NM State Aggies vs Seattle U Redhawks Baseball 3-24-18

I'm going to start off stepping backwards out of the box for a minute.  I listened and watched a few games this week before today.  The Aggies played the Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday (3-20-18) in Tucson.  I took some notes, but it's not worth recapping a 14-0 Aggie loss.  The only good news was that Matt Munden did well in relief, and Brett Worthen, who struck out three in an inning.  Brett hadn't pitched in two years since being injured in an epic Aggie win in Lubbock against Texas Tech.  (I didn’t actually write about that game, but I listened to it and mentioned it in the season review.)

On Wednesday (3-21-18), I got to see some of Aggie Softball playing in Albuquerque against the Lobos.  I just happened to check in on the team and found out they were playing, and UNM had a video feed of the game.  I was enjoying it until the video suddenly froze up and wouldn't come back.  At the time, the bases were loaded and Kelsey Horton was coming to bat, so you might imagine my frustration.  It wasn't as big as Kelsey's, who I think popped out and went like 0 for 6.  It's okay though, the Aggies won 12-7.  The Aggies used all four of their pitchers in the game.

Friday (3-23-18), Aggie Baseball was on TV.  I joined the game in the third with the Aggies down 3-1 to Seattle U.  The Old Man was there, right next to a crowd microphone, cheering up a storm.  Joey Ortiz got his second triple of the game and was driven in by Tristen Carranza to make it 3-2.  As I was at work and working, I missed the Aggies taking the lead in the fourth, 5-3.  Ironically, I was taking a quiz from MLB.com at the time waiting for a process to finish.  (Actually, it was a preseason opinion poll, but I'm pretty sure I failed anyway.) 

There was some sort of contention at one point as the umpire warned the Redhawks' bench to “Cheer for your own team.”  (I think that's what happened.  I'd just walked in the break room when the warning occurred.)  More controversy in the seventh.  Alex Pinedo had seemingly picked off a runner on first, but was called for a balk instead, which brought in a runner from third and tied the score at 6.  Caleb Henderson hit a three-run bomb in the bottom to make it 9-6.  In the eighth, Carranza hit a two-run homer.  The happy, gritty final was 12-6 Aggies. 

That brings us to today, Saturday (3-24-18).  My day started badly as Ron woke me up with a phone call in the morning to say he wasn't going to be able to go.  Well, I woke him up last weekend, so he took the initiative this time.  He'd been up all night watching some sick relatives both times.  My upstairs neighbor had kept me most of the night with loud music, so I wasn't happy either.

It was such a beautiful day out though.  I had on a mesh crimson t-shirt with my Aggie button (covering up the Star Fleet insignia on my Star Trek shirt), sun block, and sunglasses.  I knew it was Bark at the Park day, so I was expecting some dog action.  Even better, Caliche's frozen custard cones (hereafter referred to as “ice cream”) were being handed out for free to fans and their dogs.  What nice people!  A great crowd showed up.  It was mostly adults with just a few children.  It was a pretty good-looking crowd too.  I saw a scout for the Mariners.  Both starting pitchers were being scouted.

Umm.  You might glance at these scorecards and say, “J, it looks like you missed some stuff at the end there and didn't even bother totaling anything.”  We'll get to that and don't be so judgmental.  I sat down with my cone, a soda, and Corn in the Cup.  I wasn't that hungry, but I felt generous after the free ice cream.  I'd gotten the soda because I'd assumed the heat was going to parch me out.  Yeah, it was now suddenly overcast and heat wasn't a problem.  I no longer needed the sunglasses or sun block.  The wind had also picked up and made balls hit in the air a bit of an adventure.       

The Old Man was sitting nearby me.  He was quiet at first, but that didn't last long.  I got an earful of Aggie cheering for the entire game.  Also down the row was a big, pretty dog.  He was just out of reach, but I kept flirting with him for a couple of innings.  As far as the game went, Aggie starter, Justin Dehn, gave up a couple of hits, but shortstop Joey Ortiz made a great throw to third for a force to end the inning. 

In the bottom, two Australian Shepherd dog pups came by and they were super-friendly (and again, out of reach).  That's my favorite breed, and they were so cute!  After a pair of strikeouts, the Aggies loaded the bases in the bottom on a hit batter and two walks.  Redhawks pitcher, Tarik Skubal, helped his own cause with a great play on a chopper by Logan Ehnes.  The ball got behind the mound and he made a jump throw to first to get Logan.

