Labor Day Sports Report 2021 Part 2

Continued from Part 1 

7-12-21

I was looking forward to the Home Run Derby tonight.  They had a great lineup and were a mile high in Denver at Coors Field.  Then I remembered how this event got moved from Atlanta to here earlier in the year and I was less enthusiastic.  Regardless, I was at work and busy.  It didn’t matter whether I really wanted to watch or not. 

 

MLB did put batting practice up on Youtube.  I saw Shohei Ohtani blast one to the fourth deck restaurant level at the stadium.  That got a huge rise out of the crowd.  Hunter Pence, who I’d noticed was calling games for FS1, was doing the commentary.  He thought Shohei wasn’t even swinging as hard as he could. 

 

Shohei and Juan Soto had the best battle in the contest.  However, Pete Alonso, didn’t just win, he stole the show.  He hammered 35 in the opening round and toyed with his opponents after that.  It was clear he could hit homers at will at Coors.  What I saw of the event was reasonably lively and well-paced.  I had to supply my own, “Back, back, back’s,” though.

  

7-13-21

I was even busier the next night and basically missed the whole All-Star Game.  All I saw was the eighth with the American League up 5-2.  The National League loaded the bases, but Kris Bryant made the final out on a great catch by (someone I didn’t note at the time and would be too much trouble to look up now).  I caught the end of the game and, of course, the National League lost.  That’s eight in a row.  These guys need to get their act together before this event stops being competitive.

 

I also missed the purple carpet ceremony where the players came in.  Fernando Tatis Jr. stole that show with his pink silk suit.  I had to watch the video with that entrance.  This is the closest thing to a dude fashion show that you’re going to get.

 

7-16-21

It’s a free weekend for MLB.TV.  Unfortunately, all the blackouts still applied.  I tuned into the Rangers game first, but there was no video and no Eric Nadel.  (No offense to Matt Hicks, who I like very much.)  I flipped over to the Padres versus the Nationals.  Still no picture.  It seemed pretty competitive.  The Padres took a three-run lead in the first, but the Nationals tied it in the bottom.

 

Okay, then the floodgates opened.  Press the fast forward button.  Hold it down for a while.  Padres win 24-8.  Oh, my goodness, this took a while to the tune of four hours and 15 minutes.  When is this game going to end?  (You’d think some of the Chihuahuas games this season would have conditioned me to accept these long-ass running times.) 

 

Here come the incredible stats.  It was the longest 9-inning Padres game.  It had the highest run total for the team.  Jake Croneworth hit for the cycle.  Tommy Pham nearly did the same, but settled for scoring five runs, which tied another team record.  ‘Nando himself scored four runs.  

 

The Rangers game turned out to be 10-0 loss to the Blue Jays, so I chose wisely.  The other games didn’t really interest me much.  The Chihuahuas lost to Las Vegas again and I didn’t end up listening to any of it.  I probably would have bailed on the Padres and found something else, but I was terribly busy at work with a balky printer.  I hadn’t had printer problems for a long while.  I’d almost forgotten how irritating they are.  I think I nearly blacked out twice from stress.

 

7-17-21

I’d probably rather forget what happened in baseball today (see below).  However, the racing was a bit more memorable.  The SRX series had their final race tonight at the Nashville Fairgrounds.  Bill Elliot was joined by his son, Chase, for the race.  They started up front, which somewhat calls into question the legitimacy of the event, but that’s okay for tonight.  On the short track there, passing was difficult, so Bill, who had not done well in the previous five races, managed to stay up front.  Chase did finally pass for the lead and the win.  He was incredibly gracious afterward to the fans, who had completely filled the large grandstand.  That’s the People’s Champion there.

         

7-18-21

It was another Sunday with Ron at his father’s house.  The MLB.TV free weekend was still going on.  Ron had said that he was bringing two laptops, so in addition to whatever game was on TV, we could watch two Internet games at the same time.  I thought he was kidding, but that’s pretty much what we ended up doing. 

 

After an afternoon of watching multiple games at the same time, I really can’t report on any of the games, because they all blurred together.  Even my typical sports ADHD couldn’t keep up with the barrage of images.  It was a Sandlot moment, as it was all just one long game that never seemed to end.  There was also a NASCAR race at New Hampshire going on, which only added to the confusion.  Not to mention bringing up Twitch and watching a couple of attractive streamers. 

I’d never seen a New Hampshire race.  I think they always put it on cable.  It started raining there just after they put out the green flag.  Three cars all spun out at the same spot, one after the other.  This lead to a lengthy red flag delay.  When racing resumed, then they ran into encroaching darkness.  The track didn’t have lighting.  Finally, NASCAR ended the race a few laps early.  The commentators said that the TV picture was showing way more light than there actually was, so it was dangerous for them to drive at speed.  Congrats to Aric Almirola, who was so happy and grateful for the win.

 

The MLB, since the All-Star Game, has been playing the stooge for the government/media complex.  Thursday’s single game between the Yankees and Red Sox was canceled for some positive cold tests.  This didn’t at seem like an artificially created story at someone’s request at all.  Of course, several of the positively-tested players had gotten the shot.  This happened at the College World Series, too.  It’s almost like a shot for a cold was never going to work.  Duh. 

