Friday, April 5, 2019

Sports Journal March 13-31, 2019

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’sIchiro 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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