7-4-25 Independence Day
If you thought yesterday was bad, today, having no distractions from work, I really zoned out on baseball. I watched six games and listened to one. [Edit: Errr . . . Actually, I went back and counted. It was the same total as yesterday, but I was watching way more today.] I would have watched more than that, but my iPad ran low on power and local radio didn’t carry the Rangers game today.
When I found out about the MLB.TV Free Weekend, I found the Cardinals playing the Cubs just after noon on the schedule. I assumed my dad would want to see them, so I brought the iPad over to him and hoped it would be available on Amazon Prime. It was not. It was an Apple TV only game. Just as well, Aunt Judy informed us that it was a very disappointing 11-3 loss for the Cards. The Cubs hit 8 home runs in the game. (The wind must have been blowing out at Wrigley.)
Thankfully, other games were available. An early Nationals/Boston game just finished, but the Reds at the Phillies were in the fourth with the Reds up 6-4. I saw Elly de la Cruz drive in a run to make it, 7-4. Also on field, the Reds turned a double play going from the pitcher throwing to second and then the shortstop throwing out a runner at home. The Phillies manager took too long to decide to challenge the call and was denied.
In the sixth, the Phanatic was dancing on the field with Betsy Ross and Ben Franklin, who was wearing a Phillies hat, though their team was down, 9-4. The broadcasters were having a good time regardless. (Seemed a bit early for them to be drinking.) Kyle Schwarber got the Phillies back in it with a drive hitting the top of the outfield wall to drive in two. In the eighth, the Phillies loaded the bases with 2 outs, but Alex Bohm struck out looking. 9-6 Reds was the final. I can’t believe the crowd wasn’t booing more. Even worse for them, since it was a day game, they didn’t even get fireworks afterward.
Meanwhile, I’d brought my portable radio and the ESPN game was the Yankees at the Mets. If it had been the Cardinals game, that would have been helpful, but this was a pretty good substitute. Jasson Dominguez led off the game with a homer for the Yanks and Aaron Judge followed him with another to make it, 2-0 Yankees. The Citi Field crowd gave Juan Soto a big cheer when he came up in the bottom with a man on. They got to cheer some more when he hit a two-run homer to tie it. He also doubled in the third and was driven in by Pete Alonso to make it, 3-2 Mets. However, Cody Bellinger would tie with a solo shot to make it 3 all.
About this time, the Phillies game ended and I picked the Mets game to start watching. Good call. They were doing some crowd shots which included a hot girl in a cowboy hat and a tank top, three guys in hot dog outfits, Mr. and Mrs. Met working the crowd, and a fan keeping score in a really nice scorebook. (I’m jealous.) There were also a surprising, or maybe not so surprising, large number of Yankees fans in the crowd.
The Yankees took the lead on another Jasson Dominguez home run scoring two this time. 5-3 Yankees. In the bottom of the fifth, Yankees pitcher, Marcus Stroman had an involved discussion with the umpire, who had gigged him for not engaging in eye contact with the batter before pitching. This came up a couple of times in Aggie games to the general mockery of the fans. The opposing managers were already going at the ump over the strikezone (and they were right).
The Mets hit a home run to make it, 5-4 Yankees in the sixth. In the seventh, they brought in a new pitcher, Huascar Brazoban. I just like the name, but he struck out the side in the inning. In the bottom, Aaron Boone came out to change Yankee pitchers. He was wearing a Yankees t-shirt, like it’s Casual Day at work. At some point, I’m anticipating managers going out the mound wearing a bathrobe and slippers. The change didn’t help. Jeff McNeil sent one to the second deck with a two-run homer to give the Mets a 6-5 lead.
Former Aggie and current Brewer, Joey Ortiz, was mentioned on the broadcast for hitting a grand slam against the Mets in the last series. Today, the Mets were short on pitchers. After good eighth, manager Carlos Mendoza told Reed Garrett that he needed him to go back out in the ninth. Garrett paced in the dugout for the whole half inning waiting to go back out. In the ninth, McNeil made a great diving play to get the second out and Garrett had a 1-2-3 inning for the 6-5 Mets win. Judge was left standing on deck if it hadn’t gone in order.
