Midsummer Sports Report 2021 Part 3

Part 2

6-22-21

I was distracted by three other games going on this Monday (D-Backs broke their 17-game losing streak, and Padres beat the Dodgers in a national ESPN game), but I picked up a little of the Chihuahuas and the Skeeters.  It was another blowout loss for the pups, so it didn’t keep much of my interest.  Tim turned most of the game call over to another announcer.  He did that last week, too.  However, I did catch the aftermath of a play that sent Tim over to the official scorer for an explanation.

 

There was a balk, but the pitcher delivered the ball and the batter made the third out.  The game call went to commercial.  They came back and the inning was still going.  The Chihuahuas had been called back to the field to play.  In such a balk situation with a play involved, it’s up to the batting team whether they want to keep the result or have it declared a no play.  This is sort of like when a team bats out of order.  It’s up to the opposing manager to bring it to the umpire’s attention.  They’ll do so after seeing the result of the out-of-order batter first.  As Tim said, “However many times you come to the ballpark, you’ll probably see something new every time.”

 

6-23-21

I wasn’t expecting a free game on MLB.TV today after getting three games yesterday (including a Youtube game), but there was a Giants/Angels game in the bottom of the ninth.  It was a 1-1 tie game, but I wasn’t expecting to be watching for long.  Jon Miller and JT Snow were calling the game for the Giants, so I was pleased with that regardless of how long I was able to watch.

 

By the twelfth inning, the Angels had their left fielder catching, as they’d burned their backup catcher pinch hitting and Kurt Suzuki then came out after a shot to the head.  A pitcher was put in left field.  This lead to the situation in the bottom where an American League team sent two pitchers up to hit in the inning.  “I’ve never seen this,” said Snow.  In the next inning, the Giants scored seven runs to win it.  Mike Tauchman hit a three-run homer after having struck out five times in the game before that.

 

I found out later, this game was unique for another reason.  Shohei Ohtani was the starter and for the first time, an American League pitcher hit for himself in a game.  I would have thought this had happened before with him, but it hadn’t.  He only gave up one run in six innings, but went 0-3 hitting.  I doubt this experiment will proceed.  Nine players, an entire starting lineup, ended up getting subbed in for him in the game when he came out.  I realize there were several extra innings, but they literally ran out of players late in the game and lost because of this gambit.       

“Sweep LA!”  The Padres had a good week.  The scuffled badly on their last road trip and returned home to full capacity and a full house.  They proceeded to take four from the Reds and three from the Dodgers.  Those last two wins were pretty nervous, but the Brown was clutch.

 

6-25-21

The Chihuahuas were playing Round Rock tonight in El Paso.  I’d been listening on-and-off all evening.  The pups had gone down three runs going into the bottom of the ninth.  I was aware that the Chihuahuas were threatening, but was busy with work when I suddenly heard Tim Hagerty screaming, “Walk off grand slam home run!”  Patrick Kievelhan had won the game after three consecutive walks proceeding him.  The opposing pitcher was described as bent over at the waist, hanging his head, and staring at the ground.  During the post-game recap, Tim maybe seemed a little embarrassed by his hyperbolic call.  It was quite a moment though.  Too bad my co-worker, who’d gone to a game recently, wasn’t there for that grand slam.

 

6-29-21

The world of baseball was three outs away from totally upending this season.  German Marquez stood on the mound at Coors Field to start the ninth inning for the Rockies.  He had eight shutout innings behind him as ineffective Pirate batters could only flail in frustration.  I was picking up the game as a live look-in on the MLB website.  The possibility of a no-hitter in Denver was enough to get me to drop all pretext of doing work. 

 

Unfortunately, or fortunately, the bid ended on the second pitch of the inning with a sharp liner to the outfield.  It was a great effort though.  I do say, “fortunately,” because if a Rockies pitcher had pitched no-hitter at home, after all the other no-hitters this season, MLB would have introduced either a new T-Ball or only-BP-fastballs mandate the next day. 

 

Meanwhile in El Paso, it wasn’t the baseball Apocalypse, but you just got a glimpse of it.  The final was 2-1 for the Chihuahuas over Round Rock.  What were the odds of a pitcher’s duel at Southwest University Park and a near no-hitter in Colorado in one night?  (Okay, that’s it.  I’m sick typing out a sentence to write the name of the stadium.  El Paso, from now on, your ballpark is officially “The Dogbowl.”)    

 

6-30-21

“It’s a special kind of strike.  We call it a ‘ball.’”  Youtube was doing a free game today between the Florida/Buffalo/Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners today.  (Actually, the Blue Jays may finally be allowed back into Canada soon, but considering the travel restrictions there, I’ll believe it when I see it.  For tonight, they’re still in Buffalo.)  Brian Kenny was leading a little roundtable of two former players (including one with a jarring Australian accent) and a stat-head lady with the game call.  Wow, was this one fun to listen to.  The game was good, but having four baseball fanatics sitting on a couch calling the game is without question how every future national baseball broadcast should be done.

 

Even the game dragging early just left more opportunities for the panel to discuss more baseball issues.  “This game may go seven hours.  I think we’ve got time to debate and solve all of baseball’s problems.”  Kenny, as a big believer in Sabermetrics, even admitted that him and his ilk had essentially ruined the game.  He wanted to fix it.  Former Chihuahua hero and current Mariner player, Ty France, was mic’d up for the game and provided the crew a good deal of entertainment.  He’s one of those chatty first basemen, who likes to talk to opposing players.  

 

Oh, if only there hadn’t been quarter end processing tonight, and I could have just sat and watched the whole thing.  Actually, that would have been laborious too.  Including two half-hours of pre- and post-game shows, the broadcast probably went five-and-a-half hours.  Even with my limited viewing, this was an obviously irresistible format for baseball.  Having a one or two-man crew for local broadcasts is fine, but national broadcasts need to be more like this.  More audience participation, beyond running little polls and having selected content creators in the chat room, would also be a plus.

Part 4