Baseball Journal July: Independence!

7-1-26

The Rangers were playing a day game to start the month, but my El Paso station declined to broadcast it.    Not a great start to the month.    The Chihuahuas continued their series at home against the Sacramento Rivercats.    The team welcomed a new MLB player, Luis Rengifo.    Rengifo debuted going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s and a home run (and a fielding error) in the 6-3 Chihuahuas win.

(Apologies for the unintended audio.)

7-2-26

My neighbor, Monty, invited me to next door Buffalo Wild Wings on a weekday afternoon for a Brewers game against the Reds with Jacob Misorowski starting.    I didn’t think I could get in the whole game before needing to go to work, but it was hard to resist.    The food there was not that great frankly, which was another reason not to go, but Monty caught me before I’d had lunch.    Still, it was a nice little outing.   

The Miz wasn’t sharp and gave up 5 runs in 5 innings, though only 1 was earned.    He did have 10 strikeouts.    Chase Burns started for the Reds and went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs.    Aggie great, Joey Ortiz, didn’t start for the Brewers, but did come in on defense on the seventh and immediately made two great plays (as shown above).    The Reds won, 7-2.    Monty, a big Brewers fan, was bitterly disappointed.

7-3-26

I’m at work today.   If Independence Day falls on a Sunday, we get a day off, but not Saturday.  I’m not bitter or anything.    I wore my Captain America t-shirt, even though they didn’t say to wear anything patriotic to work.       

I did get some baseball.    The Chihuahuas had the long ball working against the Rivercats.    Nick Solak had a 2-run homer in the first.    Blake Hunt homered in the sixth to break a tie score.    In the seventh, Luis Rengifo hit a monster shot that even Statcast couldn’t track.    (Well, it actually went out of bounds of the scanner.)     

The seventh inning stretch had a delay for the singing of God Bless America and then Chico dancing on field.    The umps abided for the display.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty mentioned that a Rivercat player had been grilling in front of the dugout before the each game.    In the eighth, Nick Pratto laid out for a great play at first.    He got a big cheer from the huge crowd of 8,700 and another after the video replay.    In the ninth, with the tying runs on and 2 out, Pratto fielded a grounder and fed pitcher, Ethan Routzahn, for the final out and a 4-2 crowd-pleasing win.   

7-4-26

Happy 250-th Birthday, America!    I was around for the Bi-Centennial.    It was a big deal then and now.

There was no ESPN day game on the radio.    The Rangers day game was also not on.    I found out the next day that I’d missed a Diamondbacks game that was on TV at night.    I tried listening to a close Rockies/Giants game on the radio and the reception faded out right at a dramatic moment in the ninth and then came back in time for the commercial.    I could guess that the Rockies lost, 6-4.

However, I wasn’t entirely cheated.    I went over to dad’s apartment to watch an O’Reilly Series NASCAR race.    His friend Donna was there and we went to a delicious lunch at Dion’s and had sandwiches.    A server there complimented me on my World Series Ranger hat and updated me on the team’s many injuries.    After we got back, I ended up leaving before the race came on.    That was just as well because it was pouring in Chicago.    Amazingly, they did get the race in after waiting until the evening to start it and racing through a fog.    It was the first time in 7 years they’ve raced at the Chicagoland track and it was great race.    Brandon Jones edged out Chase Elliot in the first Overtime race of the season.           

The Chihuahuas had their biggest crowd of the year (9,200+) for an 8-6 win and fireworks.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty reported during the game that a guy in the upper deck lost his hat into the lower deck.    He was trying to figure out how to get it back, but we didn’t get a resolution on that story.

7-5-26

NBC was going all out with baseball coverage today.    They were going to be showing the Mets at the Braves at 10:00am and the Padres at the Dodgers in the evening.    Or at least they would have shown the game in Atlanta, but it was raining.    This wasn’t the worst thing in the world.    I’d sort of expected it somehow when I went down to dad’s apartment to watch the game.    I had brought my iPad and we watched a show instead.   

The NBC replacement programming wasn’t bad, either.    I hadn’t seen the beautiful host before, Ashley Shahahmadi, with her dazzling, bright eyes.    There was a brief look-in with the Pirates at Washington.    I saw Aggie great, Nick Gonzales, get a hit and score.    He’s hitting .307 and the announcers gave a shout out to NMSU.    There was also a look-in on the Twins at the Yankees.   

