3-13-19
I don’t know how it happened, but the notes I took down
on this game between Aggie Baseball and
ASU Sundevils got scrambled in my
document. So, sorting this out will be
an adventure. ASU got on my good side
immediately by taking up one of my suggestions.
It was “Wayback Wednesday” in Tempe with the players coming up to bat
using retro walkup songs. Dear Aggies,
feel free to dump your crummy walk up music (except for Nick Gonzales, his tunes are okay) for “Flashback Friday’s.”
This game featured two of the highest-scoring teams in
the country. (NM State was number one.) The Sundevils were undefeated at 16-0. This game was at Phoenix Municipal Park. I
was watching the ASU TV feed, which featured a professional announcer and a
recent former player doing color commentary.
The player wasn’t worried about the Aggies’ high team batting average. Against opponents like this, he said, they’d
just concentrate on executing their own game plan.
And I can’t make heads-or-tails of the rest of my
notes. If I’d cut-and-pasted randomly, I
couldn’t have made a worse mess. Justin Dehn started for the
Aggies. ASU got out to a two-run lead in
the first. Noah Haupt homered in the second to make it 2-1 ASU. The Sundevils homered in the bottom to make
it 3-1. The fences at the park had recently
brought in. The player was happy that he’s
not pitching here anymore since he was a flyball pitcher.
Chris
Jefferson came in for the third and gave up a leadoff homerun 4-1. Wyatt
Kelley came in during the fourth and let in a run to make it 5-1. Brock
Whittlesey worked the fifth and got a couple of K’s. Nick singled in a run in the seventh, 5-2. Aldo Fernandez
came in for Whitt in bottom and gave up a run, 6-2. In the eighth, pinch hitter Jeffrey Head drove in a run to tighten
it up to 6-3. ASU eventually won 7-3, I think. (Very confused notes.)
ASU’s Hunter
Bishop was credited with winning the game with his bat, going 4 for 4 with
two home runs, and with a great catch that killed a critical Aggie rally. The former player did go after an ASU fan for
not making a catch in the stands. Both
teams left a bunch of batters on base in the game, but neither were able to
really break it open. The Aggies went
through six pitchers in the game. Nick Gonzales went 3 for 5 to keep his
average over .500.
3-18-19
The Aggie Baseball
series against Nebraska was canceled
last week because of the “Bomb cyclone.”
The team instead went to Arizona on Sunday for a pickup game against Xavier. The Aggie got an impressive 6-4 win. The Xavier
starter was a sure future Major Leaguer who was throwing at 98mph. The guy is so good, the Xavier coach asked Coach Green if it was “Okay,” to pitch
this guy against them, since it was his regular spot in the rotation. Coach Green said the team still needs to
makeup a couple of games. Keep an eye on
their schedule for additions.
I’d like to say this Aggie Baseball recap about the game
against the Arizona Wildcats will be
better than the last recap, but I was absent for much of the middle of the
game. So much for that. (I’m probably not going to be doing these
kind of recaps next season.) This game
would be featuring the top two offenses in the nation (Aggies #1) and would not
disappoint, even if I didn’t hear all of it.
A four-man umpiring crew would be working the game. This game was starting late, even in the
Pacific Time zone, since it was being broadcast on the PAC-12 Network. I couldn’t
find it and it was likely a pay-service anyway.
They’d be playing at Hi-Corbett
Field, a former minor league/spring training stadium. There was a good 3000+ crowd there. Since Arizona’s basketball season was done (they’re
not in the tournament) that might have boosted attendance. There was a good contingent of Aggie fans and
many friends and family of the AZ-born Aggie players. The fans sounded a bit rowdy as half-price
hot dogs and beer were on tap.
Caleb
Henderson was out with injury, but the Aggies did well up in the
first. They loaded the bases partly
thanks to two hit batters. They drove in
a run, and two more came in via a Tristan
Peterson hit. The Aggies in the
crowd made themselves known with lots of cheering, as the team chased the AZ starter.
There was the rare Catcher’s Interference
call in the inning. 3-0 Aggies.
Chris
Jefferson started for the Aggies.
