8-7-19
I lost access to listening to
the Richmond Flying Squirrels (and
other stations) at work sometime in July.
My last game with them was a no-hit bid against them. I’ve not had much experience with no-hitters,
but this was the first time I’d heard the broadcast of a team on the wrong end
of one. I was getting tickled as the
Squirrels’ broadcasters kept mentioning the no-hitter, trying to jinx it. I’m not saying that worked, but it was broken
up in the ninth. I was reminded of this
incident while listening to an afternoon Rangers
game today. Ariel Jurado had a no-hitter going into the middle innings. Eric
Nadel dutifully gave the no-hit line score and then immediately said, “Shh,”
trying not to talk about it.
Meanwhile, to finish off last
week’s eastern games, Yadier Molina hit
a home run for the Memphis Redbirds
against the Chihuahuas. He’d only had been bunting in games up to
that point and hadn’t been cleared swing away until the last game of the series. The pups fielders were not expecting those
bunts. Molina got sent to the Double-A Springfield Cardinals
afterward. I wonder if my Aunt Judy went
out to see her favorite player while he was in town?
Today, the Chihuahuas had
their first home game after their long road trip. This was also their first game at home after
the Wal-Mart shooting in town, which I’m not discussing here. The team was wearing their black away jerseys
with El Paso on them and their EP caps.
The Padres would wear and
sign some EP caps for a charity auction the next day.
For the game, the pups scored
12 runs. They hit four home runs (Aderlin Rodriguez hit two). They’re only five away from the PCL record. (The Twins
briefly passed the Chihuahuas for home run lead, but took it back with this
game.) Ty France finished the game going 4 for 5 with a .399 average! He was .400 when he 4 for 4 earlier in the
game. The Chihuahuas also lost today 20-12 to Round Rock. Alex de Goti hit for the cycle, as the Express scored in every inning, which
is a feat rarer than a no-hitter. With
this horrific loss, the Chihuahuas also finally lost first place to Las Vegas in the division.
8-9-19
I don’t think you could blame
me for not listening to tonight’s Chihuahuas
game. After that terrible Wednesday loss
(as mentioned above), they then lost last night, 12-11 to Round Rock. The Chihuahuas were getting beat badly, but
managed claw back into it until they rallied in the ninth inning. They were down to their final strike two or
three times over the course of scoring two and nearly tying it.
For tonight’s game, Round
Rock scored four in the first. I started
listening to the Brewers versus the Rangers on MLB.TV. While I’m a big fan
of the Rangers’ broadcasters, I couldn’t resist getting to hear Bob Uecker’s Brewers’ radio call. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear too much
of it with various work distractions. He
did have an interesting chat with his partner about travelling via trains to
back-in-the-day to get to games. It
wasn’t a bad way to go, especially given that teams travel by bus and station
wagons in the minor leagues. I didn’t
know that Sunday games used to always used be scheduled double headers.
I made occasional checks of
the El Paso game, pretty much fearing the worst. It was 8-1 early when I checked the first
time. I think El Paso’s “fan pitching
experiment,” while amusing, probably needs to come to an end. They should start using Triple-A pitchers again. I
tentatively only looked at the score a couple more times.
Suddenly in the ninth, I
noticed the score was 12-11 with the Chihuahuas only a run behind and the game
was still in progress. I immediately
brought the radio call back up. The
first thing I heard was Tim Hagerty
screaming, “Walk-off grand slam home run!”
Oh my, goodness. I don’t think
I’d ever heard him so excited. The Chihuahuas won 15-12. They scored 10 runs in the bottom of the
ninth, a team record.
Having not listened to the
game, I had to get the details in the game recap that followed. It was 12-5 going into the ninth. Ty
France, the pups’ best hitter, had been taken out halfway through the game
to give him a rest. Matthew Batten, a position player, had pitched the top of the
ninth. He got the win. Our walk-off hero was Esteban Quiroz, who was pinch hitting. Even more, that home run set the new PCL record.
This game got some national
press, probably somewhat due to the shooting last weekend. There were some highlight reel catches for
both teams in the game that made it even more interesting. The next day, Tim reported that they could
only find one other 10-run walk-off win in the ninth, which occurred in
1901. Even more shocking, instead of
faking it, many of the fans in attendance admitted that they had left early, as
I admitted to not listening.
