6-16-25
Big day in the MLB. Shohei Ohtani would be returning to the mound for a big matchup between the Dodgers and the Padres. I actually got a little appetizer right before that game started with an 11-th inning 0-0 tie between the Yankees and the Angels in NYC. The Angels took it, 1-0. They held on in the bottom of the inning with the Yankees threatening.
Ohtani looked hittable in his one inning outing, but limited the damage to Fernando Tatis Jr. scoring on a sac fly with a great slide. I ended up not being able to watch much, but it was back-and-forth game early. In the fourth, the Dodgers busted out. Ohtani, still the DH, drove in a run to make it, 6-2 Dodgers. In the fifth, Padres starter, Dylan Cease was still pitching. I question him not being taken out in the previous inning. In the ninth, with the Dodgers still up, 6-3, with two outs, Dodger Stadium organist, Dieter Ruehle, played a rift from Time to Say Goodbye. Cold, but very talented.
6-17-25
The Orioles beat the Rays, 5-1, in Tampa Bay tonight, but the story was in the stands. A guy proposed to his girlfriend during the game. Rays mascot, Raymond, was there lending his support for the event. (I would have requested DJ Kitty. And, I found out they have a third mascot, Stinger.) The coverage included shots of happy fans and kids. They even focused in on a couple, who were O’s fans, wearing matching Orioles Hawaiian shirts. Dare I say, Steinbrenner Field is going over well with the fans? The team’s playing pretty well (not tonight).
Elsewhere, I didn’t see it, but saw the score. The Angels beat Yankees again in the Bronx, 4-0. In El Paso, we had the play of the night. The Chihuahuas were down, 3-1, to the Reno Aces in the bottom of the ninth. Rodolfo Duran homered with two on for a 4-3 pups’ win. Given it was over 100-degrees when the game started, the result was a nice treat for the fans there. Reno had four errors in the game, but only one unearned run, so the loss wasn’t too much of a surprise.
6-19-25
Ahh! A day off. I pretty much wasted it, but that’s sort of the point. I went out with dad to help him wash his car and then went to Weck’s for lunch, which was next door. Dad had raved about the restaurant. I was unimpressed (and it was expensive). We also took takeout to his neighbor, Lamae. She was content to let us stick around. I found an MLB game on to watch, the Rockies and the Nationals. However, dad wanted to go back home. This was too bad. The Nats won in extra innings and broke an 11-game losing streak.
In dad’s apartment, I put on an episode of Almost Paradise, which dad seems to get a kick out of. He slept through half the episode, but not the end where the bad guy sets a timer on a nuclear bomb for six hours and starts making demands to disarm it. The hero shouts, “You idiot! You set it for six minutes!” It was ridiculous, but entertaining (and about as realistic as any other cop show on TV).
Also ridiculous was the Rangers and Royals game I was listening to on my portable radio. The Royals were on a six-game losing coming into the series in Arlington and were about to sweep the Rangers. Once again, the Rangers couldn’t score. After the show, I made a short 100-degree walk back home and listened to the end of the game, which was a 4-1 Rangers loss. (I like all four teams I’ve mentioned here, so I’m not too happy or too sad.)
I decided to take another short 100-degree walk over to the mall and bought a couple of comic book trades and a snow cone. After bleeding out money today, I settled down for the evening to read the comics and listen to the Chihuahuas. I think I mostly drifted out of paying attention, as the Reno Aces had run up an 8-run lead. Broadcaster Tim Hagerty did say at the time, “I’ve seen the Chihuahuas come back from worse. Never fear.”
In the seventh, suddenly Tim was shouting, “Grand slam home run, Mason McCoy!” The Aces’ manager was out on the field arguing the call, as the ball was near the foul pole apparently. Tellingly, Tim had no comment on whatever replays he was seeing. An inning later, he’d relate a couple of messages from unnamed park employees, who said, “The Chihuahuas may have gotten away with one there.” After this, another run was doubled in and the pups were now only down, 11-10.
A fan in the stands started yelling encouragement to the Chihuahuas in the eighth. Tim chuckled and urged him to continue. He said players have told him that they hear it and it helps. Mike Brosseau obliged and hit a tying home run. In the ninth, both teams had two runners on, but failed to score. In the 10-th, Chihuahuas reliever, Eduarniel Nunez, came in shooting peas at 100+mph and kept the game tied. In the bottom, an error on a hit-and-run got a runner to third. Forrest Wall then singled him in as the winning run, 12-11 Chihuahuas. What a comeback!
6-22-25
So, it was a boring weekend, except for the war. Funny, I was talking with a friend on Saturday about the possibility and, at the same the time, the attack was going on. We didn’t find out about it until a couple of hours later. I was at dad’s apartment at the time. I’d went into the back bedroom to talk on the phone. I guess about an hour later, I came back into the living room and startled dad. He’d forgotten I was there.
Friday night, the Chihuahuas got clubbed by the Aces hard enough that they had a position player pitching in the ninth. The team didn’t get the first out until the tenth batter of the inning. (That wasn’t all the position player’s fault. He didn’t start the inning.)
Saturday morning, oddly, the same thing almost. On the MLB.TV Free Game, I came in for the eighth with the Yankee starter out and a reliever trying to preserve a no-hitter against the Orioles. Of course when I’m watching, he gives up a hit, the only O’s hit in the game. The Orioles put in a position player to pitch in the bottom of the eighth. He was lobbing in 35mph pitches, but got a double play and was unscored on. 9-0 Yankees win. I’m sorry they didn’t carry the postgame show. Manager Aaron Boone was going to have to answer for taking a pitcher out of a no-hitter.
I was watching this over at my dad’s apartment. I watched an entertaining NASCAR Xfinity race at Pocono. Yes, really. I’ve ragged on that track unmercifully in years past for being boring. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first race as a crew chief, filling in for a suspended crew chief. After the race, he looked so relieved. Thank goodness, I didn’t screw this up. Connor Zilisch, all of 18 years old, did a good job impressing his car owner with the win.
I went back Sunday for the Cup Series race, but couldn’t get it to come in on Amazon Prime on my iPad. (I was able to watch a live ball game on it, but not the race.) That was too bad. However, I did get a couple of hours of an IMSA Sportscar race at Watkins Glen. In the time I watched, the race went from a little damp, to a deluge, to bright sunshine. Lots of wrecks.
With no race distraction in the afternoon, I saw the Baseball College World Series between LSU and Coastal Carolina. It was a bad sign for CC when their manager and first base coach were ejected in the first inning for arguing balls and strikes. LSU won the game and took the series and championship. CC did play hard in the game and didn’t quit. Congratulations for being there playing against a major program.
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