MLB Season Preview 2025 Part 2: Team Previews

      

Part 1

I was sort of standoffish on buying my usual season preview magazine, but I finally picked up a Baseball Digest season preview, which was the only one available initially.  I’d only bought it really for a couple of articles.  I read through the team previews first and was left a bit dissatisfied. 

 

Later, an Athlon Baseball Preview appeared.  I wasn’t interested at first, but when I went back to buy another copy of Tim Hagerty’s Tales From the Dugout (I lent my other one out to Ron and haven’t seen him since, I went ahead and got it.  They said in the editorial that they’d been on hiatus for a couple of years.  I’d been buying the Lindy’s one, but that wasn’t available on my newsstand.  I probably picked it up mostly because I noticed dear Sarah Langs contributed an article.  This one was more comprehensive, though I haven’t read the articles in this one either yet.  Like most previews, it’s chocked full of increasingly obscure stats to prove points about players and teams.  “There’s lies, there’s damn lies, and then there’s statistics.”     

 

Though I have purchased two baseball preview magazines, I’m not sure I’m really in the mood to really make predictions.  I have some observations, though.    

 

American League East

Yankees: Even losing out on Juan Soto, the pinstripes seemed to be sitting pretty with the upgrades to their pitching staff, especially Max Fried.  Then Gerrit Cole got injured in Spring Training.  I have some doubts about their hitting.  It feels like their lineup is either past their prime and/or injury prone.  Still, losing Cole could be the incident that causes everyone else to step up their game or causes everyone to try and do too much.  It feels like either another World Series appearance or they miss the playoffs.

 

Orioles: Fans keep puzzling over the team’s new ownership not spending more given that they’ve already assembled a really good team.  I wonder if the owners found out that the team doesn’t make that much money regardless of how good the team is (which the previous owner knew).  Baltimore isn’t that big a market and they’re sort of sharing it with Washington.  Still, they’re getting back good pitching this year with Felix Bautista and Kyle Bradish coming off of injury.  Management may not feel the need to spend big right now.  They should have enough prospects to make a trade for whatever they need at the deadline.

 

Red Sox: They made some big moves by getting Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler, and Alex Bregman (that move occurred late after both previews had come out).  It feels like they’re still putting the pieces together for a contender.  They’re not ready to go crazy with the checkbook yet.

 

It doesn’t matter what the Rays do, they’re playing at the Yankees’ Spring Training field.  The Blue Jays are stilling trying to sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a huge contract.  I wonder if he has incriminating pictures of team ownership, because otherwise, there was no reason for it.  You’d just make him harder to trade, which is inventible in a couple of seasons.

 

American League Central

Indians: This is THE freaking sore spot for me with baseball.  Perhaps Trump can make an Executive Order to force the Indians and Redskins to change their names back.  It feels like this team overachieved last season and then lost pieces in the meantime.  There’s enough individual talent to make them competitive, but I’m not convinced the team as a whole is good enough for the playoffs. 

 

Tigers:  I’m all in!  This is their year!  Probably not.  I’ve just about fallen off the limb I keep going out on for these guys.  They didn’t do anything to improve the team in the offseason.  It’s unlikely AJ Hinch can pull off that pitching and lineup chaos that got them into the playoffs for a full season.  I am rooting for them to surprise everyone again.

 

Royals: I have to applaud ownership for doing a good job assembling this great team on a small market budget.  They’re playing for a new stadium, so they’ve got lots of motivation.  Given that the funding issue has already been shot down, I’m not sure what the new plan is.  These guys should be good this season anyway. 

 

The White Sox also want a new stadium.  Well, good luck with that on your way to losing another hundred games this season.  The Twins are in the middle of being sold.  That’s going to affect the team in a negative way, regardless of talent.        

 

American League West

Rangers: I’m a believer.  This time for real.  With Jacob deGrom back from injury, along with several hurt position players back, this should be a refreshed team.  They even picked up a couple of sluggers.  Unfortunately, they lost a couple of starters in Spring Training.  They might not have enough, unless Chris Young, president of baseball operations, can work some more magic.  They’ve at least gotten their broadcasting settled by creating their own company, which hampered their spending last season.

