WAC Softball Tournament 5-11-17 and 5-12-17

I’m just going to lead with the spoiler: the New Mexico State Aggies won the WAC Softball Championship!  I’m removing the suspense here for two reasons.  One, the real story isn’t the destination, but rather the journey.  Two, and more practically, my notes and scorekeeping on Championship Saturday were terrible.  Weather conditions were not conducive to writing on loose papers, and I had trouble processing the events I was witnessing.    

But, let’s start with the first days of the tournament.  I was not able to attend, owing to work obligations.  (Keep in mind, I’d already taken off two days last month for baseball games [4-4 and 4-19].)  Ron bought a full tournament pass.  I’d meant to get such a pass last year when the volleyball tournament was here.  Instead, Ron made me stay at work to do an upgrade that week on a computer system that he then out-sourced this year.  But I’m not bitter.  Given that he lost his job right after that, it’s hard to get too angry.  At least he’s gotten to spend more time with his granddaughters and has been able to attend events like this.     

5-11-17

The WAC digital network was supposed to be broadcasting this over the Internet.  Perhaps they were for other people, but not for me.  I never got any video off their website.  I followed along on Statcast, which, much like Gameday, is really nerve-wracking to watch.  In their first game versus CSU-Bakersfield, the Aggies went down 1-2 early.  In the sixth, NMSU managed to tie it and take the lead.  With the bases loaded, Kelsey Horton came to bat.  She’d been 0-3 for that day and, no doubt, came up to bat angry.  Of course, what happened next was a grand slam home run.  I wondered if she’d see another strike for the rest of the tournament.  Aggies won 7-2.

On the team Twitter feed I noticed pictures from the pre-tournament dinner.  The girls clean up nice in evening wear.  I think they were in the club area at Aggie Memorial Stadium.  Kelsey won the Player of the Year award.  Freshman Nikki Butler won Rookie of the Year.  Earlier in the week, pitcher Kayla Green won Pitcher of the Week honors for her clutch save at the Florida-Atlantic game the week before.      

5-12-17

The Aggies lost in their afternoon game 4-6, against Seattle U.  This was bad.  The day before, I had communicated with Ron.  He’d planned on going to the championship game on Saturday, regardless of who was playing.  I agreed to go as well.  Now with this loss, I was on the hook for a $12 ticket to a game that I possibly couldn’t care less about.  I spent the rest of the afternoon enmeshed in inner turmoil.  

Bringing up the Aggie game later, I caught the end of the UMKC Roo’s versus the Bakersfield Roadrunners.  I did a double take on the score.  The Roo’s won 20-10.  Ron later told me that it was run-ruled in the fifth after an endless inning.  The Aggies faced the Roo’s immediately afterward.  The final score was 15-3 Aggies, but more importantly, the Aggies would be in the championship.  Kelsey hit a two-run homer in the game.  This girl is unstoppable!

When I saw Ron on Saturday, I noticed a bright, yellow softball in the back seat of his car.  “Where’d that come from?” I asked.  Ron told me he’d gotten the other day, but sort of had to pay for it.  It was a practice ball that got fouled into the parking lot.  It bounced and hit his car, putting a dent in it.  Since it wasn’t a game ball, Ron went ahead and kept it.  He confirmed that the WAC gave out little wooden bats to kids on the first day (unfortunately they weren’t selling them).  Ron’s nemesis, the old man, had been there for the games with a big sign.  Sometimes he accidently held it upside down to Ron’s amusement.  Ron was sore and tired from being out at the ballpark for last two days, but still eager to see the Aggie girls playing for the championship.

We’ve set the stage and told you how it’s going to end, but you’re not prepared for what’s about to happen.

Part 2

Part 3

Baseball Journal May 2017 Part 1

5-2-17

It’s a baseball/softball double header with the Aggies visiting the Lobos in Albuquerque.  I was able to watch the games thanks to the Mountain West digital network.  The softball game featured a rather perky, chipper student announcer.  Aggie Softball won 7-6.  A two-run homer in the seventh made it close, but Fahren Glackin closed it out.  Kelsey Horton didn’t play the field and didn’t have a hit, but still had three RBI’s. 

The softball game slightly overlapped with the baseball game.  The wind picked up considerably as night fell.  Paul Weir, new Lobo basketball coach, was in attendance.  I’m sure the Aggie players and fans (of whom there were plenty) went out of their way to say “Hello,” to him.  After four bad losses in a row, Coach Green gave four guys the night off.  That worked out well.  Tristan Carranza figured out how to use that strong wind to the tune of two fourth-inning home runs, including a grand slam.  Meanwhile, bullpen guy, Andy Frakes, pitched eight and a third of the game.  12-5 as the Aggies win big.  As was quoted in the Aggie radio broadcast (as I lost the video halfway through the game), “You never lose.  You either win or you learn.”

5-4-17

I got to hear a bit of the Rangers versus the Astros before going to work in the afternoon.  When I got to work, I ended up bringing up the Rockies versus Padres game as the MLB free game.  Unfortunately, like just about every game west of the Mississippi, the TV broadcast was blacked out.  I still got the Padres’ radio call.  I didn’t catch the main guy’s name, but he was really entertaining.  His co-host put in a plug for the stations’ points rewards for listeners.  “It’s just what I always feared.  The station is having to pay people to listen to me.”  “Its points, not money.”  “It’s the principal!”  They also had a talk about Nolan AR-enado’s name, instead of AIR-enado.  They agreed with the change in pronunciation.  

I turned off the game to do work elsewhere.  I was shocked that it was still going when I got back.  Owing to a minor work crisis (defined as a problem that I wasn’t directly responsible for), I missed the ending, but it turned out to be 3-2 Rockies win.  I eventually got an update on the Rangers and Astros.  After losing every which way for the first three games of the series in Houston, the Rangers managed a 10-4 win behind staff ace, AJ Griffin.  Don’t laugh.  He’s undefeated so far.     

In the evening, Aggie Softball won its final regular season game against Florida Atlantic.  As part of their “May the Fourth be with You,” promotion, the first hundred fans got an Aggie Star Wars t-shirt.  Ron went to the game, but got the time wrong and missed out.  He got to see a really good game though.  Victoria Castro hit a big two-run homer.  Kayla Green came in for the last inning with two on and a one run lead, and got all three outs.  I’m encouraged by that performance.

5-5-17

Aggie baseball continued their hit parade on Friday at Utah Valley to the tune of a 24-1 run-rule win.  They were up 9-0 by the second.  As Adam said, “The crazy thing is, this is only their third-highest scoring game this season.”  Meanwhile the Giants were the MLB free game.  In Cincinnati, on a rainy evening, in front of a “friends and family”-sized crowd, they lost 13-3.  Jon Miller wasn’t calling the game.  Given these two blowouts, it wasn’t surprising that I chose to get caught up on Reign instead. 

