Baseball Journal: Opening Weeks

 

I have not committed to journaling Baseball this year, but we’ll see how it goes.    I do feel compelled to say something about Opening Day.    Technically, that was the day before with the Yankees blanking the Giants.    (My pick to make it into the NLCS is looking great.)    That game was on Netflix, so that hardly counts as a real Opening Day.    Meanwhile, here on Saturday morning (when I’m writing this), I’ve been watching professional Women’s Volleyball and Women’s Soccer.    Also on were women’s professional hockey and the Women’s NCAA Basketball tournament.    I’m getting a clear view of the future.    Women’s sports on over-the-air TV and all of the men’s sports will require a subscription.

3-26-26

For Opening day, I was in the shower getting ready to listen to the Texas Rangers and the Phillies on the radio.    My dad, who has an uncanny knack for calling while I’m in the shower, called to tell me there was a baseball game on TV.    This was a surprise.    NBC, I guess, has taken over for ESPN on national TV broadcasts.   

The Mets and the Pirates were on and I caught up with the game in about the third inning with the Mets up.    I’d missed the main drama of the game with Pirates’ ace, Paul Skenes, knocked out in first inning after giving up 5 runs.    Oneil Cruz, converted from shortstop, had misplayed two balls in centerfield, by way of some explanation.    Cruz did homer in an at bat and, new arrival to the team, Brandon Lowe, homered twice in his first two at bats.   

There was an odd section in the outfield in Citi Field with everyone wearing red tops.    I missed whatever explanation there was for that.    In the fifth, Nick Gonzales, former Aggie star, singled and Henry Davis doubled him in to make it, 6-4 Mets.    In the sixth, Carson Benge, making his MLB debut for the Mets, homered.    He got a curtain call.    In the ninth, Nick doubled in 2 runs, but the Mets prevailed, 11-7.    So much for the expected pitcher’s duel with Skenes and Freddy Peralta.

NBC did a great job on the broadcast with Matt Vasgersian heading the crew.    It warmed my heart to get a good baseball broadcast during the day.    It was like the good old days with NBC’s Game of the Week on Saturday mornings.   

I got to listen to maybe half of the Rangers and Phillies on the radio, before I went to work, though it wasn’t a great signal.    A fife and drum corps came out to play for the player introductions.    Harry Kalas’ son sang the Anthem.    That was a nice continuation from the long-time Philadelphia announcer.    In that mold, Rangers’ starter, Nathan Evoldi, faced Justin Crawford.    Years ago, Evoldi had pitched to Justin’s father, Carl Crawford.    Kyle Schwarber hit a 2-run homer in first. The Rangers were nearly blanked, as they were much of last season, but scored 3 in the ninth to make it respectable in a 5-3 loss.      

I called my Aunt Judy to wish her a happy Opening Day.    She called me back and wasn’t having a happy Opening Day.    She’d paid for a subscription to get her beloved Cardinals and it didn’t work, so she missed it.    Hopefully, this will get sorted out for her quickly.

NBC/Peacock has taken over for ESPN for national, weekly baseball broadcasts.    They’re committed.    In addition to the afternoon game, they did a night game between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks.    Dad watched that one.    ESPN Radio is still doing baseball broadcasts, so I was able to listen to it while at work.    I’ll say this much for Los Angles fans, you could hear all the 56k there at the game.    It was an 8-2 win for the Dodgers.    The broadcast featured constant glazing of the team, which got kind of tiresome.

In other Opening Day news, Jacob Misiorowski had 11 strikeouts in a Brewers’ win and there were 20 k’s total, but it was against the White Sox, so don’t get too excited.    Rookie Kevin McGonigle had 4 hits in the Tigers’ win over the Padres.    Maybe the Tigers did upgrade their offense for this season.

3-27-26

The El Paso Chihuahuas had their Opening Day late tonight against the Rivercats in Sacramento.    There was a Trumpet Anthem and a flyover.    It sounded like a big enthusiastic crowd there.    The Pups got their offense going in fifth and took a 6-1 lead, as they batted around.    Sacramento loaded the bases in the eighth thanks to a successful pitch challenge.    The crowd went wild and they scored twice, but ultimately lost, 9-3, to the Chihuahuas.    Those people seem pretty happy with their baseball.    I wonder if there’s a “Live at the Ballpark” ticket package with season tickets for the Rivercats and the A’s.

3-28-26

The Rangers game did not come on the radio this afternoon.    I’m not happy with their El Paso radio affiliate.    After I got back from Aggie Softball, I listened to the late night Chihuahuas game.    I’m mentioning it for this, there was a near immaculate inning in the ninth for the Rivercats.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty got pretty excited.    The Sacramento pitcher got 8-straight strikes, but just missed on the ninth pitch.    It was tied at 3 and went to the tenth.    The pups scored there, but the Rivercats scored 2 in the bottom of frame to win it, 5-4.

I missed all of the baseball on Sunday being back at Aggie Softball and watching the NCAA Tournament with my dad.    The day felt incomplete.

4-3-26

Still no MLB.TV Free Games this season.    However, we did have today’s the Rangers’ home opener on the radio.    They had an hour-long pregame.    Iconic stadium PA, Chuck Morgan, earned his pay before the game with 10 minutes of team intros.    Former El Paso Diablo and El Paso Chihuahua manager, Rod Barajas, and Travis Jankowski from the Rangers’ 2023 World Series team, were both on the coaching staff.    The Rangers were playing the Reds and Mackenzie Gore was starting for the Rangers.