A run scored off a passed ball to make it 3-1. In the second, AZ got a leadoff home
run. Jefferson was pulled after letting
on a couple more runners. In the third, the
Wildcats tied it off of freshman reliever, Justin
Schubert. There was another passed
ball on Braden Williams, and a misplayed
flyball by Tristen Carranza, which scored
two. Mitchell Allen came in to pitch.
The Imperial March played him
in. (The Aggies use that tune too for
opposing pitchers.) He walked in a run. I got busy away from my desk. AZ had a big inning with 7 runs to make it
9-3 Wildcats.
Adam
Young on the radio broadcast reported that the AZ fans had
left early, because of the score and the late hour. But, the Aggie fans stayed (because they
couldn’t drive home early). The crowd
was down to about a 1000. I admittedly
wasn’t listening at the time, but in the fourth, Joey Oritz cleared the bases with a triple. Nick Gonzales
and Noah Haupt drove in runs to make
it 9-8. AZ added a run in the bottom,
10-8.
I got to listen to a bit of the sixth. Logan
Ehnes drove in a run. Peterson again
drove in the tying run to make it 10-10.
Unfortunately, AZ hit a three-run homer in the bottom and tacked on
another run in the seventh to make it 14-10.
Jason Bush came in for Braden
late in the game. This also happened in
the ASU game. The Wildcats coach was serious
wanting to win this. In the eighth, he changed
out pitchers in the middle of the Aggie leadoff at bat.
The final was 14-10
Arizona in an efficient four-and-a-half hour game. Whew. Nobody complains about College Baseball
pace-of-play. AZ used 8 pitchers, the Aggies
7. The difference in the game for the
Aggies was the unproductive pitching stats: 10 walks, 2 hit batters, 2 wild
pitches, and 2 passed balls. This all
came back to hurt the Aggies. On the
bright side, Alex Reyes and Keaton Graf made their first
appearances of the season and were reasonably effective.
I’m pretty sure both teams are still at the top in
offensive in the country after this game.
Nick Gonzales is still
batting over .500 and went 3 for 5. Tristan Peterson also went 3 for 5 with
3 RBI. Overall, it was a disappointing
loss, but still encouraging. The Aggies
were down big, but didn’t give up. A bit
better pitching (and maybe not playing the #2 scoring offense in the country)
and they can possibly compete with anybody.
3-22-19
The Aggies faced the CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners to open this weekend series. I was at work this Friday, but watching over
Aggievision on the Internet. It was a
rough start for the Aggies as the Roadrunners got three runs over first two
innings off of Brock Whittlesey.
Some good bunting loaded the bases in the second and
scored two. In the third, Tristan Peterson doubled off top of the
wall to drive in tying run 3-3. Jason Bush, starting catcher, drove in
Peterson to make it 4-3 Aggies. However,
the Roadrunners tied it in the fourth on a double, a passed ball, and a
fielder’s choice. They retook the lead
in the fifth on a single after a stolen base.
Whitt did finish the inning and left the bases loaded.
Aldo
Fernandez was in for the sixth.
He came out in the seventh after giving up a run, 6-4. Wyatt Kelly
came in. I wasn’t watching during this
time, but the scoreboard went out at about this time. It confused one of the Aggie fielders on the
number of outs and led to a run.
Darius
Vines, the Roadrunner starter, came out in the bottom, but
the Aggies still couldn’t mount any more offense. The Roadrunners tacked on three more runs off
of Wyatt and Mitchell Allen for a 9-4 win. The Aggies left 11 on base, but the
Roadrunners left 14, so it could have gone better or, alternately, worse. It was a poor night offensively and
defensively for the Aggies.
3-28-19
MLB Opening
Day! And we got off to a crap
start. My local Rangers’ affiliate declined to broadcast their afternoon game. (Actually, I’m feeling fortunate that they
did broadcast subsequent games.) The
other El Paso sports talk station, KROD,
did pick up ESPN’s Red Sox versus Mariners game.
Unfortunately, the pregame started at 4:00, which is a half-hour before
I leave for work.
At work, I decided to check out MLB.TV and watched the Royals
versus the White Sox. The only reason I was able to see any of
their Free Game was because it had started late with a rain delay. There was also on-and-off rain during game. Showing some Midwestern hospitality, the team
gave away makeup tickets to everyone who came to today’s game. The Royals
won 5-3. The ninth inning took
forever, as the Royals went through three relievers and nearly blew it. They let in three runs and loaded the bases
twice.
