Baseball Journal July 26-27, 2017

7-26-17
I didn’t properly process this news yesterday when I first heard it.  There was a run-scoring triple-play in the Yankee’s game versus the Reds.  It took me a while to realize that a run shouldn’t score on a triple-play, but it happened.  No RBI though for Todd Frazier in his first Yankee at bat.

Also to close a loop from yesterday, I got a survey from the MLB about the Rockies/Cardinals game.  Apparently they had taken out some commercials and replaced them with unobtrusive logo ads in game.  Apparently too unobtrusive, I didn’t notice them.  I fear this experiment may be a one-time thing.  It’s not so much time of game, as it is pace of play.  I know that seems like the same thing, but it isn’t.  I’ll take fewer commercials though.

What sounded like an opera singer did the National Anthem before the Chihuahuas/ICubs game.  Very classy.  Just bring her back every night.  I missed the Cubs’ first inning run while a cleaning person was vacuuming next to me.  That’s what I get for working late.  A bit later, I cringed as I heard released Tyrell Jenkins still in the player bumper rotation.

Even against an early lead, the Chihuahuas would come back and pour it on.  Nick Buss had a homer in the fourth.  Later, Diego Goris, off the disabled list, doubled in Ryan Schimpf and advanced to third on an error, which tied the game at three.  The pups loaded the bases in the fifth, but only managed one run on a sacrifice.  In the seventh, Buss had a Fielder’s Choice RBI and Schimpf drove in two with a double to make the score 7-3.  The ninth got messy.  Carter Capps loaded the bases and allowed three runs, before getting an out.  The Chihuahuas managed to squeak out a 7-6 win.

The big baseball news of the night was the Rangers versus Marlins game.  First, the score was 22-10 Marlins.  That would get anybody’s attention.  Second, Yu Darvish started the game and gave up 10 of those runs.  Given the trade rumors, this was a cataclysmic performance for Darvish right before the trade deadline.  The first post on a Rangers’ fansite read, “So sad.  Darvish’s last start for the Rangers.”  The reply right under that, from a couple hours later, read “Maybe a little less than you thought.”  Among other comments were, “Pull him now while he still has trade value,” and “Maybe no one’s watching.”  The fans did reportedly applaud Yu as he left the field.

In fairness, none of the other relievers obviously did any better against the Marlins’ offense tonight, including a position player in the ninth.  Giancarlo Stanton apparently had some feud going with a Rangers’ reliever Jason Grilli.  Stanton had thought that he’d shown him up after a strikeout last night, and so Stanton did the same after a home run off him.  There’s going to be retaliation someday.

And none of this was even the biggest event from the game.  (And I’m sure Darvish was happy to have some of the spotlight off him.)  Adrian Beltre was three for three in the game, four away from #3,000.  Late in the game, the people still left in the stands were sticking around just to see his last at bat.  While Beltre was doing his usual photo-bombing off the on-deck circle, the ump took offense and demanded he stand next to the circle.  Beltre grabbed the mat and pulled it over to where he was standing.

This, of course, resulted in an immediate ejection (and the manager’s shortly after).  Beltre maintained he’d been hit in the circle a couple of times and that’s why he didn’t stand next to it.  At last, an explanation.  The ump had to run Beltre after moving the circle, but the question is: Why was this an issue late in the game, as opposed to earlier in the game or any other game Beltre has been in in his long career?  I doubt the ump is going to have a good answer for that.  

There was a late game on the MLB Network.  I tuned in, hoping for the Padres game, so I could see some ex-Chihuahuas.  Unfortunately, it was the Dodgers and Twins.  I wouldn’t have watched two teams I don’t like normally, but it was an interesting game.  The Dodgers came back from 5-0 and won, 6-5, on a walk-off hit in the ninth by Justin Turner.  Up on the giant video screens afterward, the shaggy Muppet, Animal, came on and started shouting, “Justin Turner!  Justin Turner!”  I hadn’t noticed before, but there is a remarkable resemblance between the two.  (Mike confirmed, from his trip to Dodger Stadium that they ran that video for him when he was there.)

7-27-17
For tonight’s game between the Chihuahuas and the ICubs, Tim Hagerty was pretty chatty talking about baseball, which is a very good thing.  He even explained the “Three true outcomes” of the Sabermetricians early in the game, which everyone’s been talking about this season.  Okay, now that I’ve finally heard this, I’m calling BS.  It’s just like the WAR stat.  It’s pure crap.  Neither measures anything of value.

WAR uses a somewhat arbitrary value as part of its equation.  Its only purpose is to somehow prove that Mike Trout is the greatest baseball player ever.  Walks, strikeouts, and home runs are somehow the only outcomes that just measure the batter without the fielders or random chance interfering.  How about the umps’ strikezone?  Once we go to an electronic strike zone, you might have a better argument.  Not a good one, but a better one, because I’ve got more bullets to shoot at this nonsense.

Boy, was I busy working tonight.  I really had trouble had trouble keeping up with the game, but it was pretty interesting when I did.  In the third, the pups loaded the bases.  The ICubs pitcher had to come out for injury.  The Chihuahuas got a run in on a bad pickoff throw to first and lead 3-1.  The score was tied in the seventh by the ICubs.  The lead run was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice, but an error later in the inning gave Iowa the lead.

Then the radio call went out, apparently for everybody.  Tim came back and had to describe what would have been an awesome play to have heard live.  An ICubs runner at third tried to steal home.  The catcher missed the tag, but the runner missed the plate, and was then tagged out.  In the eighth at 6-5 ICubs, Nick Buss tripled with one out, but was stranded.

In the bottom of the ninth, Tim suddenly got excited.  Though the Chihuahuas were down to their last out, a PCL record was about to be tied.  And with the final out, a strikeout, the ICubs had gotten 20 strikeouts in the game.  Tim was a bit embarrassed for not calling attention to it earlier, but he said this snuck up on everybody, because the Chihuahuas had struck out 9 times in the last three innings of the game.  Before that, it had been a fairly normal strikeout total.  Three true outcomes?  Tonight, it was more like one true outcome.

1,000th Post Edition

I had no idea when I wrote the “Now What?” [6-10-16] post last year that I’d still be doing this.  Imagine my surprise Wednesday night when I suddenly noticed that I’d put up Post #999.  Who’d have thought it?  Start something in 2009 and look what happens.  I hadn’t been posting more to get here; I’ve just had more time to write and been watching and listening to more baseball.    Since the “Now What” post went over my favorite (and least favorite) RPG posts, I thought I’d list some standouts from my sports and other posts.

3-14-09 Junior Post.  Definitely my favorite of my old posts.  Just a pure piece of comedy.  And now, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is retiring.  Where does the time go?

4-14-13 Demolition Weekend.  I’ve never been so happy to be wrong.  The construction of Southwest University Park and the arrival of the El Paso Chihuahuas has been a tremendous boon to the area.  (I still maintain this relationship will eventually end badly.)

5-28-13 First Memorial Day Posting.  This one’s always special, because I still can’t believe how much I watched, listened, and wrote.  It’s simultaneously a testament to extreme laziness and exhausting, back-breaking labor.  

7-17-13 Baseball Fashion Police.  I don’t care if I’m the only person who cares about the look of Major League uniforms, but I just had to get this off my chest.

4-20-14 & 5-13-14 Community Posts.  I enjoyed writing these, since I loved the show.  My Season Six predictions produced my favorite comment (on another person’s blog).  He’d found my synopsis for the season so plausible, he momentarily thought it was real.  I swear Dan Harmon read it, because there was a gag in the actual Season Six that referenced something in it.  (And if so, he definitely didn’t like what I’d written.)

4-22-14 Bullfighting.  This was most real thing I’ve posted here, as it involved actual life and death.  I’m not sure I approve of the spectacle, but I certainly gained a new respect for it after watching it.

1-23-16 First Aggie Women’s Basketball Game.  Given what a big fan of the team I became last season, this post got that relationship off on a really bad foot.  Given my skepticism of the sport and women’s athletics in general, they had to win me over as a fan.  You guys earned it.  

I’m somewhat embarrassed by the post now.  I’d be tempted to take it down or retroactively edit it, but unfortunately, it got a bunch of hits for a bad reason that had nothing to do with the team or the game.  I discovered why about a year after posting it.  It’s really something to see your blog in a screenshot on somebody’s Twitter feed by someone who took offense to it.  I went back and re-read what I wrote, horrified that I might have really upset someone.  I couldn’t see the offense.  I could see that this person had gotten easily offended at some other people.  Now, I’ll be damned if I’ll take it down.                

11-9-16 NMSU Sports Economics.  I sent this to some financial people at work, and they thought it was interesting and well written.  I take some pride in that.

10-29-16 Aggie Volleyball loss and 10-29-16 Aggie Soccer win.  Oh, that volleyball game versus Bakersfield.  That was as angry as I’ve ever been at a live sporting event.  Kudos to the Aggie girls for not taking it as badly as I did.  It took me a couple days to cool down to write the recap.  Thankfully, the soccer team won later that afternoon to make me feel better about life in general.  

4-29-17 The Longest Day.  I’d spent some long afternoons and nights at the university for sporting events, but this one took the cake.  I still can’t believe I was out in the cold and wet all day and didn’t get a cold or worse.

5-13-17 Aggie Softball wins the WAC Tournament.  Once again, these games ran the gambit of emotions.  It was so awesome to see the girls win a championship and in such a dramatic manner.

I know they say that, “The Internet is forever,” but it isn’t.  Ask Apollo Smile.  My 2008 Myspace political blog disappeared after a business strategy change by the company.  All of my reviews, pictures, and even some fan fiction on an Archie Comics fansite went into the ether when their server crashed.  I’ve been locked out of this blog on a couple of occasions, once for a year.  I could say the wrong thing here and offend someone and this place and all 1,000 posts could go away instantly.

