Baseball Journal July 9-13, 2018

7-9-18

There’s no Chihuahuas for the next three days, so it’s all MLB for now.  Tonight’s MLB.TV free game was the Dodgers at the Padres.  Again, the video was under a black out.  If there’s a local outlet to watch the Padres here in Las Cruces, let me know.  This turned out pretty well though, since I got the Padres’ radio broadcast.  I think I’ve listened to them before and enjoyed it. 

“Make it stop!  Make it stop!” That’s Ted Leitner, “Your Uncle Ted,” who’s their main broadcast voice.  I hadn’t caught his name the last time I heard him.  This was a quote from the pregame where he was talking about last night’s 16-inning game.  The Padres won, but made it back home over two hours late.  Obviously Ted is pretty entertaining to listen to.  I’ll put in a few more quotes from the game as we go along. 

Tonight’s starters were Clayton Kershaw versus Luis Perdomo.  That’s not a good matchup on paper.  In the first, Hunter Renfroe threw out Justin Turner, who was trying to turn a single into a double.  “Did you guys not talk about Renfroe’s arm before the game?”  In the bottom, Ted introduced Wil Meyers as “My favorite player as of yesterday.”  Meyers’ home run won and ended yesterday’s long game. 

Later, Freddie Galvis made a great play at short.  “I feel kind of guilty I don’t have to pay admission to watch him work.”  I was hearing cheering no matter what happened on the field.  Myself and Ted suspected that there were lots of Dodger fans there in San Diego.  He’s never asked attendance officials what the percentage is.  Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh was there and he brought his mitt, like he always does for a ball game.

One side story of the game was Kershaw pitching to his former personal catcher, AJ Ellis, for the first time.  They’d exchanged taunting tweets before the season, which were pretty biting.  “Teammates know how to needle each other.  Shove it in deep.  Move it in and out.  Twist it sideways.”

In the fourth, the Dodgers got to Perdomo and scored five runs.  The ump got so sick of it, he ran to the Padres’ dugout and puked over the rail.  Or it might have been something he ate.  He took a couple of minutes to compose himself and had several swigs of Gatorade before resuming his duties for the rest of the game.  “You never know what you’re going to see at the ballgame and hope to never see again.” 

Jesse Agler, who I knew from listening to some Padres’ podcasts a couple of years ago, was Ted’s wingman.  He enjoyed the 16-inning game.  He likes the weirdness that happens when it goes past 12.  Last night, the Diamondbacks’ last pitcher was one of their catchers.  Kershaw came out after six innings.  He only gave up two hits, one of them was to Perdomo. 

In the ninth, Meyers had another home run and Eric Hosmer doubled.  Hosmer’s been in a slump, so this was a good sign.  But, the final was 8-2 Dodgers.  Ted got a text from Trevor Hoffman, wishing him a happy birthday.  They’re going to see each other next at Hoffman’s Hall of Fame induction.  Ted also mentioned some well wishes during the game.  He’d come back from cancer this year.  If I can’t get the video, I hope I’ll be able to hear more Padres’ radio broadcasts in the future.

7-10-18

I only saw one half-inning today, but it was a very interesting one.  Today’s MLB.TV free game was the Indians versus the Reds.  (Just change the name of the Indians if you’re getting rid of Chief Wahoo and get it over with.)  Indian starter, Trevor Baur, pitched eight strong scoreless innings, only giving up three hits with 12 strikeouts.  The Indians were up 4-0 in the ninth with their closer, Cody Allen, in.  He’s only blown one save this year.

Suddenly, its 4-3 and the bases were loaded with Joey Votto coming to bat.  Only a great running catch by Michael Brantley in left field kept the Reds from already tying the score earlier.  Dan Otero relieved Allen and Votto immediately cleared the bases with a double.  The Reds won 7-4.  That’s seven runs in the ninth after being down by four.  The crowd and the announcers were in total shock.  A wee bit of a choke.

