By the time I realized how long this recap would take,
I’d already fired off a bunch of time doing it.
However, I enjoyed this trip down Memory Lane anyway. It was a great season for the
Chihuahuas. From looking at my latest
issue of Baseball America, the Padres
still have some great players at the lower levels waiting to come up. Don’t be surprised if the playoff streak
continues next year. (It won’t help the
Padres until they get some decent veteran pitching.)
3-26-18 The season-opening exhibition game
between the Chihuahuas and the Padres.
It was a great event for the fans. Former Aggie, Joe Galindo, was there with the
team. Before the game, there was a question about the Padres moving the
franchise to San Antonio, who will host Triple-A baseball starting next
year. Cue ominous music.
4-14-18 Down 7-0 early, the
pups had huge comeback win 11-7.
4-18-18 It was 30 degrees
and raining in Reno for a dramatic 3-2 win.
4-25-18 Eight wins in a row. The team was on a roll on the road.
5-6-18 Franmil Reyes hit 8
homers in 5 games. Little wonder he got
promoted shortly thereafter.
5-22-18 The fire alarm game
in Tacoma. Tim Hagerty will be bringing
this game up in broadcasts for years to come.
The alarm went off by accident and the stadium was cleared. Tim was skeptical and was nearly forced out of
the booth by firemen, before the alarm finally stopped.
5-30-18 Hunter Pence was in
town with the Rivercats. Much of the
Giants’ roster would show up on rehab over the course of the season.
6-2-18 The Chihuahuas lost again at home. “The Chihuahuas can’t win at home!” I
exclaimed in my post.
6-3-18 Tim played an interesting interview
with Jayson Werth, who was a visiting player, during a weather delay.
6-11-18 A double header in Des Moines
started at 8:30am my time. The pups
split the DH. An interesting stat came
up; the Chihuahuas had twice as many road wins as home wins this season.
6-15-18 The Chihuahuas lost in extras to
Nashville on leadoff two-run homer (what?), thanks to the new automatic runner
rule in extra innings.
6-19-18 The quote of the year came from an
out-of-town visitor at my work place listening to the broadcast, “Why are they
talking about ‘Chihuahuas?’”
6-22-18 The Chihuahuas got to .500.
6-23-18 Johnny Cueto made a rehab start for
the Rivercats in Sacramento against the Chihuahuas.
6-27-18 Chihuahuas win 8 in a row.
6-28-18 The streak is broken. I wrote a haiku about it.
7-4-18 Happy Independence
Day! I missed the city fireworks show because
the pups and the Bees went into extra innings fighting for first place. The Chihuahuas won in an epic battle.
7-8-18 The Chihuahuas
swept out the second place Bees in a FIVE-GAME SERIES! How unlikely was that? At the break they were on a 16 of 19 winning streak. They did not leave first place from here.
7-15-18 Right after the
break, the Chihuahuas lost four to the Aces.
Constant rain canceled and delayed games in El Paso. The pups inability to win at home peaked here.
7-19-18 The Padres traded
Brad Hand for Francisco Mejia. It would
be several days before he started playing for the Chihuahuas, but this was a
huge move for the team later, as he was as good as his number one prospect
status said he was. For today’s day
game, the pups lost 16-1. My dad complained
that it was the worst game ever. I
thought it got pretty funny by the end with position player Brett Nicholas
pitching.
7-20-18 Evan Longoria was
in rehabbing in El Paso for today’s game with the Rivercats.
7-24-18 Mejia’s first start
finally, but in an inauspicious 13-1 drubbing by the Skysox.
7-27-18 A cat delay interrupted
the game in Oklahoma City. Only in
baseball. The pups won 10-2 and Brett
Kennedy went to 10-0 in his starts.
8-5-18 A three-run walkoff by Dusty Coleman
and the Chihuahuas got their fifth home win in a row.
8-7-18 Another comeback walkoff, and a four-game
sweep of the Express in El Paso.
8-9-18 Ty France debuted with the pups. He homered.
8-12-18 The pups split what had to be the
closest series of the regular season with the Rivercats in Sacramento.
8-17-18 Surprise, the voice of Aggie
Baseball, Adam Young, called a Chihuahuas’ game.
8-19-18 Ty France doubled in the winning run
in the ninth. The home winning streak
continued.
8-21-18 14 in a row at home. Even a lengthy rain delay couldn’t stop them.
Matt Holiday played for the Isotopes
tonight.
8-25-18 The Chihuahuas lost in Tacoma, but
over the course of a two-minute commercial break, the Bees were walked off and
the pups clinched the division. Tim was
completely stunned.
8-31-18 More Carter Capps/umpire drama and two
players were ejected. It was 6-1
Rainiers after 7 innings. Ty France hit
a two-run homer in the eighth and the game-winning hit in the ninth for a 7-6
win.
9-1-18 The Chihuahuas’ home winning streak
ended at 18 (18!) with a one-run loss.
They even had the bases loaded in the ninth.
9-3-18 I finally got to see a game in
person for their last regular season game.
It was hot and the Chihuahuas lost, but I had a great time anyway.
9-5-18 The playoffs started versus the
Grizzlies, but minus Rowan
Wick, Luis Urias, and Francisco Mejia, some key pieces of the team, and apparently the fans in El Paso,
who didn’t show because of the rainy weather. Game 1 was incredibly tense and tight, but
the Grizzlies took it 8-7
9-6-18 Weather again scared off the
fans. The pups made a heroic comeback
late, but lost 7-5.
9-7-18 The Chihuahuas won in Sacramento 2-0,
in one of the most dramatic games of the season. I basically missed the whole thing going out
to see Aggie Volleyball. I’m still
torn as to whether I should feel regretful or not.
9-8-18 The Chihuahuas won another close
game, 4-2. We went to a fifth and decisive
game.
9-9-18 A 10-1 Grizzlies blowout that ends
the season. We’re sad about the outcome,
but it was a great season to follow the Chihuahuas.
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