A cool wind picked up in the second.  The sun did peek through the clouds and it momentarily got hot.  It was 78 degrees to that point, but soon falling.  The first batter of the inning, Justin Mazzone, got a liner into the jetstream.  The ball hit the top of the wall and fell over to give Seattle the lead.  A double and a single added to it to give the Redhawks a 2-0 lead.  Their dugout got pretty loud.  Dog-themed tunes started playing between innings.  I only recognized Elvis' Hounddog.  The Aggie second ended with Nick Gonzales getting picked off first. 

Mini footballs got tossed into the crowd.  An Aggie marketing girl made two trips down the stairs to hand deliver a couple to some fans who missed out.  Dehn had some more problems in the third.  The Aggie bullpen was already in use, warming up a pitcher.  Runners were in scoring position via two hits, an error, and a stolen base with no outs.  With the infield drawn in, the next batter hit to second.  Nick fielded the ball and looked back the runner at third and threw to first for an out.  The runner at second took off for third, which drew a throw.  The runner at third then went for home and was thrown out for an unconventional double play.  If the Redhawks had done a worse job of base running, I might have been able to finally record a triple play.

Aggie catcher Mason Fishback attempted to leave the field after that play.  The dugout sent him back out.  It had been a long inning to that point.  Who could blame him?  Unfortunately, a hit batter, a single, and another run drove Dehn from the game.  Alex Pinedo came in and finished off the frame.  3-0 Redhawks. 

Victoria Castro and Nikki Butler from the Softball team came in.  The girls have the weekend off.  Unfortunately, they didn't walk past me so I couldn't congratulate them on their win against the Lobos.  Noah Haupt led off the inning with a hit, which should have been scored an error (IMHO).  Another Australian Shepard dog entered the stadium!  I can't believe it!  Doggie-doggie heaven!  Noah advanced to third on a wild pitch and a flyball.  He made it home on a balk.  I'd noticed that Skubal was barely stopping before pitching right before that was called.  3-1 Redhawks.

To start the fourth, a cute little girl didn't do well at the window toss contest on field.  Her and her dogs got the prizes anyway.  I wouldn't have denied her either.  One of the players gave her a pat on the shoulder as she left the field.  Splat!  That was a raindrop hitting my scorecard.  Oh, oh!  I didn't come prepared for this.  Curse you, Accuweather!  Thankfully, it was just a little sprinkling to this point.  In the top, Nick made a jump to stop a liner, knocked it down, and still threw out the runner. 

A Seattle U fan walked by with a large Mastiff service dog.  He was frightening and sweet-looking at the same time.  Aggie marketing guy, DJ Downs, was going around the crowd, taking pictures of people with their dogs for Aggie Twitter.  A Caliche's server sat down for a moment with a cone and a hot dog and took a picture for their Twitter stream.  I could see it raining over at the Organ Mountains.  At least, those heavier clouds passed us by.  The Aggies got a couple of walks to start the bottom of the fourth, but nothing came of it.

Last call was announced for free ice cream to start the fifth.  The Aggies turned a double play in the top.  They loaded the bases without a hit in the bottom and no outs.  Logan Ehnes popped out to short on an infield fly.  I didn't have to explain that rule anyone nearby, which was a bit disappointing.  A double play ended the inning.  Groan.

The rain, the drop in temperature, and finishing my soda required a trip to the bathroom in the sixth.  I couldn't resist and got the next to last cone of ice cream.  The guy there gave me a napkin and said, “You look like you're going to make a mess.”  That was correct.  I got ice cream on my scorecard on four different occasions within five minutes. 

I didn't miss any action in the meantime, but this was because the Aggies were called for a “delay of game?”  A penalty “ball” was issued because the Aggies weren't ready to play.  Coach Brian Green took too long complaining to the umps about something.  Pinedo also said something to the ump.  This all got the crowd into it.  They were even more into it as Nick made a diving stop and putout, and then Joey ended the inning with a diving catch with his back turned to the stands.  Even the dogs were barking in appreciation of that one.

The ice cream and humidity were giving me a headache.  This might not have been a good sign.  I sometimes get a headache right before it rains.  In the bottom, Nick led off with a single.  Marcus Still was able to finally get down a successful bunt on his third attempt of the day.  Nick advanced to third on a bad pickoff throw into center field by the catcher.  Once again though, the runner was left stranded.  The Aggie offense was also giving me a headache. 