 

Astros: They lost Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman without replacing them.  They’re likely just a couple of injuries to key players away from being a .500 team.  Still, with the competition in this division, they could win it.  They’ve also renamed their stadium with a new sponsor, Daikin.  Every time you think stadium names can’t get any worse.        

 

The A’s are sharing a Triple-A park.  (I hesitate to imagine the scheduling.)  Oddly, they boosted payroll (because MLB forced them to) and have a decent team.  Meanwhile, the Angels, who have spent wildly and badly, cannot compete, even when they got the right players.  As much as fans and media want other teams to have new ownership, the Angels should be at the top of that list.  The Mariners are returning the same team that didn’t make the playoffs last year.  Expect the same result.        

 

National League East

Braves: I have a feeling this team has lost too much pitching to compete this year.  They’re getting good injured players back during the season, but I suspect management is writing this year off and will regroup next year.

 

Mets: Having the richest owner in the MLB, who is a big baseball fan, this is another club committed to driving up the cost of free agency.  He “won” the Juan Soto sweepstakes with a contract that could have paid for most of a stadium for a couple of homeless teams.  They also brought back Pete Alonso.  It’s a good-looking lineup.  They don’t have the starting pitching, though.  You can safely write them off for this season, but I’m sure they’ll be buying pitching in the offseason.

 

Phillies: I’m rooting for Bryce Harper to win a World Series.  It’ll make the Phanatic so happy.  They didn’t do much over the offseason because they finally hit a point of financial restraint, but didn’t lose much either and are returning a very good team.  Father Time will ultimately defeat this team in the near future and they know it.  Look for an injection of fresh young talent at the trade deadline.  

  

The Marlins aren’t even worth mentioning.  Apart from Sandy Alcantara, I don’t think I recognize anyone else on their roster.  The Nationals will be competitive in the future.  They’ve got the young talent.  (Too bad they play in the same division as the Phillies, so don’t expect any trades.)  As soon as this team starts showing potential, ownership should start picking up free agents and making deals.      

 

National League Central

This whole division is completely up for grabs.  Whoever wins it will be a nice warm up for a better team in the playoffs.  The Brewers won it last season.  I don’t know how.  (It was good pitching.)  Maybe they can do it this season for our dearly departed, Bob Uecker.  They’ve at least sorted out their stadium issues by extending their lease and fixing their roof.  The Cubs are theoretically a better team, but let’s see it.  The Reds have Elly de la Cruz and the Pirates have Paul Skenes, Oneil Cruz, and the ageless Andrew McCutchen, if you want to see exciting superstar players.  Unthinkably, the Cardinals will not be a factor.  They have a fanbase on par with the Yankees that only sees the playoffs and won’t tolerate a loser.      

 

National League West

Dodgers: You know it’s bad when the baseball media continually says that, “This team isn’t invincible.  It’s not a given that they’ll win it all.”  Yeah, with what they have and what they’ve acquired and their massive revenue (including Japanese TV broadcasts), it’s basically already over, but they gotta get fans of the other teams to watch their games.  If this team has problems, don’t worry, Dodger ownership will just buy the Twins or the Rays or A’s and make a few “shrewd” trades involving minor leaguers for star players.  Honestly, if these guys lose, it’s a billion-dollar choke.  No pressure.

 

Padres: This really sucks.  Losing their previous owner hasn’t closed the team’s checkbook, but after some family ownership squabbling, financial restraint has crept into the picture, as they are way over-spending relative to their market.  Simply, nobody’s outspending the Dodgers anyway.  The team has some contracts that will not age well, but right now, they’ve got a really good team and a fanbase that fills the park every night.  Their window is going to close and slam shut in the near future, so I hope that ownership will properly support the team if they’re competitive. 

 

Diamondbacks: This team wanted a new stadium, but appears to be close to a deal to just renovate their current one.  (They’ve also fixed their retractable roof issues for this season.)  Their broadcasting has been taken over by MLB and cost them revenue, but their owner is committed to paying whatever for a winning team on a smaller scale than the Big 3.  This is a young, hungry team that got way better with the addition of Corbin Burnes to their rotation.  I doubt either the D-Backs or Padres can win the West over the Dodgers, but I like their chances of reaching the playoffs and maybe beating the Dodgers in a short series.          