Meanwhile, the Rangers game again wasn’t being broadcast on the radio.    I guess the station gave their crew the entire weekend off.    The Braves and Mets did eventually start.    It was 5-3 Mets after the first two innings, but scoreless for the next 6 innings.    Braves’ pitcher, Martin Perez, was injured on a comebacker in the fifth and a reliever had to come in.    Outfielder Michael Harris II sat in the bullpen while the new pitcher warmed up.    I was getting a headache, which told me that the humidity was up.    Dad had said that it was supposed to rain at 3:00pm.    I went ahead and left.

Back at home, in the ninth, things got crazy.    The Mets had a solo home run to start.    A lady that got the ball gave it to a Mets fan behind her.    But this led to a 9-batter frame and the score was 10-3.    I started nodding off.    I was suddenly jolted awake by the call of a grand slam home run by Brave Drake Baldwin as part of a 6-run bottom of the ninth inning.    The Mets’ closer had to come in.    In the 11-batter inning, the Braves got the tying run to third and the winning run to second with 2 outs before it finally ended, 10-9 Mets.    The previous Mets reliever, who gave up most of the runs, was agonizing in the dugout during the inning.    The Braves player, who struck out to end the game, was inconsolable in the dugout.         

It was a lousy-looking crowd at Dodger Stadium for a rivalry game against the Padres.    I guess they really are a late-arriving crowed there.    Oh, Mexico was playing England in the World Cup at the same time.    That might explain it.    (Mexico lost.    I’ve probably lost a co-worker, whose girlfriend is crazy for Mexican soccer.    Almost certainly, she has took it out on him.)    The TV coverage did spend some time showing the happy crowd that was there for baseball.    Three pitches into the game, a Padres coach and their manager were tossed for arguing a check swing.    It was a great start for a team on an 8-game losing streak.

Field reporter, Ahmed Fareed, wearing a violet suit, was sitting in the stands to do a report on Dodger dogs.    The original owner from Brooklyn (Walter O’Malley) wanted a foot-long dog like they had in New York.    It was supposed to be a foot-long, but the hot dogs delivered were 2” short.    The fans revolted.    Management quickly rebranded it as a “Dodger Dog,” and the trendy and dumb LA fans now loved it.    (“Trendy and dumb” is my editorial insert.)    It was like a five-minute report.    The guys in the booth asked Fareed, “Did you write a thesis on this?”    On field meanwhile, Manny Machado hit a 3-run homer in seventh and the Padres won, 5-2.    The Dodgers still have a 14-game lead in the NL West.

The Chihuahuas’ game surprisingly started on time.    Somehow the massive rain storm that we got in the afternoon, totally missed the stadium in El Paso.    It was cloudy and damp there.    In the fourth, Marcus Castanon hit 3-run homer to make it 3-1 over the Rivercats.    Ian Napetian gave the game call, “The fireworks continue in July!”    In the fifth, there was a pickle play on an RBI single by Nick Solak.    “Standby for the scoring,” said Ian.    It was 5-4-6-4-7 and 4-2 Chihuahuas.

The Chihuahuas piled on in the sixth and would end up winning, 11-2.  The big news was that regular broadcaster, Tim Hagerty, finally tried a hot dog last night.    It’s a little trifle odd that a guy that works in a ballpark had never had a hot dog.    He said, “It was alright.    I survived.”    That was a ringing endorsement.    What was weirder was Ian saying that he liked mayo on his hot dogs.    “People say I’m eating them wrong.”    The people are right there.

7-7-26

It was a nice start to the Chihuahuas’ road trip to OKC with a 13-batter second inning, which scored 7 runs on 7 hits with 5 stolen bases.    (I don’t know where those happy feet came from.)    The pups were up 8-0, but in the eighth, the Comets struck back with 4 runs to make it close.    The crowd there got loud and rowdy.    It was an 8-5 Chihuahuas’ win for their fourth win in a row.   

In the MLB, the Pirates’, Ryan O’Hearn, had a 10-RBI game in a 12-4 win over Braves.    That was a grand slam in the first, a 3-run homer in the third, and another 3-run homer in the sixth.    He was seeing the ball well.   

7-9-26

In the second inning in OKC, two wild pitches and a passed ball by the Chihuahuas brought in 2 runs for the Comets.    A scoring correction even erased the questionable single hit in the inning on a batted ball that clanked off two Chihuahuas’ mitts.    It was that kind of game for the pups.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty mentioned there were some angry looks from the dugout after the initial scoring, but there are no longer any postgame appeals allowed to protest such mis-scores.    The Chihuahuas went down, 6-0, in the fourth.    They made good comeback effort, but ultimately lost, 6-3.