I got back home and the Rangers/Mariners game was still going on the radio.  And on.  And on.  By the eleventh, Matt Hicks and Eric Nadel were getting giddy and punchy, after the second injury delay of the inning.  (Joey Gallo ended up seeing three pitchers in the same at bat.)  Jared Sandler, who had long run out of updates on other games, asked them to name all the events in a decathlon.  Baseball just gets weird when it goes past midnight.  Eric was about to do a game recap later: “In case you’re just joining us . . . (laugh) . . . at 1:50 (CST) in the morning.”  In the thirteenth, Ruggie hit a two-run homer to give the Rangers the lead, just as the guys were breaking down a small college’s post-season baseball schedule.  3-1 Rangers win.  I’m up till nearly 1:30 am (MST).  That’s okay.  They won.    

5-6-17

“If you had an hour to live, who would you call?” asked one host to his two, eager to answer, co-hosts.  “What the f*** kind of sports talk radio is this?” I sputtered.  I know they fired a lot of people at ESPN, but clearly they didn’t clean house.  You could easily replace everyone on ESPN Radio with a tape that alternates between saying, “LeBron James is the greatest,” and “Let’s talk about the NFL,” on an endless loop.  I was just listening to hear when the Kentucky Derby started, so I could go from the kitchen back to the TV in the bedroom.  So much for that.  Never mind, back to baseball.

An exuberant Nick Swisher has joined Alex Rodriguez on the Fox Sports MLB pre-game.  The only reason Fox was broadcasting baseball tonight was because it was the Yankees versus the Cubs.  It’s cold and windy like its early April at Wrigley.  People are bundled up, even the Marlins Man.  The ticker is now being used to promote Fox’s own s***** sports talk network (populated by a bunch of ex-ESPN Radio guys, coincidence?) and upcoming German and MLS soccer matches on the network.  That’s great.

I found out that the Cubs’ had moved the bullpens off the field and under the outfield bleachers.  I found this out in the top of first, as the Yankees scored five runs, and the Cubs were forced to bring in a reliever.  I got sick of Joe Buck immediately and switched on the Chihuahuas on the radio for audio, leaving the game on TV.  I briefly considered turning over to the playoff hockey, but I didn’t like either team.  Unfortunately, I lost radio reception in the eighth, just as the dogs went down by three runs.  I assumed they lost.  The Cubs lost 11-6 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate and wasn’t that interesting either. 

Meanwhile in Orem Utah, Aggie baseball was losing 4-6 in the fifth.  Marcel Renteria did not have his good stuff.  That’s too bad, since apparently a bunch of scouts were there to see him.  The Aggies tied it in the sixth.  Thereafter, they poured it on.  16-6 was the final.  Giving Joey Ortiz a couple of games off worked well as he went four for four.  Aggie pitching gave up one walk in the game.  I missed the Rockies game, which was okay, since I couldn’t get the station in.  The Rangers/Mariners game was still going.  It was 1-1 until the seventh, but was functionally over by the time I started listening (8-2 final).  More bullpen troubles.

5-7-17             

Aggie baseball was on at noon on the radio.  During the game, Adam Young started reading off some Aggie hitting records, since several players are doing so well this season.  He couldn’t believe that they’re not even close to the top 10 in several records.  Adam marveled over one kid having over 100 RBI’s in 50 games.  It’s pretty easy to explain: past players weren’t using the Bbcorr bats.  I can still remember the “ping” of those old aluminum bats and how much more powerful they were.  It’s a 6-0 Aggie win over Utah Valley with Jonathan Groff pitching a complete game shutout.

The Chihuahuas lost 3-7 to Nashville yesterday, as I found out in today’s pre-game.  In other news, the team released Jamie Romak.  He got a better deal to play ball in South Korea, and as a veteran, they had to let him go.  Maybe he comes back as Eric Thames.  Tim Hagerty, on the play-by-play, also talked about how many players now get to the ballpark using Uber.  It was more interesting when he told it.  Tim mentioned also they put on an interesting mascot race in Nashville.  They feature big-headed country music mascots of Johnny Cash, George Strait, and Reba McEntire. 

A former Aggie pitcher came into the game late for Nashville.  His name sounded familiar, but too long and complicated to write out.  I was watching the hockey playoff game that was on at the same time, featuring the Nashville Predators versus the St. Louis Blues.  The baseball crowd started cheering as the Predators went ahead in the third period.  They let out a bigger one when they won and a PA announcement was made between innings. 

Okay, not baseball related, but after the hockey and before the baseball ended, I got to see the end of the NASCAR Talladega race.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr won.  Several years ago, I made a prediction to some race fans at work that he’d win before his girlfriend, Dancia Patrick, did.  This was considered to be quite a foolish position at the time.  Oh, how sweet Monday will be.  For her part, Danica was happy for him in Victory Lane and didn’t try to steal the spotlight.  Minutes later, the Chihuahuas won 3-2, stranding the tying run on third.

I picked up the Rangers/Mariners game in the seventh.  (All three of these games started an hour after each other.)  Jose LeClerc had just thrown an extremely wild pitch.  Matt Hicks: “Jean Segura can’t be comfortable standing in that box after seeing that.”  Eric Nadel: “I’m not comfortable up here after seeing that.”  The Rangers’ bullpen loses it again, 4-3 Mariners.       

I almost got to listen to all of the Yankees versus Cubs game tonight.  I wasn’t paying much attention since I was writing that stupid boxing recap.  The signal weakened after sundown, but was still listenable.  In the bottom of the ninth, with the Yankees up 3-1 and one on, the signal completely dropped.  When it came back several minutes later, they were in commercial.  I guess the Yankees won.  I suspect their youngsters’ awesome numbers will tail off as the season goes along.  The Cubs are plenty good enough to beat bad teams, but they’re going to need a couple of good trades to actually improve.  

Boxing Report 5-6-17 Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

This fight was a big, freaking deal.  TV Azteca and Televisa were both broadcasting it, since it involved two Mexican boxers on Cinco de Mayo weekend.  This holiday is really celebrated more on this side of the border for some reason.  Speaking of the border, Mexican commercials for this bout reportedly showed Canelo and Chavez Jr kicking down a border wall to come to Vegas to have this fight.  I didn’t see it.  This came from the newspaper, so I can’t say whether it’s true, or just some agenda item they wished were true.  

My co-worker, Mike, and his little boxing fan girlfriend, Laiza, went to the fight.  She “knows people” and had a good, free ticket.  Mike declined to purchase one for himself (for several hundred dollars) and would be watching her son at the hotel instead.  Regrettably, he didn’t send me any pictures of the weigh-in and other Vegas locations.  I was worried I wouldn’t be able to see this fight, since Avalanche Sharks was showing on the Comet network.  Yes, it was sharks attacking a ski resort . . . in the snow . . . as the sharks “swim” in the snow . . . attacking skiers on slopes and girls in hot tubs.  Your imagination is not doing the reality of this film justice.  It’s more dumber than can be imagined by anyone not involved in the production.  Hey, speaking of dumber, was that Jessica Simpson in the movie? 

Luckily, this cinematic masterpiece ended right before the fight.  Unfortunately, I think I would have been better off if Avalanche Sharks 2: Blood Blizzard had aired that night, and I could have watched that instead.  (Not a real movie, just kidding.)  I wouldn’t have wanted to have wasted my ten minutes of research on this fight though.  George Foreman was on an El Paso sports talk show for an interview about the fight.  Apparently, I missed a good heavy weight bout last weekend (I was busy).  Usually, I get a heads-up from Mike about good fights.  Oh, well.