A little boy and his grandfather slowly made their way down the stairs beside me for the second time in the game.  I'm not sure who was leading who as they took it one step at a time.  Hey, Striking the Wonder Dog didn't show for the game!  That's disappointing.  The sky was now dark with clouds.  The stadium lights were going to need to come on.  It was sprinkling again and the wind was really picking up.  And it was now officially cold.  Wyatt Kelly had come in for the seventh.  After hitting a batter, he gave up a home run to Dalton Hurd.  5-1 Redhawks.  In the seventh, Ehnes got on when the pitcher and third baseman collided going after an infield hit.  Nice comedy, but the Aggies still didn't score.

By the start of the bottom of the seventh, I had moved higher up in the stands, trying to get under the canopy to avoid the rain.  It didn't help, since it was raining sideways.  By the start of the eighth, there was a mass exodus of fans, including myself.  If I'd had a jacket on, I would have tried to tough it out, but in a t-shirt, I didn't even think twice.  Were it not for wearing double socks to keep my slightly too big boots on, I might not have made it this long.  Even the Old Man was leaving and he was in long sleeves.  Nikki and Tori were directly ahead of me in the parking lot, but forget making friends in a cold rain.  

As I pulled out, I saw that they'd turned on the stadium lights finally.  I kept listening to the game over the radio.  For the eighth, the only memorable play was that another balk was called.  Was it the same umpire doing this?  I'd already decided I'd be having dinner at Schlotzsky's, since their back of the ticket coupons were about to expire.  After I'd finished my sandwich, I hung around to keep listening to the bottom of the ninth.

The Redhawks brought in their ace closer, Zach Wolf, for a non-save situation.  That's usually a mistake.  Outside the shop window, I could see the weather was getting worse.  The wrought iron chairs outside were rocking in the wind, as rain pelted the window.  Surely, this wouldn't take long.  After a quick out, Fishback and Carranza both singled on.  Then, Trey Stine doubled Fishy in.  Suddenly, this was interesting.  I got out my scorecard and made some quick notes.  I could hear the Old Man still there.  He must have just gone out to get a jacket.  Ehnes and Henderson came up and both drove in runs.  The Aggies were within one run with two runners on and one out.  But it was not to be and that was as close as they got.  5-4 Redhawks was the final.

I'm not sure what would have been worse: listening to them dramatically win with me not there or being there and watching them lose dramatically.  Didn't matter.  I couldn't have stayed without catching pneumonia.  This hasn't been my week.  This was just par for the course.  Since I didn't get complete stats, I didn't bother adding anything up.  I don't really want to remember this game in more detail anyway.

My gameballs go to Redhawks pitchers Tarik Skubal and Jarrod Billig for keeping a potent Aggie offense down (14 runners left on, though Seattle's offense wasn't much better there), and to Dalton Hurd for going 3 for 5 (?) with a home run.  Alex Pinedo may have pitched his way into another start in the near future for the Aggies.  Also give it up for the Aggie bats for not giving up in the ninth.  At least, Zach Wolf was burned and won't be available tomorrow.  I'm more concerned about tomorrow's weather though.  Let's hope for the best.

MLB Preview 2018

The situation hasn’t improved since my last rant (1-5-18).  Well, there’s been one improvement: I’ve stopped listening to ESPN Radio.  I don’t care about the NFL or the NBA or Tiger Woods, so there’s no reason to listen.  However, my dream of attending Spring Training was again crushed this year.  The person I’d hoped to go with decided not to make the trip.  Also, he didn’t know I was planning on going with him.  Just to make matters worse, before pitchers and catchers even reported, some players were threatening to boycott Spring Training altogether.      

Cue the violin music as I quickly recap the baseball labor situation which has disgruntled these beleaguered players.  Next season, Bryce Harper, Clayton Kershaw, and several other A-list stars will become free agents.  This has had the unintended effect of making this years’ group of free agents, who weren’t all that great, much less attractive.  There were about 100 of them sitting around with no offers before Spring Training.  Many big spending teams are dumping salary and saving money in preparation for wooing the big names.  Near future free agents, who aren’t big stars, are also worried that their value is going to go down as well.   

  

Let’s hear from one of these poor, disadvantaged professional baseball players. 

As players, we need them to secure the biggest and longest contracts.  We need this class to push the market higher and higher as revenues go higher and higher.  When revenues are at all-time highs, increasing to historic levels, that warrants historic contracts.  We don’t need to hear more excuses about teams not spending actively this year to make sure their resources are available next year.  Things better start acting normally. 

Thank you, Max Scherzer.  I’m sure we’ve all been moved by your contrite humility and inspired by your eloquent gratitude for being blessed enough to play this great game of baseball.  (I also get the impression that he’s a player-union rep when not pitching.)  These poor free agents are being forced to accept being paid millions of dollars for three or four years instead of tens of millions of dollars for a decade.  It’s so unfair.  As long as the owners and fans still have money, that means the players can be paid more. 

