Welcome to “The Longest Day.” We start at the Aggie Athletics Yard
Sale. This event was suddenly announced
on various Aggie Internet feeds earlier in the week and then in paper. I don’t think they’ve done this before. I mentioned it to Ron, and he was interested
in going. We got there about 15 till
12:00, which was the announced start time.
As we pulled up, there was already a mob scene picking over the items
that had been unloaded from the Aggie football trailer. Yeah, apparently there was a market for used
Aggie sports stuff in town.
The makeshift yard sale was being held on the largely unused
practice field between the baseball and softball fields. At the gate, there were a couple of young
women were handing out free Subway sandwiches.
They had a box full of them. I
declined, since we were planning on getting lunch before the game, right after
shopping, but that was very nice of them.
Inside were a huge number of football jerseys hanging on the fence and
on tables. As tempted as I was, I passed
on them, doubting I could find my size, and moreover, doubting I’d have much
use for them. The prices on the jerseys
had already been reduced from $25 to $10.
This was good, since I’d found a couple of baseball jerseys,
which was what I’d come looking for. I
picked the likeliest one to come close to fitting me. So, now I’m officially an obnoxious sports
fan (as pictured above). There were also
a pile of athletic shoes, but, as I found out later, all of the normal people
sizes were bought by a local retailer for $700.
There were a bunch of women’s volleyball jerseys that probably would
have fit me, but the women’s cut on them, wouldn’t have made me look good. There were light jackets, shorts, and sweats
too, but all in extremely large sizes.
Ron picked up a few items, including an Aggie hoodie. Somehow, in a pile of plain athletic
t-shirts, I found one medium shirt. I
considered myself lucky. The exit line
to the two checkers was very long. We
met a nice older lady that frequented Aggie games there. Also very nice were the people running the
checkouts, especially given the crowd. I
did notice a member of the Aggie soccer team, who I think was working
there. I got separated from Ron while I
was looking at girl who uncannily reminded me of somebody, and spent another 10
minutes in line.
Having some time before the baseball game, we went to
Schlotzsky’s for lunch. I ordered the
brisket mac and cheese, which was a nice warm dish, which was what I needed. Journalism calls this “burying the
lead.” You see, it was about 50 degrees
with a 20 mph cold wind, making it miserable outside. There were also big, heavy clouds overhead,
which thankfully today didn’t produce any rain.
Though layered up, I was already cold, and we planned on seeing the
scheduled baseball and softball games today.
Also having lunch there today was the Aggie Men’s Tennis team. They were a very international lot of
fellows. (Unfortunately it wasn’t the
girl’s team. I would have liked to have
seen if Eli Arnaudova is as gorgeous in real life as her pictures on the Aggie
sports website.)
I found out Ron had actually been at last night’s baseball
game against Grand Canyon University.
This surprised me, since he’d e-mailed me that night and asked where he
could get the game online. I told him it
was on the Aggievision station on cable, but what he was really looking for was
a radio game call, since he was there.
That game was a bit of a heartbreaker.
During the game, he chatted with Athletic Director Mario Moccia. They mostly talked about the game, so no
insider information this time.
I had a great view of the low-hanging clouds around the
Organ Mountains from my seat. Ron got a
text from his wife at home. She was
reporting rain and hail. Thankfully, no
harm done, and it wasn’t anywhere near the stadium. A fellow with Parkinson’s Disease running a
support group threw out the first pitch.
It was a lefty toss that “Caught the outside corner for a strike,” as
the PA said. (And it did actually.) He got a big hand from the crowd and
congratulations from the entire team. If
you can believe it, the crowd was great, in spite of the weather. They were bundled up and many had
blankets. We had a celebrity sitting
next to us, Striking the Wonder Dog, who retrieves tees at Aggie football
games. Oh, how I wanted to leap over and
hug and pet said dog, but his human support staff didn’t seem keen on fan
interaction (no matter how longingly or often I looked at the dog).
“Yeah these Grand Canyon guys are nuthin’! We’re gonna send ‘em back to their hole and
bury them! These guys suck!” said an
obnoxious fan in his new baseball jersey.
After a couple comments like that, Ron couldn’t look at me without
laughing. Meanwhile in the outfield,
smoke from the Diamond Club barbeque drifted out onto the field. Music from the nearby softball field, were
practice was going on, was also coming into the baseball stadium, providing something
of a soundtrack for the first half of the game.
And a thousand words into this, we start the actual game
recap (which probably won’t take a thousand words). Kyle Bradish started for the Aggies with his
6-0 record. In the first, freshman Joey
Ortiz, who’s slumping with the bat, shows why he’s in the lineup anyway, his
glove. On the first batter of the game,
he ran down a foul by the bullpen, and then caught the second out in foul
territory. In the bottom of the first,
Striking laid down and took a nap. That
seemed like a bad sign.
The top of the
second ended with a great leaping catch on a liner by Tristan Carranza. By the bottom of the inning, Striking’s owner
was holding him. I came to the
conclusion I needed a dog on cold days like this. There was some confusion in booth. They started alternating between different
announcers, and forgot to announce Brian Kiser in his at bat. I actually stepped up and shouted it out
myself. This new shirt was having an
effect on me.
The top of the third was eventful. The bottom line is that three Lope runs
scored. Bradish walked three in a row,
including walking in a run. During a
long meeting on the mound, a GCU fan shouted, “Get a phone number! Let’s go!”
I wonder if he was wearing a team jersey. A guy wearing the same style jersey I was
walked in. It got huffy for a moment,
like we’d shown up at a party wearing the same dress. (That might not have been the best
analogy.) The inning finally ended on a
nifty flip from LJ Hatch to Brent Sakurai at second. 0-3 Lopes.
The sun finally came out in the top of the fourth, but it
didn’t help the wind or temperature.
Austin Botello made a great running, over the shoulder catch in the
outfield. LJ followed that with a great
stop on a dive and throw to first for the final throw. Unintelligible notes follow. I probably couldn’t feel my fingers at that
point, but the scorecard shows that the Aggies bookended an error with a couple
of hits to score twice. Unfortunately,
Bradish surrendered a two-run homer in the next inning. 2-5 Lopes.
By the top of the sixth, I’m in the bathroom. It’s heated, and I don’t want to leave. Going back to my seat, I see the Lopes’ left
fielder make a great diving catch to rob LJ of a hit. By the top of the seventh, the first game of
the softball double header had started.
The girl PA was doing the announcing.
There was lots of yelling from there from this point on, but no telling
who was winning. Two guys in front of us
were discussing the yard sale, but then switched over to NFL Draft talk IN
EXCRUCIATING DETAIL. (I can’t escape it. The Draft is my least favorite sporting
event, perhaps because it isn’t actually a sporting event.) Bradish surrendered another run and gave way
to a parade of relievers, who ended up giving up another run. Lopes 7, Aggies 2. The end.
(I stopped taking notes after the sixth.)
My player of the game is easily Lopes’ starting pitcher, Jake
Repavich. He went 8 and 1/3 and gave up
2 runs, 1 earned. The best I can say for
the Aggies is that their fielding kept the score from being worse. From here, Ron and I made our way the
softball field to see what all the fuss was about there.
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