So if I have any advice for other bloggers, don’t assume what you post will be here forever or haunt you for the rest of your life.  Write what you believe and feel passionate about.  You’re free to change your mind later, just acknowledge why.  Treat your blog like each new post is your last and you won’t regret anything.  

Baseball Journal July 24-25, 2017

7-24-17
At the beginning of tonight’s Chihuahuas/Storm Chasers game, Tim Hagerty explained an odd event from last night’s game.  Omaha had announced a new pitcher, but then pulled him before the inning started.  The manager had to consult with the umpire, since, by rule, an announced pitcher has to pitch to at least one batter, barring injury or otherwise unable to pitch.  In this case, the announced pitcher had just been called up, and the team was told not to use him.  His replacement was given extra time to warm up.  This story had consequences for tonight’s game.

While the pups and the Chasers traded single runs for about half the game, I found out that the Rockies and the Cardinals were playing on ESPN.  I went ahead and started watching it, so I could finally see the Rox play a bit.  Unfortunately when I joined the game, it was 6-0 Cardinals in the seventh.

The Cards have a player with one eye.  I didn’t catch his name, but I saw him hit a home run.  Yadier Molina, Cardinal catcher, hit a double and then stole third.  He scored on a Little League play involving Gold Glove/All-Star Nolan Arenado and Mark Reynolds.  It just didn’t seem to be the Rockies’ night, though on the next batter, Arenado caught a shoe-top liner and threw to Reynolds to double off another runner for a double play.  8-2 Cardinals final.

Of course while I was distracted, the Chihuahuas erupted for five runs in the fourth, and the Storm Chasers scored four in the fifth.  In the bottom of the seventh with the score 8-6 Chihuahuas, Tim was flabbergasted.  The Chasers sent out a catcher to pitch.  They were out of pitchers.  After three recent extra innings games and some call ups, they got caught short, even with a couple of Low-A call ups.  “Omaha is punting on the game,” said Tim.

The Omaha catcher was pitching so slow, it wasn’t registering on the radar gun.  He got a strikeout after loading the bases (the Chihuahuas player was furious at himself) and allowing a run, but was taken out after another run.  Another position player finished the inning, leaving the bases loaded.  He didn’t fare so well the next inning, giving up four runs.  14-6 Chihuahuas was the final.

Meanwhile, the Rangers lost to the Marlins, but Adrian Beltre went four for four.  He’s seven away from 3,000, and I think he wants to do it in Arlington.


7-25-17
It was Christmas in July in Philadelphia at today’s game between the Phillies and the Astros.  Once again, I was blocked from the MLB free game on their site, but picked it up on Yahoo.  This was a good thing, since I got to see a Phillies’ skit between innings.  With fake snow falling, the Philly Phanatic was triple-dog dared to put his tongue to a light pole.  Two guys in winter coats from the TV production, who’d goaded him into it, ran away when the Liberty Bell at the stadium rang.  I laughed out loud.

The seats were about half-filled, though it did look like rain was in the area.  I remember their recent history when Philly fans would take over Nationals Park whenever the Phillies were playing there, because they couldn’t get seats for their own home games.  Several Astros fans were scattered through the crowd.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see very much of the game.  The Astros won 5-0 even with a pair of errors.  I did get to see the Phanatic dancing with Santa Claus between innings.  There was also a young woman who got a foul ball in the stands.  She had her back to the camera, which was why they were showing her.  The thin shirt she was wearing was described by the announcers as “Not appropriate for television.”
   
Aside from work, among other distractions were the Chihuahuas playing the Iowa Cubs.  Kyle Schwarber was, unfortunately, no longer on the ICubs, which would have made this a must-listen game.  Christian Bethancourt was making his first start for the pups.  The experiment of trying to make him proficient at every position may be over.  He gave up a two-run homer in his stint, but got one of them back by hitting his own home run in his last at bat.

Meanwhile, I turned on the TV and tuned to the MLB Network for the Rockies and Cardinals game.  I’d gotten two e-mails from the MLB Fan Council (or whatever they’re called), asking me to watch the game and take a survey afterward.  Surprisingly, the game was on.  Normally, the Rockies are a team that gets blacked out here (erroneously I might add, cable in the rest of New Mexico has them on, we get the Diamondbacks’ network).

Matt Vasgersian and John Smoltz did a pretty good job of commentating.  The game was a tight, low-scoring affair.  It was 2-0 Cardinals for most of the game, until the Rockies scored a run late.  In the eighth, the Cardinals brought out a reliever that, as the guys said beforehand, did indeed pitch a lot like Tim Lincecum.  It’s tough throwing motion, but it can be duplicated.  Unfortunately, he threw like Timmy’s later days and gave up the tying home run to Trevor Story.  The Cardinals’ poor bullpen had been a subject of discussion tonight and last night.  I think they said Seung-hwan Oh was out.  (I love his nickname: The final Buddha.)

Back in the El Paso, the Chihuahuas lost 2-1.  Bethancourt directly figured into all of the runs scored.  The ICubs’ closer was Matt Carasiti.  That name sounded really familiar.  Tim Hagerty reminded us that he had been Albuquerque’s closer before being traded, when he blew two saves to the Chihuahuas last month in very dramatic fashion.  He got some revenge here.  Amazingly, this game, which started an hour after the Rockies/Cards, finished first.  It was a two-hour, 12 minute game, a record for this ballpark.

Back in St. Louis, it was the ninth too.  The Rockies got two on with two outs, but Trevor Story struck out to end the inning.  In the bottom, Harrison Bader, making his Major League debut, hit a double and got moved over to third.  On shallow fly ball to right field, Bader slide into home just ahead of a slightly off line throw.  His family in the stands were shown going crazy.  3-2 Cardinals.  I didn’t get that MLB survey last night, maybe it’ll come today, but I will certainly say here that I enjoyed the broadcast.      

Baseball Journal July 21-23, 2017

7-21-17
It was raining here (Las Cruces) and in El Paso.  Tim Hagerty reported only sprinkles at the downtown ballpark and urged everyone to come for tonight’s game between the Chihuahuas and the Omaha Storm Chasers.  I’ve seen Omaha’s parent club, the Royals, a few times this season.  I didn’t realize Jorge Solar from the Cubs was with the Storm Chasers now.  He was one of the Cubs’ top prospects.  I also learned that the Royals mandate high socks at the minor league levels.

The Storm Chasers started the game off well, as they scored in the first three innings for six runs.  I ended up switching to watch the Twins and Tigers on the MLB free game.  Ooops.  Not so fast.  For some reason, the site suddenly got bitchy about my login.  I was already logged in.  I’m not sure what the issue was.  Luckily, Yahoo was still broadcasting the free game, so I watched there.  Unfortunately, it was the Twin’s feed.  There was an old-timers gathering this weekend and a couple of them were in the booth, reminiscing about World Series winning teams.  I don’t like the Twins, so this was annoying.  Yahoo didn’t run commercials between innings, which I did like.  There was even some behind the scenes stuff broadcast by the Twins’ network.

I flipped back to the Chihuahuas when I noticed they’d scored three in the sixth (and I lost video on the Tigers’ game, who won 6-3).  Tim was finally acknowledging that it was raining there, but lightly.  It continued for most of the rest of the game.  The Internet broadcast I was listening to came back to the game late from the commercials in the eighth inning.  I’d missed the Chihuahuas scoring on a two-run homer to close it to 7-6.  Dusty Coleman almost tied it on a long shot that was caught at the wall.  In the bottom of the ninth, Tim and crowd were really getting into it.  “We want a hit!” was heard chanted.  The Storm Chasers’ catcher slipped on the on the wet on-deck circle making a foul out, but that was the only drama.  7-6 Storm Chasers was the final.

7-22-17
The Rangers’ affiliate in El Paso didn’t pick up the coverage of their game against the Rays until it had been for an hour.  They’re just getting worse and worse.  I was having a hard time getting into the game after that.  Also, while the Rangers had won last night behind Yu Darvish, the only team news was that management was now shopping him around.  That’s a bad sign.

I also lost the signal around the seventh, but it turned out that I’d heard all scoring in the game anyway.  The Rays got out to a three-run lead.  In the sixth, Adrian Beltre would drive in two which tied the score.  The Rangers got the lead after a wild pitch scored a run from third.  4-3 was the final.  I was impressed with the high-level of offensive and defensive play from the “old men” on the field, Beltre and Evan Longoria of the Rays.  Both drove in runs and played an excellent third base.

It had been raining here and El Paso, but it had stopped well before tonight’s Chihuahuas/Storm Chasers game.  Tim Hagerty encouraged people to come out to the ballpark with the cool overcast weather.  The first run was in the third.  Rocky Gale got caught in a rundown, but right after, a hit would drive in Travis Jankowski, who’s down from the Padres on rehab.  Nick Buss then doubled in a run to make the score 2-0.  In the fifth, a bases loaded sac brought in a run.  A three-run homer by Collin Cowgill brought the score to 6-0.  It was a 10-batter inning.

At this point, I lost track of the scoring, because it didn’t stop.  The Storm Chasers scored a couple in the sixth, but Ryan Schimpf hit a home run.  He hit a two-run homer in the seventh.  Nick Schultz also homered.  Okay, it was 12-3 going into the ninth.  The crowd was yelling at the Omaha batters to swing, because they wanted their fireworks show.  They swung to the tune of three more runs.  With two on and two out, a reliever was brought in.  He threw one pitch.  There was some confusion in the outfield between the outfielders, but that was the final out.  12-6 Chihuahuas final.  They’re at .500 again, 50-50, and four games out of first.

I missed the Rockies again.  I had trouble turning away from the Chihuahuas and reception was not good.  They won, but I am totally missing out on their season.

