Baseball Journal July: All Star!

7-10-26

Tonight’s MiLB.TV Free Game featured the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers versus the Knoxville Smokies.    The Smokies have a beautiful stadium and they had a great crowd out on Friday.    There were shots of the happy crowd during the breaks.    They had cheerleaders and a really cute on-field host.    The commentators had some degree of southern accent.    When I tuned in, they were talking about buying grilled cheese sandwiches from a guy selling them out of the back of a Bronco for a $1.    Some kids went tarps off in the eighth when the team had the bases loaded to cheer them on.    It looked like a really great place to watch a game.    The Smokies won.    I didn’t take down the score.

   

Meanwhile in OKC, the Chihuahuas were down 10-2 in the ninth to the Comets.    The pups managed to score 3 runs with 2 outs and loaded the bases.    After a comebacker hit the pitcher and the runner was safe and a run scored, the Comets finally brought in a new pitcher to finish it.    10-5 OKC.

7-11-26

I tuned into the MLB Draft this morning.    I’m not that interested in sports drafts, but I hadn’t seen one before.    It was an excuse to bring out my season preview magazine and track along with their preseason prospects.    It was a full house in the Philadelphia venue.    A bunch of mascots were in attendance, along fans of every team and a Philadelphia drum corps.    Roch Cholowsky taken was taken 1/1 by the White Sox.    He was in tears at the announcement though he knew it was coming.    A couple of the top ten guys that were taken were outside the top 20 prospects, so their stock rose during the college season.    There was only one pitcher taken in top ten.

ESPN Radio was broadcasting the Brewers versus the Pirates.    It was a battle between Aggie alums, Joey Ortiz vs Nick Gonzales, who were both playing third.    This was the second game of a double header.    The Pirates took the first game, 7-6.

Joey made a put out on Nick in the third.  Esmerlyn Vadez hit a 2-run homer in the fourth for Pirates.    He’d hit a grand slam homer and a solo home run in the first game.    The Brewers tied it in the fifth on a double by Brice Turang.    Joey just missed a homer in sixth, but was left stranded a second.    Bryan Reynolds later drove in Brandon Lowe to make it, 3-2 Pirates.    That score held and the Bucs swept the double header.    The Brewers left 11 on base for the game.    The Pirates will have a better than .500 record going into the break for the first time in years.    Paul Skenes and Jacob Misorowski were scheduled to face off tomorrow.    I’ll keep an eye on that.

On TV, England beat Norway 2-1 in overtime at the World Cup.    A lot of people were sorry to see the entertaining Norwegian fans go.    (I didn’t see whatever they were doing to charm everyone.)    The Wimbledon Women’s final was on.    It was two Czech women that I’d never heard of.    I kept the sound off to avoid the grunting and found it to be watchable, barely.      

The Rangers and Astros were on the radio.    I wasn’t getting great reception, but the game was pretty much a blowout with the Astros winning, 9-3.    It was 6-0 in the third with Kumar Rocker not looking sharp.    They kept him in to save the bullpen.    Surprisingly, the signal stayed up for the whole game, even after 8:00pm.    The Chihuahuas had a delayed start for weather in OKC, but later cancelled their game for tonight.

The O’Reilly Series NASCAR race at Atlanta was a crash-fest, including a Big One with 12 laps to go.    There were 4 red flags and I lost track of yellow caution flags.    Justin Allgaier won in a second overtime with his car spewing a stream of sparks behind him from a previous wreck.    The race going late delayed a broadcast of the El Paso Locomotive against the New Mexico United from earlier in the evening.    They started the soccer broadcast at 11:00pm.    I couldn’t stay up for the end of that tonight.

7-12-26

The All-Star Futures Game in Philadelphia was mostly a showcase for flashy shoes and other gear.    One catcher was in cool patriotic gear and another had something like Spider-Man colors.    Some Minor League mascots were there.    Where was Chico?    (Well, there weren’t any Chihuahuas in the game.)    There was the Crazy Hot Dog Guy riding an ostrich (a costume, not an actual ostrich) from the Fightin Phils.    I recognized a couple of the players by name.    It was fun in the game trying to identify the teams by their hat logos.   

The American League won 6-1.    Manager Larry Bowa used three pitchers to get the final 3 outs in the seventh inning.    I hope they told the crowd the game was only going 7, because I didn’t know.    Nathan Flewelling from the Rays organization won the MVP for a two-run homer.    He had such a free and easy swing.    It looked effortless.    The crowd was still there after the game.    Apparently there were other activities afterward.    I was at dad’s apartment watching the game.    He didn’t seem to want to get lunch out, so I went back home.

I checked in on the Brewers/Pirates game to see how the Jacob Misorowski/Paul Skenes matchup was going.    It was 11-2 Pirates in the fourth.    I wasn’t expecting that.    Checking the box score, the Miz didn’t start, though Skenes did.    I had assumed they’re both going to the All-Star Game to play anyway.    The Pirates won 14-5.   