The undercard fights took place at the MGM.  The main event was at the new T-Mobile Arena.  (I hope the fans at the MGM at least got a video feed of the big fight.)  I’m pretty sure Laiza wasn’t able to go to both, as there was no time between events.  I chose the TV Azteca coverage, since I like their announcers better.  I found out later that the Televisa coverage was running a round ahead, so I couldn’t go between them.  The TV Azteca guys sang along with the Mexican national anthem.  (The producer really should have cut their mics.)  The American anthem was sung afterward and amazingly, not boo’ed.

Canelo looked heavier, since he moved up in weight class.  (Ooops, that’s all my research.)  He was also sporting a beard.  Chavez Jr was taller with a longer reach.  (Canelo was usually punching up, while Chavez was punching down.)  Canelo is now built like an offensive lineman and way bulkier than Chavez.  Canelo’s gloves also seemed bigger than Chavez’s.  Chavez was rather fair skinned, while Canelo was downright pink.  Neither had a bunch of tats on them. 

The crowd was heavily for Canelo.  The TV coverage was also slanted (they showed Canelo’s walkout, not Chavez’s), but not as much as usual for his fights, since he was fighting a countryman.  Michael Buffer: “For the thousands in attendance, and the millions watching around the world who wished they here: Let’s get ready to rumble!”

Round 1: I’m looking for Laiza in the crowd.  She’s sat next to famous fighters at ringside before.  I don’t see her, but I’m sure I’m hearing her screaming.  Canelo and Chavez feel each other out.  I give the round to Canelo.

Round 2: There’s a new Stalone Tecate commercial between rounds.  There’s also an epic commercial for microwave popcorn.  I had no idea the product was so heroic.  The crowd howled as Chavez drove Canelo into the ropes briefly.  Chavez Sr was in attendance at ringside.  He’s usually part of the TV Azteca crew, but must have excused himself for this fight.  For his aggression, I give this one to Chavez.

Round 3: Canelo got in a good gut shot.  Chavez was bloodied on the cheek, probably from a hit that would later swell up his eye.  Canelo.

Round 4: I lost TV signal for a moment and panicked.  Thankfully, it came right back.  I flipped over to Televisa and saw a Trojan condom commercial.  It involved an attractive woman with her lower half seemingly covered in translucent rubber.  Canelo took some big swings.  He knocked Chavez into the ropes, causing the crowd to roar.  Canelo.

Round 5: There’s another Stalone commercial.  He’s in bed and awakened, sensing a guy in a nearby restaurant who’s ordering some pansy meal.  Stalone rolls out of bed and is instantly in a tux and goes off to confront the guy.  Televisa seems to be showing less commercials (and not overlaying onscreen ads during the fight), but the commercials are pretty entertaining.  Canelo landed a massive right to Chavez’s head.  He’s really starting to hurt him, and Chavez is not able to do the same.  Canelo.

Round 6: The guys start leaning on each other, head to head.  The ref has to break them up several times.  Fatigue seems to be a factor for both fighters.  Chavez put Canelo on the ropes again, though not really hurting him.  I give it to Chavez, since Canelo was too passive.

Round 7: I was missing 10 Up.  Thankfully, it was a rerun.  Flipping over, I did see a commercial for one of those hot chat lines.  Chavez put Canelo into the ropes, but Canelo came out swinging and drove him right back.  Chavez’s left eye was swelling up.  Canelo.

Round 8: Canelo again goes into the ropes and goes turtle.  Both guys are tired.  I give the round the Chavez, since he messed up Canelo’s hair.

Round 9: Chavez’s eye looks better.  Canelo gets in a low blow.  Canelo was back into the ropes and was fighting defensively.  The guys actually wrestled for a moment.  The crowd started chanting, but I couldn’t tell what.  Chavez.     

Round 10: The trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming comes on.  It’s translated as “Regresso a hogar?”  I guess they don’t have high school homecomings in Mexico.  Canelo came out much more aggressive.  The crowd seemed to be boo’ing.  Maybe they (and myself) wanted him to finish it.  Canelo.

Round 11: There’s a mattress company commercial featuring live bears, obviously well trained.  The guys danced and hit in the middle of the ring.  The crowd was all over the place in reactions: chanting “Canelo,” boo’ing, screaming, whistling.  Canelo got in a good shot to Chavez’s head, but unfortunately followed it with another low blow.  There was a stoppage, but no warning was issued.  Canelo.

Round 12: The last memorable commercial.  A guy with a flat bike tire used the right deodorant and got picked up by a bus full of beach volleyball girls.  Canelo again came out aggressive and put Chavez into the ropes.  He would leave his feet taking big swings.  The crowd was roaring and boo’ing.  Tellingly, they weren’t standing and cheering.  Canelo.

I may have been generous in giving any rounds to Chavez Jr.  The TV guy didn’t give any to him.  Foreman was afraid there’d be 12 round fight with a controversial decision.  Mike thought Canelo would finish him in the middle rounds.  The judges’ decision, which was the only one that mattered, unanimously gave it to Canelo, all with the same score. 

Chavez Sr entered the ring right after the fight, but I didn’t see what happened afterward.  Canelo did separate interviews with both TV networks.  It went by too fast for me to have any chance of figuring out what he was saying, but he wasn’t very animated, or even winded.  Canelo’s next fight is in September against Golovkin.  I hope that’s that “Triple G” guy everybody is excited to see him fight.  I’m willing to sit through one more bad big fight before I stop watching for good, so let’s hope it’s a good one. 

It was too late to call Mike after the fight, and Laiza probably wouldn’t be really interested in talking about this fight anyway.  Another wasted evening watching a boxing match.  I should have a press hard card by now for covering all this boxing.  It’s the only reason I’m doing it.  It’s a prerequisite right?  I haven’t been wasting my time, have I?

Baseball Journal April 2017

Owing to an impending, violent change to my life schedule, I wasn’t sure about bothering with a journal this year.  However, as long as there’s baseball that I can watch or listen to, let’s enjoy what we can.  Mostly, I’ve been listening over the radio (and Internet) and catching the MLB Free game.  As usual, this is highly biased towards the teams that I like and that I get to watch or listen to, namely the NM State Aggies, the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Texas Rangers, and the Colorado Rockies. 

So far, I haven’t bothered much with baseball on TV.  A big “Thank you” to Fox Sports for not bothering to show any baseball this month and instead focusing on European soccer matches.  That’s just great.  I guess the Yankees and Red Sox haven’t been playing on any of the weekends yet.  I missed all of spring training and did not see any of the World Baseball Classic, though I did follow along with the championship game.  I have commentary on that: USA!  USA!    

4-1-17

NM State Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Softball

4-3-17

Opening Day!  It was a bad day at work.  I didn’t get to see or hear more than a couple of minutes of baseball (or the NCAA Basketball Championship).  I did catch some of the Rangers come from ahead loss to the Cleveland Indians on the MLB free game.  Rougned Odor did hit two homers in the game.  Sam Dyson took the loss in what seemed like ominous foreboding for the Rangers’ bullpen.