Looking at the Gameday view of the game, I noticed the ticker listed a “Free Game.”    Oh, like I used to get on MLB.TV?    It was and was even a couple teams I was familiar with Rainiers versus the Aviators in Las Vegas.    Our old friend and radio voice of the Aggies, Russ Langer, was calling the game.    It looked overcast, but the Rainiers were making it rain in an 18-4 wipeout.    The barrage was punctuated by a 410’ 2-run blast by Patrick Wisdom into the pool area.    I’ll try to keep an eye out for future MiLB Free Games.

Archie Comics Review: Used backlog Part 3

What is Reggie doing here on the cover?

 

Archie 80-th Anniversary Jumbo Comics Digest #2

I bought the first issue of this year-long series in 2021 off the newsstand (3-5-21).  I wasn’t very impressed with it at the time, but I got three of the other four issues of the set used at Coas Books. (Number 3 wasn’t there.)

This issue starts with a Kennedy Brothers illustrated story featuring multiple versions of Archie. The previous issue opening story featured different Archie concepts. This one is just the different standard versions of Archie.

Unfortunately, most of the rest of the stories are just sort random and not that great. Then we have this story with Little Archie taking a blow to the head and suddenly seeing the future. He foresees Veronica getting hit by a car and manages to save her. Some of these Little Archie stories are a bit dark, but wait for an upcoming story.

We have this Pureheart the powerful superhero story. Archie is a superhero, but still a klutz. There’s also a Hot Dog solo story.

In the older material section, there’s a selection of “Crazy Betty” stories, where she’s trying to snare Archie. Why is he resisting?

Finally, Jughead tries out some candy that makes him fearless, as he takes to the gridiron. I just like these Samm Swartz action panels. Okay, this volume is a bit disappointing.

Archie 80-th Anniversary Jumbo Comics Digest #4

The opening story features the Archies.

Veronica imagines herself as a lounge singer, admittedly a great look.

This startling panel begins another story where Archie takes a blow to the head and starts seeing the future. I wonder if you could do a whole digest full of stories that all have a similar, wacky premise.

The Archies win an “NTV” music award, only to be upstaged by “Kenny East” taking over their acceptance speech. The Archies get him back by playing Sugar, Sugar over his musical number. I like when Archie is being topical, but still being Archie.

A beautiful Dan Parent fashion layout. I’m a sucker for these. I don’t know why.

Autumn Daze is a long, multi-part story with a statue of Riverdale’s first mayor watching the kids prepare for fall. He enjoys the spectacle.

There’s an Archie 3000 trade in the Archie store that I’ve thought about getting, but the stories I’ve seen haven’t really sold it to me. It does take until the Year 3000 for the mullet to make a comeback.

The girls meet a creature like the Loch Ness Monster. Of course, he falls for them.

Reggie dresses up as a Jughead robot and starts kissing all of the girls. (It’s high concept, I know.) Betty seems to be okay with it. Moose is not okay with him kissing Midge and disassembles him. Again, this volume isn’t exactly a “greatest hits” parade.

Archie 80-th Anniversary Jumbo Comics Digest #5

The final volume begins with the Kennedy Brothers drawing a story going back to the first Archie story.

Archie and Jughead go back in time and accidently disrupt the first Archie story and have to make things right before they can make it back to their present. It’s clever and frenetic.

Finally, we get a Jingles story in this series. The Sugar Plum Fairy is with him, along with a cameo by Sabrina. There are several Christmas stories in this issue.

This is a long story I’ve seen before. Archie loses the big game, but gets some counseling from Principal Weatherbee and gives Archie the motivation to keep trying. It’s good to see the Bee being more than just a disciplinarian to Archie.

Okay, I warned you that Little Archie was dark. This might be the darkest Little Archie tale ever. If it isn’t, I don’t wanna read it. In this tale, Archie’s dog, Spotty, gets shot! Oh, my God! Don’t worry. A raccoon that Little Archie had been kind to gets help and Spotty saved. I actually took this work and told a friend there to read it. He had exactly the same reaction I did. What did this story do to children who read it?

In the 40’s section, Archie runs afoul of twins again. I saw a similar story from that era in the Archie Jumbo Magazine (6-15-26).  It’s a different set of twins, but the same result.

The series finishes by reprinting the first Archie story. Archie meets Betty and tries to impress her. Instead, he gets in trouble with her dad. Archie and Jughead end up helping out the circus trying to get back into his good graces. It’s a small beginning and silly, but it struck a chord that’s still playing the same tune 80 years later.

