I looked at the schedule and decided this would be a
good day to take off for a ball game.
I’d made the most of my morning and afternoon. I went out and got SI’s Baseball Preview issue, had a Chik-fil-a sandwich, and went to Target and picked up some Opening Day baseball cards. I even typed up my MLB preview. I was ready for the new baseball season.
Ron was picking up someone at the airport in the
afternoon and didn’t think he’d be able to go.
I left for the game a bit early in the evening, since I figured there’d
be a good crowd for a rivalry game against the UNM Lobos. Pulling into the
parking lot, I saw some Softball players leaving their field. I guessed that their practice had just let
out so that they could go to the game, which some of them did. On the baseball side of the lot, it was
already full. Cool.
Adding to the local flavor, a Mariachi band was playing
by the concessions. Adding to my usual
dissatisfaction with the concessions, they got my order wrong, as I didn’t get
my hot dog and the corn-in-cup was subpar.
It’s no longer my favorite item.
I will have a hot dog at some point this season. I’m at a baseball game! I gotta have a dog, even if it’s bad!
My usual seating area was taped off, so I sat up over
the entrance on the third base side. The
Mariachi band came out in front of the stands and started playing. However, they were interrupted by the PA
playing music. A few fans got a bit
angry. My favorite ballpark attraction,
intern Emerson seemed to sporting a
new lighter hair color. She was wearing
it loose and looked spectacular. Some of
the Roadrunner Runner Review band
was here, including a couple of tubas.
They took seats in the front of the center grandstand. Pistol
Pete and a few Cheerleaders came
in as well.
It was a beautiful night to start. The crowd was pouring in. I went to the bathroom before the start of
the game and was shocked by the line at the concessions. I wasn’t going to be getting a makeup hot dog
tonight. I thought there was going to be
radio call for the game, but it was just TV.
Because I had gotten up and there wasn’t a radio call, I ended up
missing the lineups, but I got it during the game.
Former MLB umpire, Tony
Randazzo, threw out the first pitch.
Tonight’s umpires, of course, got their picture taken with him. He was supposed to be here at a basketball
game last year, but I missed his interview if it happened. I suppose they interviewed him on TV tonight. I was kind of hoping he was selling and
autographing his book here, but I didn’t see or hear any evidence of that. AD
Mario Moccia “unveiled” the WAC
Championship banner that’s been out on the left field wall for a
month. Yeah, why not rub it in the face
of the visiting Lobos? One of the girls
with the Mariachi band sang a nice Anthem.
Coach
Jans
from the Men’s Basketball team came
in with his wife, so you know this was a big event. Chris
Jefferson started for the Aggies. He
gave up a leadoff hit and a walk. The
Lobos were definitely trying to manufacture a run with a steal and then a
double steal in the inning. Jefferson
closed out the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
People were still coming in. Eventually, the grandstand would be basically
full. This was awesome. I was glad I took off the day just to see
this crowd, regardless of the result.
Where are these people for the weekend games? They apparently know about Aggie Baseball and
their schedule.
Let’s just cut to the chase here. Our highlight of the game happened in the
bottom of the first after the Aggies had loaded the bases. Tristan
Peterson hit a massive home run to left.
It was a huge arcing blast that the large crowd just seemed to will out. I swear the ball hit a bird after it cleared
the wall, but that also might have been my imagination. 4-0 Aggies.
The Cheerleaders were doing the souvenir tosses into the
crowd between innings. I noticed Emerson
was hustling and busy though. I had a good
view of the area beyond the right field outfield wall. I saw a large crimson Bigfoot standing under
a tree. Oh wait, it was Ron. He’d come into the stadium once he realized
that flyballs weren’t going that way.
Jefferson worked into a bunch of trouble in the
second. A couple of walks got cashed in
with a couple of singles. Another single
and a sacrifice drove in two more. We
were tied at 4. In the bottom, after a
hit batter and a walk, the Lobo starter got the hook. A double play and a fielder’s choice ended
the threat.