Apart from congressmen, is there any group of people in this country that people have less sympathy for than Major League Baseball players?  Well, probably, but this is a baseball post, so let’s go with that.  As mindlessly greedy as the players are, I think that’s reason enough to keep more money out of their hands.  At least some of the owners have some business acumen and employ a bunch of people with their wealth.  (No, players, purchasing the services of a personal shopper for your wife isn’t the same thing.)      

I sincerely don’t think these guys understand how thin the ice is that they’re standing on.  Real baseball fans are known for their long memories and knowledge of the sport’s history.  They have not forgotten that senseless player’s strike that canceled a World Series.  Baseball is really dependent on attendance, much more than the NFL or NBA.  (The NFL didn’t even care if half the fans showed up last year.)  If people don’t show up, the team moves, and there aren’t many places left in the country that will build a stadium for an MLB team.    

Local TV contracts are doing really well for the teams, but apart from the World Series (depending on who’s playing) the league is hurting for a national audience.  With ESPN’s money problems, I could see them dumping baseball.  They’re all NFL/NBA all-the-time anyway.  Fox will be relegating baseball to FS1 for US-less World Cup coverage.  (What an insult.)  They just want to broadcast the World Series; they don’t care about the rest of it.  Little wonder the MLB has been exploring Internet outlets for games for a national presence (MLB TV, Yahoo, Twitter).  Me and some other hardcore fans will keep watching likely no matter what, but don’t think for a minute that that’s a large group of people.  I’m sure my threats and warnings are meaningless to the Players’ Union, but here’s a surefire prediction: if guys just shut up and play, you’ll all be millionaires.         

I resisted getting a baseball preview magazine last month, since there were so many unaccounted for free agents.  Their information was certainly going to be well out-of-date before the season started.  I went to Barnes & Noble looking for Sports Illustrated’s preview.  Not only would it be up to date, but I liked the writing in the preview issues I’ve gotten over the last couple of years.  (Other than their college football preview issue, those were the only issues I enjoyed from my subscription last year.) 

Unfortunately, the only SI I found at the store on the newsstand was the Swimsuit Issue and a Philadelphia Eagles championship magazine.  Wow, the Swimsuit Issue’s really fallen off the face of the earth in popularity.  I remember long ago counting the days until it came out and now I’m like, Are they still doing this?  I think when they started using fat chicks it was over.  Even putting in pictures of male athletes wasn’t as big a betrayal.  In any case, the weekly magazine hasn’t always been on their newsstand, so I wasn’t terribly surprised.  It also wasn’t on the rack of Albertsons here in town, where has usually been.    

As long as I was there at the B&N and still wanted a preview, I broke down and bought Baseball Digest and Athlon Sports Baseball Preview (Nolan Arenado cover and promising “4 pages of Rockies team coverage,” oooh), since I couldn’t decide between the two.  Though not current in their projected rosters, I decided that most of the free agents out there, probably weren’t going to be big impacts anyway.  I felt much better about the purchase when I noticed an article about ballpark food in the back of the Athlon magazine.  That, at least, will be interesting reading.  It also listed former Aggie, Daniel Johnson, was listed as one of the Washington Nationals’ top 10 prospects.  They like his speed and power.  (We did too.)

I’m so behind in my reading stack.  I’ve still got magazines there from the middle of last year (about the time my work schedule changed).  I’m not going to be able to read either magazine cover-to-cover, so I’ll be skimming them for information.  Both magazines made the same uninspired, albeit obvious, choices for division winners, but which I’m mostly agreeing with.  The winners and losers seem pretty well defined even before the season starts.          

I’m breaking the teams of the MLB into four groups. 

Going For It: These are teams who think they can win now.  Take note, I said “they” think they can win. 

Yankees, Red Sox, Indians, Angels, Astros, Nationals, Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Giants.

Of this group, the Giants, Rockies, Indians, and Nationals may be blown up after this year if they don’t win.  Gutty move by the Giants to pick up Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen.  We’ll see how it works out.  At least, they’re two really likeable players.   

Going Nowhere: These teams aren’t built to win, nor rebuilding.  They’re trying to put an above .500 product on the field with a few overvalued players to not run off their fans.

Blue Jays, Orioles, Rays, Royals, Rangers, Mariners, Mets, Braves.

The Rangers are about to get a new stadium, so they’ll be off this list in the near future.  I think the Mets do have a chance to get a wild card spot this year, but they don’t seem to.  I don’t know what the Braves’ deal is.  They got the new stadium.  They should be putting a better team on the field.  Maybe they need new management. 