Let’s keep going. I joined the Pirates at the Mariners in the seventh with the M’s up, 4-0. Cal Raleigh hit two homers in the game and his second was a two-run shot to make it, 6-0, which was the final score. I finally got the name of the Mariners’ Aussie color commentator, Ryan Rowland-Smith, who adds a unique voice to a ballgame. Him and the play-by-play guy (whose name I missed) were discussing solving a Rubik’s Cube at one point in this shutout win.
Next up, the Rays were at the Twins in the eighth, tied at 3. This was the only game I noticed today that was poorly attended, even though the weather was lovely. Maybe it’s the impending sale of the team. In the ninth, Harrison Bader hit a walk off home run to win it for the Twins, 4-3. He’s a former Cardinal that was one of Aunt Judy’s favorites. I texted her the news.
By this point, there were no more games listed, so I watched some Youtube videos, which was a mistake. I had an early dinner. Dad had bought hot dogs at the grocery store earlier in the week and had gotten me a fruit and yogurt parfait, which was really good. The Rangers game did not come on the radio. Maybe nobody was at the station today to switch to it. (The Rangers lost, 3-2, to the Padres. That was probably a pretty good game.) I checked back on Prime and there were now more games listed, including a Tigers game, but I’d run down the battery and had to quit.
Never fear. I flipped around on the TV and suddenly found the White Sox playing the Rockies on one station. The Diamondbacks playing the Royals was in the pregame on another station. Actually, this was the game I was planning on going over to dad’s to watch before I knew about the free weekend. I think he likes the Royals. I saw this game on the TV schedule, but didn’t see the Rockies game. I also turned the radio back on and the Chihuahuas were about to play the Isotopes for a near sellout game in Albuquerque in front of 12k fans.
I was there for the White Sox scoring the first runs of the game in the fourth, when a bases loaded single brought in two. The Rockies came back in the fifth as an error on a double brought in their first run and a double brought in another run to tie it. The Sox left fielder did go through the netting going after a foul. The crowd in Denver was huge. They did the wave for the flyaway cam.
In Phoenix, it was a cool day at just 98-degrees (compared to 120-degrees as usual there). The Royals got it going early with a three-run homer by Vinnie Pasquantino. The D-Backs announcers were just talking about how the Royals hadn’t homered in a week. The D-Backs did answer back with a couple of runs in the bottom. I wondered where Corbin Carroll was. He’s rumored to be back soon.
In the second, the Royals loaded the bases. There had been two on and an attempted sac bunt was dropped with that runner safe. Bobby Witt Jr. singled in a run. Pasquantino and Salvador Perez both brought in runs to make it, 6-2 Royals.
I was still flipping back-and-forth with the Rockies game. The White Sox were up, 3-2. The big crowd was urging on the pitcher in the top of the ninth to hold the score, which he did, but the Rockies failed to score in the bottom. 3-2 White Sox final. It wasn’t quite dark there, yet. The fans probably had to wait a little bit for the fireworks show, which the announcers said would be really good.
I went back home at this point. Dad was nice enough to drive me up the street, dodging people setting off fireworks on the road. I put the Chihuahuas game on the radio and the Diamondbacks on the TV. I’d lost radio signal earlier in the fourth with the pups up a couple of runs. I resumed with the Chihuahuas up 5-3 in the eighth with the bases loaded. A hit batter and a walk brought in two runs and two more came in on a single. It was 10-3 when the inning ended. Broadcaster Tim Hagerty said the large crowd, who had been noisy earlier, was now quiet.
Meanwhile with the Diamondbacks, they were down, 9-2. The broadcasters became fascinated with the 50/50 raffle, which topped out at $397k. I saw Baxter the AZ wildcat mascot on top the dugout. He was wearing American flag pants and a patriotic muscle t-shirt. In the seventh inning stretch, I got my final God Bless America rendition of the day. I’m not sure how many of those I watched today.
I took a 20 minute break to go outside and watch the city fireworks. My neighbors were also setting off some large, impressive fireworks directly overhead. (It was scary.) Ron Marinaccio struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to give the Chihuahuas a 10-6 victory. The Royals won their game, 9-3. The D-Backs won the best player name contest with Blaze Alexander coming into the game. At least the disappointed home town fans got their fireworks shows. They actually opened the roof in Phoenix for their show. And I dropped off, exhausted. Watching multiple games in a day, one at a time, like I was earlier, was definitely the better way to go.
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