 

The Rockies may have hit a point of absolute hopelessness.  They’ve actually got good players, though no stars (yet).  Even if the team got much better, their division is stacked.  As for the Giants, Bruce Bochy was asked about Buster Posey becoming their GM.  He cleared his throat and was surprised about this move, because he thought Buster would become a manager, but was sure he’ll do a great job.  My thoughts exactly.  For now, they’re carrying some big contracts, but do not have a good team surrounding them. 

 

Predictions

Again, I don’t have any predictions for this season other than the Dodgers walking all over everybody.  (Also, this post is running long.)  Well, unexpected things can happen the playoffs.  There are several other teams that I think can contend if they make it in and get hot, such as the Rangers, the Phillies, the Diamondbacks, the Padres, the Yankees, and the Orioles.  If you want a real dark horse, I think the Royals are your pick.  Whatever happens, hopefully we’ll get a fun season with some surprises.     

MLB Season Preview 2025 Part 1: The State of the Game

I had fully meant to do a Hot Stove post last year.  Between a heavy workload and a flurry of trades and signings, I couldn’t keep up.  I just made a couple of notes and didn’t bother trying to reconstruct everything afterward.  On some level, I was sort of disgusted by the amount of money getting thrown around and by the richest teams in the league trying to become “super teams.”  This profligate spending does not guarantee a World Series victory, but it does guarantee a league of “have” and “have-nots” when it comes to signing free agents by driving up player salaries.

 

These were the only notes I made over the winter:

Blade Snell signed with the Dodgers, who threw a no hitter last season.  The Dodgers currently have $1B in deferred money contracts.

12-8-24 The night right before the Winter Meetings, Juan Soto signed for the largest contract in professional sports with the Mets.  $760M over 15 years, no deferred money and escalators for the contract to go over $800M.  The race to a billion dollar contract continues.

12-10-24 Yankees make Max Fried the highest paid lefty pitcher in history. 

 

Seriously though, I’m wondering if in five years, a baseball player will get a contract worth more than a new stadium.  (We’ll get to the stadium issues later.) 

 

Last year, the MLB and the sports media finally got what they wanted: a Yankees/Dodgers World Series.  In return, they got the second-highest rated World Series in the last ten years.  That’s all.  MLB is sure that if the series had gone a full seven games, it would have been an all-timer.  (It wouldn’t have.)    

 

The TV packages for regular season baseball have become a nightmare for the teams and the fans.  Some teams have scattered their product over several cable and online services, which fans do not want to pay for and patched-together deals are costing the teams lots of revenue.  The Regional Sports Networks have gone bankrupt.  ESPN will cease to show baseball after this season after a dispute with the league.  Granted, the network wouldn’t talk about or promote baseball, but did a decent job of presenting the games themselves.  MLB would like to put all of the games, that aren’t playing on a national network, on MLB.TV or sell the package another streaming service, but teams like the Yankees and Dodgers have very lucrative TV contracts and aren’t interested.  Selling a package without them would have limited success. 

 

The Dodgers financed a huge renovation to Dodger Stadium themselves.  Meanwhile, the A’s and the Rays aren’t playing in big-league facilities this season and their future homes are in serious doubt.  League expansion keeps getting put on hold waiting for these two teams to get settled one way or the other.  This process has taken long enough that other teams are becoming dissatisfied with their stadiums or need major repairs to them.  Some of these teams are looking for new cities, further mudding the waters of expansion.

 

I bring all this together by saying what a mistake it has been catering to the Yankees and Dodgers (more or less specifically) nationally and not promoting the league as a whole.  The sports media, which doesn’t really want to talk about baseball, is thrilled to only have to talk about two teams in the two biggest media markets.  (And just two players: Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.)  MLB recognizes that these are the two most popular teams in the league and that it must promote them.  This has all set up a scenario where it only matters what the Yankees and Dodgers do during the season and the postseason only matters if it’s those two teams playing each other.  All the rest is only for hardcore fans of other teams.