4-4-17

NM State Aggies vs Texas Tech Red Raiders Baseball

4-6-17

Opening Day for the Chihuahuas!  It was a sellout and then some with over 9,000 in attendance.  The late head groundskeeper, Nate Jones, was remembered.  He died at 24 in a car wreck in the offseason.  His field won a PCL award for the grass.  Those outfield suite seats aren’t that great a place to see the game, but I was able to get a good look at that grass.  It was so perfect, it looked like it should be vacuumed instead of mowed.  The Chihuahuas won.  There were a couple of homers and an inside the park home run (technically a single and three-base error).  Coach Rod Barajas later admitted that the huge crowd did kind of goad him into sending the runner home.  

4-8-17

NM State Aggies vs UTRGV Vaqueros Baseball

4-9-17

NM State Aggies vs UTRGV Vaqueros Baseball

4-11-17

[This was my actual first entry and the first game I got to really listen to.  Yeah, I started this over a week late.  I was still upset about Opening Day going badly for me.]  Up 5-0 over the Angels, the Rangers proceeded to squander the lead until the ninth when Sam Dyson came in finished the job for his second blown save of the year.  Of course, it was my least favorite player, Al Pujols driving in Mike Trout for the tying run.  In the tenth, Trout then robbed Jonathan Lucroy of the go ahead home run.  The Rangers lose in the bottom on a squeeze play.  6-5 Angels.  Adrian Beltre is still out and Joey Gallo is in.  He’s still striking out, but did a tremendous upper deck home run last week.

4-13-17

Rockies vs. Giants.  The Rockies new closer, Greg Holland, loaded the bases in the ninth up 3-1, but got a double play to end it.  Where was Buster?  Was he still out on concussion protocols?  Trevor Story was back in a short.  That was good to hear.  David Dahl is out with injury however.  Mark Reynolds is doing very well, filling in for the injured Ian Desmond.  If they could just get the whole team together .  . .

At the end of this game, I got the final score of the Mets and Marlins game I was watching earlier.  It was 9-8 Mets in extras.  Yoenis Cespedes hit two monster home runs while I was watching.  Meanwhile, the Aggies beat Sacramento State 8-4.  LJ Hatch went crazy in the game with a home run, two singles, and three stolen bases. 

4-14-17

Marcel Renteria went 9 innings and worked his way out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth.  He actually talked his way into staying into the game with three guys on.  Unfortunately it ended in a 2-1 loss to Sac State in the twelfth.  Sac State won the game with three hits and two errors.

4-15-17

NM State Aggies vs UMKC Roos Softball

4-16-17

8-7, Rangers lose to the Mariners.  Another Sam Dyson blown save.  There was an odd series of events in the inning, but ultimately he walked in the tying run.  There wasn’t even a batted ball that left the infield in the final inning.  The Rangers seem to have to find a new closer every year.  The Chihuahuas also lost, but there was an interesting scoring play for dogs in the game.  Jabari Blash tagged up on second on a deep fly ball by Collin Cowgill and scored.  The centerfielder fell down after making the catch, but that is still a heck of a sprint.

4-17-17

It was an afternoon matinee for the Chihuahuas and a blowout loss.  Catcher Rocky Gale made his pitching debut, throwing a 60mph fastball.  You could hear a heckler in the stands giving him the business, “Show us your fast ball!”  His line was one hit batter, one strikeout, a single (scoring two inherited runners), and a groundball out.

4-18-17

At least the Aggie baseball team put up a good fight against Texas Tech in Midland, losing 6-4.  They briefly had a lead.  In the fifth, in a four strikeout inning, the Aggies scored a, almost needless to say, unearned run.  They were playing under harsh conditions, namely every time the Red Raiders scored, a hockey horn blasted and then the Tech fight song played.

Meanwhile in Las Cruces, the Aggie softball team was getting clobbered by the Arizona Wildcats.  There apparently was no run rule.  In Game one, with over 500 in attendance, they lost 8-0.  In Game two, with over 800 in attendance (nearly a full house), they lost 11-1.  The Arizona pitcher in that game had 12 strikeouts.  Why am I smiling though?  She had a no-hitter going in the last inning until Kelsey Horton came up.  I don’t know if she just made a mistake or was trying to challenge Kelsey, but the result was a home run.  Having seen Kelsey bat, that must have been the angriest swing of the night.  Also, the team only had one error in the two games, so they didn’t beat themselves.

Back at home that night, I got to hear the end of the Rockies versus the Dodgers.  There was some drama in the bottom of the ninth, but Greg Holland got save, his eighth in a row.  4-3 Rockies.

4-19-17

El Paso Diablos vs Tacoma Rainiers

4-20-17

I came into this game late, but better late than never in a scoreless 13 inning game.  Joey Gallo doubled and was driven in by Delino Deshields for the 1-0 Ranger win over the Royals.  Meanwhile, how do you get 17 strikeouts in a game and have a 5-0 lead and still lose in extras?  Ask the Chihuahuas, as I listened to this night’s game in slowly unfolding horror.  They should have stayed the Diablos.

4-22-17

NM State Aggies vs Northern Colorado Bears Baseball

4-23-17

NM State Aggies vs Northern Colorado Bears Baseball

4-24-17

Twins over the Rangers 3-2.  All of the Twins’ runs were walked on base.  I finally got a look at Jose Leclerc.  Whatever he’s throwing, he’s making the batters look silly trying to swing at it.  Meanwhile in Denver, down a run to the Nationals in the eighth, the Rockies got five straight hits to start the inning before the Nat’s reliever was taken out.  Rockies win 8-4.  The Chihuahuas lost at home 12-1.  Probably a good thing, I decided to watch the Rangers instead. 

4-25-17

The MLB free game was a good matchup between the Astros and the Indians.  Dallas Keuchel pitched a compete game for a 4-2 win for the Astros.  Josh Reddick made a highlight reel catch in centerfield to rob Jason Kipnis of a home run.  However, Houston may have actually been the loser in the game, as Jose Altuve and Teoscar Hernandez had hard collision on a popup.  Both had to come out of the game, though somehow, Teoscar, who might have nearly a foot in height and at least 50 pounds on Altuve, came away the worst for it, as he left on a cart.  The Astros are already a bit banged up.  This isn’t good.

Meanwhile in Tucson, the Aggie baseball team was crushed by Arizona, 11-2.  Six errors leading to six unearned runs didn’t help.  You can accept another team being better than your team, but it’s hard to accept your team beating themselves.  The other team being really good, doesn’t cause errors.  That’s on you guys.  Even Adam Young’s call of the game was flat, listless, and defeated.  I almost hope there was some reason other than the game for him sounding depressed. 

4-27-17

Chihuahuas lose to the Salt Lake City Bees 13-5.  Halfway through the game, it was tied.  By the end, the Chihuahuas put catcher, Christian Bethencourt, in to pitch.  Tim Hagerty said this was some kind of experiment by the Padres to develop a super utility player that could play any position.  Okay. 