8-19-19
Tim
Hagerty had a delightful guest on tonight for today’s Chihuahuas game against the Fresno Grizzlies: Baseball Brit. (It suddenly
occurs to me that I didn’t bother to get his actual name.) As the nickname would imply, he’s an
Englishman that’s into baseball. Really
into baseball. Right now, he’s
travelling around the country with the intention of seeing 162 games this
season and promoting the sport, major and minor leagues.
That said, “Brit” was so
charmingly full of British reserve and modesty, I wonder how he’s promoting
himself. Tim told listeners to search
his nickname to find his Twitter feed.
“Oh, dear. Please don’t. Goodness knows what might come up. I have a British friend who runs a much
better baseball Twitter. Go visit
him.” Brit seemed quite baffled by all
the attention he’s garnered from various national media outlets. The guy was so retiring, polite, and
soft-spoken, I have to ask how he got on the air with Tim. He was seriously not promoting himself.
I unfortunately missed some
of his backstory. From what I gathered, Brit
was introduced to baseball while working in Japan and South Korea and watching
their games and collecting Japanese baseball cards. He saw Shohei
Ohtani playing in person in Japan.
He also got to watch quite a few MLB
games. They show a lot of games there
with Kenta Maeda with the Dodgers and Shin-Soo Choo with the Rangers.
Brit was at the Yankees/Red Sox London games and did
some TV commentary. Tim asked if he’d be
working for ESPN again for next
years’ games. Brit insisted, “I have no
job whatsoever.” (He also off-handedly
mentioned those two games were the highest attendance games for the MLB this
year.) Unprompted by Tim, he called Southwest University Park the best
minor league park he’d been to. Brit
reiterated that on his Twitter feed later.
His feed also includes his first trip to an In-and-Out Burger while in California and a picture of a cactus
when he drove through New Mexico. Next,
he’s off to visit, “The incredibly named ‘Sod
Poodles,’” in Amarillo.
Tim held Baseball Brit over
to talk to him for a full inning. Tim
was loving the conversation. The game
itself was a happy blowout for the Chihuahuas.
They won 9-1. It was 1-0 Chihuahuas until a seven-run sixth
inning. I actually missed the barrage
because I was listening to something else at the time. Jacob
Nix, on rehab, threw five scoreless innings in the win. However, the Las Vegas Aviators came back in the ninth in their game to keep
pace, so they’re still tied in the standings.
Lastly, the Griz featured a player named Chuck Taylor. I wonder what
kind of shoes he was wearing.
8-21-19
It was a game of numbers
between the Chihuahuas and the Fresno Grizzlies tonight. There were five plays at the plate tonight,
including two force plays, all of them got the runner. There were two bunt single attempts in a row
for the Chihuahuas. One worked; the next
one didn’t. The El Paso crowd booed that
last one. I’m not sure it was because
the tying run for the Chihuahuas was called out at the plate, or if they were
upset by the greedy ill-conceived bunt attempt in the first place. There were seven errors. Five of those were committed by the pups. They didn’t deserve to win this one.
Fresno almost took a first
inning lead, but their runner was thrown out at home. This got the crowd into it. In the bottom, there was a wind-aided homer
by Aderlin Rodriguez to give the
Chihuahuas the lead. Swirling winds
around the stadium made flyballs an adventure for most of the game. There was even a light rain shower, but it
didn’t stop play.
By the seventh, the game was
tied at three. Another great defensive
play lit up the fans, as Seth
Mejias-Brean made a diving catch on a deflection by the pitcher. But by the eighth, the Griz were up 7-4. It was seeming a lot like last night’s loss,
where Fresno scored a bunch runs in the ninth to break a tie and win it. In the bottom of the eighth, the Chihuahuas
got it to 7-6. That’s where the two consecutive
bunts came in with runners on base.
The Griz were up 8-6 in the ninth. The pups weren’t done though. An error put two runners in scoring
position. Estaban Quiroz tied it with a single. Austin
Allen then won it on a flyball single with the outfield playing in. He had to be reminded that he still needed to
touch first by the winning runner as he crossed the plate. Chihuahuas
win 9-8. Unfortunately, the pups are
still a game behind the Aviators in
the standings.
Okay, I hope to be back next week with some Aggie sports recaps.
No comments:
Post a Comment