 

Then on Saturday, the Padres/Nationals game was disrupted by gunfire outside the stadium there in Washington.  The game was stopped and the stadium was evacuated.  This made big national news, which suddenly disappeared within 24 hours.  In other words, the wrong type of the person did the shooting and now it had to be covered up.  Darn.  Maybe next time, it’ll be some –ist person and the case can be made for taking guns away from law-abiding citizens (but never criminals).

 

I’d say the only good thing that came out of the incident was the Padres’ behavior.  Right after the shots fired, they went to the stands to bring their family members into the dugout.  Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado took it even further and brought fans in with them.  That’s some leadership there.  ‘Nando tweeted later, “We’re not players.  We’re not fans.  We’re just people.”

The biggest news I can report from my scatological baseball-viewing on Sunday (and this all-over-the-place little report) was an Aggie sighting.  Watching the Indians play, suddenly, former Crimson and White star centerfielder, Daniel Johnson, came to bat.  I immediately called Ron’s attention to it.  Looking at his stats, apparently, he’d just been called up.  DJ got a hit that time.  Later in the game, he hit the go-ahead home run, which proved to be the winner.  The TV coverage showed a section of 25 to 30 Indians fans there in Oakland, California, going crazy.  They were his friends and family, as Oakland was his home town.  DJ also made a great catch early in the game.  He was interviewed after the game even.  This was great to see.

Not sports related, but important to the afternoon, was lunch.  Ron had talked me out of Jason’s Deli last weekend, but he agreed to it this time when I confirmed that they had a muffletta on their menu.  Ron was a big fan of the muffaletta at McAlisters.  The thing was the size of a full-sized plate.  I’ve seen him eat one of these things in one sitting on multiple occasions. 

 

After ordering, we stood around for ten minutes waiting.  Ron complained that people behind us had already gotten their orders.  I looked down the line and saw his sandwich from the other end of the restaurant.  OMG!  It was huge.  It had literally taken them extra time to fix it.  They may have had to call in extra staff.  Probably not a coincidence that it was the most expense single item on the menu at $15.

 

When we sat down to eat, the reveal did not disappoint.  It may not have had the circumference of the McAlister’s version, but may have been an inch taller.  It was cut into quarters, because whole or half-sized would have been un-holdable for eating.  My own sandwich (the California Club) was decent sized, but looked like an hors d’oeuvre.  It wasn’t even as big as a quarter as his.  (Mine was also not served on a fresh croissant.  So I was unhappy.)  

 

As soon as Ron saw his, he did a double take.  He was really hungry and it was a cheat day for his diet, but even he was staggered by meat-ziila.  Apprehensively, Ron hoisted a slice only to be momentarily defeated trying to get it into his mouth.  Credit to his prodigious appetite, he finished half of it.  He pushed the rest aside.  “Finally found a meal you couldn’t finish?” I asked.  “No.  I could finish it if I wanted to.  I just want to save the rest until later.”  Sure.  He took it home.  If he finished it for dinner, I’m even more impressed.     

Continued in Part 3.

Midsummer Sports Report 2021 Part 2

Part 1

6-12-21  

Saturday night and there’s a race on.  Unfortunately, it’s not NASCAR.  They’ve been on the back of a milk carton for the last couple of months on FOX.  This was the debut of the SRX Racing series on CBS.  It’s sort of like the old IROC series, where a bunch of past champions from various series raced against each other in identical cars.  This series is planning on running on short tracks for the next six weeks. 

 

There was a full house for the inaugural race featuring champs such as Helio Castroneves, Tony Stewart, Tony Kanaan, and Bill Elliot.  Greg Biffle and Marco Andretti were there, along with some other drivers I didn’t know or remember when I started writing this.  If these guys were giving autographs, I can easily see a bunch of people showing up for the race. 

 

The broadcast crew seemed to mostly be ESPN’s old crew.  (CBS is rumored to be going after NASCAR coverage at some point.)  Alan Bestwick called the race.  He looked damn happy to be back in front of a microphone.  Lindsey Czarniak, looking very hot, was the host.  The pit reporters were familiar (and I’ve forgotten who they were, wait, Brad Daughtery was one).  Danica Patrick was the effusive color commentator.  We were all asking the same question: Why wasn’t she racing?

 

Admittedly, I don’t have much to say about the race.  I was flipping back-and-forth with FOX’s MLB game, and I was listening to the Chihuahuas on the radio.  There was an interesting play at the plate during that game.  The throw bounced in the dirt and hit the umpire on the nose.  He had to get treated and have the blood cleaned up before the game could continue. 

 

Back at the race, Danica told a story about having to race at the Eldora dirt track, which is coming up on the schedule.  She felt she had to do it because her boss, Tony Stewart, owns the track and invited her.  She didn’t want to since she’d never been on dirt before.  She admitted that she didn’t practice beforehand just to have an excuse for doing badly, which was what happened.