 

This has real business consequences.  You’re down to maybe three teams in the league who are willing spend whatever to win (Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets).  You’ve got a few more that have overspent and have had to rein it in and a few big market teams that are clearly restraining themselves.  They can’t keep up and there aren’t any Moneyball-esqe efficiencies to exploit at this point for lower level teams.  Injuries to star players might be the only leveler to make smaller market teams competitive.  

 

27 teams likely want a salary cap and would accept a salary floor (or they’ll sell the team to someone who will accept a floor).  The Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, the sports media, and the Players Union think everyone else should just spend more to compete.  MLB, which is the owners, wants the cap, but practically, they also want the Dodgers and Yankees to always be World Series contenders.   

 

That the big-market teams make more money from their teams than small-market teams is a given, but without a cap on team spending, the high-revenue teams will always be at an advantage and will set the market for free agents.  You’re even giving the lower-revenue teams an excuse for not spending, because they can’t compete monetarily in their markets.  They just sit back and collect the Competitive Balance Tax proceeds from the rich teams.  Is the MLB selling competition or the Dodgers and the Yankees? 

 

Part 2

Comics Review: Ducktales, Conan, and Titans

I picked up a couple of comics at Zia Comics recently and ordered a trade from Amazon.  I also got a couple of used comics at Coas Bookstore.  I couldn’t make any sense out of the Ambush Bug comic and I loved the first two Bug limited series.  I also got an issue of The New Teen Titans, which was a crossover with Infinity Inc.  Basically, I just got it to see Jade.  I’ll actually review the other books.

 

Ducktales #1

Very classy cover.  It’s the main reason I got this.  I do like the Disney ducks and their adventures.  Unfortunately, that’s not what I got in this comic.  I guess it was sort of an introduction to this new Dynamite published series, but I would have started off with a cool new adventure to an exotic place.  

 

This all took place in Duckburg with Uncle Scrooge doing some quick reminiscing about some of his travels, as prompted to by the boys.  

 

It’s very well drawn and I’ve seldom seen the characters more expressive.  There’s seems to be some indication that future stories are going to be centered in town, which is a different take on Ducktales.  I’m not exactly condemning this, but at $5 an issue, I was hoping for more.

   

The Savage Sword of Conan #5

What a cover!  Also, it’s a 48-page black and white magazine with no ads for $7.  It’s quite the bargain.  Titan Comics took over publishing Conan and I’d had their take on the character recommended to me by a Youtube comic commentator.  

 

The artwork isn’t bad, but it’s unappealing.  The main story, which featured King Conan, was somewhat confusing.  It also featured Conan getting lectured by a witch, instead of him just killing her as he would normally do.  Somehow, he’s become reflective in his old age and seems to regret some of his previous killings of magic-users.  It’s not “woke,” but it’s as close as it could get and still be called “Conan.”  This was also Part 1 of 2, so I don’t know how this pays off. 

 

 

Yes, I edited the image.  This mild titillation isn't worth getting my blog dinged. 

 

The second story is about young Conan and features tits.  It’s also a bit confusing and pretty brutal.  I’m standoffish on this whole magazine.  I’m not sure what I was missing here to enjoy this.  I certainly like Conan, but haven’t had much luck (see previous review 6-5-24).

 

The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

I was given an Amazon gift card for Christmas.  I had no end of consternation trying to decide what to get.  Several books I wanted weren’t available or weren’t quite what I wanted.  I over-thought this for a quite a while before finding this trade with a classic storyline.  This seemed like an easy winner.

 

A co-worker thumbed through this and wondered where Starfire was.  He was only familiar with the cartoon Starfire with the long, straight hair.  He didn’t like 80’s Starfire.  Well, everyone’s entitled to their tastes.  (I question his sexuality.)      

 

I effusively reviewed Volume 1 of the New Teen Titans a while back (11-5-20).  I even mentioned the Judas Contract, never actually having read it.  Its story is well-known in that a new member betrays the group.  There’s not a mystery.  The readers knew Terra was bad, but the Titans had no clue.  Her being related to another superhero and being a good teammate before turning on them had fooled them all.

