The Rangers lost a very long, listless game to the Mariners, 7-3. Manager Jeff Banister was ejected in the first. He had an emphatic press conference afterward, saying that he wasn’t going to the repeat the offending conversation. It was the most Ranger passion displayed in the entire broadcast.
“It’s 104 degrees in Fresno today,” said Tim Hagerty with some gravity. I think we can beat that here, I thought. Unfortunately, there were technical troubles in the bottom of the first. The broadcast went to commercial for 10 minutes. It came back briefly, and Tim announced that the score was now 2-0 Grizzlies and that the Chihuahuas were changing pitchers. And then another 10 minutes of commercials. The broadcast returned to the Chihuahuas batting with two on. Then more commercials. Tim seemed unaware of the problem. Maybe the station was on auto-pilot, like they do to their MLB broadcasts. Tim came back and switched to a cell phone and explained that the Fresno press booth was having problems.
The Chihuahuas weren’t having any problems. The relief pitcher, in for the injured starter, was putting up zeroes. After back-to-back home runs, the pups took the lead. There was an interesting play in the fifth. With the bases full of Chihuahuas, a dribbler at the plate was picked up by the Grizzlies’ catcher. He stepped on home for the force out, but then airmailed the ball into the outfield, trying to get the double play at first. The ball rolled into the Fresno bullpen, which the umpire ruled in play. Two Chihuahuas’ runs scored. 6-2 El Paso.
The scoring didn’t stop, but the advantage remained the same. In the ninth, with the score 11-5 Chihuahuas, it was quiet enough at the stadium that Tim could hear a Fresno player taking his frustrations out on a bat rack after a bad plate appearance. It ended up being a three-hour, 20-minute game in some extreme heat. I don’t blame the fans for deserting. During the post-game MLB scores, I found out that Nolan Arenado had hit for the cycle, including a walk-off three-run homer to complete the trick.
Meanwhile, the Mexican League All-Star Game was on, as advertised yesterday during their home run derby. The teams were North versus South and was held in the city of Campeche, whose citizens filled the grandstand for the game. The bunting was in red, whte, and green. The various teams’ costumed mascots were there in force. I saw a dog, a wolf (with a mustache), a tiger, a bull, a rabbit, a chicken, a blue devil (?), and the hometown pirate parrot, who was the star of the proceedings. Cheerleaders came out between innings. And there was a midget, who was the bat boy.
The players had ads all over their uniforms. Even the umpires were wearing sponsorship patches. The name on the back of most of the uniforms was “Tecate,” with a “Bud Light” mixed in. You don’t want this in the MLB. Alex Liddi was the only player name I recognized, but I wasn’t sure from where.
The game play was generally pretty good. It was maybe a tick below what you’d see at Chihuahuas’ game. The final was 4-3 North over South. The game took about four hours. All of the scoring took place early unfortunately. It was interesting viewing anyway.
6-19-17
Another violent work schedule change. Jabari Blash and Ryan Schimpf hit back-to-back home runs for the second day in a row, but the Chihuahuas fall in Fresno.
6-20-17
Tim Hagerty reported that today’s game was the hottest start time ever for a Chihuahuas’ game. Fresno’s PA finally overdid it with the sound effects and played one during an at bat. Both managers and the home plate umpire all looked up at the booth in disapproval. It didn’t cut down on the sound effects, but that had to have been embarrassing.
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