7-23-17
Before today's ballgame, I made the mistake of listening to Fox Sports Radio for about five minutes, waiting for the game.  Five minutes was all I could take.  The two hosts were going after Jordan Spieth for choking at the British Open on Sunday.  They used this as a gateway topic to go after the greatest chokers of all time.  What's that you say?  Spieth actually won the British Open (yes, it's still the BRITISH Open, regardless of their denials).  They even mentioned how he'd just made a come back and regained the lead (the tournament was still in progress at the time), but that didn't stop their opinion mongering.  Sheer brillance.    

Rangers versus Rays.  Starting off in the second, Adrian Beltre tripled.  Each hit he gets now adds to the countdown to 3,000.  Mike Napoli sacrificed him in.  Roughned Odor homered right after.  Eric Nadel hesitated on the call until the umpire called it.  The ball hit a catwalk there in Tropicana Field.  2-0 Rangers.  The Rays tied it in the bottom.  As per Eric’s call on one of the runs, “The Rangers turn a double play, and the Rays score the tying run.  Everybody’s happy.”  Two all.

In the third, Matt Hicks stumbled over the name of the Rays’ pitcher, Jake Odorizzi.  “Easy for me to say.”  In the bottom of the fourth, there was a Catcher’s Interference call (I think).  This call seems to be more common than usual this year.  I also learned that it is scored an error, but does not count as an at bat.  Two Rays score on a double in the inning.  Then, there was a failed suicide squeeze with a runner on third.  The ball bounced up and hit the batter in the face.  He ended up trying to drive the batter in with a hit, but the runner was out on a collision in front of the plate.  Ranger catcher, Robinson Chirinos, stayed in for the inning, but came out afterward with a twisted ankle.  (That’s pretty tough, catching on a twisted ankle.)  The bases were loaded.  Ranger starter, Tyson Ross, came out after walking in a run.  5-2 Rays.

In the fifth, Joey Gallo homered on a jammed swing.  How far would it have gone if he’d had full extension?  Three walks afterward loaded the bases, but none scored.  5-3 Rays.  In the eighth, Ruggie hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot that tied the game at five.  Right after, Carlos Gomez went yard to give the Rangers a 6-5 lead.

In the ninth, with two on, Napoli hit another catwalk, but the ball was still in play this time.  Evan Longoria made the ricochet play on it for a flyball out.  The ground rules at the Trop are numerous.  Jose LeClerc came in to close.  He let two on, but got the save.  6-5 Rangers final.  That’s a three-game sweep following getting swept in four by the Orioles.  It was a nearly four-hour, nine inning game.  Jarrett Sandler was glad he’d be able to make it to call a Frisco Roughriders’ game.  Eric and Matt would still be able to make it to an Earth, Wind, and Fire concert this evening.

On the subject of events that went on too long, I had NASCAR’s Brickyard 400 on this whole time.  I wouldn’t even bother mentioning this race, but it got hysterical, for the wrong reasons, by the end.  Coverage started at noon.  The race finished (?) just before 7:00.  The grandstand looked kind empty for the start of the race.  This may have been at least partly because of the weather.  NASCAR ran about 30 minutes of “show” laps, before parking everyone right before a storm hit.

After over two hours of delay, the race restarted.  What followed was a steady stream of crashes and blown up cars.  There ended up being a record number of cautions at 14.  I think half of the field had been eliminated by the end, including Kyle Busch and Martin Truex, who’d dominated the race.  They couldn’t even finish either Overtime attempt.  On the second try, nearly racing in the dark (no lights at IMS and those are just decals on the cars, not headlights), there was another wreck down the backstretch.  Officials held off on throwing the yellow until the official line had been crossed to end the race, since the sun was just minutes from going down.  Kasey Kahne was the “winner,” though it felt like everyone involved in this was a loser.

I never imagined that the race would overlap with the Chihuahuas/Storm Chasers’ game.  At least nothing much happened until the fifth, where Omaha would score three runs, including a solo homer.  Unlike the last two sporting events, and almost unbelievably, this game had only been going on for an hour at that point.  It was like everyone had a plane to catch.

In the sixth, the Storm Chasers added another home run to make it 4-0.  Their pitcher was just up from High-A.  By this point, the Chihuahuas’ batters had seen him a couple of times and started to tee off on him.  Peter Van Gansen doubled in two runs.  Franchy Cordero, down from the Padres, then hit a three-run homer.  5-4 Chihuahuas.

In the seventh, the Storm Chasers tied it at five.  Rain started falling as a mist in the ninth.  Tim Hagerty started getting nervous, mostly worried about the game getting rained out.  There was crackling on my radio, indicating lightning in the area.  (This just about drove me nuts during the Rangers game, when it started pouring here earlier.)  Of course we went to extras.  It was that kind of day.  In the eleventh, the Storm Chasers pushed across a run thanks to three walks in the inning.  With rain coming down harder and most of the crowd departing, the Chihuahuas went down quietly in their half.  6-5 Storm Chasers final.  I guess playing in that dumb dome in Tampa Bay does have its advantages.

Baseball Journal July 17-20, 2017

7-17-17
Tim Hagerty was still a bit under the weather for tonight’s Chihuahuas versus Rivercats game in Sacramento.  I was under the weather too, in a more literal manner.  We were deluged by a monster rainstorm.  It was after 1:00 am, my workplace was flooded, and I was outside with a flat bottomed metal shovel, scooping out water and trying not to notice how much lightning was going on around me.  At that point, I was having serious philosophical thoughts about my life.

The workday had at least stared promisingly with a co-worker returning from vacation and bringing me back some souvenirs from a Dodgers’ game (more on that in another post).  Likewise, the Chihuahuas did well in their game, amassing a six-run lead through five innings.  Tim was a bit low-key, so I found myself kind of drifting in and out of listening.  I did notice that the PA was playing the Rocky theme for a Rocky Gale at bat.  Tim, and I’m guessing Rocky, are a bit spent on that gag.

The Rivercats made a comeback in the seventh with three runs, knocking Brian Rodriguez out of the game.  Carter Capps came in.  Tim made note that this was the same umpiring crew from last month (6-25-17) that had called him for a couple of illegal pitches because of his unorthodox delivery.  This resulted in Capps and manager, Rod Barajas, getting ejected.  This time, no problems with the umps and Capps stopped the comeback.  In the eighth, there was a kid screaming encouragement for the ‘Cats, along with howling coming from some other fans.  Whatever that was all about, it didn’t help.  7-3 pups was the final.  The Chihuahuas are finally back to being a .500 team.

7-18-17
Chihuahuas versus Rivercats.  The ‘Cats had a 2-0 lead until the fourth.  With two outs, bases loaded, and the bottom of the order up, pup pitcher, Zach Lee, tied the score with a single.  A wild pitch scored another to give the Chihuahuas the lead.  But, the Rivercats came back to tie it in the bottom, 3-3.  The Chihuahuas scored two in the fifth to take a 5-3 lead.  The PA played, “Who let the Dogs out?”  In the bottom, with the bases loaded and two out, and a full count with the crowd going crazy, Zach struck out the last batter.

Christian Villanueva homered in the seventh.  Tim Hagerty’s voice cracked during the call, so he’s still not quite 100% after losing his voice.  Sacramento did manage to score two in the bottom to make it 6-5 pups.  Jason Jester, in his second inning of relief, gave up the tying run, but after loading the bases, he got out of it by starting a 1-2-3 double play.  We did not get a resolution until the bottom of the twelfth.  With the fans screaming and sounding pretty rowdy, a lead-off double, moved to third, was brought in by Trevor Brown.  7-6 Rivercats, but quite a game.  Jarrett Parker, down from the Giants, went 3 for 5 with a walk in the game.

7-19-17
The good news was that I got to listen to a Chihuahuas’ day game against the Rivercats, nearly uninterrupted.  The bad news was that they lost 3-1.  The score didn’t even feel that close.  The Rivercats scored on a lead-off home run in the first, and two more in the fifth (though they had a runner picked off second).  Tyler Bede kept the pups well in hand for most of the game.  It wasn’t until he came out in the seventh, that a bases loaded walk produced the only Chihuahuas’ run.  I even missed the end of the game because of a couple of El Paso weather alerts.  It was a two-and-half hour game, which wasn’t the end of the series.  The teams play again tomorrow night.  So much for a get-away day.

I spent most of the game reading my new Dodger yearbook.  It was pretty cool.  I liked the section that hit the high points (and lows) during the 2016 season.  I got a couple of things out of the game.  Franchy Cordero was called up to the Padres.  I finally got an explanation for old Dudley Field’s nickname, the Dudley Dome.  It was said that it never rained there, like there was a dome covering the field.  Tim Hagerty called a fan with a mitt catching a foul in the seventh.  He loves doing that.  I think he’d wear a mitt in the pressbox if he could still do his job.    

Checking the MLB scores at work, I noticed that the Rockies completed a three-game sweep of the Padres, scoring 36 runs in the process.  Nolan Arenado hit three homers in the finale.  Unfortunately, the Dodgers keep winning (10 in a row).  The Rockies are in second, 10 games back.  The Rangers have lost three in a row to the Orioles.  Let’s see if Cole Hamels can stop the bleeding tomorrow.

7-20-17
I couldn’t resist clicking on a story from a Sports Illustrated daily e-mail: What do broadcasters eat during games?  Joe Buck apparently has at least four cups of coffee before games.  This explains a lot.  There was another story on a Giants’ fansite that reported that the Giants home sellout streak had finally ended after several years.  Unfortunately, I didn’t write down any of the particulars.  The Giants’ organization tweeted out a “Thank you,” to their fans from their support.  Meanwhile, the Rangers blew a five-run lead and were swept by the Orioles in a four-game series.  The Rangers will be sellers at the trade deadline here shortly.