This has to be my favorite Internet baseball story of the year, Ranking the Rockies Walk up Music.  At last, news I can use.  Before I even read it, I knew it was going to be Charlie Blackmon’s “Your Love” by the Outfield at number one.  Is there anything better in baseball on a weekly basis than hearing the Denver crowd finish the opening verse when he comes to bat?

4-28-17

I got the latest issue of Sports Illustrated in the mail today.  It sucking mess of player and coach puff pieces and typical media agenda items.  Thanks goodness I got this subscription for free.  But the last page commentary by Steve Rushin had me giggling for the rest of the day.  In a rambling piece about baseball, he mentioned the “butterscotch” voice of Giants broadcaster, Jon Miller.  “Miller’s is the voice you want to hear on your deathbed, narrating your life as it flashes before your eyes.”  Wow, Rushin totally nailed that.

It was a busy night at work with month end processing and a busy night in baseball.  The Aggie baseball team was playing GCU on TV.  The Aggie softball team was also playing GCU, which I could follow along on Statcast.  And the MLB free game featured the Rangers playing the Hated Angels.  (The Chihuahuas were rained out on the road thankfully.  Otherwise I might have been totally overloaded.)

The Aggie baseball game featured an overhead drone view of the stadium.  It was very impressive.  I’m sure MLB teams will likely start using them too in the near future.  I caught a glimpse of the son of a co-worker manning a camera in the opposing dugout.  (I told his mom later.  She was thrilled.)  There was a shot of the stands where Athletic Director Mario Moccia was sitting with the football coach, Doug Martin, and the new Men’s basketball coach, Chris Jans.  Jans went into the booth to chat in the fourth inning.  Is it a bad sign that GCU hit a home run to start that inning?

Just to add to the frenzy, I noticed on Youtube that someone had pirated the Red Sox/Cubs game and was broadcasting it live.  I checked in on it occasionally, but couldn’t stay and watch.  Meanwhile, after going down 8-nothing in the fourth and about to be run ruled in the fifth, Aggie Softball erupted for seven runs to make a game out of it. 

Wait, I see that 6’11” baseball player in the Aggie dugout.  He’s not a myth.  Inspired by the girls, the guys managed to tie the score 4-4 in the fourth.  Unfortunately, Aggie Softball pitching didn’t hold GCU and they lost 14-8.  In Arlington, the Rangers lost to the Hated Angels 6-3.  Eric Nadel made a suggestion for pick off throws: the pitcher gets two throws, then it’s a balk.  He’s gotten no support on this.   (My suggestion is that a throw to any base other than home is a ball.  Along with this, we get rid of the balk rule or have lines 10’ away from the bases that the runners can’t cross until the pitcher moves.)  

Aggie Baseball had a three run lead, but lost it on a home run in the eighth.  Ruger Rodriguez blew his first save of the year.  There’s a light rain where I am, but it doesn’t get to the stadium.  In the tenth, GCU scored the go ahead run on a passed ball strike out with the bases loaded.  Groan.  I’m physically hurt.  The Aggies lose 11-9.  What a disappointing night for baseball. 

         

4-29-17

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Baseball

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Softball

 4-30-17

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Baseball

I hear this from Tim Hagerty during Game 2 of a double header sweep by Chihuahuas.  The starting Salt Lake City pitcher for Game 1 was ejected before the game.  The incident was described as “a miscommunication.”  Tim said the umpire had told the pitcher to move his chair in the bullpen.  When the pitcher argued, he got tossed.  He came in in Game 2 as a reliever and gave up five runs.  He should have stayed in the dugout.

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Baseball 4-30-17

For some reason, Ron was insistent that we go the ballpark 45 minutes early.  Either he really wanted to see the teams take infield, or really wanted out of the house.  Ron was also eager to see an Aggie defeat.  He was actively predicting a Grand Canyon sweep this weekend.  He seems to get equally happy celebrating victories and anticipating setbacks. 

Today’s giveaway card was pitcher Dalton Shalberg.  I actually saw him talking to the attendant who was handing out the cards before the game.  Perhaps he wanted a couple for friends and family.  Another good crowd was in attendance.  The weather was much better than Saturday’s, though there was still a light cold breeze going.  The sun was out and the skies were clear.  Though cool, I did get a trifle red.  (Yes, I did have sun block on.  It didn’t work.)

Today, we had radio for the game.  Even better, we got to chat with broadcaster Adam Young before the game.  He was coming back from the bathroom and stopped to talk.  I finally got to tell him I enjoyed his call of the Women’s Basketball post season.  I also told him that he sounded depressed calling the Aggie baseball game versus Arizona in Tucson last week.  Adam admitted he was frustrated with the team there.  I was kind of hoping he’d tell me that he’d just been having personal problems.  You don’t want your broadcasters taking losses that hard.

I apologize here for doing some name-dropping in the conversation.  I don’t want to come off sounding like I actually really know sports and media people.  I had written Tim Hagerty, voice of the El Paso Chihuahuas, last week and told him he should come up Las Cruces to see a ball game sometime (next year, he’s busy right now).  Tim wrote back and said he knew Coach Brian Green well.  Adam had nice things to say about Tim and confirmed that he’d called a couple of basketball games here.  I had no idea.  I also mentioned Women’s Basketball player, Brandee Walton, who I’d talked to at the ballpark last week.  Adam smiled and his face lit up talking about her.  She just has that effect on people. 

Somewhat ruining this post, I’ll tell you that all of the Aggie highlights occurred before the game started.  After warm ups, I saw a couple of guys on field that I identified as probably being basketball players.  They were practicing pitching.  Presumably, they would be throwing out the first pitches.  Catcher Jason Bush was getting a workout, having to walk to backstop to recover their efforts.  Need I even remark on their throwing motions?  This was going to be interesting. 

Meanwhile, the umps were coming out on to the field.  Ruger quickly assumed a way-too-friendly home plate umpire pose behind Jason, essentially squat spooning him.  One of the umps came over and corrected them and showed Ruger the right posture. 

Shortly thereafter, the moment of truth came and the PA introduced Aggie Men’s Basketball stars, Ian Baker and Matt Taylor.  Undaunted by their practice session, they actually went to the bump to throw.  Ian’s throw went clear to the backstop.  He was lucky he hit the ground.  Matt’s throw bounced a couple of times and eventually rolled into the catcher’s mitt.  So much for being two-sport athletes.  Ian and Matt are seniors and hopefully graduating.  Good luck and thanks for the great season of Aggie basketball this year.  I did see them talking to a couple of people in the stands later.        

Okay, the actual game wasn’t quite as fun.  The Lopes scored 9 runs.  The Aggies got nothing.  There was no drama to spoil in this game by telling you that up front.  I’m not going to bother recounting all the scoring in a totally lopsided game.  I took about a paragraph’s worth of random notes. 

Joey Ortiz made a couple more great defensive plays in the top of the first.  He had a pick on a liner at his shoe tops and then a jump catch with the bases loaded that probably saved two or three runs (delaying the inevitable).  Joey got moved down in the order for this game, but unfortunately it didn’t help his hitting.  He’s still really good with the mitt.  In the top of the second, 6’11” Kody Jones made an on field appearance.  He was delivering balls to the ump for game.  I’m still fascinated and want to see him play. 