I didn’t write down when Ron came in and found me, but I
think it was in the third. Given the
crowd, it was lucky there was a seat next to me. Unfortunately, Ron takes up about a
seat-and-a-half and I was sitting at an angle for a while. I could still keep the scorecard, but note
taking was a difficult proposition. Wyatt Kelly came in and worked a
three-batter third. I starred a
groundout to short, so Joey Ortiz
must have made a great play; I just couldn’t write any details about it. The Aggies would scratch out a run in the
bottom. Peterson walked, was advanced on
a hit batter and a passed ball, and came in on a Jason Bush groundout. 5-4
Aggies.
The wind picked up in the fourth as the sun went
down. It was blowing in, which made it a
bit uncomfortable for the fans and was also going to knock down balls in the
air. Kelly worked another quick inning
in the fourth. A foul ball went straight
back on to the canopy. It rolled back down
in front of the grandstand. A kid missed
it and the crowd felt bad for him, but another kid gave him a ball. The crowd went “Aww.”
“Text me when you get close. I want some Crackerjacks,” said a fan in
front of me. Ron had mentioned the concessions
line was nearly going around the stadium.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Aggies had another big inning. Peterson drove in two with a single, in
addition to three other runs coming in for a 10-4 lead. The inning also included a no-pitch
intentional walk to Nick Gonzales (I
had to explain that rule change to Ron) and a passed ball on a third strike to Tristen Carranza. He was able to take first, which required me
to make another explanation (“It’s a strikeout, but not an out, but not an
error.”)
In the fifth, it was getting late and some of the crowd
started leaving. The first two innings
took forever. Coach Jans left too. I waved and yelled at him. He waved back, somewhat surprised. I wanted him to feel welcome here at NMSU, so
he won’t leave us in the offseason. (I
hope I didn’t startle him too bad.) In
any case, me and Ron were able to move over and get some space between us. Kelly hit the opening batter and walked the
next and was pulled out for Aldo
Fernandez. He gave up an inherited
runner to make it 10-5.
Logan
Bottrell was hit hard to start the fifth. The crowd had more reaction than he did. The Lobos turned a double play to
more-or-less end the threat. There was
more good defense to start the sixth.
Nick made a running across-the-body throw for the first out. Botts made two good running catches in
center, probably reacting to the wind.
The reduced crowd went 1 for 3 in the Pocket contest, but we were all
winners since we got to see more of Emerson.
Aldo worked into some trouble in the seventh, but a
well-turned double play mostly ended the threat. It was turned so fast, I just about blinked
and missed it. Ron got up to walk around
a bit, though he didn’t go looking for foul balls. A group of attractive young women moved in
next to me. Unfortunately, they were
mostly Lobo fans. The girl next to me
had a cute little dog in a Lobo vest.
(She didn’t appreciate me looking at her dog, so I didn’t try to pet
anything.)
The highlight of the top of the eighth was Emerson
coming in wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
It was actually a bit nippy with the wind, so she must be fairly
resistant to the cold. The girls around
me were alternately cheering for the Lobos and the Aggies. Maybe they were in the same sorority, but
different chapters. The lesser, but
still interesting, other highlight of the inning was these girls discussing their
sex lives.
Oh, and there was still a game going on. The Aggies scored three more runs in the
eighth. In the ninth, Joey started a
great double play on the second batter of the inning. Matt
Munden closed it out. 13-5 Aggies win!
I know Tristan
Peterson’s grand slam didn’t win the game on the scoreboard, but I feel like
it did psychologically. It was a nice 3
for 4 with 7 RBI’s day for him. Among
the five Aggie pitchers used, Aldo
Fernandez went three innings without giving up a run. He did give up an inherited run and was
backed up with some great defense, but he held together the middle innings.
I met Ron outside the stadium. I told him he should have stuck around to
listen to the co-ed sex lecture.
Unfortunately, he had to leave right away, so no “Ice Cream is for winners!”
tonight. Over a week later, when I’m
actually writing this, I don’t remember what I did when I got home. I probably crashed, since I’d had a busy day. This was great game to go to. I’m going to want to try to do this again
next year.
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