We’ll pick up the action in the eighth in Sacramento.  The Chihuahuas had already come back from two down against the Rivercats, but were trailing by a run.  New arrival, Peter Van Gansen, singled in the tying run, and scored on a play at the plate on a hit by Christian Villanueva.  Not bad, considering that before the game, while Tim Hagerty was talking to Steve Kaplowitz, Tim had thought that the name was a gag entry on the roster.

Carter Capps got a two-inning save.  Dusty Coleman hit another home run, and the Chihuahuas beat the Rivercats, 5-3.  They are still three back of Salt Lake in the standings.  In somewhat bad news today, a roster spot was opened up by the release of pitcher, Tyrell Jenkins.  He just hadn’t lived up his projections.  Today was also his birthday.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Arizona Diamondbacks July 4, 2017

                                      

My co-worker, Mike, returned from vacation.  He’d repeatedly rubbed it in that he and his girlfriend were going to a Dodgers game in Los Angeles.  He seemed happy and content upon his return.  I was happy to see him, especially since he’d brought back a couple of gifts from the ballpark.  I’d told him that I didn’t want any Dodger stuff, but he knew better.  Mike brought me a Dodger baseball and a yearbook, which was even better than the program I’d meant to ask for.  

The yearbook looks cool.  I’ll be reading it over the next few days.  Whatever Major League ballpark you go to, you probably want to find one of these for the home team.  I got one for the Yankees from someone visiting New York City a couple of years ago.  I was seriously impressed with it, and I hate the Yankees.  There’s a great pictorial section in this yearbook celebrating Vin Scully’s final year of broadcasting.  The picture above is from his last game.  He was doing the game in San Francisco, and that’s a crowd of Giants fans applauding him, the Dodgers’ mortal enemies.     

The first thing I asked was how did they end up at a ballgame, since neither of them are baseball fans.  Last year, they were in LA at the same time and failed to find a fireworks show for the Fourth.  Mike did some searching for this year and came to the conclusion that going to see a Dodger game was actually the cheapest and best option.  I’m kind of doubting this, but then again, I didn’t get to see my local fireworks show from where I live this year.  (The town isn’t that big.)

Mike confirmed what I’d heard that.  There’s one road in and out of the stadium.  It was named after Vin Scully.  He said lots of stuff around there was named after Vin.  The yearbook, from my quick skimming of it this morning, encouraged fans to buy their parking passes in advance.  That’s probably a good idea to save whatever time you can, because nobody’s paying to see a parking lot.  I might have paid to watch Mike’s girlfriend, who was driving, take out traffic cone and drag it with the car on the way to the ticket booth.

There are reportedly giant bobbleheads outside the stadium that Mike got some pictures of his girlfriend’s kid climbing on, but he didn't show me, so I'm questioning their existence.  Mike did have a famous Dodger Dog, which he reported to be just a regular hot dog.  For $7.  How disappointing.  They had to climb 10,000 steps to get up to their seats.  It was also scalding hot that day.  Mike fell behind.  An old lady passed him and mocked him on the way up.  At the top, the girlfriend and kid also laughed at him, until he nearly passed out, at which point they took better care of him.     

On the Fourth, I made an effort to find out what happened during the game (7-4-17) and reported it.  Clayton Kershaw took a no-hitter into the seventh, while the Dodgers scored four runs to back him up.  The D-Backs rallied in the ninth for three runs, but lost 4-3.  Mike added that everyone was enjoying the game until the ninth.  The Dodgers went through a couple of pitchers.  The final one came on for the last batter, who hit a fly ball that drove the outfielder to the wall.  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.  Admittedly not a detailed account, but, like I said, they’re not big baseball fans.  

I assume the crowd was also relieved that now the fireworks show could begin.  The PA invited everyone on to the field to watch.  It was rush of humanity, but Mike’s group did move down in the stands.  He was impressed with the show and also with a flyover before the game.  That’s some clout, a flyover for a regular season game.  

I gave Mike the option of me either paying him for the souvenirs, or he could call them an early birthday present, which comes up at the end of the month.  He picked the gift option, which was nice, especially since this is probably the only things I’ll be getting.  I showed off the gifts to a few co-workers.  One reminded me, “Don’t you hate the Dodgers?”  “No!  My childhood love of this team has been reignited!”  “Really?”  I shrugged and half-heartedly committed to jumping on the bandwagon if they win the World Series, at which point I’d a new hat (a Brooklyn Dodgers one).  I gotta say, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for the game though.

Baseball Journal July 15-16, 2017

7-15-17
Chihuahuas versus Aces.  Tim Hagerty came on the radio sounding pretty good, but after the first break he was back to sounding bad.  Once again, KROD carried the Aces’ team broadcast for the game.  This time it was a one-man booth.  The younger-sounding announcer wasn’t there for this game.  Admittedly, I kind of enjoyed yesterday’s call with the two of them.  I know there’s a charm to just having one announcer.  It’s considered more intimate with the broadcaster speaking directly to the listener, whereas in a two-man booth, the audience is eavesdropping on their conversation.  Still, it’s good to hear some banter when the game starts to drag a bit.

The Chihuahuas got out to a four-run lead.  Jeremy Hazelbaker got the Aces their first run in the third, as he stole second, continued on to an unguarded third, and was hit by a throw that went into the stands.  In the sixth, a two-run home run for the Aces brought the score to 4-3.  In the seventh, the Chihuahuas took three walks to load the bases, but then struck out three times in a row to end the inning without scoring.  The Aces tied it in the eighth, but Ryan Shimpf re-tied it in the ninth with a homer off the Aces’ All-Star closer.  In the tenth, Franchy Cordero went “Natural” and hit a homer over a light stand, which would give the pups a 6-5 win in a nearly four-hour game.  The Chihuahuas are now four back of division leader Salt Lake.

The Rangers versus Royals game started earlier, but the local station didn’t carry it from what I heard.  It was over by the time a night-time station came in.  The Rangers won 1-0 off a ninth inning run and a strong effort by Cole Hamels.  The Rockies’ game was over by the time KOA came in.  Annoyingly, the reception was great for a change.  They got clobbered by the Mets.

7-16-17
Forgive the digression, but I watched the Formula E NYC race this morning.  It was mostly for the curiosity factor.  I’ve seen one of these races before.  It doesn’t so much showcase electric car technology as it does highlight the limitations of it.  They only race for an hour and have to change cars halfway through.  The cars burn off 5% of their battery per lap.  I was mostly wondering where they were going to run the race in New York City.  The answer was the Brooklyn Cruise Dock, which is a bunch of docks and warehouses.  At least the Manhattan backdrop with Lady Liberty looked good.

This “E-Prix” (is it really necessary to put “E” in front of everything?) featured a claustrophobic run between warehouses and a pair of tight, hairpin turns.  The first hairpin was at the end of the front stretch.  Try to imagine a slow-moving clump of cars at the start trying to negotiate a 90 degree turn all at the same time.  Surprisingly, everyone made it out.

To be honest, I wasn’t paying much attention after the start.  The cars sound vaguely like a Jetsons’ flying car, revved up.  At slow speeds they’re silent, so the marshals in pit lane blow whistles when the cars are moving through.  It looked like several fans in the grandstands were wearing Ferrari hats.  The fans also get to vote via social media on which driver gets a speed boost in the race.  Do I even need to comment on that?  The cars finished with about 1 to 2% of their batteries left, so at least they can accurately chart their power usage.  My favorite thing at the race was probably Dario Franchetti’s color commentary.  He should be doing another series.

Rangers versus Royals.  Eric Nadel was back from vacation and this was my first time hearing him in a week.  Yu Darvish had a rough first inning as he let in the first Royals’ run with a wild pitch, and then got charged with an error with a throw trying to pick a runner off second that went into centerfield.  Interesting stat, Darvish is 44-4 when given at least three runs of support.  When Matt Hicks came on, he apologized for wearing a Royal blue polo shirt to the ballpark.  He said he wasn’t thinking when he put it on.  Drew Robinson, getting a start today, hit a homer to tie it in the third.  Mike Moustakas drove in Eric Hosmer in the bottom to give the Royals back the lead, 2-1.

In the seventh, Mike Napoli tied it for the Rangers with a homer, but Whit Merrifield doubled in a run in the bottom, 3-2 Royals.  In the eighth, Normar Mazara drove in Elvis Andrus to tie the game again.  For the ninth, Jason Grilli came in to pitch for the Rangers.  He loaded the bases with two outs.  Grilli induced a flyball, which Shin-Soo Choo, fighting the sun, dropped.  4-3 Royals final.  The sun had been giving fielders fits during the game.  I’m not sure if Choo was charged with an error or not.  In the post-game, Jared Sandler counted three Royal runs that came off of misplays.

I flipped on the Chihuahuas/Aces game as soon as it came on to see how Tim Hagerty was doing.  He sounded a bit weak, but he was good to go for today.  I got to hear the pups score their first run, but went back to the Rangers.  I tuned back in the fifth with the Chihuahuas up 5-0.  In the sixth, Nick Buss lost a flyball in the sun and an Aces’ run scored.  He wasn’t even the only one in Reno having trouble with flyballs.  The sun must have extra bright today.  The score was 5-2 in the seventh when Dusty Coleman hit a three-run home run as part of a five-run inning.  10-3 would be final with a victory for the Chihuahuas.  They are now three back of Salt Lake City.

I was not surprised that KROD went ahead and decided to carry the ESPN game this evening, since it was the Yankees and Red Sox.  ESPN is loving baseball right now.  They’ve got a single player to focus their unrealistic adulation on, Aaron Judge.  Also, they’re able to focus on interesting teams in major markets (New York, Los Angles, Boston, and Chicago) and disregard the rest, in spite of the standings.  It’s the way they think all sports should be.