 

Writer Marv Wolfman in the introduction apparently had a real inferiority complex over the X-Men.  This was his answer that the Titans weren’t a knockoff.  He created a cute little teen character, like Kitty Pryde, and then surprised the readers by having her be a bad girl.  In actuality, he’d redone the Phoenix Saga without the cosmic elements, though still somewhat having the theme of absolute power corrupting absolutely.  While Jean’s suicide was something of a redemption, Terra’s evil had to be covered up by her teammates upon her death.

 

Artist George Perez in his introduction said that this story was also a means of severing the Titan’s ties as the teen sidekick characters to the JLA.  This was apparently always seen as a problem, rather than an opportunity.  Kid Flash leaves the group after the initial story, which really disappointed me, since Wally West is a good character.  Likewise, Robin leaves the group, while Dick Grayson, probably my favorite DC character, tries to figure out who he is.

 

After that happens up front, the group confronts Brother Blood and his cult.  I have a hard time understanding how a guy in a horned, red costume named, “Brother Blood,” could somehow become a media darling.  The Titans disrupt his operations, though they are concerned that there was a bigger plan at work, which will keep for another tale.  This story is a bit rushed and seems to skip over some beats.

 

Tara (her civilian name) is now a full member of the Titans and has their trust and knows their secret identities.  Her and Deathstroke, who’s still trying to fulfill the HIVE contract on the Titans from back in Volume 1, make their move.  This was my favorite part.  Dick, caught completely off guard and in civilian clothes, still manages to escape Deathstroke, who’d underestimated him.  His superpowered teammates, however, all get caught as Dick discovers in his investigation.  This part was well done and not presented how you’d expect.

 

 

80's superhero fashion and then some

Unfortunately, after this we get a full issue backstory on Deathstroke, which kills the momentum of the story.  Dick does debut his new superhero identity, Nightwing, and Jericho joins him in trying to free the Titans from HIVE.  They manage to do it, though not without another flashback about Deathstroke’s backstory.  What follows is a knockdown drag out fight between Deathstroke and Terra versus the Titans.  Slade allows himself to be taken out by his son, while Terra loses control of her powers and it’s her downfall.               

 

 

She's 14

There was no ambiguity about her demise.  Tara’s body is found and buried.  Tara’s motivation, other than her (highly) inappropriate romance with Deathstroke, was just simply to be evil.  This is bashed over your head in caption after caption in the final fight scene.  This motivation doesn’t make sense in real life, much less in literature.  I guess this was to differentiate her from Phoenix.          

 

I was disappointed.  I was expecting more of a story, especially since this is a classic.  Maybe it would have worked better if there had been a mystery leading up to the betrayal.  Certainly, Tara needed more development to explain her actions.  The creative team meant for her to be irredeemable from the start, though.  If nothing else, the Perez artwork does not disappoint.  There is a newer reprint of this trade that has more issues to it.  Perhaps it might be better, though it’ll come down to the same ending.        

NM State Aggies vs Portland Pilots Baseball 3-16-25

Aggie Baseball had an interesting series last weekend against Texas A&M.  They lost the first game, 19-0.  I was listening to that game with the A&M radio call.  College Station seems like a very intimidating place to play with the crowd there.  Saturday didn’t go much better with a 7-1 loss.  Sunday, Matthew Yarc, whose last two outings had not gone well, combined with Saul Soto in a dominating pitching performance for a 4-1 win.  Getting one was against the #14 in the nation was encouraging, though they then dropped a pair to Lamar on the road.

 

Back for a homestand, I tuned in Friday and was surprised to hear the voice of the El Paso Chihuahuas, our old friend, Tim Hagerty, calling the game.  I guess Adam Young was still getting back from the C-USA Basketball tournament that unfortunately featured disappointing first round exits for the Aggie Men and Women’s teams.  The ladies were blown out, while the Men kept it close and had a chance before falling in defeat.  [Quick Edit: the Ladies have accepted an invitation to the NIT.  They probably wanted to give Molly Kaiser a chance to play some more.]   

 

The Men’s game was also Jack Nixon’s final Aggie broadcast after 45 years of service.  He was remarkably unsentimental about it and only said at the end, “We’ll call it a season and a career.”  Jack glad to have finished with a close loss than a blowout loss, which tells you what he thought of the team’s chances moving on.  There wasn’t any career retrospective on the broadcast.  I guess we’ll have to wait for him to write a book.