7-11-18

Still no Chihuahuas’ baseball, but we do have Chihuahuas playing baseball in the Triple-A All-Star game.  The game was in Columbus.  They were standing-room-only there even with 2000 extra seats put in for the game.  Luis Urias led off the game.  In the second he drove in a run.  The announcers and the PA were having some trouble with his name. 

In the third, Urias got another hit as the PCL team went up 8-1 on the IL.  Memphis Redbirds’ pitcher Daniel Poncedeleon came in to pitch and he struck out the side.  I guess the shelling he’d gotten earlier in the year from the Chihuahuas (6-16-18) was an aberration, since he’s an all-star.  I’m still kind of rooting for him after his brain injury issues.

The other Chihuahua on the team, pitcher Brett Kennedy, came in for the fourth.  He didn’t have a great outing.  He gave up a two-run homer to a hometown Columbus Clippers player.  By the sixth, the IL had mounted a comeback to make it 8-7.  I heard a couple of familiar Chihuahuas’ player names, though they were with different teams.  Rocky Gale, now with the OKC Dodgers, drove in a run off of Kevin Quackenbush, now with Louisville.  The PCL would go on to win 12-7.  An Isotopes player won the MVP.  Triple-A and Columbus were beaming with the pride over the event and surrounding festivities.

I just got a peek in at the MLB.TV free game with the Braves versus the Blue Jays.  It was late in the seventh with the Braves up 7-0.  Mike Foltynewicz was pitching.  I’d seen him before (6-1-18) and he looked good.  Obviously, he’d done well in the game up to this point.  He’d loaded the bases with two outs when Devon Travis hit a grand slam that bounced over the top of the brick wall in the outfield.  It was one batter too many.  I think I have to blame the manager.  The Braves would go on to win 9-5 though.

7-12-18

Before today’s home game for the Chihuahuas versus the Aces, the guys were discussing an upcoming Millennial Day at another ballpark.  It’s going to feature nap and selfie stations and participation ribbons and avocados for everyone.  Milennials protesting the promotion may even be able to get free tickets to the game.  They were pretty amused by the concept.  I can see it now if the Chihuahuas try it.  They’ll get hit with #metooChico lawsuits as the Chihuahuas’ mascot “threatens” too many sensitive Millennials with hugs.  Social Justice Warriors will by outside the stadium (no tickets to the game, of course) protesting the whole franchise as “racist,” because the Chihuahuas are clearly racist against other breeds of dog.  #RacistDogs.

For now, there’s a game on.  The pups are in first place after a five-game sweep against the previous first place team.  They are the road warriors.  At home, not so much.  This evening’s game was overcast and cool.  I was surprised it hadn’t rained there earlier, since I’d seen it raining in El Paso’s direction when I came into work. 

The Aces scored first with three runs in the second via two home runs.  Tim Hagerty chuckled on the last batter of the inning.  He walked off after what he thought was the third strike, only to be called back by the ump.  Unsurprisingly, he did strike out on the next pitch.  In the third, they added another homer to make it 5-0.

Oh my goodness, they played an actual funny commercial in a break.  Credit where credit is due, it was a Geico commercial.  I hadn’t heard it before and didn’t hear it again during the game.  I’ll try to do coverage of it next time.  I remember a great radio commercial a few years ago that featured a dead-on impersonation of the lady computer voice giving GPS driving directions.  They played it for exactly one day, before it got yanked from the air.  I guess the impersonation was a little too good. 

Forrett Allday got the Chihuahuas on the board in the fifth with a solo homer.  Tim was wondering where his sudden power was coming from.  He’d only hit like three home runs in his career, until this year where he’s already hit three. 

In the top of the seventh, a light misting rain started falling.  By the bottom, it was a downpour and the game was delayed for a nearly an hour.  When it came back on, Tim was talking about Dudley Field.  Heavy rains once created a pond in the outfield that grounds crew couldn’t drain.  Finally, they taped off the area and the umps decided on some ground rules if a ball went into it.