Of course KROD also decided to go with auto-pilot programming, thus the game kept getting interrupted with local commercial breaks.  I had to hope nothing interesting happened in the game during those breaks.  (This got better later, and I think somebody was manning the board there.)  In the third, Mookie Betts gave the Red Sox a two-run lead off a home run over the Green Monster.  In the sixth, the Red Sox put up another run.  In the eighth, Jackie Bradley Jr. stole a home run off Aaron Judge and the Boston Crowd roared.

There was some drama in the ninth with Craig Kimbrel closing it out, but 3-0 Red Sox was the final.  It didn’t even last the usual four and a half hours, like other Yankees/Red Sox games.  After losing in 16 innings yesterday and earlier today as part of a day/night double header, this was a nice bounce back for Sox.  As a footnote to the broadcast, it was announced that Pablo Sandoval was released by the team.  Is this the sad end for such an iconic player?      

Baseball Journal July 12-14, 2017

7-12-17 #Triple-A ASG
Baseball has managed to fill the All-Star Game week with events and games.  In today’s case, the MLB Network broadcast the Triple-A All-Star Game.  It was also on our local Chihuahuas’ radio affiliate.  I had both on, but unfortunately work obligations kept me from enjoying either.  This was really too bad, because it was a great game.

This All-Star Game counts for who gets to be the home team at the Triple-A Championship game.  (The site has already been chosen.)  Tacoma was hosting tonight’s ASG.  It was a lovely evening there and a full house of fans, who were loudly cheering for the PCL over the IL.  On the radio, they talked about the recently remodeled stadium.  One older feature that was mentioned later was Tight-Wad Hill.  They said kids on their bikes used to ride up there to watch games.

The first half of the game featured a lot of offense with four total home runs.  Nick Buss from the Chihuahuas came in in the sixth and slapped a hit.  Even with some drama in the ninth, the PCL would win 6-4.  Again, sorry.  It looked like a great game, clocking in at a quick two hours and forty minutes, but I wasn’t able to sit down for it.

7-13-17
We’re back to regular baseball in Triple-A.  The big leagues are still on break.  Tonight’s game was the Chihuahuas versus the Reno Aces.  Again with the work obligations, I barely got to listen.  Tim Hagerty sounded refreshed and was cheerfully talking about baseball on all sorts of topics.

One thing I couldn’t help but notice was the music over the PA.  They were playing bizarre walk up music for BOTH teams’ players.  “Loving You is Easy,” “Should Have Put a Ring on it,” and “Baby, One More Time,” were clearly heard.  Finally later, I heard the PA in the background promoting “Bad Songs for a good cause.”  You could buy songs to play for the players for charity.  I wonder if Nick Buss bought his signature tune, “Kashmir,” since I heard that played for him.  It was weird fun.  Unfortunately, it was a 6-2 loss for the pups.

Late in the game, Tim mentioned that what had baseball’s attention today was a Single-A game between the Lexington Legends and the Delmarua Shorebirds.  The game was 20 innings in without a winner.  I remember actually seeing a Lexington game on TV on a minor league showcase.  Their logo is a handlebar mustache.  I brought up their game on Gameday, though I kept the audio with the Chihuahuas.  Just to add insult to injury, after 20, the game went to a rain delay, and was then suspended, still tied.  (Yeah, this is why changed my mind about adopting the WBC, start off with a man on second, extra innings rule.)

7-14-17
The MLB free game was an early evening affair between the Nationals and the Reds.  This wasn’t a matchup I cared about, but I wanted something to listen to while I was doing my work.  My only takeaways from the game were really random.  “Redzilla” made its debut in Cincinnati.  This is a large, steam-snorting ATV that shoots foam balls into the stands (and even upper deck) in a rapid-fire fashion.  There was a great crowd there getting pelted with souvenirs, which surprised me, given the team.  Lastly, a kid in the outfield caught a Bryce Harper home run and went crazy.  Not sure which team he was rooting for.  5-0 Washington final.

The D-Backs were playing the Braves in Atlanta on Fox Sports Arizona.  Though it was late in the game, I tuned in to get a look at Sun Trust Stadium.  I like that section in right field with the tabletops in front of the seats.  Those would be great seats for keeping a scorecard at.

The D-Backs were leading 3-2 in the eighth, until Freddie Freeman drove in two with a double.  Brandon Phillips actually fell down rounding third and still scored.  Not a great moment for the snake defense.  It got a little more embarrassing as Gregor Blanco in left tried to slide catch a Matt Adams’ hit and it bounced into his face.  With a 4-3 lead, Ender Inciarte robbed AJ Pollack of a lead-off homer at the wall.  Jim Johnson struck out Paul Goldschmidt to end the game.  I was surprised by the number of players that I didn’t realize were now playing for these two teams.    

To clear up business from yesterday, the Lexington Legends won the suspended 21 inning game today 7-6 with a home run in the twenty-first inning.  As chipper as Tim Hagerty sounded yesterday, he was clearly under the weather today for the Chihuahuas versus the Aces.  He could still talk, but wasn’t able to put any energy into it and was having trouble doing more than a mechanical recitation of events on field.  By the fourth, Tim reluctantly gave up and the broadcast switched to the Reno home broadcasters.  Dejected, he said just couldn’t perform at the professional level that game deserved.  That’s some integrity.

Reno had a pair of guys with a fairly light-hearted attitude doing their broadcast.  Surely somebody told them that they were now on in El Paso for the game, but I didn’t hear them say anything about it.  Quite a bit action happened after the switch, so it was probably good that they took over.  The Chihuahuas put up a bunch of runs (I was busy at work and listened intermittently).  An Ace player hit an inside-the-park home run.  Chihuahua, Nick Buss (the guys liked his name), took home on a double steal.  Well down in the eighth, the Aces still managed to load the bases, but only drove in two.  The pups won 10-4.  Hopefully, Tim will bounce back for Saturday’s game.

Baseball Journal July 10-11, 2017

7-10-17 Home Run Derby
“Back, back, back, back . . . !” It was kind of sad.  Chris Berman had called me to do the home run calls for this contest.  I didn’t have the heart to hang up on him.  He seemed so lost.  His replacements, the Aaron Judge Fan Club, weren’t doing much to endear themselves to me in Berman’s absence.  When media people are this desperate to find “The face of Baseball,” you know this story probably isn’t going to end well.  Just what I want for baseball, the entire sport to revolve around one player, like Lebron James and the NBA.

At least Judge lived up to the hype.  While a storm raged outside the stadium (actually I have no idea if it was that bad weather or not, but lightning was going off outside and the roof was closed), he managed to hit the roof and send balls into the concourse on his way to easily winning the contest.  The Judge cosplayers in the stands were ecstatic.

I have to give an ESPN commentator some small credit (don’t remember who, who cares?).  He accurately predicted that Miguel Sano of the Twins would do well, and he was in the finals.  About the event itself, the time limit rule was a good idea.  The problem is that the first round is usually the best one, and the guys are gassed after that.  There should be a way to arrange this to keep the players from getting worn out at the start.

7-11-17 #ASG
For some reason, ESPN Radio sent some of their shows to Miami for the game.  Why was I listening?  I had some vain hope that they’d talk baseball.  One host demanded the week off because, “Nothing was going on.”  His replacement spent his time doing Social Justice Warrior commentary.  The others just apologized for talking about baseball intermittently.  When they did talk about the sport, it produced such gems as, “The season should end in August.  With nothing else happening, the World Series would take center stage.”  There was an admission that the baseball regional networks (which ESPN doesn’t make any money from) are actually killing it in the TV ratings.  In some markets, the games are easily the number one show of the summer.

As for the Fox Sports coverage, unfortunately, Joe Buck and John Smoltz were there for the commentary.  Fortunately, the light-hearted nature of the game itself, kept them from becoming too histrionic.  Buck’s finest moment was listing a litany of Aaron Judge’s disadvantages in growing up, including being “bi-racial.”  Yes, it’s true.  If you’re “bi-racial,” you’re limited in life to being a rich, famous athlete or just being president.  Smoltz, meanwhile, still had some lingering bitterness over being tagged with the loss in two All-Star Games.  Buck consoled him by saying, “Let it go.  Nobody cares.”

I will praise Alex Rodriguez’s performance during game.  I saw him out on the field, in a suit, interviewing the National League infield.  It was a bit surreal, but I kind of enjoyed it.  (This is terrifying.  I disliked Joe Buck to the point that I liked A-Rod?)  The shocks kept coming though.  George Springer and Bryce Harper both wore microphones while out playing in the outfield and were interviewed there.  (I question why they were talking to Harper about football.)  There were even microphones at the bases and you could kind of hear the conversations going on.  Again, I liked it, but it was totally weird.  Buck and Smoltz even told people to join them live on Facebook for an inning.

One gets some impression that MLB is trying out some stuff to enhance the game, such as the prevalence of Statcast.  (In this game’s case, somebody actually needed to hit the ball for Statcast to be useful.)  On field interviews aren’t going to fly in a regular game, but I could see using more sounds of the game stuff.  In-game player tweeting and dugout confidential stuff could be around the corner.  Nelson Cruz may have already broken the seal.  In the seventh, he started off the inning and his at bat by handing his phone to Yadier Molina and asked him to take a picture of him and umpire, Joe West.  (This will never happen during a regular game.)  The collective media keeps calling for baseball to promote itself better.  I don’t know what they mean.  More social media?  More betting?  Bribe the networks and commentators?  More social justice (take a knee for the anthem)?  More off-field player scandals?  More commercial endorsements?  (Actually, I liked that new commercial with Jose Altuve.)

It was a full house for the game, just like for the Home Run Derby.  I saw gear from several teams represented.  The Marlins Man was noticeably absent for most of the game.  I didn’t see him behind home plate until the ninth.  It looked like he was sporting a beard and was tweeting like crazy.  Before that, there was some obnoxious a-hole with a cell phone, waving behind home plate.  It’d been a while since I’d seen this, and I’d hoped that maybe it had finally gone out of fashion.  If you just kept a sniper by the outfield camera, you could take care of these people.  You only have to make an example of one for these dimwits to stop doing that.

