[I’m running late on this report, which isn’t a good
sign for the upcoming Aggie Sports season. My excuse is that I’ve watching a rebroadcast
of Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary series, so it was baseball-related.]
What a swell birthday gift! Actually, it was a coincidence. The trip came together pretty quickly when I
ran into a co-worker, Chuck, the previous week and he expressed a desire to
go. He’d talked to his brother-in-law,
Manuel, shortly after that, who’d never gone to a Chihuahuas game. Chuck asked me and another co-worker, Jacob,
right before the end of the week and we all agreed to go on Sunday. I had been following the team winning five in a row this week and was eager
to see the finale. Chuck did ask about
Ron, as we’d all gone together last year. Ron is on the road doing his truck driving job
now.
The road was not our friend. We’d left for the game a little later than I would have recommended, but there weren’t any giveaways tonight. We did not count on the interstate being shutdown for construction before entering El Paso. Thankfully, Chuck found a way to the stadium, but we were running late. While we were waiting in line to enter, we could hear Tim Hagerty’s radio call over the speakers outside. (There are places in the stadium where you can hear the call, but not everywhere.)
The game was going on while we walked through the
concourse. Damn. I’d suddenly become one of those
late-arriving fans that I look down upon.
I picked up a scorecard and lineup at the courtesy booth. We decided to find our seats first, instead
of getting food (which I would have recommended). We evicted the ballpark MC, Andy Imfeld, as he was sitting there
waiting to do the next between innings bit.
The seats were four rows up from the Chihuahuas’ dugout with a great
view of the field. Jacob said to me,
“How about these seats?” I’m thinking, If only we’d gotten here on time and been
settled before the game started.
We were in time for the second inning. I made an attempt at starting the scorecard
and filled it out in the wrong column. I
couldn’t get the radio call to come in well and had to give up on it. I was a mess.
The Round Rock
Express were up a run from scoring in the first. In the top of the second, Evan Mendoza made a great play on a hot
shot to third to start a double play. There
had been confusion yesterday on a 5-ball walk.
Today, there was nearly the same on a 3-ball walk. There was an inning-ending popup that was
waived off on a balk, but another popup ended the inning anyway. In the bottom, Tirso Ornelas singled, but was thrown out trying to hustle to
second. He got a round of applause
coming back to the dugout.
At this point, the guys wanted to go get food and I gave
up on the scorecard. I was hungry. I ended up getting a hamburger and
fries. I kind of looked around for
something else, but the hamburger and fries there are really good. I ran into Andy Imfield again by the
concessions, literally. I have no
peripheral vision with my new sunglasses.
I was absorbed in eating for the next inning. Since I was just a regular fan at this point,
why not? I got up again for dessert, but
settled on a small bag of kettle corn.
Still, I lament my unfilled out scorecard. It’s a crime against baseball.
I should mention the fashion at the ballpark this
evening. There were two guys in Padres Hawaiian shirts in the line when
we came in. I think those were giveaways
in San Diego this season. There was a guy
on our row in a dark Navy blue 90’s Padres jersey with Tatis Jr. on back. Later on
camera, there was a couple wearing matching yellow throwback Diablos jerseys. I never made it into the team shop today.
There was a good crowd at over 6,600. I saw a really hot blonde girl a couple of
times on the concourse. She was part of
some large group of girls, who were all wearing the same t-shirt. It was easy to notice there was a full house
in the Wooftop suite on top of the Big Dog House. That looked like a fun place to see a
game. Chuck said the bank where we work
wasn’t planning on an outing at the ballpark this year. They blamed bad attendance, but since they
may not be doing an Aggie Football tailgate either, I suspect the decision may
be more financially driven.
Having given up on the scorecard, I resigned myself to
just scribbling a few notes. The game
itself cooperated with me, as not much happened while I was finally getting
settled in. In the top of the sixth,
there was a grounder that went through the infield as short and third got crossed
up. Another Round Rock run scored, but the
batter was thrown out trying to take second, 2-0 RR.
In the bottom of the sixth, Eguy Rosario smacked a solo home run to left to make it, 2-1. He was sprayed with a water bottle when he
got back to the dugout. The next inning,
the umpire got hit with a foul ball. A
very pretty Chihuahuas trainer came out to tend to him. By this point in the game, the crowd was
getting a little unruly. The injured
umpire got heckled. The heckling
continued on any poor or disappointing play for the rest of the game, and it
was male and female hecklers.
A single drove in another run to make it, 3-1 RR. Chico,
our beloved mascot, came over to our section.
He was offered some popcorn by a lady.
He took it and tossed it at his head.
He then went over and massaged a cameraman’s neck, who was sitting below
us. Then Chico went over a made friends
with a scared little boy at the father’s request. During the Stretch, he went out on field and
did a Mexican hat dance with a couple of a little girls in costume. Our mascot is the hardest working dog in the
stadium.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Chihuahuas loaded the
bases on two singles and a walk. Round
Rock brought out a new pitcher. Jose Azocar greeted him with a single
that scored two runs, 3-3. Eguy came
up. He shattered his bat and then flied
out. The RR pitcher tried to pickoff the
runner on second, but was called for a balk that advanced both runners. Two balks called in a game? Are you kidding me? This one was pretty blatant. Ben
Gamel, who’s been a tear, continued that hot streak with a three-run bomb
to center. 6-3 Chihuahuas! He got the water spray treatment coming back
to the dugout.
In the bottom of the eighth, Alex Speas came in to pitch for Round Rock. I’d heard him pitch last week with the Rangers. He’d left the baseball for mental issues last
year, but he did well when he was called up.
He got a double play in his inning here.
The crowd wanted a challenge, of which there aren’t any in Triple-A. Taylor
Kohlwey had the final at bat in the inning.
The PA welcomed him back to the Chihuahuas. He’d been optioned back down from the Padres.
A section by the visiting dugout, which is where the
rowdiest of El Paso Locomotive (soccer)
fans sit, made lots of noise a couple of times during the game, which had
nothing to do with what was going on on field.
I think they were getting souvenirs thrown at them. Chico was back out on field between
innings. He raced a little kid across
the infield and lost badly. He’s not the
Freeze.
Even with a three-run lead, I admit I was worried going
into the top of the ninth. Chihuahuas’
pitching has not been good this season. Jake Sanchez came in to pitch and
quickly gave up a pair of monster home runs to make it 6-5. He then gave up a double to Kevin Plawecki, who had been a
Chihuahua earlier in the week before getting traded. He even had a game winning hit earlier in the
series. Sanchez was taken out of the
game for Jared Koenig. While Sanchez had been heckled out on the
mound, he was given a round of applause when he came back to the dugout.
Koenig induced a grounder for the first out. On another grounder to short, Mendoza threw
to third and got Plawecki. There two
outs. Jonathan Ornelas came up and battled. He fouled off several pitches before finally
grounding out. Chihuahuas win 6-5! The PA
announced to the crowd that this was El Paso’s first ever six-game sweep.
The time of the game was about two hours and 30
minutes. That was about as long as it
felt like trying to get home. There was
more Interstate construction blocking easy travel. In spite of this and basically missing half
the game, I had a great time. I might
not be back for baseball this season, but Chuck did mention wanting to see a
Locomotive game this year, and Jacob and I were on board for it. I’ve been wanting to get a Loco’s
t-shirt.
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