 

On that note, as soon as I heard him, I wrote Tim an e-mail saying I wished I was there to get his autograph on his book, which I wished I still had.  (I’d lent it out to Ron and haven’t seen him since.  I’m probably going to have to buy another copy.)  I also wrote to correct him on the pronunciation of Coach Angier’s name.  The A&M radio guys were also calling him, “Coach Anger.”  I don’t know if Tim got the message or someone else talked to him, but he did get it right a couple of innings later.  

 

I was also a bit sorry to not be there for the “Tiny Pete” giveaway.  It does look cute.  However, it was cold out with some wind.  It sounded like a good crowd for the Aggies’ first game against the Portland Pilots, but it was actually only 408.  Starter Jack Turner turned in a good outing and lasted into the seventh.  Dylan Weekly closed out the 12-5 Aggie win.  Sheehan O’Connor added another home run and was 4 of 4.  Mitch Namie had 3 RBI’s, Brandon Forrester went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI’s, and Joey Craig homered.

 

This Saturday the weather was schizophrenic.  It was cold, then stormy, then cool with a breeze.  By the time the weather had settled, an hour before the game, it was too late for me to get ready and go.  Just as well, it was sprinkling at the park by the time the game started, as it had clouded up again.  Over the course of three hours, the weather went from rain, to sunny, to gusting winds.  Jeff Matthews on the radio call said it was a “hardcore” crowd with only 411 there.

 

I was glad I didn’t go for more reasons than the weather.  It was 7-0 Pilots after an inning-and-a-half.  While the Aggies did some hitting themselves, their pitching couldn’t put up a zero.  The Pilots won 18-8.  Thankfully, the game only went seven innings in the run rule win.  I’m sure the crowd appreciated the mercy ending.  The Aggie bullpen, likely as well, after they had used seven pitchers.  Tommy Meluskey did hit his first Aggie home run in the game.

 

Aggie Softball was also playing this weekend . . . at the same time as Baseball.  There’s two more crossed up weekends on the schedule.  I may only get to see Softball one more time for the rest of the season.  Anyway, they’re starting the conference portion of their season.  The Aggies lost, 9-7, on Friday to Jacksonville State and won on Saturday, 8-7, with Faith Aragon pitching all seven innings.

 

This brings us to Sunday.  I am a fair-weather fan at this point and it was a very fair weather day.  There were clear blue skies and only the occasional cool breeze.  I got there just in time to start filling out the lineups while I was picking up the program outside the stadium.  A pretty good crowd of 671 came out for the game.  I went over and sat with Fan Michael, Ken, and Trey.  Trey’s wife was with their daughter in Las Vegas for a volleyball tournament.  I’m sure there’s lots of work involved, but that’s not the worst place to be compared to Huntsville, Alabama, where the Basketball tournament was.

 

Beyond the outfield wall, Aggie Softball was starting their game.  Today’s live Anthem singer had to contend with Softball’s Anthem being played 30 seconds after she started.  The young woman admirably kept singing and even finished her rendition as the other one ended.  The guys said this happened yesterday, too.  This dual (dueling) scheduling sucks.

 

I talked to Trey about the A&M series, which he was at.  The team had had to take a grueling bus ride to College Station, which accounted for their terrible Friday loss.  He confirmed that there were 6,000 passionate fans in the stands that had a special cheer ready for every occasion.  He wondered if there was a guidebook to cheering and if they had to take classes. 

 

Trey also talked about his best experience as a visiting player.  While warming up in the outfield at Louisiana-Lafayette, he met a lady cooking up catfish.  It smelled good enough that he asked for some after the game.  As the team was leaving on the bus, the lady brought him a big plate full, which his teammates helped themselves to.  Later at the conference tournament, LA-Lafayette was eliminated early.  Their fans were stuck there for the rest of games and adopted the Aggies, who had no fans there, and cheered them on to victory.  (Sitting next to a former ball player is great for stories.)

 

Today’s game was a really interesting matchup.  We had Matthew Yarc, who’d done so well last Sunday against Texas A&M.  On the other side was Ryan Rembisz.  He’d pitched a perfect game this season against Seattle U.  This was only the 21-st perfect game in NCAA D1 history.  A hardcore pitcher’s duel was on tap.