On the game itself, more or less.  Both coaches’ emphasized in their interviews that this game no longer counts for anything.  World Series home field advantage will no longer be determined by the outcome of this game.  Brad Mills, subbing for an ailing Terry Francona for the AL, said, “If we win, it’s icing on the cake.”  Joe Maddon for the NL said about the same.  I have mixed feelings about the change.  For this year, nothing was affected in game play (maybe), but I’m sure that will change in the future.  For now, it’s still a legit game, unlike the All-Star games in the other sports.

Actually, there wasn’t a whole lot to report from the game.  Fox managed to miss an out early out thanks to a long commercial break.  I’ve seen that happen at the Superbowl, so it wasn’t a diss on baseball.  In the second, Harper had the defensive gem of the game with a great dive and catch.  The guy is still playing all out, even in an exhibition.

Pitching dominated.  Everyone watching had to be getting a little concerned about this one finishing in a nil-nil tie.  Finally, the AL scored on a bloop single by Miguel Sano to take a 1-0 lead.  One of both managers’ goals was to get everyone in the game.  They might have succeeded.  Thank goodness I wasn’t trying to score this.  Yadi came in in the sixth, wearing metallic gold tools of ignorance.  I was e-mailing my Aunt Judy at the time.  She’s in Missouri and a big fan of his.  In the bottom of the inning, Joe Maddon called it and Yadi hit a homer to tie it.  Aunt Judy was thrilled.

Thankfully, even with extra commercials, the game was humming along.  By the ninth, the specter of a tie game was looming large.  Smoltz wanted baseball to implement the WBC extra innings rule, which puts a runner on second each inning.  I could kind of see this in minor league baseball, and perhaps for this game.  Spring Training games only go 10, regardless of the score.  [I’m writing this a couple of days later.  I may have changed my mind from what I was thinking at the time, because of a game I heard about on Thursday.  More on that later.]  However, Major League Baseball games that count need to play it out and have a winner.

The NL got Yadi to third in the bottom of the ninth.  You could hear Mets fans there chanting for Michael Conforto to bring him in.  However, Craig Kimbrel struck him out, and the Red Sox fans in Miami cheered.  Top of the tenth and Robinson Cano led off with a home run off Wade Davis (I missed it while working).  That wasn’t hardest hit ball of the frame.  Mike Moustakas fouled a pitch into the unprotected part of the first base camera well and hit a photographer.  Both Moose and the umpire went over to check on him.  I think he was okay.  Kyle Seager and Francisco Lindor both flashed leather in the bottom to seal the 2-1 AL win.  Ender Inciarte, former Chihuahua, made it into the game at the end.
     
Cano won the MVP, but I was busy again and missed it.  I flipped over to the MLB Network, but didn’t have time to watch their analysis.  Not a great game, but an interesting spectacle anyway for different reasons.  Lastly, I really enjoyed seeing the players introduced and bringing kids out with them.  Baseball should do this all the time.  I remember the Double-A Diablos used to always have Little Leaguers out on the field with them for the anthem.

Baseball Journal July 5-9, 2017

7-5-17
Not hugely into baseball today for some reason.  There was some sort of the issue with the Chihuahuas’ broadcast, which didn’t start on time.  I gave up on it initially.  By the time I checked back, it was 4-0 Las Vegas 51’s halfway through.  The pups ended up losing 7-3.  I did hear the Las Vegas crowd go nuts for an inside-the-park home run in the eighth.

7-6-17
All of the MLB free games were on early this week, so I missed them.  I did see a clip of Jon Jay pitching for the Cubs in a blow out.  The outfielder was throwing unbelievably slow, but he got the outs.  I sent the link to my Aunt Judy in Missouri.  Even though he’s not a Cardinal anymore, she still likes him.  She loved it.

I missed the first half of the Chihuahuas versus the 51’s.  It was 109 degrees in Las Vegas at the start.  Tim Hagerty reported that it was still 103 degrees late.  Also, he was outside calling the game, since there wasn’t room the pressbox for out-of-town announcers.  He sounded okay anyway.

The Chihuahuas, however, weren’t doing so good.  They had a 5-2 lead when I tuned in in the seventh, right before the 51’s sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs.  They had the bases loaded for most of the inning.  Cody Decker got a hit and scored.

In the top of the eighth, the pups scored two to close back to 8-7.  Unfortunately, 51’s had a nine-batter bottom of the inning and scored five more.  It wasn’t a good day for the bullpen.  “The Chihuahuas probably want this one over with,” said Tim.  13-7 51’s final.

7-7-17
Even in the high 90’s, Tim Hagerty reported that the team and himself were glad to be back in El Paso, rather than 109 degree Las Vegas.  After the fact, he reported how uncomfortable it was broadcasting in those conditions outside.  Tim had been especially worried about his equipment overheating out in the sun.

The Salt Lake City Bees started the game with a homer and a one run lead.  In the bottom, the Bees had an epic defensive meltdown with two errors and a misplayed ball, which resulted in six Chihuahuas’ runs.  Much of that damage came off of a three-run homer.  Tim was incredulous as the Bees are the best defensive team in the league.

I drifted away from the game again.  The Bees would make it interesting later, but the Chihuahuas tacked on a few more runs for a 9-5 win.  The Bees ended up with four errors for the game.  On the local news the next day, I saw one error where they blew a rundown between third and home that resulted in a run.  Also on the broadcast, they talked to a local umpire who was brought in to sub for a sick PCL umpire for the game.  That must have been a thrill for him.

7-8-17
This Saturday’s Fox game was the Royals at the Dodgers.  Both teams are playing well lately, and I like the Royals.  Unfortunately, I still don’t like the Dodgers, and there were multiple distractions on other channels.  I kept flipping back to the game, but didn’t stick with it for the most part.  I need an All-Star break.

The Dodgers took a three-run lead early.  The Royals got on the board after a Whit Merrifield double and then a wild pitch and a passed ball scored him.  Down by a run in the seventh, Merrifield again drove in the tying run.  Salvador Perez homered in the eighth to give the Royals a one-run lead (I missed seeing it).  In the bottom, Dodger rookie All-Star, Cody Bellinger tied it on a homer (I missed that too).  In the tenth, Dodger shortstop, Corey Seager, let a slow roller go right past him, and Eric Hosmer took second before the ball came back in.  Unfortunately, he didn’t score.  In the bottom, the Dodgers loaded the bases without an out.  Too late, a reliever was put in, who walked Bellinger to force in the winning run.  5-4 Dodgers.  Depressing.

The Chihuahuas versus the Bees.  Dustin Ackley hit into “The longest fielder’s choice in history,” as Tim Hagerty put it in the second.  A long fly ball was hit to Franchy Cordero, who caught it at the wall, but dropped it.  The runner on first didn’t see it and was forced at second when the throw came in.  The Bees just don’t seem to be playing sharp.

Tim had a special guest in the booth early, Ben Wood, the Dugout Club supervisor.  (Those are the good seats behind home plate with the attractive attendants.)  It was Ben’s birthday and his wife had set up this interview.  Tim was pleased as punch to talk to him.  After two quick half innings, Tim kept holding him over into a third.  Ben and one other attendant have been at every Chihuahuas’ game.  He’d worked for the Royals right before they won the World Series.

The Chihuahuas were up by three until the Bees tied it on a three-run homer in the fifth.  In the sixth, Jabari Blash drove in two for a 5-3 lead.  The Bees scored once in the ninth and had the tying run on, but Jason Jester got the final out for a 5-4 win.  Hmmm.  Seems familiar.

I flipped over to the Rockies versus White Sox game right after the finish.  In the eighth, Mark Reynolds hit a triple and was driven in to tie the score.  Unfortunately, my reception was poor, but I did hear Greg Holland giving up the lead in the ninth.  In the bottom, Charlie Blackmon was ejected after questioning the call on a strikeout.  Manager Bud Black would join him in the clubhouse shortly afterward for doing the same.  5-4 White Sox was the final.  Wait.  What?  That was three games in a row with the same score.  Now I know why I missed the Rangers winning over the Angels.  They had a different score.  

7-9-17
10:00 am was the earliest start time ever for the Chihuahuas.  It was even the first game of the day for all of professional baseball today.  Tim Hagerty was continually amazed by the time and kept watching the clock.  This time was set to get the teams a headstart on the All-Star break and maybe a break on the evening heat.  Tim didn’t mention the crowd during the game, but announced it at 6,000 afterward.  Not a great crowd, but they were pretty enthusiastic.  

In the first, a Salt Lake City Bee outfielder dropped a flyball that ended up being a double and yet another error.  The Bees definitely need some time off.  The teams traded solo homers in the second.  Jabari Blash hit the one for the Chihuahuas.  A little girl joined Tim in the booth from Chico’s Kid’s Club.  She called Tim, “Sir,” the entire time.

Franchy Cordero hit a two-run homer in the third.  He also got on in the fifth after a bad throw to first after a strikeout (another Bee error) and scored on a grounder.  4-1 Chihuahuas.  In the seventh, the Bees sent out Damien Magnifico to pitch.  I doubt I could have called this inning without snickering.  He wasn’t magnificent (I’m sure he’s never heard that one before in his career), but only allowed a run, in spite ample opportunity to give up more.

The Chihuahuas would win 5-2.  Brian Rodriguez had a good, quality outing for the win.  That’s a three-game sweep of the division leader, putting the pups only five games out of first.  (Unfortunately, they still have a losing record.)  The game came in in a very tidy two hours and 19 minutes.  I almost think there was a kangaroo court rule in effect for the game for the players.  Any at bat going over four pitches or any walks given up would be punished.  