While I could have listened to more of the ESPN game
over the Internet, why not actually watch ESPN in breakroom during my
dinner? The game was in Seattle at T-Mobile Stadium. I don’t know when they renamed Safeco. The Mariners also remodeled it
extensively. I knew they’d brought in
the wall in in a previous season. I
guess that probably messed up the “knothole” bar in the outfield.
The final was 12-4
Mariners. M’s made it rain in
Seattle with five home runs. (I’ve got a
gun to my own head after that pun.) Red
Sox starter Chris Sale was shelled. This was after he got a big extension in the
offseason that experts warned Red Sox not to do. This was actually the M’s third game. They won two in Japan over the A’s.
Ichiro retired during that
series with the team.
Later in the night, I watched Quick Pitch on the MLB Network
with the ever-hot, Heidi Watney. She was joined by a high school marching band
doing the theme song live for the first show of the season. There were a couple of notable
highlights. The Dodgers hit eight home runs against Zach Greinke and the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers are already building a trophy
case. (For the third year in a row . . .
Keep California Dreamin’, guys.) “Not
today!” Lorenzo Cain robbed a
go-ahead home run in the ninth to end the game against the Cardinals and give the Brewers
the Opening Day win. Awesome. Okay, I’m not recapping every game this
season I hear or see this season. I’ll
just note whenever I see something interesting.
(Of course, I say that every year.)
3-30-19
I said I wasn’t going to blog baseball, but I really
enjoyed today’s Rangers game over
the radio. I was able to pickup a couple
of innings of a game on Saturday, so I was grateful that my El Paso affiliate
hadn’t abandoned the team. On Sunday,
they played a good back-and-forth game versus the Cubs. There was a good crowd
there for the last Opening weekend at the Ballpark
at Arlington. (I’m not using the
tacked-on corporate name.) They were
passionate, too. Actually, it sounded
like both teams had fairly even representation.
You got some good dramatic moments with Delino DeShields hitting a grand slam and Asdrubal Cabrera clanking another homer off a foul pole. In the ninth, tied at 10, Joey Gallo stole home on a wild pitch
to win it, 11-10 Rangers. It was just fun baseball.
Less entertaining, but interesting in a different way,
the new El Paso Locomotive soccer
team was on the local CW
affiliate. I’d missed their first game
on TV last week, but I was at home tonight.
Local El Paso broadcaster and huge soccer fan, Duke Keith, was calling the game and was about as happy as he could
be to be there.
I really wanted to see how they were going to fit in the
pitch on the ball field of Southwest
University Park. No problem, it fit
right across the diamond. The base paths
were covered over. The mound actually
lowers on the punch of a button. The
field itself looked a bit worn in places.
#crazytrain was written on one of the walls. It was hard to get a sense of the size of the
crowd, since they weren’t showing the grandstand, but it seemed good. There was a group of hardcore fans on camera
behind one of the goals along the first base line. They had a big drum and horns.
I was surprised by the powder blue and dark blue
uniforms with gold numbers. I hadn’t seen
them before; those weren’t the colors I was expecting. I was thinking they’d be more like the Chihuahuas, since they’re owned by the
same people. It was an international
team with players mentioned from Ireland, Columbia, Scotland, Mexico, and
Brazil. (Actually, that might include
both teams. I couldn’t tell who was
who.)
This was a minor league USL game against Orange
County FC. (At least our team has an
actual nickname.) As long as I was
watching, I might as well recap the match.
It was nil-nil at the half (surprise).
The wind was playing with balls in the air. El Paso had five corners in the first 16
minutes and were up 17 to 7 in shots, so they had their chances. In the second half in the 64’, the Locomotive
finally scored on a rebound shot. 88’ El
Paso scored again on a breakaway. The
superfans in Section 105 lit off a smoke pot.
(No, they didn’t smoke pot. It
was theatrical smoke.) The Locomotive won 2-0! Jump on the Crazy Train, folks! Go crazy!
(Soccer highlights are so quick and easy to write. I should just cover soccer.)
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