Going Down the Drain: These guys are flat out tearing down to rebuild.

 Tigers, A’s, Marlins, Pirates, Reds.

That’s not as big a list as the Players’ Union would make you believe.  Ideally, they want all the bad teams to be in the Going Nowhere category, not this one, since it doesn’t make free agents more money having teams shredded.  I hope Derek Jeter is able to turn the Marlins around, because he’s going to be run out of town if he doesn’t for what he’s done. 

Going to be Good: Hope springs eternal.    Fans of these teams can look forward to watching a winning team in a year or two.

White Sox, Twins, Phillies, Padres.

Arguably, the Twins are already a good team, in spite of a late season teardown last year.  Perhaps they’ll improve themselves with some success this year.

Predictions

Okay, let’s just pull the band-aid off.  It’s going to be the Yankee$.  I’ve had a good ten+ year run without seeing pinstripes in the World Series and rooting for teams I like.  Sometimes, it’s been both teams in the Series.  The Dodger$ came close last year and almost ruined it for me, but at some point the near misses are going to result in a direct hit to my baseball happiness.  I actually made some pretty accurate predictions last year (3-28-17), though I got a bunch wrong too.  I did have the Astros as my backup winning pick. 

AL East: The Yankees should run away with it between Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge knocking the cover off the ball.  The Red Sox are still soft (in other words, David Price is still on the team).  They might buy a Wild Card spot.

AL Central: The Indians are way better than the rest of the division.  Also, this is their last year with Chief Wahoo.  Let’s win one for the Chief!  The Twins should contend for the Wild Card, if management doesn’t get cold feet and sabotage the team again.

AL West: The Astros are awesome.  Perhaps their youth will allow them to compete this year in the World Series after playing an extra month last year.  They also added Gerrit Cole and will have Justin Verlander for the whole season.  The Angels are kidding themselves with their upgrades, including the talk of the off-season, Shohei Ohtani, who might not make the big league club to start the season.  The curse (read: contract) of Albert Pujols still hangs around their neck.

NL East: The Nationals will win this or explode in a memorable fashion.  If they are not somehow leading the division or first in the Wild Card by the trading deadline, the fire sale will start immediately.  Bryce Harper will be out the door first.

NL Central: The Cubs have had a year to recover from winning in 2016.  They’ve also seriously upgraded their pitching with the addition of Yu Darvish.  Unfortunately, he’s just been really good, not great, and will likely disappoint down the stretch.  The Cardinals and Brewers will be fighting for the Wild Card, if not the division, if the Cubs stumble.

NL West: Dodger$ management is right now focused on dumping useless salary and convincing the county to float a $500 million bond issue for the resigning of Clayton Kershaw.  (That might be a hard sell to public.  I can see that going down in a vote.  Maybe they can implement it via fiat like El Paso did when they brought in the Chihuahuas [4-14-13].)

The Dodgers just lost Justin Turner, probably for the season, and they played about as many games as the Astros last year.  The Dodgers may be more vulnerable than they look.  They might not entirely care if they don’t win it all this year, banking on some wild splurging next season to put them over the top.  The D-Backs, Rockies, and even the Giants may have a shot at the division, certainly the Wild Card.

How does it all play out?  Yankees over the Indians in the ALCS.  Cleveland fans moan in unison for another year.  Most self-styled Yankees fans won’t actually start watching until the World Series.  Cubs over the Nationals in the NLCS.  You’re questioning this.  The Cubs will make a mid-season pitching acquisition that will put them over the top.  Expect some blockbuster deadline deals to be done this season because of next year’s free agent class.  Yankee$ over the Cub$ in one of the most viewed World Series ever.

Okay, I admit I have some reservations about most of the stuff I’ve written here and, without a doubt, I hope I’m wrong about the championship result.

NM State Baseball vs Maine Black Bears Baseball Game 2, 3-17-18

Continued from Game 1

To exactly nobody’s surprise, Game 2 of this double header started at about the same time as the softball double header next door.  This scheduling was really terrible.  Now the only question was: Would this baseball game finish before or after the softball double header?  It was worth taking bets on. 

I’d only had a bowl of cereal and a banana for a late breakfast.  Four hours later, my stomach was growling, something that never happens to me.  I was briefly worried that the concessions trailer was closed when I went by earlier, because I didn’t see anyone inside.  Happily I was able get a soda, dog, chips, and my favorite, corn in a cup.  Had I been less hungry, I might have complained about the hot dog, but not today.  The corn in a cup was a lot less soupy than last time, but not quite as melted.  Why am I reviewing this?  Aggie concessions aren’t exactly gourmet (or even El Paso Chihuahuas level ballpark food). 

