Baseball Journal May 21-25, 2018

5-21-18

Franmil Reyes with the Padres hit his first major league home run against the Nationals today.  Mark Reynolds hit two for the Nats on their way to a 10-2 win.  Once again, the game was blacked out on the MLB.TV free game.  I really enjoyed listening to the Padres’ main radio guy, Ted Leitner, though.  He’s pretty lively.  In the final inning, he waxed, “It’s one of those games.  Nothing you can do about it.  Just go on to the next game.”

I missed the call, but Tim Hagerty got a foul ball in the booth in El Paso for the first time yesterday.  Given the stadium arrangement, any ball making it in there is a longshot.  The first time he got a ball in the booth, he was thrilled.  Now, he’s more worried about the equipment.  I vividly remember Tim getting knocked off the air on the road from a foul in his first year.  I remember being worried that we’d lost him.      

5-22-18

Giants versus the Astros was the MLB.TV free game.  I’m still surprised how often the Giants are showing up on the free game.  I was unsurprised that the game was again blacked out, but at least the radio call featured Jon Miller.  As soon as he left the air in the seventh, I switched over to the Chihuahuas’ game against the Rainiers.  (The Astros won 11-2.)

Owing to work and other distractions, I didn’t listen to much of the pup’s game.  This was pretty annoying, since every time I tuned away from the game, there’d be a bunch of scoring.  El Paso got a five-run lead early.  In the second, the umpire called a pace-of-play ball on the Rainiers’ pitcher.  (He ended up calling three such penalties in the game.)  The Rainiers came back and tied it, before Austin Hedges hit a three-run homer to put the Chihuahuas in the lead for good.  

By the time I’d switched away from the Giants’ game, the scoring stopped in Tacoma with the dogs up 10-5.  However, it did get interesting.  The stadium fire alarm went off in the eighth.  A voice came on over the PA telling everyone to evacuate.  Tim Hagerty wasn’t sure what to do.  He didn’t say so, but he didn’t seem to think that there was an actual fire going on.  “When you’re telling people about this game tomorrow, you can let them know that your broadcaster bravely stayed by his mic.”  While the crowd left, the players sat down on the field. 

Tim went to a hasty commercial.  Coming back, he was told that he was going to have to leave, but before that happened, the alarm stopped.  The umpires quickly restarted the game, even though the stands were now empty.  You could hear every sound of the game being played.  The sound system wasn’t on, so there was no music going.  The PA shouted out the names of the players coming to bat and you could hear him clearly.  The remaining fans, most left since it was a blowout, were finally let back in for the bottom of the ninth.  11-6 Chihuahuas was the final.

        

5-23-18

It was another Kid’s Day at the park, this time in Tacoma to see the Chihuahuas and the Rainiers.  I admit I was busy typing for most of the game and it was background noise.  Tim Hagerty brought on his friend and broadcaster, Rich Burke (I think I got the name right), to help him call the game about halfway through.  This was a great idea.  It put some banter in the booth and maybe helped save Tim’s voice a little for the rest of the season.  He should do this more often.  The kids there were singing in the seventh.  Myself and Tim couldn’t discern the song though.

As for the game, the Rainiers had big inning that put them in the lead.  (I wasn’t really taking notes.)  Hunter Renfroe, with the team on rehab, kept the Chihuahuas in it with two home runs and drove in another run on a double, making it 5-3 Rainiers.  In the ninth, the pups started a rally and got two on.  With two out, Luis Urias drove in a run to make it 5-4.  Brett Nicholas came up and hit a very deep fly ball that had a chance, but died on the warning track in the centerfielder’s mitt. 

After the game was over, some jerkoff ESPN Radio guy explained how he essentially out-grew watching hockey to explain how great the NBA is by way of comparison.  Funny, that’s how I feel about the NBA and the NFL compared to baseball.  That’s what I get for listening to national sportstalk.  Gosh, I wonder what they were saying about the NFL mandating that their players stand for the Anthem today? 

5-24-18

I picked up the Chihuahuas versus the Rainiers in the sixth.  I got woke up as a foul ball hit near Tim Hagerty’s mic off the stadium facing.  It hit hard enough that I flinched.  This was another very tight game.  Both teams were only able to scratch out runs.  It sounded like an unruly, rough crowd there.  They were certainly vocal.

Jose Urias doubled in what would be the winning run in the top of the seventh.  The bottom nearly started with a triple for the Rainiers.  Hunter Renfroe had to chase the ball to the wall.  He threw it to Javy Guerra, who threw out the runner at third.  In the ninth, Hunter made a catch of a foul and crashed into a wall.  The wall lost.  Well, the gate that he hit opened.  It was an impressive no-drama two-inning save for Jose Castillo.  3-2 Chihuahuas was the final.  Dillon Overton got the win, pitching 6 1/3.

5-25-18

All three games tonight came on at the same time tonight.  I only kept up with the Aggies’ WAC Tournament game though.  (I’ll cover that separately.)  The other two games were basically over by the time I got to them.  The Chihuahuas lost at home again, this time to Fresno 5-0.  The Padres and the Dodgers were the MLB.TV free game.  Of course, it was video blocked here as usual.  The game was in the ninth with one out when I picked it up.  It was then over almost immediately.  The Dodgers won 4-1.