 

The winner of the race was the local ringer.  They’d left a spot in the grid just for a local.  He got out of his car afterward and fell on his rear.  The guy said he was okay with looking like a dummy if he could promote the track.  I’d have to think this would be a great career accomplishment for him given the field.  I’ll keep tuning in when I can for this series.   

  

6-15-21

I’ve been under limited Internet access at work this work.  It’s really sucked.  I could still listen to Chihuahuas games.  I found Tim’s commentary a bit more compelling than the game.  He mentioned a score from Las Vegas from the previous night.  They scored 11 runs in one inning . . . and still lost the game 21-16 to Reno.  And here I thought that Chihuahuas loss on the fifth was terrible to sit through.  It could have been worse.

 

The OKC Dodgers won tonight’s game, but the pups at least split with the series with them.  Tim noted a Dodgers reliever was playing catch with some kids above the bullpen.  That’s sweet.  Their starter breezed through one inning in four pitches.  Tim was aghast.  He didn’t even have time to finish his commentary on MLB’s new rule against pitchers using foreign substances.  We go straight back to the future as the “spitball” (or “spider-tack” ball) is once again illegal.  Tim said it had been up to opposing managers to police this, but no one wanted their own pitchers busted for calling it out. 

 

Meanwhile on TV, the Giants were playing the D-Backs.  I’d caught the first inning when Arizona went out to a 4-run lead.  I’d had to skip out at that point to work, but left the game on and kept checking in.  The lead increased to 7-0, before the Giants started making a comeback. 

It was 8-5 when I wandered in in the bottom of the eighth and stopped to watch.  The Giants were up with two outs and the bases loaded.  Mike Yastrzemski battled at the plate until he got a down and in pitch right in his left-handed sweet spot.  The ball started hooking.  I immediately began to move down an imaginary first base line trying to wave it fair with my arms flailing.  It just cleared the pole and splashed into the drink of McCovey Cove.  Yaz was amazingly composed and barely cracked a smile as he crossed home plate.  The Giants won 9-8.   

 

6-18-21

After a two week road trip, the Chihuahuas returned home.  The crowd there sounded big and enthusiastic over the radio.  Unfortunately, they lost a lead late to Sugar Land and lost the game.  Tim was amazed by one play in the game that he’d never seen before.  There was a dropped third strike on a Skeeters batter.  He thought it was a ball and stood there.  The El Paso catcher was injured on the play.  The pitcher actually got the ball and tagged the batter for the out.

 

The parent club, the Padres, came home after losing three in a row to the Rockies.  (The Rockies?)  There were two free games today online which I watched (Cubs/Mets and Tigers/Angels), but I kept an eye on the Padres’ game with the Reds tonight.  They took a two-run lead into the ninth.  The Reds came back with four runs.  I turned on Statcast for the bottom just after Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer to tie it and kept watching as Victor Caratini hit another two-run homer to win it.  The sweet part is that their stadium was finally at full capacity tonight.  The highlights looked like a World Series game with the fans going crazy.

 

6-19-21

Finally.  The Chihuahuas beat the Sugar Land Skeeters.  They it well, too, 15-2.  They’re now 1-7 against them.  A co-worker and her dad went to the game.  I’m sure she brought them the good luck they needed.  She’d been thrilled seeing a grand slam home run during the game.

 

6-20-21

I thought the highlight of tonight’s game between the Chihuahuas and the Skeeters was going to be Tim Hagerty’s in-booth guest.  For Father’s Day, Tim had brought on his little son.  It’s been so long, I’d forgotten that he usually brought on a kid guest for Sunday home games.  This lead to this exchange.  Tim: “You’re four years old.”  “I’m five.”  “You’re five?  When did that happen?”

 

As it turned out, a full inning of Sonny/Daddy time was not the most noteworthy event of the game.  The Skeeters started off the game scoring four runs before their first out.  This included two home runs.  Coincidentally, there was a ferocious gusting wind kicking up ahead of a . . . weather occurrence that resulted in no rain.  (We’ve been a little dry out here in the Southwest this year.)  It seemed like it was going to be one of those games where the pitchers run and hide.

 

I’ll cut more-or-less to the chase.  Sugar Land was up at one point 10-4.  In the bottom of the sixth, with the crowd all into it, the Chihuahuas closed it to one run, 13-12.  Unfortunately in the seventh, El Paso went through two pitchers as the Skeeters scored three more runs.  Position player, Matt Batten, came in to pitch.  A groan went through the crowd, including myself. 

 

Tim had to explain.  The Padres parent club had just called up a called up a couple of pitchers.  They’d sent a couple down, but they weren’t in town yet.  El Paso was out of available pitchers.  Batten has had quite a bit of experience pitching, unfortunately.  He induced a double play on an eephus pitch to end the inning and got a roar out of the crowd.  Events did not go well for his next two innings though.  The final was 24-15.  Yeah, forget all about yesterday’s blow out win. 

 

This was the most runs given up, the highest total score, and longest 9-inning game for the Chihuahuas ever (four+ hours).  I never got a final count on the number of home runs for the game.  (I think it was 11.)  It was after 10:15pm and Tim mentioned that there were kids out running the bases, as per the usual Sunday promotion.  

Part 3