric?) called Mitch Moreland hitting a grand slam. The Rangers lead 5-0 after one. (Annoyingly, I didn’t get a final score that night. It was 7-0.)
Good thing the Chihuahuas were playing in Albuquerque tonight. They wouldn’t have gotten the game in here with the rain. Up north, they only had a half-hour rain delay. 12,000 fans were crammed into the Lab tonight, including a small, but noisy contingent of pup fans. A lead-off homer gave them something to cheer about. Unfortunately after the 1st, the Chihuahuas didn’t get another hit for 7 innings. In the meantime, the Isotopes tied it and then went ahead by a run. They then put up 3 runs in 8th to make the score 5-1. The top of the 9th started with a single. That runner scored on a triple went off the center field wall and then rolled down the hill. Another run scored on an infield single, and all of this was before an out was recorded. Another runner scored with two out, but the game ended on a diving catch going into the gap. Final score, 5-4 Isotopes. Ever since the team has been on their winning streak, the Isotopes throw a party in their clubhouse with a disco ball and smoke machine. Well, get the DJ ready, they’re coming to party tonight.
8-28-16
I’ll kill the suspense right here. The Texas Rangers and the US New York Little League teams both managed to win their games 2-1. It was an interesting experience having these two games on at the same time, namely my notes interleave both games together. Let’s see if I can separate this.
Obviously the kids somehow knew what I wrote yesterday and were determined to make me eat my words. You’re welcome. Proper motivation is so important. The action is pretty easy to sum up. The US scored twice in the 4th. One of those runs came on a dropped third strike that got away from the South Korean catcher. There was a solo home run in the 5th, but the US starter went the distance for the win. (I didn’t get his name. I was listening to Ranger game on the radio, so the sound was off on the TV.) There was also a great play in the outfield to rob South Korea of a home run. Of course the best play was in the pressbox, as the play-by-play guy (again, didn’t get the name) caught a foul ball that ricocheted inside.
I enjoyed the game more with the sound off. Granted, this caused problems, such as not understanding why they only played six innings. I thought they played seven in Little League? Unfortunately, I was still getting visuals didn’t want. I don’t want to see the crying parents and kids in the stands. Then there’s the one bad thing about a US team this event: watching the Asian team stand on the foul line and begin ritual crying. You feel bad for them, not to mention, “There’s no . . .” I am not doing that movie quote. It’s not even correct. I’ve never even the movie. Okay, U-S-A, U-S-A!
In Arlington with 35,000 in attendance this afternoon, we’re mentioning newly acquired Carlos Gomez again. He made two great catches in the left field today for the Rangers. Given how close the score was, that was important. I may have to give Jon Daniels a lot of credit here. He’s been plugging in pieces from the minors and other teams all year, making up for injuries. The team has been getting these little jolts all year.
Derek Holland looked good out on the mound (figuratively speaking, since I was only listening), going six innings, allowing one run. Danny Salazar for the Indians also looked good with 10 K’s over 5 1/3 innings. I like to say the pitching was great all the way through, but the Rangers relievers provided way more drama without even giving up anything. In the 7th, Jake Diekman came in and issued seven straight balls, before getting a double play and out of trouble. In the 9th, Sam Dyson said, “I can do better than that,” and threw nine straight balls and loaded the bases. He got a strikeout and a fly out to end the game. Whew! Pitching coach, Doug Brocail, earned his pay today and got a workout going back and forth to mound.
That’s three of four from the second best team in the league. Strangely, the other three games were blowouts. The Rangers somehow have the best record in the American League (remember, they’re -2 in Run Differential). They’re also up 8 ½ on the Astros and Mariners, who both lost today. After the game, Jonathan Lucroy, Rangers catcher, was asked what he said to the struggling relievers when he went out to the mound. Basically, he doesn’t tell these guys how to pitch. He just tells them to relax and focus on hitting his mitt. Don’t you wish we all had someone like that in our lives? My favorite call of the game came from Matt Hicks (again without Eric Nadel), “The scoring goes 6-5-3. It’s complicated, but it’s a double play.” No updates on the Little League World Series or any games other than the Mariners and the Astros during or after the game.
The last out of the game was Abraham Almonte, former El Paso Chihuahua. Speaking of which, game five of the dogs versus the ‘Topes was tonight. There was a 20 minute delay for a few ceremonies before the Isotopes’ last scheduled home game of the season. The team won an award for best groundskeeping. If they’re doing a better job than in El Paso, it must be special. They also welcomed their 8 millionth fan this evening since the opening of the ballpark. Jessica Pacheco gave a stirring rendition of the National anthem. And with that, we were underway.
Tim Hagerty’s call of the game was pretty serious, but informative, as he chatted about the various players. I noticed that the PA there was doing an ad spot when there was a strikeout. Another reason to like the Chihuahuas, they have so far resisted such annoyances. Nick Torres got the scoring started in the 2nd with a home run to the deepest part of the park. Nick would tack on another homer later and the Chihuahuas would keep scoring. With the score 5-2 in the 8th, the centerfielder fell down on the hill in the outfield trying to catch a flyball, which would later lead to two runs scoring for the Isotopes. But, 5-4 was as close as they got with a four run top of the 9th by the pups. 9-4 Chihuahuas was our final. The Chihuahuas take three of five from the Isotopes and go up 5 ½ games with only eight remaining. Sal, the board op, breaks his eight game losing streak and is allowed back in the broadcast booth if the Chihuahuas make it to the playoffs.
Time to be honest. High school football started on Friday. College football kicks off this week. The NFL returns the week after. (I’m not even sure I have a local radio affiliate to listen to their games now, since that station went to an Oldies format. Not sure I even want to, since Colin Kapernick just became the official league spokesman. Thank God, he's not on my team. I'll take Tony Romo and his broken back, instead of this clown.) The Chihuahuas season is also about to end, though it may continue through October, if they win the important games coming up. My baseball listening over the radio is about to get chopped, probably along with the near daily blogging.
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