The softball team also arrived at the game, fashionably late and casually fashionable.  I might not have recognized them if they hadn’t come in as a group.  They clean up nice.  Unfortunately like the other young women at the stadium, they spent most of their time playing with their phones.  I was surprised and disappointed that the PA didn’t say something to recognize them, as they had just won a share of the conference regular season championship.  I wonder if the girls were as well, since the team got introduced at the ballpark a couple of years ago for winning the conference.  Maybe I should have gone over and said something.  (I’m pretty sure if they’d seen Ian and Matt’s first pitches, they would have told them that they throw like girls.)

I noticed the ballhawk kid was sporting a new (old) Aggie baseball jersey.  He must have been at the yard sale too.  He may grow into his, unlike me.  Even the team ballhawk was depressed this day, as he walked after fouls without any enthusiasm.  I was wearing my new jersey too.  This time it was tucked in.  I had my hat on backwards for a while, but that was just an ineffectual attempt at keeping the sun off my neck. 

In the sixth, a couple of young women behind us got excited about the Aggie trivia question and wanted to win it.  Unfortunately, they came up with the wrong answer as one of them set off to the pressbox.  I quickly told her that Brent Sakurai had the team lead in triples (which I knew without looking at the program).  I watched her give the answer to the attendant, and she did indeed win.  I didn’t get a “Thank you” when she got back.  Sheesh.  I wasn’t sure if they were pleased with the free What-a-Burger coupon or not.  They spent the rest of the game trying to figure out how to get more Twitter followers.  (I’m not kidding.)

There was an adorable little girl wandering around the aisles around us.  She was wearing a big bonnet and a big smile.  She waved around her two new Dalton Shalberg cards, obviously very happy.  Dalton would have been pleased if he’d seen her. 

By the seventh, I was actually rooting for the Lopes to get to 10 and run rule the game.  The radio never mentioned it, so it might not have been in effect.  I wish the PA would say something before the game about things like that.  In the eighth, Austin Botello made a great running catch in the outfield and into the wall.  It saved a run at least.  In the ninth, the Aggies got two on and the crowd actually cheered.  It didn’t even seem sarcastic.  Unfortunately, it came to nothing.  0-9 Lopes was our final.  The game took two hours and 59 minutes, but seemed longer.  Attendance was around 600, most of whom were highly disappointed.      

My player of the game is Jack Schneider of the Lopes for his seven innings of shutout starting pitching.  It was pretty much a team effort on the hitting.  The Aggies just didn’t show up for this game.  These are the series where you wonder if your team is ever going to win again.  The close loss Friday night may have set the stage for the team’s confidence steadily deteriorating until today’s pitching and hitting collapse.  Hopefully, they’re hitting bottom as a prelude to a rebound and another hot streak. 

“I hope you’re happy,” I said to Ron in the parking lot.  “I told you they weren’t going to win, dude.”  I asked to listen to the Chihuahuas game in progress when we got back into his car.  Tim Hagerty announced that the dogs just won, before going off the air for a break between double header games.  Well, that was good news and bad news.  (I’d listen to Game 2 when I got home.)

Inspired by our players’ walkup music (and since I need to pad this out to make it worth posting), I’ve composed my own rap.  I dedicate this to Aggie baseball.

Welcome to the Skew

At the N-M-S-U

In the LC

We make opposin’ teams pee

Pistol Pete is packin’

On your girlfriends we are mackin’

Your hits find our mitts

Your best pitcher

Is easier than our BP mista’

You got nuthin’ son

Just enjoy the view

Cause you in Las Cruces

And about to get Skewed

Okay, guys.  You promise to never to never get shutout at home while I’m watching, and I’ll promise to never compose anything else for you.  Oh, I’ve got more.  Don’t tempt me.

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Softball Double Header 4-29-17

  

Ron and I arrived from the baseball stadium and joined Game 1 of the double header against Grand Canyon University in progress.  Freezing, Ron put on his new Aggie hoodie.  This may have been the first time I’ve seen him in long sleeves.  I put my jacket and ceased to be an obnoxious fan in a jersey.  Our baseball tickets did indeed get us into the game for no additional charge.  I picked up a rally towel on the way in.  (Later, they put out another batch for Game 2.  I got another two for other people.  I hope I didn’t deprive anyone.) 

Game 1

The stadium for the game was nearly full.  There were more GCU fans here than at the baseball stadium.  Ron’s favorite little fan was present.  She was wearing a cowboy hat and, admittedly, looked adorable.  I was sitting in a pile of sunflower seed shells at my feet.  (I hate slob fans).  We arrived in the top of the fourth with the Aggies up 3-2.  I didn’t bother with a scorecard, since it would have only been partially filled out.  We arrived at a dramatic moment.  GCU had two on and one out. Samaria Diaz got out of it, though that last out was a long fly ball to center. 

A little boy started crying in front of us.  An older lady front of him and his dad, who was holding him, told the boy that, “There’s no crying in softball.”  That didn’t help (and also isn’t true).  While there was another crying episode later (no idea why), he seemed to have a good time running around and playing with his sisters throughout the games anyway.  Shortly after we got there, the entire GCU baseball team arrived and sat up in the center of the stands with the other GCU fans.  It was hard not to be concerned about the balance of fan power shifting at that point.  It also made the Aggie baseball team look a little bad, though in retrospect, maybe it wouldn’t have been a good idea to have both teams in the stands together.

I noticed Kelsey Horton wasn’t in the field.  She came up to hit as the Designated Player in the bottom of the fourth and was clearly hurting.  I don’t know what happened to her.  No problem with her hitting though.  She promptly whacked a home run just over the wall to right center.  It was her fourteen of the year and I assume she’s still hitting well over .400.  Kaitlyn Rubio came up next and hit an even longer home run to the same place.  The inning ended with a runner thrown out at home, but 5-2 Aggies. 

I don’t think I’ve seen much of Kaitlyn playing, but bless her for being the only baseball or softball player with good walkup music (“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell).  With Kelsey not in the field, there was some reshuffling with Kaityln at first and Fahren Glackin moved to left field.  This left the scrappy and dependable Amy Bergeson out of the game (I hope she’s not injured too).  Caity Szczesny was at second instead of right field, and Ron said he saw her limping at times, which might explain why she wasn’t in the outfield.

The GCU baseball players called for the giveaway shirts that were thrown into crowd.  One of them got one, but did hand it to an Aggie fan.  In the top of the fifth, the Lopes tied the score on a three-run homer.  Half the stadium erupted.  5-5 Tie.  The PA told the crowd to get up and dance.  A chubby young GCU fan worked it in aisles to the amusement of the baseball team.  Mid-fifth was the stretch and, knowing what was going to happen, I shouted out “Aggies!” for the “home team,” during “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”  Like visiting Cubs fans, the GCU fans tried to jump the song and shout out their team’s name.  

The baseball players also started jazzing the ump in the bottom of the inning.  Given this was something they couldn’t do safely during a game, they were laughing and clearly enjoying it.  On field, the Aggies managed to score two on an error.  Kelsey was intentionally walked.  Kaitlyn hit a two-run double.  Victoria Castro knocked in an RBI with a single.  The GCU baseball team started leaving in one’s and two’s, but later returned with hot dogs and such.  (I hope the concessions served our guests better food than I usually get.)  Alexis Maynez drove in two with a ball that hit the top of the outfield wall and bounced back in.  That was 7 runs and they batted around.  12-5 Aggies.