The game resumed with the bottom of the seventh in progress.  The crowd that was still there was really into it.  Again, Allday seems to have his own cheering section.  Unfortunately, the pups weren’t able to score.  I can’t believe it!  Another funny Geico commercial.  This one especially cracked me up as it commented, “Happy as a clam is a common saying, but really how happy are clams?”  That’s something a co-worker of mine says all the time. 

The crowd got a bit unruly-sounding late in the game.  Now they were way too into it as the Aces tacked on a couple more runs.  I thought they stopped alcohol sales in the seventh?  Unfortunately, it kind of died down by the ninth as the Chihuahuas weren’t able to mount any offense.  Yasmany Tomas on the Aces made a great basket catch to end the game, 8-2 Aces.  I was disappointed in the result.  Luis Urias was sitting out the game as he just got back from the All-Star game.  Also, Cody Decker wasn’t in the game for the Aces.  I’m not sure if he’s still with the team.

7-13-18

Rain out tonight in El Paso.  Tim Hagerty kept insisting during the pregame that the game wasn't canceled.  The weather alert that went off a bit later kind of undercut that.  I did hear from Cody Decker during an interview on Sportstalk in the afternoon.  He did not sound like himself.  He seemed melancholy.  Is it his new marriage to Jen Sterger?  Being relegated to a pinch hitting role?  I'd hate to think he isn't enjoying himself out at the ballpark.

Thankfully, there was a good matchup on the MLB.TV free game, the Giants versus the A's.  It was good for me at least because the game was in San Francisco at beautiful AT&T Park.  It was Madison Bumgarner versus the well-traveled Edwin Jackson.  Pablo Sandoval was playing third.  The Giants were unfortunately in their terrible orange tops.  I stuck with the TV coverage.  I'm not sure they give the option to get the radio call with the video anymore.  I liked the in-game reporter, Amy G.  She was fun and showed some interesting stuff during the game.

There was no score until the fourth.  There was some good defense before that.  A Giants fan made a great catch in the stands.  A's fans around him even gave him high-fives.  Chad Pinder made great leaping catch at the wall of a Bumgarner fly ball.  Also in the stands, a kid was holding up a sign with three checkboxes on it.  One, it was Friday the thirteenth, which was checked.  Two, it was his thirteenth birthday, check.  Three, make it on television today.  The last one got checked after they showed him on camera.

In the bottom of the fourth with runners at the corners, Andrew McCutchen got thrown out on a weird-looking steal attempt.  But on the next pitch, Jackson's cleat got caught the mound and he balked, which brought in the run from third anyway.  Pinder would homer in the fifth to tie it.  The fog started rolling in in the bottom.

During the sixth, there was a shot of a sandwich-making shop at the concessions.  “Sorry, I lost my concentration,” said one of the announcers.  I kind of trailed off into an eating fantasy myself.  That looked really good.  (Everyone recommends the garlic fries at the stadium though.)  In the bottom, Buster Posey drove in a run to make it 2-1 Giants. 

The seventh was pivotal.  Bumgarner loaded the bases with no outs.  He was pulled for Reyes Moronta.  He started off with a strikeout.  Next, the Panda made a great diving catch on a liner and nearly doubled off the runner at third.  Lastly, there was a groundout to Brandon Crawford at short.  Nice work there by Moronta. 

In the bottom, the Giants loaded the bases with no outs.  However, the Giants brought them in.  Steven Duggar singled in two runs.  Former Giants' reliever Santiago Casilla came in.  McCutchen then sac'd in a run and a wild pitch brought in another.  Buster finished it off with a double that drove in another run.  7-1 Giants.

Former Rangers closer Sam Dyson came on for the eighth and retired the side on four pitches.  He looked sharp there.  Also looking sharp, the camera caught a sailor in his dress whites in the crowd.  Out in the McCovey Cove, there was a guy in a kayak with a lit barbeque sitting in front of him.  Well, he was warm and had hot food.  The seagulls were uncharacteristically late for the end of the game.  Dyson did finish it off in the ninth, so 7-1 Giants was the final.  I really enjoyed the game and the coverage.  That stadium is awesome.