In the kiss and cry area by the Aggie dugout, a couple of players were eating with their girlfriends (presumably).  The dogs from the stands were also there.  While I was back at my seat in the stands, several kids ran by with newly player-signed balls.  I had grabbed my jacket and undershirt from my truck in preparation for the sun going down, so I was ready for anything.  No, I wasn’t, as you’ll see.

You might notice a smudge on the Aggie scorecard.  We’ll get to that.  The game started badly for the Aggies right off, particularly for Caleb Henderson.  He had two errors to start the game.  Myself and broadcaster Adam Young thought the first one might have been undeserved.  Aggie starter Alex Pinedo didn’t have a good start either.  The pitching coach and trainer suddenly ran out to him.  They left him with one of his nostrils stuffed with cotton.  Adam had no idea how he’d gotten a bloody nose, or maybe he had a runny nose.  The first batter let on by an error scored on a wild pitch, but Pinedo otherwise pitched fine with one nostril.  1-0 Maine Black Bears.

By the second, we could hear cheering at the softball complex from their game.  The girls make a lot of noise and always sound like they’re having a good time.  It makes you wish you were there, but if you were, you then ended up missing the actual seats and shade at the baseball park.  Joey Ortiz caught a low, sinking line drive and then caught a runner off first for a double play to end the inning.

The wind shifted in and I could hear the softball announcer.  That would come and go all during the game.  In the bottom, after a hit batter and a double, Nick Gonzales drove them in with a high, arcing blast to center.  3-1 Aggies.  Oh, oh, Adam’s voice started cracking after that homer.  This was a bad sign for the radio broadcast.  He kept going and eventually worked through it.  There was a bunch of screaming over the wall at the softball complex.  I could see helmets bobbing up and down by home plate and then go to the visitors’ dugout.  I think Minnesota just scored a multi-run homer too.

For the third, foam balls were tossed to the crowd.  Pinedo had a two strikeout top of the third.  Mason Fishback led off the bottom with a line drive homer to right field.  The team gave Fishy a strange high wave upon his return to the dugout.  This is going to be their trademark thing for the season, I guess.  4-1 Aggies.  Brandon Vicens for the Black Bears made a tremendous running, over the shoulder catch in deep centerfield.  There were two on at the time, so that inning-ending catch saved some runs.  The entire crowd applauded his effort.

In the fourth, Maine got their first hit of the game.  It was a hard hit ball at Joey that might have been called an error instead.  A little brother and sister played with their new foam balls next to me in the aisle.  I ended up getting involved a couple of times by errant throws.  Unlike some other times with rambunctious kids, this time I okay with it.  They were kind of adorable.  Pinedo made a rare play by a pitcher on a sky-high pop up.  Three other players lost the ball and he was the only one able to make the catch.  Occasionally, that pitcher’s glove is useful.

In the bottom, Caleb Kerbs at second for Maine made a great falling away throw to get the speedy Marcus Still at first.  Someone in the stands loudly disagreed.  I wonder if it was Marcus’ dad.  Ortiz singled.  Logan Ehnes beat out an infield hit, which even Adam initially called him out on.  Fishback singled in Ortiz next.  Tristen Carranza walked to load the bases.  Alex McKenny, who’d just come in this inning, uncorked a wild pitch that scored Ehnes.  He injured himself on the throw, which the catcher immediately noticed, and had to come out.  The crowd gave him a nice round of applause.  The next pitcher, Trevor Delaite, picked up the at bat to Caleb Henderson with a 1-0 count.  Trey Stine would drive in two more runs with a single.  8-1 Aggies.

Kevin Doody came up to bat for the Black Bears in the fifth.  The little girl found the name amusing.  Adam called, “Doody down on strikes,” as he struck out in his at bat.  Adam and the softball PA gave the final score for the Game 1 of the softball double header, 7-0 Minnesota.  Nick started off the bottom with a ground rule double over the wall.  Marcus singled him in, though he was caught off first taking too wide a turn on a good throw in from the outfield.  9-1 Aggies.

To start the sixth, Pinedo lost his glove on a comebacker.  No problem.  He still threw out the runner.  Alex thought he had the next batter on three pitches.  The umpire disagreed.  The count went full, and Pinedo grooved the last pitch.  The ball went 400’ over the center field wall.  Alex walked the next batter and was taken out to a round of applause.  He seemed out of gas.  The Black Bears pieced together another run that came in on a wild pitch.  9-3 Aggies.