The PA announced that the team’s Thursday night game is Star Wars night and that they’d be giving away an Aggie Star Wars shirt.  Ron made plans to go.  I wonder if it’s the same Aggie Empire shirt I have.  Next inning, Victoria drove in two more runs to end the game on a run rule, 14-5 Aggies.  The GCU baseball team loaded up on a team bus outside to presumably head back to the hotel.  We retreated to Ron’s car to warm up before Game 2.  (No stars awarded for this game, since I didn’t see the whole thing.)

Game 2

Back in the heated bathroom at the stadium, because of all the layers I was wearing, I had trouble finding something while standing over the urinal.  Ron, also wearing layers, said he’d had the same issue.  We got hot chocolates and returned to the stands.  We still had a good crowd for this game.  The PA almost made it through the lineups before the game started.  The umps were not delaying the game under these cold conditions for anything.  She had to finish in the bottom of the first.   

Kayla Green started Game 2 for the Aggies.  Things got off to a rough start for her with a hit and an error.  A sacrifice, another hit, and a fielder’s choice drove in two Lope runs.  Megan Hart and Tatyana Battle entered the stadium to represent for the volleyball team, but the cold got the better of them after a few innings.  Athletic Director Mario Moccia also came in and sat by the pressbox and chatted with some fans. 

In the bottom, after a walk and a sacrifice, Kelsey was pitched around for another walk.  Kaitlyn had a long at bat that ended in another walk and bases loaded for Victoria Castro.  I was writing something at the crack of the bat.  I looked up and saw a bright, yellow softball sail over the scoreboard in center.  It was a grand slam home run and probably the furthest hit ball I’ve seen at the softball field.  This chased the Lopes starter out of the game.  A reliever finished off the inning.  A GCU fan caught a foul in the stands and gave it to an Aggie fan.  Unfortunately, they were only exchanging suckers for retrieved balls.  They may have run out of souvenirs since there were a bunch foul balls in these games.  4-2 Aggies after one. 

Kayla did not have a better second inning.  Four runs scored, three off a home run.  Her offspeed wasn’t going for strikes, and they were tee’ing off on her fastball.  GCU took the lead 4-6.  There was some kind of robbery on another t-shirt toss into the crowd.  I think one kid snatched a shirt from another.  He was boo’ed by the crowd.  In the bottom, Kelsey was issued another walk, but the Aggies didn’t score.  Hayley Nakamura’s at bat had the oddest play of the game.  One of her foul balls somehow lodged high up in the netting.  The ump gave it a shake to dislodge it to a round applause from the crowd.

The Aggies put up two runs in the third to tie it.  It was a circuitous route to get there.  Victoria took a strikeout to start the inning, but the umps lost count of the balls and strikes in the at bat.  Everyone was confused.  Fahren hit a solo home run and Caity took a walk after, but both had lengthy at bats, fouling off pitch after pitch.  They actually ran out of balls briefly.  Destiny Blueford came in for the Misty Hoohuli to drive in Caity.  Misty was probably given the start for Senior Day.  After the inning, I took some trash to a barrel and said, “Hi,” to the older lady we’d met at the Yard Sale.  She was also at the baseball game.    

Pom poms were tossed to the crowd.  The little girls in front of us went crazy for them.  In the bottom of the fourth, Kelsey was given another walk.  She came hobbling out for Amy Bergeson as her pinch runner.  With two on, Victoria came up to hit another home run.  This one went over the sponsor board in right center.  She was seeing the ball well tonight.  GCU went to another pitcher.  Ron identified her as the Game 1 pitcher.  Nikki Butler drove in another run to make the score 10-6 Aggies.

In fifth, Kayla gave up a double and a single that made the score 10-7.  Sam (Samaria) came back in to finish the inning.  Unfortunately in the sixth, she lost her stuff and gave up a run, leaving two on.  Coach Rodolph put Kayla back in.  I’ve seen Fahren used in spots this season.  There are two other Aggie pitchers listed on the program that I’ve never seen.  We’ll never know if Kayla had enough left in the tank to finish the game cleanly.  Destiny called off Caity on a short pop up to right field and dropped it.  This scored a run and put another runner on.  One out later, a three-run homer sailed over the center field fence and gave GCU the lead, 10-12.  (I admit I never quite figured out who the #6 hitter was for the Lopes.  It seemed to change every inning.)

The Aggies were able to get some runners on in the fifth (including another intentional walk to Kelsey) and the sixth, but couldn’t bring them around.  The Lopes started off the seventh with a home run that seemed to break the Aggies fans’ spirits.  In the bottom of the seventh, with no one on, one out, and a three run lead, they finally pitched to Kelsey, who seemed to be hurting worse with each plate appearance.  She promptly singled to center.  Victoria unfortunately struck out with two on, which she also did in the fifth.  The third Lopes pitcher seemed to be fooling her with offspeed stuff.  And the game ended on a ground out.  Lopes 13, Aggies 10. 

It was like watching Shakespearean tragedy.  There was even a cackling crone, namely a GCU fan that was screaming her head off for her team on every rally.  Our easy star of the game is Victoria Castro, who drove in seven of the Aggies’ 10 runs.  I don’t know what Kelsey Horton’s injury was or how it happened, but even hurt she scared the hell out the opposition.  She gets the newly created Grim Determination award.  The star of the game for GCU would appear to be Aggie pitching, which left no lead safe.  I suspect the problem here is overwork on arms not yet ready to take on this much stress (maybe next year). 

In any case, with the Game 1 win, the Aggies are conference co-champs, and since Grand Canyon isn’t eligible for post-season play, that means the Aggies get the number one seed in the tournament.  (Take that crone!)  With the loss, a hasty Senior Day ceremony was conducted.  The PA recognized the seniors on GCU, as their team lined up on first base foul line.  Aggies, Misty Hoohuli and Haley Nakamura, two the team’s three island girls from Hawaii were given a presentation. 

With that, Ron and I finally left the campus.  By the time I got home (waving off any talk of dinner), it was after 9:30.  Figuring in the hour we spent having lunch indoors, we spent over eight hours outdoors in cold and windy conditions.  At least it didn’t rain, and we got to see one win today in between two hard losses, and I got a baseball jersey out of it.      

NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Baseball 4-29-17

Welcome to “The Longest Day.”  We start at the Aggie Athletics Yard Sale.  This event was suddenly announced on various Aggie Internet feeds earlier in the week and then in paper.  I don’t think they’ve done this before.  I mentioned it to Ron, and he was interested in going.  We got there about 15 till 12:00, which was the announced start time.  As we pulled up, there was already a mob scene picking over the items that had been unloaded from the Aggie football trailer.  Yeah, apparently there was a market for used Aggie sports stuff in town.