Rangers versus Angels.  I haven’t seen or heard these guys all week.  Eric Nadel has apparently taken off this Sunday, but I’m happy to hear Matt Hicks doing most of the commentary.  On the other hand, I got to hear plenty of him and, co-host Jared Sandler, as the Yu Darvish worked at a snail’s pace.  The Angels’ pitcher wasn’t any better.  Matt told a long story about the third base coach’s uncle.  It was so long, I wasn’t sure the game was still going on.  Matt later speculated on the first meeting between the Aaron Judge and the Yankees and Brandon Drury and the D-Backs, thus we’d have “Judge and Drury.”  Maybe the heat there was affecting everyone.  Regrettably, the game itself was worse.  It was a 3-0 Angels win, and it wasn’t that close.

In more interesting games, the Astros beat the Blue Jays 19-1.  It’s obvious which team started the All-Star break early.  Jon Lester surrendered 10 runs without getting three outs in the first inning in the Cubs’ 14-3 defeat at the hands of the Pirates.  I did say something about the Cub’s pitching being their Achilles’ heel at the beginning of the season.  Kyle Freeland threw 8 1/3 hitless innings in a 10-0 win for the Rockies over the White Sox.  That’s a really good sign.  Unfortunately, the Dodgers are starting to run away with the NL West.  And with that, we go to the break and the All-Star game.  

Baseball Journal July 3-4, 2017

7-3-17
I was still probably a bit wore out from the day before and wasn’t entirely paying attention to the games today.  That was a mistake.  I missed out on most of the Rangers/Red Sox game on ESPN.  It was 2-2 when I’d last checked the score.  When I finally turned it on in the sixth, of course the Red Sox had just scored three runs.  An error by Roughned Odor was given the blame.  ESPN was doing “goat cam” on Ruggie for the rest of the game.

In the seventh, Jason Grilli came out in relief for the Rangers.  He’s a new addition to the club.  Grilli came in with a head full of steam and left after a scoreless inning, fired up.  That must have inspired the team a bit.  They scored in the eighth to bring the score to 5-4 Red Sox.  Another ESPN storyline was the un-touch-ability of Red Sox closer, Craig Kimbrel.  There was even a recent Sports Illustrated article about how great he is.  In the ninth, Mike Napoli homered off him to tie the game.  I was out of the room at the time, but I’m sure the announcers had plenty of excuses for this deviation from their storyline.

Unfortunately in the eleventh, Ernesto Frieri coughed up two runs to the Red Sox.  The Rangers couldn’t mount another comeback.  7-5 Red Sox was the final in front of a packed house in Arlington.  At least they probably got fireworks afterward, and there were some happy Sox fans there.

The MLB Network was doing some live coverage of games in progress.  They picked up the Royals versus the Mariners late.  Royal Mike Moustakas hit a monster home run, which I missed.  Moose will be at the Home Run Derby.  I forgot to check on who else was going to be going.  Joakim Soria got the save for the Royals in a 3-1 win.  Soria quick-pitched the last batter for a strikeout.  The batter and Soria were trading words, when the network suddenly skipped over to a game I didn’t care about.

“Buss is in the driver’s seat,” Tim Hagerty slipped that into one of Nick Buss’ at bats.  Shame.  Shame.  I found myself not listening for much of the rest of the Chihuahuas’ game because of that, but it turned into a pretty good contest.  The pups fell behind to the Aces, then got ahead, then blew it in the ninth to go to extras.  9,900 fans (an awesome crowd) wanted their fireworks show, not more baseball.  Thankfully, it didn’t go long.  In the bottom of the tenth, the Chihuahuas loaded the bases with two outs.  Franchy Cordero beat out an infield single to win the game, 6-5.  I’m sure the crowd wasn’t too unhappy about having to wait a bit since the team won in a walk off.

7-4-17
I suppose the big sports news of the day was the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest.  The winner, Joey Chestnut, ate 72 in 10 minutes, a record.  I didn’t see it, but I talked to a co-worker yesterday who was looking forward to seeing it.  To show solidarity with this the event (and because I’d read a fun article in Sports Illustrated about hot dogs recently), I went to 5 Guys for hot dog myself.  I brought it home and put chili (a nearly unforgivable omission from their menu of toppings) and cheese on it.  The real revelation was their milkshake.  I noticed that they have a caramel and sea salt flavor and, oh boy, is it very, very awesome.

The matchup was at least good between Yu Darvish and the Rangers versus David Price and the Red Sox.  Eric Nadel quickly lost patience with Price’s slow-working routine, as he described it in detail.  Darvish doesn’t exactly pitch like his car is sitting at a parking meter either.  I found myself losing it with the game by the fifth as the Sox went up 7-0.  Plenty of highlights for the Red Sox tonight, but I could care less.  11-4 Red Sox was the final.  At least the large crowd at Arlington got a fireworks show afterward.      

As the signal dropped on my Rangers’ station, I switched to hear the start of the Chihuahuas game.  Tim Hagerty reported that the starting temperature tonight in Las Vegas was 107 degrees.  In spite of that, there was a large, enthusiastic crowd there for the 51’s.  The Chihuahuas announced a bullpen day and started reliever, Adam Cimber.  All he did was throw 6 and 2/3 innings and give up one run (that came in via the next reliever), and he hit a triple.

The pups’ offense took care of the rest, scoring three in the third and then a Jabari Blash two-run homer in the eighth.  “Chihuahuas’ folk hero,” as Tim described him, Cody Decker came into the game as a pinch hitter for the 51’s.  I admit, since there was nobody on base at the time, I was rooting for him to hit a home run.  It didn’t happen this time.  The bottom of the ninth gave the fans there something to cheer about.  It was 5-1 and two outs, but the bases were loaded from three walks, but the potential tying run struck out to end the game.  At least the large crowd got a fireworks show afterward.  I think I’ll end all of my game summaries with that line from now on.  Sheesh.  Like watching some explosions will make losing feel better.

On that note, one of my other co-workers and his girlfriend went in Los Angeles this week.  Their main planned activity was going to the Dodgers/D-Backs game tonight.  Mostly, they just wanted to see the fireworks show afterward, as neither of them cares about baseball.  While I wait for my co-worker’s report, I’ll assume that this big NL West matchup didn’t interest them, nor did Clayton Kershaw taking a no-hitter into the seventh of this game.  They might have had some interest in the D-Backs mounting a ninth inning comeback, but only because it was delaying the fireworks.  4-3 Dodgers.  Given my dislike of the Dodgers, I said, “No souvenirs.”  A couple of days later it occurred to me that I would have liked a program anyway.  Damn.

Baseball Journal July 2, 2017

The coverage of today’s Rangers versus White Sox game (late as usual thanks to my local affiliate) began with Carlos Gomez robbing Melky Cabrera of a first inning home run.  Or not.  It was a homer.  Eric Nadel was again surprised by a home run and mis-called it!  What is going on here?  Is there something wrong with Eric, or is there some weird jet stream carrying balls out in Chicago?  The Sox takes a one run lead.

In the third, Pete Kozma, playing third for the Rangers today, thought he was out on a close play at first.  At least by crowd noise, he thought he was out.  The ump called him safe on an un-emphatic call.  The first base coach had to bring Kozma back from the dugout.  Pete next thought he was out on a fielder’s choice at second and went to the dugout.  However, a review showed him safe, so back on to the field he went.  With the bases loaded, Shin-Soo Choo was called for interference going into second, resulting in a double play.  Kosma went back to the dugout, inning over.  Wait.  Review.  Choo was ruled out, but no interference.  Kosma has now scored because of this ruling.  He doesn’t have to come back out of the dugout this time though.  1-1 tied.

The bottom of the third also got messy, but proved more productive for the White Sox, as they scored three more runs.  4-1 White Sox and a 48-minute third inning.  Mike Napoli hit a homer in the fourth.  Matt Hicks had no trouble calling it.  Robinson Chirinos, the Rangers catcher, stole second on a throwing error.  Later, he got to third and took home on a wild pitch.  4-3 Sox.  “A Little League game has broken out,” observed Eric after the White Sox had managed to commit four errors in the last two innings.

The Rangers loaded the bases in the fifth with no outs.  Two outs later, Jonathan Lucroy blooped in a single to score two and give the Rangers a 5-4 lead.  Matt Bush came out in the seventh and pitched well.  Unfortunately, the problem seems to be Rangers relievers in general.  Jose LeClerc gave up a two-run homer and the lead in the eighth.  6-5 White Sox.

In the ninth, Adrian Beltre was given a free pass with two on and two out.  Carlos Gomez then struck out on a wild pitch.  The catcher managed to retrieve the ball and tag home before pinch runner, Joey Gallo, could cross the plate.  Unfortunately, he didn’t come in as a pinch runner earlier or if only the Rangers had a speedy player on the bench, when a double might have scored him from first.  6-5 White Sox final.  The Rangers have the worst record in the league in one-run games.  Everyone thought that their awesome record last year in one-run games would eventually even out.  It just took a while.  Meanwhile, Jared Sandler was going to be doing a Frisco Roughriders game tonight with, former Ranger, David Murphy.  That’s a tough double header for Jared.

Speaking of double headers, the Chihuahuas started playing the Aces two hours early this evening to accommodate two, seven-inning games.  Given how late the decision was made about canceling last night’s game, I think a lot of fans didn’t hear about it.  Tim Hagerty was a little freaked out by how deserted the stadium was.  I wasn’t entirely playing attention during the top of the first, but I’m still wondering what happened as Tim gave the line of “No runs, no hits, no errors, and the bases left loaded,” at the end of the inning.  He commented that no balls were put in play.

