Baseball Notebook August 2024

I haven’t been keeping proper notes on games I’ve been listening to or watching mostly because I’ve been pretty busy and lack the energy.  However, for a few notable games, I had stop and write something.

 

8-7-24

Odd moment in a day game between the Astros and the Rangers.  It was a long game and the bottom of the sixth was no exception.  A popup was the third out of a long inning.  And the Astros stayed on the field and the next Ranger batter came to the plate, before an umpire finally shooed everyone off the field.  Nobody could explain the confusion over the number outs fooling everybody.

 

Broadcaster Matt Hicks later related a similar story from the minor leagues.  After two outs, one team left the field and the other took the field.  Matt, keeping score, stuck his head out of the pressbox and yelled, “There are only two outs!”  Finally, the umps took note, conferenced, agreed, and reset the field.  Apparently, these things just happen in ballgames later in the season.

 

8-9-24

A co-worker, Toni, went to Albuquerque to see the Triple-A Isotopes tonight.  I tracked down their radio coverage so that I could discuss the game with her when she got back.  I was glad I did.  There was a half hour delay for rain before the start of the game.  It sounded a bit cold and windy there, but lucky for Toni she wasn’t there last night with 20mph winds blowing in.

 

The ‘Topes rattled off an 8-run lead halfway through the game.  I needed to step away to do some work.  When I returned, I got to hear the Rivercats complete their comeback and take a 3-run lead in the eighth.  Part of that comeback was a pair of outfield errors by Greg Jones, who had hit a game-winning homer the day before.  (I learned all this stuff about yesterday’s game from the pregame show.  The Chihuahuas don’t really have a pregame show.) 

 

Never fear.  The Rivercats committed two errors on the leadoff Isotopes batter, who reached base to start a rally.  Greg Jones would drive in the tying run.  The ‘Topes would finish the inning by taking a 2-run lead into the ninth, 12-10.  Annoyingly, the coverage went into some sort of commercial loop.  By the time I realized it, the game was over.  What a dirty trick!  Still, it was an interesting diversion from my usual baseball listening. 

 

8-11-24

Ten-and-a-half innings of scoreless Triple-A Baseball tonight.  The Sugarland Space Cowboys and the Chihuahuas were the participants.  Boring?  Admittedly, the drama steadily increased with each inning as the game went later and later scoreless.  Tensions were high as the Chihuahuas manager was ejected halfway through arguing a check swing and the Space Cowboy left fielder was tossed in the ninth on fair ball call.  Late in the game there were chances for both teams, but it wasn’t until the 11-th that the Space Cowboys finally pushed across their ghost runner for a 1-0 win.  This game is noteworthy for being such an oddity.  That Isotopes’ game last week is closer to the norm.

 

8-18-24

Down by 9, the Chihuahuas came back and took a late lead, but soon lost it and lost the game, 12-10 to the Reno Aces.  This was their seventh loss in a row and they lost the full series to the Aces.  To add to the indignity, Chico, their mascot, got hit by a foul ball and went down.  Thankfully, a fan was right to administer CPR to revive him.   

 

8-23-24

The Chihuahuas finally broke their 10-game losing streak, that is, their second 10-game losing streak of the season.  Oh, boy.

 

The Brewers played the A’s today in Oakland.  Joey Ortiz homered for the Brew Crew, but the real story was in the stands.  A fan in one section caught three foul balls in the game.  The last one was positively acrobatic.  Sign that kid up!

 

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays and Red Sox resumed a suspended game and history was made.  Catcher Danny Jansen became the first player to play for both teams in same game, as the result of a trade in the interim.  He was even catching against pinch hitter, who was finishing the at bat that Jansen started. 

 

This reminds of that baseball trivia question about how to reach first base without a hit.  What is it?  There’s like seven?  But then, there are also a couple of esoteric ways, such as a suspended game with a runner on first, who gets traded.  Has that happened? 

 

8-24-24

Chihuahuas lost a 1-0 game on a solo home run.  That’s not just bad, it provokes the question: How many Triple-A games end, 1-0, in a season?