This series was a great idea, but not well-handled with the material they reprinted. I’m not the sure what the criteria was for picking the stories. There didn’t seem to be any. The new stories added that called back to the history of Archie were the best part. If I find the other issue, I’ll probably still get it.

Archie Comics Review: Used backlog Part 2

This batch is a group of small, 96-page digests.

Sonic Super Digest #8

I’d always been curious about Archie’s Sonic titles (and their other licensed characters, like Mega-Man). They looked well-produced, especially compared to the regular Archie comics. Unfortunately, this probably wasn’t the title to get. This digest series focused on the various side characters in the Sonic universe. There were also a couple of continued stories that pointed readers to an online app to finish. That was a dirty trick.

I really don’t know much about the mythology of the character, though I have watched some Sonic cartoons. These were produced with Sega’s direct oversight, so I assume they approved of them and kept them in line.

These were definitely for kids. They’re adventurous, but thoughtful. The stories are usually trying to impart life lessons.

There wasn’t that much of solo Sonic in this comic, except for the last story. I didn’t quite understand it, but I loved his Mach 5 bed. Getting this small digest used was a cheap way of finding out about title. It’s not for me, but kids and Sonic fans might like them.

Tales from Riverdale Digest #11

This is a smaller 96-page digest from the early 2000’s. It starts with a Fernando Ruiz story where a group of freshmen idolize Archie and want to be like him. So they end up unintentionally screwing up a bunch and end up in the detention with him. Mission accomplished.

Next, Veronica wears a shiny vinyl skirt. (If only she was real.) It’s a two-part story where Ronnie tries to promote herself as a teen superhero and accidentally foils a crime. A caption at the end asks the readers if they want to see more of Powerteen.

There’s a couple of pinups, including this cool one of Cheryl Blossom.

There’s a story with the young animated Sabrina. Then there’s a section of reprints from Archie’s Madhouse. They’re kind of goofy, but harmless.

This kid with elastic powers looks like he’s dating a blonde Josie from the 60’s.

There is a section with Josie and the Pussycats. Melody is wearing a dress made of money. A very glam-looking Alexandra is, of course, jealous of the attention she’s getting. Alexandra ends up wearing a similar dress made up of 100’s and she ends up upstaging Mel. (Okay, this story is non-canonical. Nobody could ever upstage Melody.) The digest finishes with a Cheryl story. There’s quite a bit a variety in this little volume.

World of Archie Digest Free Comic Book Day #1

This is the 2013 FCBD edition. I never got one of these for a Free Comic Book Day. These are a pretty good giveaway, especially compared to most of the other offerings.

In the opening story by Fernando Ruiz, Archie wins a date with his pop music crush, Ashlee Simpleton. However, dating a celebrity is too fake for Archie and he ends up dumping her. (It’s not like Archie is having any trouble getting a date with a beautiful girl whenever he wants.) Okay, what’s Fernando got against Ashley Simpson, whom this is obviously inspired by. She comes off like a jerk in this. She’s a nice girl (relatively to the rest of the entertainment industry).

There’s a pretty good variety of characters featured, including Betty and Veronica, Chuck, Josie and the Pussycats, and Sabrina. Here she is looking really dangerous. Sabrina’s concerned that Harvey is lying about going out with another girl. Some magic gets him to confess. In fact, he’s scared enough to confess about dating several other girls. This honesty does not please Sabrina, at all. (And hey, Harvey, you’re already going out with a doll, albeit with an irritating aunt and some strange supernatural experiences, but wise up.)

The book finishes with several Jughead tales with a couple by Rex Lindsey and a couple by Samm Schwartz. Here’s Jug not enjoying himself with Miss Riverdale, who’s likely been re-colored from the original. This would have been a great item to pick up for FCBD.

Archie Digest Free Comic Book Day #1

Here’s the 2014 FCBD giveaway. The digest begins with several Archie stories. I like the last one, where he has to take the bus to school and he’s like a celebrity amongst the underclassmen there.

It’s not a Josie and the Pussycats section; it’s a She’s Josie section, the predecessor to the Pussycats from the 60’s. Alexandra and Alex are drawn in their original incarnations here. There’s a Scooby-Doo-ish mystery story, as the kids disrupt a gang of art thieves. They’d revisit this concept in the Pussycats cartoon later.

Fernando Ruiz does a long story with Archie and Reggie competing as ventriloquists with dummies. In the competition, Hot Dog ferrets out a thief with a midget in his lap. The book again finishes with some Jughead. This isn’t quite as great as the previous one, but still a great giveaway.