Dad had called me on Monday to tell me that the Diamondbacks were playing the Tigers that night for Arizona’s home opener.    I figured somebody might be showing the Rockies’ Opening Day today, as well.    It was and they were playing the Phillies.    Unfortunately, this was on at the same time as the Rangers’ game, so I put this game on mute with closed captions.   

It was a bright sunny day in Denver, not quite a full house, but a great crowd.    An impressive “CR” was mowed into the outfield grass.    Rockies’ catcher, Hunter Goodman, received his Silver Slugger award before the game.

The announcers were talking about ABS challenges.    Catchers were having the best success.    Pitchers were having the worst and even not allowed to challenge by some teams.    In a Chihuahuas game last night, pup knuckle ball pitcher Matt Waldron did make a successful challenge.  The other pitchers on the team were not allowed to challenge, but as a Major Leaguer, they let him.    An even more unlikely challenge was that Gabe Mosser, the opposing pitcher, was also a knuckler baller.    This made MLB news.

The Rockies’ starter, Michael Lorenzen, had a rough first giving up 6 runs, including a 3-run homer by Brandon Marsh.    In Arlington, in Gore’s second inning, he gave up a 2-run homer to Spencer Steer, though the Rangers tied it in the bottom via a Danny Jansen 2-RBI double.    Back in Denver, Bryce Harper, who’d been slumping, hit a 2-run homer to make it, 8-0 Phillies.

By the fourth inning in both games, I had to leave for work.    Before going, I got to see the Rockies get a run on a fielder’s choice.    Bryson Stott at second made a brilliant leap and glove toss of the ball to get the out on the play.    It was 10-1 Phillies, which would be the final.    In Texas, Elly de la Cruz hit a line drive home run in the sixth to give the Reds a 3-2 lead.    Wyatt Langford doubled in a run to tie it in seventh, however another 2-run homer late by the Reds ended it, 5-3 Reds.

The big news in the MLB today was the debut of Konnor Griffin with the Pirates.    He doubled in a run in his first at bat, which contributed to a 5-4 win.    The bad news was that Griffin bumped Aggie great Nick Gonzales out of the lineup.    Just to make it worse, they were playing the Orioles and Kyle Bradish was losing pitcher, another Aggie star.

Another bit of big news was a couple of minor leaguers getting huge contracts.    This figured into the night game between the Chihuahuas versus the Rainiers.    Colt Emerson was playing for Tacoma and had received the largest contract ever for a player, who hadn’t yet made it to the MLB.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty kept mentioning this for every Emerson at bat.    No pressure.

It was freezing weather there in Tacoma.    Jose Miranda gave the little dogs a lead in the first inning with a grand slam.    Patrick Wisdom, the Chihuahuas’ old nemesis from a previous postseason, tied it with a 3-run homer.    In the seventh, a Chihuahuas’ runner was thrown out at the plate, but the team still took a 7-4 lead.  Jase Bowen hit a 2-run triple in the eighth for a 10-4 lead.    With that hit, Bowen hit for the cycle tonight.    It would be a 10-5 win for the Chihuahuas.

4-4-26

After a morning game with Aggie Baseball, there was more baseball that night.    The Rangers lost 2-0 to the Reds.    The radio signal cut out on the final batter.    I was surprised it held out that long in the evening.   

The Chihuahuas were playing two 7-inning games tonight to make up for a rainout earlier in the week.    Game 1 of the double header was a 5-2 Chihuahuas win in 8 innings.    They scored 4 times in the extra inning, helped out by a couple of errors on the same player on the same play.    The Rainiers did bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom.

During the break between games, I flipped over to the end of the Rockies and Phillies’ game.    There were 39k at Coors Field.    There was a different announcer working with Jack Corrigan, Jesse Thomas.    He sounded young.    It was 2-1 Phillies in the ninth.    The Rockies had given up the DH for the inning, but that didn’t figure into the final decision.    Jhoan Duran, with the most alliterative name in the MLB, got the save for the Phillies.   

On TV, there was soccer.    I happened upon the El Paso Locomotive getting a 3-2 win over Las Vegas.    LV protested the ending saying that they were owed a corner.    Elsewhere, the NWSL was on and Denver played another nil-nil tie with Seattle.    These ladies need to score.

In the Chihuahuas’ Game 2, the pups nursed a 2-run homer in the first until the sixth, where Tacoma scored on a solo home run.    In the bottom of the seventh, there were two outs, a runner on first, and Connor Joe up to bat.    A strikeout ended it.    It was a 2-1 win and a double header sweep for the Chihuahuas.    The next day, Tim Hagerty mentioned getting a foul ball in the broadcast booth in one of these games, but I didn’t hear it happen.

4-5-26

One of the Mexican stations was advertising that they’d be showing MLB games this season.    This afternoon’s game featured the Mets at the Giants.    It was an Old School Baseball flashback today.    Both managers argued with the umps for an extended period of time.    The Mets’ manager came out to argue a check swing strike on Marcus Semien.    (He was wrong. It was a strike.)    The Giants’ manager, who came directly from the college ranks, argued about a runner being out of the baseline going to first and I think he was ejected.    Maybe the college safety bag idea isn’t so nutty after all.