Mason Fishback led off the bottom of the sixth.  He hit a foul popup straight back.  It went over the net.  I lost it in the sky, but several other fans were able to track it.  And were looking right at me as the projected impact point.  Plop!  And that’s how that mark got on my scorecard.  The ball hit right in my lap.  The crowd was laughing.  I was laughing too.  That could have been a lot worse.  The ball did not hit the ground and I caught it with my equipment (the scorecard), so I consider it a legal “catch.”  A couple of kids, not the little ones next to me, wanted the ball.  I decided to keep it, since the ball had found me.

Almost inconsequentially, Fishback doubled in his at bat.  Adam said he was hitting over .400 and leading the nation in RBI’s (I think, I should have been paying better attention to the commentary).  What a player to almost get beaned by.  Carranza then came up and homered him in to make it 11-3 Aggies. 

In the seventh, there was an Aggie Baseball shirt toss from the top of pressbox again.  I did stand up and wave for one, apparently not satisfied with my other souvenirs, but I think they only threw two out.  The lights came on at the ballpark.  Softball had turned theirs on last inning.  They may have already started Game 2 by this point.  A double play ended the inning for Maine.  In the bottom, the ump got confused on the count and almost called out a batter on two strikes.  This further confused the scoreboard operator and led to a momentary delay to correct everything.  Carranza drove in a run and Henderson doubled in two more runs to make it 14-3 Aggies.

I could hear the girls singing at the softball field.  The PA was telling leprechaun jokes to the crowd, until a leprechaun claiming defamation showed up with a lawyer.  Kyle Wullenweber made his first appearance in about a month to start the eighth.  He was a bit rusty as he walked two and had two wild pitches, but he also had two strikeouts.  A run scored on a sacrifice.  14-4 Aggies.  The Aggies loaded the bases in the bottom, but didn’t score.  A foul ball by pinch hitter Zach Hardy hit the canopy and landed by a nearby fan.  I flinched before it landed. 

Matt Munden came in to close out in the ninth.  The first four batters hit for the cycle.  Yes, a single, double, triple, and a home run.  Honestly, that was kind of impressive to watch.  There was another foul into the stands.  This time it went to the other side of the stadium, but I still flinched.  I hope this isn’t going to be an ongoing issue.  The Black Bears scored three times before Wyatt Kelly came in and struck out the next three batters to end the game.  Our final: Aggies 17, Black Bears 7.

Great job by Alex Pinedo on the mound and with his glove today (and even without it).  Wyatt Kelly looked good in relief.  Mason Fishback had a great day with the bat, going 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, a home run, and one hit fan.  Nick Gonzales and Tristen Carranza both had homers and went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s.  All nicely done.     

I thought about trying to find Fishy after the game to get his autograph on the ball, but I wasn’t in the mood to hang around and further embarrass myself.  I doubt I was going to be charming after 8+ hours sitting at the ballpark.  I found mistake after mistake on my scorecards in the later innings while writing this.  I likely wasn’t very coherent at the time.  My radio ran out of juice right after the final out, so I wasn’t able to check any totals.      

The softball game was still going on.  I slowly drove past their stands to look at their scoreboard.  It was 8-3 Minnesota in either the fifth or sixth.  Since my baseball ticket wasn’t going to get me in, I didn’t bother stopping.  I wasn’t going to buy another ticket for an inning or two (remember, they only play seven in softball).  [Edit: Minnesota won 15-5.]  I think Major League Baseball games let people in without a ticket after the seventh, though I could be really wrong about that or that policy may have changed. 

Adam was concerned about the wind for the Sunday baseball game, so was the weatherman.  It was nice enough in the morning.  I was dressed and ready, but the specter of 50mph reared up with some gusting an hour before the game.  I changed my mind and stayed home.  It was likely okay there for the first hour, but conditions degenerated soon after.  I felt like I made the right decision, but still felt bad about it.  [Edit: Aggies won 8-5 and it was very windy.]  I think I got plenty of good baseball this weekend anyway.

NM State Aggies vs Maine Black Bears Baseball Game 1, 3-17-18

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  It was a gorgeous day here in Las Cruces, sunny with a cool breeze.  What a glorious day to play two.  Things got off on the wrong foot as I called Ron about going to the game.  He’d been a bit ambiguous about participating.  I woke him up at 11:00 am where he was a bit understandably incoherent.  Ron said he’d meet me at the park sometime, but that didn’t happen.       