The makeshift yard sale was being held on the largely unused practice field between the baseball and softball fields.  At the gate, there were a couple of young women were handing out free Subway sandwiches.  They had a box full of them.  I declined, since we were planning on getting lunch before the game, right after shopping, but that was very nice of them.  Inside were a huge number of football jerseys hanging on the fence and on tables.  As tempted as I was, I passed on them, doubting I could find my size, and moreover, doubting I’d have much use for them.  The prices on the jerseys had already been reduced from $25 to $10. 

This was good, since I’d found a couple of baseball jerseys, which was what I’d come looking for.  I picked the likeliest one to come close to fitting me.  So, now I’m officially an obnoxious sports fan (as pictured above).  There were also a pile of athletic shoes, but, as I found out later, all of the normal people sizes were bought by a local retailer for $700.  There were a bunch of women’s volleyball jerseys that probably would have fit me, but the women’s cut on them, wouldn’t have made me look good.  There were light jackets, shorts, and sweats too, but all in extremely large sizes. 

Ron picked up a few items, including an Aggie hoodie.  Somehow, in a pile of plain athletic t-shirts, I found one medium shirt.  I considered myself lucky.  The exit line to the two checkers was very long.  We met a nice older lady that frequented Aggie games there.  Also very nice were the people running the checkouts, especially given the crowd.  I did notice a member of the Aggie soccer team, who I think was working there.  I got separated from Ron while I was looking at girl who uncannily reminded me of somebody, and spent another 10 minutes in line.    

Having some time before the baseball game, we went to Schlotzsky’s for lunch.  I ordered the brisket mac and cheese, which was a nice warm dish, which was what I needed.  Journalism calls this “burying the lead.”  You see, it was about 50 degrees with a 20 mph cold wind, making it miserable outside.  There were also big, heavy clouds overhead, which thankfully today didn’t produce any rain.  Though layered up, I was already cold, and we planned on seeing the scheduled baseball and softball games today.  Also having lunch there today was the Aggie Men’s Tennis team.  They were a very international lot of fellows.  (Unfortunately it wasn’t the girl’s team.  I would have liked to have seen if Eli Arnaudova is as gorgeous in real life as her pictures on the Aggie sports website.) 

I found out Ron had actually been at last night’s baseball game against Grand Canyon University.  This surprised me, since he’d e-mailed me that night and asked where he could get the game online.  I told him it was on the Aggievision station on cable, but what he was really looking for was a radio game call, since he was there.  That game was a bit of a heartbreaker.  During the game, he chatted with Athletic Director Mario Moccia.  They mostly talked about the game, so no insider information this time.

At the stadium, we discovered that that wind was blowing straight into the stands.  Oh boy.  The pressbox was empty, so no game call today either.  Ron found today’s giveaway card of Marcel after the game started.  (He never found the Ruger Rodriguez card that was supposed to be handed out on Friday.)  Today’s PA voice was very chatty.  He mentioned that the average temperature this time of year is 90 degrees.  “Somehow, we’ll persevere.”  I finally recognized him as the soccer PA, whose call of the halftime fan competitions was one of the most entertaining things at those soccer matches.  Before the game, he announced that today’s baseball ticket would get you into the softball match for free.  Presumably, this was because the scheduled events were going to overlap.  It was nice gesture to the fans. 

I had a great view of the low-hanging clouds around the Organ Mountains from my seat.  Ron got a text from his wife at home.  She was reporting rain and hail.  Thankfully, no harm done, and it wasn’t anywhere near the stadium.  A fellow with Parkinson’s Disease running a support group threw out the first pitch.  It was a lefty toss that “Caught the outside corner for a strike,” as the PA said.  (And it did actually.)  He got a big hand from the crowd and congratulations from the entire team.  If you can believe it, the crowd was great, in spite of the weather.  They were bundled up and many had blankets.  We had a celebrity sitting next to us, Striking the Wonder Dog, who retrieves tees at Aggie football games.  Oh, how I wanted to leap over and hug and pet said dog, but his human support staff didn’t seem keen on fan interaction (no matter how longingly or often I looked at the dog).

“Yeah these Grand Canyon guys are nuthin’!  We’re gonna send ‘em back to their hole and bury them!  These guys suck!” said an obnoxious fan in his new baseball jersey.  After a couple comments like that, Ron couldn’t look at me without laughing.  Meanwhile in the outfield, smoke from the Diamond Club barbeque drifted out onto the field.  Music from the nearby softball field, were practice was going on, was also coming into the baseball stadium, providing something of a soundtrack for the first half of the game.      

And a thousand words into this, we start the actual game recap (which probably won’t take a thousand words).  Kyle Bradish started for the Aggies with his 6-0 record.  In the first, freshman Joey Ortiz, who’s slumping with the bat, shows why he’s in the lineup anyway, his glove.  On the first batter of the game, he ran down a foul by the bullpen, and then caught the second out in foul territory.  In the bottom of the first, Striking laid down and took a nap.  That seemed like a bad sign.

The top of the second ended with a great leaping catch on a liner by Tristan Carranza.  By the bottom of the inning, Striking’s owner was holding him.  I came to the conclusion I needed a dog on cold days like this.  There was some confusion in booth.  They started alternating between different announcers, and forgot to announce Brian Kiser in his at bat.  I actually stepped up and shouted it out myself.  This new shirt was having an effect on me.

The top of the third was eventful.  The bottom line is that three Lope runs scored.  Bradish walked three in a row, including walking in a run.  During a long meeting on the mound, a GCU fan shouted, “Get a phone number!  Let’s go!”  I wonder if he was wearing a team jersey.  A guy wearing the same style jersey I was walked in.  It got huffy for a moment, like we’d shown up at a party wearing the same dress.  (That might not have been the best analogy.)  The inning finally ended on a nifty flip from LJ Hatch to Brent Sakurai at second.  0-3 Lopes.

The sun finally came out in the top of the fourth, but it didn’t help the wind or temperature.  Austin Botello made a great running, over the shoulder catch in the outfield.  LJ followed that with a great stop on a dive and throw to first for the final throw.  Unintelligible notes follow.  I probably couldn’t feel my fingers at that point, but the scorecard shows that the Aggies bookended an error with a couple of hits to score twice.  Unfortunately, Bradish surrendered a two-run homer in the next inning.  2-5 Lopes.

By the top of the sixth, I’m in the bathroom.  It’s heated, and I don’t want to leave.  Going back to my seat, I see the Lopes’ left fielder make a great diving catch to rob LJ of a hit.  By the top of the seventh, the first game of the softball double header had started.  The girl PA was doing the announcing.  There was lots of yelling from there from this point on, but no telling who was winning.  Two guys in front of us were discussing the yard sale, but then switched over to NFL Draft talk IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL.  (I can’t escape it.  The Draft is my least favorite sporting event, perhaps because it isn’t actually a sporting event.)  Bradish surrendered another run and gave way to a parade of relievers, who ended up giving up another run.  Lopes 7, Aggies 2.  The end.  (I stopped taking notes after the sixth.)

My player of the game is easily Lopes’ starting pitcher, Jake Repavich.  He went 8 and 1/3 and gave up 2 runs, 1 earned.  The best I can say for the Aggies is that their fielding kept the score from being worse.  From here, Ron and I made our way the softball field to see what all the fuss was about there.