 

That buildup exploded quickly.  The Pilots scored three times in the first.  The first run came in after a single that was driven in by a triple that left fielder, Mitch Namie, dove for and missed.  (He always plays flat out.  You love the effort even if it doesn’t work out.)  That runner came in on a passed ball that probably didn’t get 5-ft. away from the plate.  Sheehan O’Connor picked up the defense with a great catch of line drive at short, but another run came in on a single.  3-0 Pilots.

 

Rembisz gave up a hit on the first batter.  “Cancel the press conference,” as Hawk Harrelson would say, as we weren’t going to get a no-hitter or perfect game today.  There was a wild pitch, but further damage.  Portland added to their lead in the second with a two-run homer by Doyle Kane, who’d hit the triple last inning.  5-0 Pilots.  Michael was rolling his eyes, “Oh, man!  It’s just like yesterday all over again.” 

 

(I should mention, there was a bit of controversy about Portland’s hitting from yesterday.  Pilot hitters were exchanging a little black device that they were putting in their helmets.  It was examined by the umps, but nothing was done about it.  Trey thought it was somehow stealing signs and alerting the hitter.) 

 

Perfect game pitcher or not, the Aggies weren’t taking it lying down today.  Sheehan led off the inning getting on base with an error.  After a hit batter, Tommy Meluskey came up and cranked out a three-run homer.  Trey related that Tommy had been about to quit baseball before homering yesterday.  Right after that, a cheer went up from Softball.  There was a delay as an Aggie batter had hit one into the Baseball outfield.  Jeff Matthews on the radio call, said they’d hit back-to-back home runs at the Softball game. 

 

The hits continued.  Steve Solorzano doubled in Tariq Freeny, who’d singled.  Brandon Forrester walked.  Mitch singled and Solo slid into home under the tag after a great throw from the outfield.  Bryce Campbell doubled in a run and Mitch scored on a wild pitch.  After Sheehan came up for a second time and was hit, Rembisz was relieved.  That’s baseball for you.  He went from throwing a perfect game to giving up 7 runs in an inning.  Pilot JT Lanwehr threw one pitch and got a double play to end the inning.  7-5 Aggies.

 

Trey was on the phone during the inning.  I thought he was talking to his wife about his son, pitcher Cooper Reese.  Actually, he was talking to Cooper’s “summer coach” and was giving him a scouting report on his son.  He probably won’t be playing in the Cape Cod League this year, but elsewhere.  I made a Jessica Biel comment and Trey said he loved that movie with her, A Summer Catch, and had seen it on a date with his future wife. 

 

Yarc gave way to Carson Timmons in the third.  He worked a scoreless inning.  That was actually quite an accomplishment.  Matthews noted that the Pilots had scored for 9 straight innings going back to yesterday.  The bottom of the inning ended on a strikeout and delayed steal double play. 

 

Another Trey baseball story came up.  He was, I think, working in the press box at his son’s high school game and taunting the opposing team with a Milli Vanilli song whenever they changed pitchers.  The other team was waiting for him to come out after the game.  He had to wait his son’s team to come over to escort him out. 

 

The Softball game was going into their fifth-inning Stretch.  Timmons had two strikeouts in the top of the fourth of the baseball game.  Unfortunately, he also gave up a 2-run homer to Brady Bean that hit the scoreboard.  We were tied at 7.  The Aggies had 2-out rally in the bottom with a pair of singles.  Pilot Jonas Salk at short made a great play on a ball that hit the mound to end the inning and this was after inventing the polio vaccine.  (I’m sure he’s heard that joke before.)       

 

Another story from Trey from working in the press box.  He would play a salsa song for a Puerto Rican player whenever he hit a home run.  Another Puerto Rican on the team, who seldom hit, hit a home run in a game and circled the bases in silence.  He proceed to run off the field, through the dugout, out on to the concourse, and then up the stairs to the press box.  He barged in shouting, “What the hell!  Why aren’t you playing the song for me!”  I’m not even telling half the stories I’m hearing.  This is like sitting next to a baseball story goldmine. 