On the radio back at home, the Chihuahuas were at OKC.    There was be no double header today to make up for yesterday’s missed game, but the pups will apparently be back in Oklahoma next month and play it then.    (A double header before the All-Star break would be a bit inhumane, anyway.)    The Comets trotted out a new pitcher every inning and the 9 pitchers used threw a shutout.    It was an extreme staff day.    I’m sure some player said to the manager afterward, “Hey Skip, we should do this every game.”    (The manager then said, “Shut up.”)    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty was pretty chatty during this quickly-played game.    He mentioned an El Paso high school baseball player was taken in the draft.

I started listening to the Astros at the Rangers on the radio.    They were about halfway through the game with the Rangers up.    I also started watching the Blue Jays playing the Padres on a Mexican channel.    Dad called and wanted to go for a drive and to get ice cream.    (Why didn’t we do this when I was over with him and we could have gone for lunch?)   

We hit Dairy Queen.    My small Blizzard was fine, but dad’s medium dipped ice cream cone had way more ice cream.    I was then Shanghaied going back home the long way around.    Thankfully, we were listening to the Rangers game during the trip.    In the top of the eighth, the Astros had come back and taken a one-run lead.    In the bottom, Kyle Higashioka hit a solo shot to tie it.   

In the bottom of the ninth, Josh Hader came in for the Astros.    He had no losses and no blown saves this season.    To the first three batters, he gave up 3 hits.    Wyatt Langford nearly scored on the second hit from second base, but inexplicably stopped at third.    No problem.    Brandon Nimmo singled up the middle to drive him in.    Rangers win, 6-5.    Dad seemed to enjoy the game there at the end, so it was a good trip, and I had better reception on his car radio than I had on my home radio.

On the trip, I found the cheapest gas in town.    Since I needed a fill-up, I went back after I got home.    Finally, I got back to the Padres’ game.    It was 3-3 in the eighth and the Blue Jays just scored after a bobble in the outfield by Jackson Merrill.    No problem.    Manny Machado singled in the tying run in the bottom.    He was advanced to second and a pinch runner stole third.    Ty France sac’d him in to give the Padres the lead.    Mason Miller executed a no drama ninth against the top of the Jays’ order.    Padres win, 5-4.    However, there are rumors that “The Reaper” may get traded at the deadline.    This was a surprisingly great sports weekend for me.

7-13-26

Its Home Run Derby time!    Withhold your groans.    (“Back, back, back, back!”)    It will be great this time; they’ve changed the format again.    (Okay, now you can groan.)    The batters are off the clock this time.    There’s no outs.    It’s just 20 swings in the first round and 15 in the next two (I think).    Ties are broken by distance in the first round and then by a swing-off.   

In the first round, Philadelphia home town players, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, went last, but only Kyle advanced.    In the second round, Schwarber was playing up to the crowd for their support.    Willson Contreras also played up to the crowd, who were mercilessly booing him and cheering his non-home runs.    The crowd roared when he didn’t make it to the finals.

It was Schwarber versus Cardinal Jordan Walker in the final.    Walker was down by 3 and on his last swing, but Jordan still had the bonus ball, which would let him keep swinging if he kept hitting homers.    Jordan went full clutch and hit 4 home runs in a row to tie it and then win it.    Even Schwarber was rooting for him on the sidelines.    My Aunt Judy was so happy with a Cardinals player winning.    I was pretty pleased that I hadn’t wasted my time listening to this profoundly visual event on the radio.    We’ll judge the rules change a success this year.   

Less pleasing was the absolutely oppressive sponsorship messaging.    It was everywhere in the commentary.    There was a fan participation moment during the event that was essentially a promo.    Even the bonus balls used were colored violet as part of the promotion.    Also, the competition was on Netflix, which nobody was pleased with.

 

7-14-26 ASG

Honestly, it wasn’t much of an All-Star Game.    Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal didn’t play.    They both pitched on Sunday and their teams are fighting to get in the playoffs, so it’s sort of excusable.    Jacob Misorowski and Shohei Ohtani didn’t pitch because of some sort of light injury.    I don’t doubt they have some sort of fatigue and they’re being saved for the playoffs.    However taken altogether, it looks bad that four of the biggest stars in the MLB weren’t playing in the league’s showcase game.    I didn’t even recognize a lot of names of the rosters tonight.

A couple of Yankees jumped on Philadelphia starter, Christopher Sanchez, and the AL took a 3-0 lead in the first.    (I’m sure the Philly fans there will remind of this outing during his next start.)    We didn’t know at the time that this was essentially the game.    Junior Caminero was hit on the hand by a pitch and immediately exited the game.    A report came out quickly that nothing was broken, but he was listed as, “day-to-day.”   

In the fifth, there was a prerecorded segment showing kids on bikes in something like a tribute to The Sandlot.    The kids then rode out into the outfield with the players, while Ray Charles sang America the Beautiful with fireworks going off.    The players by the dugouts held sparklers.    It was kind of a silly, but nice moment.    I wonder why they didn’t do it for the seventh inning stretch.

Another nice moment was Willson Contreras and his brother William on field playing against each other.    In the sixth, Tristan Peters came into game.    He was introduced as a former Savannah Banana.    In the eighth, Miguel Vargas from White Sox hit a solo home run to give the AL a 4-0 lead, which would be the final score.    The NL was held to 3 hits with 15 strikeouts, which was nearly an All-Star record for offensive futility.    I hope this motivates next years’ team to do better.

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.