Memorial Day Weekend 2017 Part 1

5-27-17, Saturday

After another great night at work, where I’m there till one in the morning, I started off my favorite holiday weekend of the year with a morning baseball game between the Rangers and the Blue Jays.  Unfortunately, the Rangers seemed more tired than I was in a 3-1 loss, their fifth in a row, after winning 10 in a row. 

The Rangers’ one run came on a Shin-Soo Choo first pitch homer.  Yu Darvish hit two batters in the first two innings of this still contentious rivalry.  Both managers and the ump had discussions.  I kept listening, waiting for fireworks, but all I got was a Jose Bautista three-run homer, the Blue Jays only scoring.  Still, it was a nice quiet morning listening to a ballgame while I pounded out stuff on a keyboard.  All in all, it was a pleasant way to start the holiday.

Restless, I hopped over to the mall.  There I picked up the latest Baseball America issue.  BA is usually way too into the weeds for a casual fan, such as myself.  But after the non-stop, agenda-driven propaganda of my free Sports Illustrated subscription, I was willing to pay for good sporting news.  This particular issue featured the Braves’ new ballpark and some other interesting-looking articles.

I got back in time for Fox’s Baseball Night in America between the Dodgers and the Cubs.  Unfortunately, not only did I not get the Astros’ game, I had to listen to Joe Buck.  He turned out to be less irritating than usual today.  The teams were wearing olive green camo hats, along with their letters and patches in green for Memorial Day.  I swear I saw the kid that plays “Archie” from Riverdale in the front row, but didn’t see him again.  (I also doubt he goes with that red hair when not shooting.) 

It was 5-0 Dodgers in the fifth and that turned out to be the final, as the Cubs didn’t show up.  Their pitcher, John Lackey, had the most memorable moment, as he argued with the ump after striking out.  “Is that wise?” asked Buck to his co-host, John Smoltz.  “No,” he replied. 

At least the game had the good taste to finish right before the Chihuahuas game started.  They were playing in front of a full house (8,000+) in Las Vegas, which surprised Tim Hagerty.  In the third, the radio call suddenly went to ESPN Radio, where they were breaking down The Bachelorette.  No, really.  I wanted to turn it off so bad, but I hung in there for an eternity, or 10 to 15 minutes, until the game back. 

That was a good thing.  It was a heck of a game.  By the sixth, it was 7-5 Chihuahuas.  In the bottom of the seventh, with the pups up by three, the 51’s loaded the bases, but only one run scored.  That would turn out to be last score as the Chihuahuas won 8-6.  The remaining crowd boo’ed.  Tim said that the crowd in Vegas was notoriously rough.  Another fun fact from Tim, because of the time difference, the team flight arrived in Las Vegas at the same time they left Salt Lake City.   

Continued in Part 2