Baseball 2017 Rewind Part 1

With the season done and endless days of winter ahead, let’s take a look back at the season.  I already recapped Aggie baseball and softball (5-30-17).  This will focus mostly on the El Paso Chihuahuas and their great run this year, along with some MLB (and some random sports stories).

April

4-20-17--The Chihuahuas lost a game where they got 17 strikeouts and led 5-0.

4-27-17--Link to a great article about the Rockies’ walk-up music.

4-30-17--A Salt Lake City Bees pitcher was ejected before the game started over where he was sitting the bullpen.

May

5-4-17--I got to listen to the radio call of a Padres game.  The guys were great.  I need to make sure to listen to them every time I can.

5-5-17--The Rangers played an absurdly long game against the Mariners.

5-16-17--Hard loss in a long game for the Chihuahuas.

5-29-17--Joey Gallo for the Rangers hit some great home runs this year, but tonight he had a truly awesome foul ball.

June

6-1-17--The Chihuahuas didn’t win tonight, but had a heck of a comeback.

6-2-17--Sam Dyson was released from the Rangers.  Shin-Soo Choo posted a poignant message about it.

6-5-17--This may have been the first in a season-long series of epic games between the Chihuahuas and the Albuquerque Isotopes.  The pups almost lost after getting a huge lead.

6-7-17--A ninth inning comeback for the Chihuahuas.

6-8-17--And they do it again to the Isotopes in the ninth.  Up until the late season playoff drive, these were the best Chihuahuas’ games of the season.

6-9-17--Here, the Rangers started a three-game sweep of the first place Nationals on the road.  They had a 10-game winning streak in May, and the Nationals were in the middle of a difficult part of their schedule, but this felt like the Rangers’ best performance of the season.

6-13-17--Tim Hagerty and Steve Kaplowitz had fun calling a Chihuahuas’ game.

6-18-17--This night was the Mexican League Baseball Home Run Derby.

6-19-17--And then the Mexican League All-Star Game.

6-20-17--Seldom does the PA get mentioned in a baseball post, but this time the Fresno Grizzlies’ guy went overboard with the sound effects.

6-24-17--El Paso Chihuahuas versus Albuquerque Isotopes for five and a half hours in one epic throwdown.

6-25-17--Carter Capps was ejected for “illegal” pitches in a Chihuahuas’ game.  Still talking about yesterday’s game too.

6-26-17--And more about that epic game.  It was that unbelievable.  

July

7-2-17--New Ranger, Pete Kozma, had quite an adventure on the base pads one inning.

7-8-17--Tim Hagerty had a long, interesting chat with a Chihuahuas’ staff member.

7-9-17--The Chihuahuas finished a three-game sweep of the Salt Lake City Bees in this 10:00 am start game, right before the All-Star break.  This ended up being a huge series victory as it brought the pups within five of the division-leading Bees.  It was the last time they played each other this season, and the Chihuahuas made it count.

7-11-17--MLB All-Star Game.  It was a fun event this year.  I was e-mailing my Aunt Judy during the game.  She was excited about her favorite player, Yadier Molina, hitting a homer.

7-13-17--This Chihuahuas’ game was noteworthy for the bizarre walk-up music promotion by the home team.  Tim Hagerty was fascinated by a Single-A game, however.  It went 20 innings before being suspended for rain.

7-14-17--We lost Tim Hagerty for two days with laryngitis.  No offense to the replacements, but it was awful.

7-23-17--“The Rangers turn a double play, and the Rays score the tying run.  Everybody’s happy.”  I still can’t get over Eric Nadel’s commentary of this Rangers/Rays game.  I remember this being a fun game.

7-24-17--There were an odd series of events that led up to this, but the Omaha Storm Chasers ran out of pitchers in tonight’s game against the Chihuahuas.  Tim Hagerty was aghast.

7-25-17--It was the “Christmas in July” promotion in Philadelphia.  In a tremendous production, a scene from A Christmas Story was re-enacted with the Philly Phanatic putting his tongue on a light pole.

7-29-17--The Yankees scored a run on a triple-play.  You read that right.  (Technically, that happened the night before.)

7-30-17--Adrian Beltre hit career #3,000.  The Rangers’ season was not a complete waste.

7-31-17--The Rangers traded Yu Darvish and Jonathan Lucroy, functionally ending their season.  The team actually played fairly well after this for a while.  It makes you wonder.  Twins management did the same in dumping players and ended up in the playoffs anyway.  I love my comment at the end.  Me and Tim Hagerty were about ready to give up on the Chihuahuas’ season as well.