In the third, it was a little more clear cut as the Aces scored three, though the last three batters all struck out.  In the fourth, it was 6-0 Aces.  It was nearly silent in the stadium during the inning.  Oswaldo Arcia did have an amusing moment, as he forgot the count and walked back to the dugout after a strike.  A coach had to direct him back to the batter’s box, as he wasn’t out.  Fifth inning, 12-0 Aces.  Thank goodness nobody is there watching this.  Tim spent most of his time going over the just announced All-Star Game rosters.  It was quiet enough to hear an Aces’ player beating the bat rack after making an out.  Tim mentioned that Albuquerque put up a sign making players liable for broken dugout equipment.  Finally, it’s over.  12-0 Aces.  Even at seven innings and two hours and thirty-five minutes, that was way too long.

It was not, however, as long as 30 inane minutes of ESPN Radio during the intermission.  I really should have switched stations while waiting.  Even if you’re a big NBA/The Bachelor fan, these idiots’ chatter couldn’t possibly have been entertaining to you.  The Aces scored a run in the second, but the Chihuahuas finally put up a run in the bottom.  The crowd cheered.

Tim had a couple of guests.  A veteran was made manager-for-a-day and got to hang out with the team before the game and give the ump the lineup card.  Tim was impressed with his long service record, but not enough to hold him over after a very short half inning.  Next, Tim had a young lady on, who was making her first trip to the ballpark.  She liked to play softball and praised the Boys and Girls Club.  It was another short interview.

The tie was broken in the fifth by a Socrates Brito home run for the Aces.  You gotta love that name.  The Aces scored three in the inning for a 4-1 lead.  Catcher’s interference was called in the inning, which gave the batter first base.  Normally, this would start a seldom-used rules discussion, but not tonight.  In the bottom, Ryan Schimpf homered to finally give the crowd something to get excited about.  Nick Buss continued the crowd-pleasing with a triple.  But the inning ended on the next pitch from an Aces’ reliever.  4-2 Aces.

 In the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Schimpf hit another home run to excite the crowd, but it was a 4-3 loss anyway.  There ended up being over 9,000 in attendance.  At least they were going to be getting fireworks.  Tim sounded a bit tired after five and half hours of baseball, which might explain his reluctance to talk about Catcher’s interference.  I’m a bit bushed too.  Later, I realized I'd listened to two of my teams lose three games today, which sucks.

Baseball Journal July 1, 2017

Rangers versus White Sox this afternoon.  Ranger pitcher, Cole Hamels, had some early problems in the first as he gave up a two-run homer and hit a batter.  Derek Holland was pitching for the Sox, his first time facing his former club.  Matt Hicks reported that Derek and Adrian Beltre had an amicable meeting before the game.  In the second, the Rangers loaded the bases with no outs, but only got a run on a groundout.  Score tied at one.  After the inning, Derek talked to the ump.  Eric Nadel speculated that he was apologizing for having a bad reaction to a ball call.  Hamels wasn’t particularly happy with the strike zone calls either.

In the fourth, Matt was amazed as Roughned Odor managed to see a bunch of pitches and reached on an error.  Yesterday, he’d only saw ten pitches in five at bats.  By the end of this game, he’d end up seeing over 30.  Ruggie is working on plate discipline.  In the fifth, a sacrifice attempt was later ruled foul and resulted in a “do over.”  Delino Deshields took advantage of that by doubling in a run instead.  Elvis Andrus then hit a two-run homer.  Eric gave a surprised home run call, as he thought that the fielder had gotten it up against the wall.

In the sixth, Mike Napoli added to the lead with a two-run homer after Holland came out of the game.  6-2 Rangers.  And again, Eric was surprised by the home run.  Him and Matt went nuts in the seventh, as slow-working Sox reliever, Chris Beck, came out.  [Listening to the game Sunday, I have yet to hear a quick-working White Sox pitcher.]

Cole Hamels came out in the bottom of the inning.  He did a great job after the first.  I think he had 19 straight outs.  Alex Claudio gave up two runs in relief, but in the eighth, Ruggie homered and then Normar Mazara tripled in three runs for a 10-4 Ranger win.  Once again, Eric was surprised by the home run.  What was going on in this game?  These players were being cheated out of their Eric Nadel home run calls.

Before the game and during, it was reported that Matt Bush had indeed lost the closer job.  Manager Jeff Bannister announced that he was going with a closer-by-committee approach.  A bat shattered during the game.  Eric mentioned that the MLB had forced bat-makers to do something with the grain of the bat to reduce shattering.  This was a quiet, but good, development for game safety.  I wonder this change somehow also has something to do with the insane home run totals this year.

This was bad timing later in the evening.  The NASCAR Coke 400 and the Astros/Yankees game both came on at the same time.  I admit, I kind of wanted to see a race, since I hadn’t seen one in a while, but the baseball matchup was too good to pass up.  Much of the pre-race was just an ode to Dale Earnhardt Junior anyway.  I actually saw a tribute magazine to him on the newsstand this week, since he’s more-or-less retiring after the season.  It was titled, “The Greatest Ever.”  I’ll just let that sit there without further comment.

OH COME ON!  ARE JIMMIE JOHNSON’S SEVEN CHAMPIONSHIPS NO BIG DEAL???!  REALLY???!

Ahem.

In any case, the Astros and the Yankees were wearing special Independence Day uniforms.  Frankly, I’m over these special uniform deals, since most of them are weird.  This time was especially strange, since the guys were wearing two different colored socks, which show up depending on how high the players put up their pants.  Maybe the MLB could work out something a bit more restrained and classy for future holiday games.

This evening was a sellout at MMP in Houston, little wonder given the teams involved.  There was lots of sunlight coming into the stadium early on, even with the roof closed.  Aaron Judge, who I’m sure many of the Yankee fans showed up to see, was on the bench for the game.  Matt Vasgersian and John Smoltz still spent a large amount of the broadcast time talking about him.  Judge is apparently being coy about entering the home run derby, even though he’s leading baseball in homers.  Smoltz definitely wants to see him play.  (And Smoltz does way too much backseat pitching.  Easy there, you’re not managing.)  There was no discussion of the biggest issue in the game: Carlos Correa’s terrible mustache.

Pitchers dominated early, somewhat making me regret my viewing choice.  Yuli Gurriel got it started in the fifth with a two-run homer.  He made a twirling, off-balance swing, and the ball just went inside the pole by the Crawford Boxes.  Rookie call up for the Yankees, Clint Frazier, got his first Major League hit in the sixth.  His family was in attendance, and they had a camera on them during the hit.  They were overjoyed.  Then wheels came off for the Astros to the tune of five runs, including a Didi Gregorious grand slam.  5-2 Yankees.  If Frazier’s family was happy before, they were crying now, as he followed up with a solo home run in the seventh.  6-3 Yankees.

Flipping on the radio at 7:00 pm, I found out that tonight’s Chihuahuas’ game was . . . delayed by rain?  Not that Las Cruces and El Paso necessarily have the same weather, though that is often the case, there wasn’t a hint of rain here.  From checking out the local news later, I found out that the stadium had been hit by a small storm.  It only rained for ten minutes, but it caught the grounds crew completely by surprise, and they didn’t get it covered in time.  Even with the 100 degree heat, the field was sopped and wrecked.  After three hours, they finally called it and scheduled a double header for Sunday.  The fans that came still got to see that night’s fireworks show anyway.  That was nice of the team to go ahead and do that for them.

Back in Houston, the Yankees’ fireballing set up man, Dellin Betances, came in the eighth.  Jose Altuve worked a walk.  He then proceeded to steal second and third during Correa’s at bat, and was driven in on a grounder.  (Correa’s mustache still looks terrible.)  Next up, Evan Gattis blasted a shot to left field, nearly landing the ball on the railroad tracks on the outfield wall.  (That’s really high up there, folks.)

The next batter walked, took second on a bad pickoff throw, and stole third.  Betances, in spite of throwing 100 mph, apparently has a very slow delivery.  Austin Romine, behind the plate, isn’t good at throwing out runners either.  Tonight, this is a bad combination.  There’s another walk.  With two outs, Aroldis Chapman is brought in for a four-out save.  With another 100 mph reliever in, nobody was expecting Gurriel to turn on one of Chapman’s pitches.  With the left field line unguarded, Yuli hammered a double into the corner.  Two runs scored to give the Astros the lead.  And then he stole third.  7-6 Astros.

For the ninth, the Yankee fans got to see Aaron Judge as the leadoff pinch hitter, unfortunately they only saw him foul out.  The Astros had their 100 mph reliever in, Ken Giles.  With two outs, Brett Gardner singled to left center.  Watching this ball, it did look like a gapper, except Houston’s speedy outfield easily ran it down and threw it back in.  Brett apparently only saw a sure double and only belatedly looked up to find out he was going to be out at second.  He was tagged out trying to get back to first.  Appropriately, Yuli Gurriel made all three put outs in the inning (two foul outs and the tag).  7-6 Astros was our final and a pretty cool game.

Junior won the race!  I got to see end of the “Firecracker 400” as Junior would incorrectly call it in Victory Lane.  Also, it wasn’t Dale Earnhardt Junior; it was Ricky Stenhouse Junior.  That was his second win of the year.  At this rate, he might become better known for being a racecar driver than Danica Patrick’s boyfriend.

I joined the Rockies and the D-Backs in the sixth with the score 3-0 Arizona.  I’ve had little luck in reception, game scheduling, and my work schedule to be able to listen to any of the Rockies’ games on KOA.  Nolan Arenado singled in the seventh and chatted with his WBC teammate, Paul Goldschmidt, at first.  Trevor Story came up next and homered.  This is good sign for the kid, though historically he has had Zack Greinke’s number.  3-2 D-Backs.  Unfortunately, that was it for Rockies’ highlights, and they lost 6-2.  I could hear fireworks going off during the post-game.  Was the roof opened before the game was over?  Just curious.