 

Saul Soto came in for the fifth.  Both sides would work 1-2-3 innings.  After a scoreless top of the sixth, Mitch doubled in Tariq to give the Aggies an 8-7 lead.  By the top of the seventh, Softball was done.  The Aggies won, 5-4.  Trey had left and came back with a corn-in-the-cup, which I’d been recommending.  He poked at it apprehensively before taking a bite.  After a few more bites, he pronounced it, “The best thing ever.”  Michael was still not convinced to try one.  Michael did tell a great joke from Rodney Dangerfield.  “I went to the doctor with a pulled groin.  He put my arm in a sling.”  Enough frivolity, Zach Toglia jacked out a 2-run homer to give the Pilots a 9-8 lead. 

 

The top of the eighth saw a marked decline in the crowd’s relationship with the home plate umpire.  The ump warned Soto about quick pitching.  The batter and pitcher must be looking at each other before the pitch.  This set off a chorus of jeering with lines like, “You want them to take a long walk on the beach, too!”  Soto, not liking the call or the batter, stood at the set position for a full 10 seconds before delivering the next pitch.  Soto did get into further trouble in the inning.  Cooper began warming up in the bullpen and Trey became highly agitated, but Soto worked out of the jam.

 

Landwehr gave up a walk to start the bottom of the eighth, but got his final batter of the game with a looking strikeout.  Solo greeted the new reliever with a 2-run homer on his first pitch.  Mitch was caught stealing to end the inning, but the Aggies were now up, 10-9.  Trey was really hoping to not see his son come into this tight a game.  Trey couldn’t take the pressure. 

 

Soto was back out for the ninth.  He gave up a leadoff walk that was then doubled in to tie it at 10.  Confusingly, we were hearing a cowbell ring for Portland runs.  I guess there was a Portland fan in the crowd that was trolling the rest of us.  Coach Angier came out for a talk after a successful bunt, but didn’t make a move.  Soto was charged with an automatic ball for quick pitching again, as he’d already been warned before.  This didn’t endear the ump to the fans or the coach, however Soto finished the inning without giving up the lead.

 

Trey Swgart came in for the Pilots for the bottom of the ninth.  By odd coincidence, Swgart had played against Cooper in high school.  Cooper had tried to greet him earlier in the series and was rebuffed.  Trey was not only concerned about his son having to pressure pitch in extra innings, but was also bearing a grudge against the opposing pitcher. 

 

Swgart gave up single to begin the inning and a walk.  He got a looking strikeout on a failed bunt attempt.  This was the eighth looking strikeout of the game.  The players didn’t seem to be complaining about it, though.  Austin Corbett, getting his first at bat as an eighth inning defensive replacement, didn’t waste any time.  On the first pitch, he singled in the winning run.  Go crazy, folks!  Aggies win, 11-10!     

 

A bunch of kids went out to run the bases after the game.  That was cute.  Let’s hand out a bunch of gameballs.  For Portland, Doyle Kane went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI’s and a home run.  Zach Toglia went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s including a home run and a clutch hit in the ninth.  JT Landwehr probably saved the Pilots’ bullpen with 6 innings of relief giving up only 2 runs. 

 

With his nearly typical 5 innings of relief, Saul Soto is basically a starter, who doesn’t start the game.  He got the win.  Mitch Namie was 3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s.  Bryce Campbell was 3 for 5 with an RBI.  Tommy Meluskey had a big 3-run homer.  He should keep playing baseball.  Austin Corbett saw 1 pitch today and made the most of it and was mobbed out on the field. 

 

Well, I was in a good mood and it was about to get even better.  Three hours at the park had given me an appetite for a Grilled Cheese Hamburger, which just came back on to the menu at Freddy’s.  Every bite was ecstasy.  It’s a hamburger that melts in your mouth.  After that, I finally picked up a bag of tangerines at the fruit stand on the corner.  I kept wanting to do it, but I was always on the wrong side the street to pull in.  Finally, I stopped by to see dad right before the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection show.  I guess my only rooting interest left is the UNM Lobos.  We’ll see how they do.  In the meantime, I’ll have a weekend off from Aggie Sports to watch some basketball games.  (Too bad Softball isn’t scheduled to play with Baseball out of town.)