6-6-25
Dad was having hernia surgery today. I’d be with him to take him to the hospital and would need to stay with him for 24 hours. The operation went well. Unfortunately, the drug store didn’t have the pain medicine available, so dad was in bad discomfort for the entire weekend. If there was one small bit of good news, I discovered that the cafeteria at the hospital served an excellent hamburger. It reminded me of the burger at Chihuahuas games. Even better, they served sweet potato fries as a side. What a bonus! I may have to go back for lunch sometime.
We got back to his apartment in the late afternoon (after leaving at 7:30am). I had my portable radio with me to listen to ballgames and even managed to get one on TV. I unfortunately scribbled some nearly indecipherable notes on some scratch paper I had with me. I guess I felt the need to do something this weekend while I was sitting around on the couch with dad.
The first game I got for the day was just a score from the Rangers’ postgame against the Twins. They lost 2-0. Arggggh! When are these guys going to hit? Well, the good news was that I found a Rockies game on TV. They were playing the Mets. Dad had mentioned D-Backs and the Rockies’ games were showing up on Friday nights and I was finally in a position to watch one. The Rox were wearing their regrettable new City Connect uniforms, which look like a girls’ softball uniform. (Their previous CC wasn’t exactly fashionable to begin with.)
Meanwhile, I was listening to the Chihuahuas playing the Isotopes on the radio. During the game, broadcaster Tim Hagerty visited with a team intern from Germany. He’s a big Astros fan, but has had to watch their games late at night there. His mom was from El Paso to explain why he was there, but he’s lived in five different countries. At one point, he took over the game call and called a double. The kid was kind of fascinating.
The pups scored three in that inning, but the Isotopes came back with a home run and then an inside-the-park home run. (That was the fifth insider of the season in a Chihuahuas game.) The Isotopes would take the lead, but the Chihuahuas would retake the lead on a home run, which was where I lost the radio signal. The pups would run away with it, 14-9.
Back in Denver, Rox rookie, Ryan Richter, got his first hit, a triple, with his family up in the stands. He got tagged out coming home on a grounder on a close play. There was a review and the crowd cheered the result. I more-or-less figured out half the crowd was for the Mets. I thought only the Rays got that treatment in their home games against northeast teams. Slightly more puzzling were all of the Disney vacation commercials during the breaks. Their deal was $100 a day, as long as you purchase four days. They also seemed to be implying your child will not be straight after the trip. (I’m not kidding.)
It was a tight game. The Rockies were making a solo home run hold up over halfway through the game. In the sixth, the Mets loaded the bases with no outs, but three strikeouts ended the threat. In the seventh, they broke through with Pete Alonso doubling in two. The crowd chanted, “Let’s go Mets!” In the bottom of the inning, Sam Hilliard tripled off a fly ball dropped at the wall and was driven in to tie it at 2.
In the eighth, the Rockies loaded the bases with no outs, but a double play line out at third and a strikeout ended the inning. (Between this game and yesterday’s Chihuahuas’ game, these teams do not seem to be aware of the high odds of scoring in these situations.) In the ninth, Francisco Lindor came off the bench for the Mets to pinch hit and doubled in two to make it 4-2. Rockies fans started leaving behind the plate. 4-2 Mets would be the final score. Even the Rockies announcers had to admit afterward that it was still a pretty good game.
6-7-25
I spent the night over at dad’s to keep him under observation after his surgery. We mostly sat on the couch watching TV. I took in a couple of baseball games on the radio. The Rangers at the Nationals was on in the afternoon. Marcus Semien drove in two runs on the first to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. He also drove in two more in the eighth, along with Adolis Garcia bringing in a run. On defense, Jacob deGrom went seven innings. He and the Rangers’ relief corps pitched a shutout in the Rangers’ 5-0 win.
When I heard that Corey Seager was sitting out the game, I’d assumed there’d be no offense. Obviously manager Bruce Bochy knows better than me. One amusing incident in the game was a balk that was called. The guys in the booth reported hearing the ump call it, though they were sitting at “30,000 feet.” This is a running gag referring to how high up the press box is over the field.
Later, the Isotopes were playing the Chihuahuas in El Paso. One of my co-workers, Toni, was at the game. It was Star Wars Night at the park. The players were in special Darth Vader jerseys that were auctioned off after the game. Several cosplayers were at the game, including a very tall fellow dressed as Chewbacca. It was nearly a full house with 8,500 fans there and they stayed to the end for the fireworks. Toni was thrilled with the display, which included new on-field flamethrowers going off to the Star Wars music. The only thing she wasn’t thrilled with was her favorite ballpark food, dog bowl nachos. They’d stripped down the meal from what it was before.
The game itself was also a thriller. The Isotopes loaded the bases in the first with one out, but the Chihuahuas got out of it. The pups then took the lead on a two-run homer. The shot went out of the stadium and may have hit a parked car. (My radio reception wasn’t great, so I’m not sure I heard that right.) One thing I did hear was Carson, Tim Hagerty’s co-host for the night, saying about a Chihuahuas batter, “He’s been a pedestrian tonight. He’s walked on to base, rather than getting a hit.”
It was 6-2 Isotopes in the top of the seventh when I lost signal entirely. I’d be checking back with the score periodically online. (I didn’t try listening online.) I was shocked to see the Chihuahuas winning the game, 8-6. In the bottom of the seventh, the pups had driven in a run and loaded the bases. Trenton Brooks followed with a grand slam home run (he’d also homered in the first), and this was followed up with a solo shot by Yonathan Perlaza. Toni had video of all of this. (Good timing.) Toni and the crowd went going crazy during the comeback. Errr. I wish I’d been able to listen.
6-8-25
Today’s Rangers/Nationals game started off in a rain delay. The coverage seemed to think they might be able to get the game in later. This was the teams’ only meeting this season and they really didn’t want to do a makeup game. I was still over at dad’s. He was doing okay, so I decided to take off for lunch (he didn’t want anything). Since I was basically only having one meal today, I got a BLT+A at McAlister’s. It’s a big meal, but I was hungry.
I was gone for maybe an hour-and-a-half. When I got back and checked on the game, they were late in the fourth. They must have started right after I walked out the door. The Rangers were up 2-0 on an Evan Carter two-run homer. I was there in time to hear the Nats tie it up. In the eighth, Marcus Semien drove in a run to get the lead back for the Rangers. It’s good to see these two players getting back on track on offense.
In the bottom, Robert Garcia came in for a four-out save. Nate Lowe came up for the Nats against him. These two were traded for each other in the offseason. Nate won that battle with a double, however the Rangers won the game, 4-2.
In the evening, it was the finale between the Isotopes and the Chihuahuas. Trenton Brooks probably wished that the Isotopes would never leave town. He had another home run in today’s game. Brooks had four for the series for the Chihuahuas. The pups were up by four in the ninth, but the Isotopes came back with a two-run homer and a runner on before the Chihuahuas finished it out, 6-4. Meanwhile on TV, The Sandlot came on. Dad had never seen it before. He seemed to get a kick out of it.
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