At the ballpark, I noticed there was increased and visible security.  Perhaps they were expecting some unruly fans drunk on the green beer being sold there.  They didn’t have much to worry about from the light crowd at initially showed up.  Thankfully, more fans arrived as the game went on.  I picked up a souvenir pennant, which was cool.  I saw Adam Young.  Glad to see he made it out of Laramie.  We would have radio today.

The Aggies won the series opener on Friday, 6-5, against the Maine Black Bears.  The Aggies came back in the seventh with a two-run shot by Tristen Carranza and a go-ahead solo shot by Caleb Henderson.  I remember Maine from a couple of years ago (2-27-16).  John Arel had one of the most dominating opposing pitching performances I’ve seen.  He’s still on the team, though I didn’t see him today.  They did have a guy that looked like a blonde version of Charlie Blackmon.  (And he was in the game.  And I should have gotten his name, instead of being lazy.)

Justin Dehn started for the Aggies coming off his big win over Alabama.  That was the only win on the team’s southern road trip and the first against an SEC school.  He looked a bit erratic at first with a walk and a balk to start the game.  Dehn came right back with two strikeouts looking.  A nice-looking family group came in and sat in front of me.  They were three kids, dad, and grandpa.  The kids ran around getting foul balls.

Nick Silva started for Maine.  He’s Alex Rodriguez’s nephew.  I liked that he worked fast and threw hard.  Danny Casals at third for the Black Bears made a great play on a liner on a force play.  Mason Fishback went down on three pitches, so Silva had some good stuff.

The wind started blowing a bit starting in the second.  It was prone to switch directions, but was going out initially.  Whoa!  What’s this?  Amy Bergeson and Victoria Castro from the Softball team came in.  Amy’s blonde hair had grown out a bit and had some waves in it.  Tori had let her magnificent curly, black locks loose.  They looked nice.  They walked by me up the stairs and I called them by name and said “Hello.”  If I’d known about it earlier, I would have congratulated them on their big win last night against Minnesota, 3-0.  Adam talked about the game later in the broadcast.          

While the game wasn’t as interesting as those two, it did get more interesting.  In the top of the second, a double and a sacrifice brought in a run for Maine, 1-0.  The frame ended with Braden Williams throwing out a runner at second.  He contributed in the bottom by driving in a run to tie it up, 1-1. 

Mini-footballs bombed the stands in the third.  There were a bunch of kids in the crowd and they went crazy for them.  On the other side of the stadium, a lady brought in a Welsh Corgi.  It was so cute it hurt to look at.  There were a few dogs in attendance.  A chocolate lab and his human aide walked by me several times.  Very pretty dog.  Adam mentioned that Maine plays in the America East conference, which was the same as the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.  What sports fan could resist talking about the NCAA Basketball Tournament #16 seed, who beat the tournament #1 seed yesterday, which has never happened before.

The first batter of the inning walked.  He tried to take second when Williams dropped a pitch to the next batter.  Williams threw him out anyway.  Adam had already called the base stolen.  It was a great throw.  Unfortunately, another walk and two hits drove in another Maine run, 2-1 Black Bears.  Carranza would make a great play at the wall on a deep fly.  Maine would load the bases, but Dehn got out of it with a ground out.  Silva gave up two hits in the bottom, but without damage.  He got Carranza to strikeout on a beautiful 12-to-6 curve and then a high fastball.   

Amy and Tori left between innings.  They did have a double header to play later this afternoon.  Sorry, ladies.  I wanted to see your games, but I did have to choose which double header to go to because of the questionable scheduling.  No announcement was made about baseball tickets getting the holder into the softball games.  There was a good reason for that.  The baseball didn’t end until well into the second softball game.       

A couple of singles and a sacrifice got Maine another run in the fourth, 3-1 Black Bears.  The Aggies answered back in the bottom with Nick Gonzales singling and stealing a base and Logan Bottrell driving him in, 3-2.  During his at bat, Joey Ortiz argued with the ump over a call.  This doesn’t usually happen in a college game.  Joey beat out an infield hit, but was picked off to end the inning. 

Caleb Henderson made a great play on a bunt in the fifth, and Williams gunned down another runner to end the inning.  In the bottom, Silva started losing some control and walked a couple batters with two outs.  He made one bad pitch to Henderson.  The ball carried beautifully over the left field wall.  5-3 Aggies.  The crowd loved it.  The dogs were barking their approval.  Silva was knocked out of the game.

For the sixth, Williams picked up his fourth caught stealing.  The Black Bears went 1 for 5 in stolen bases in this game.  They did not scout the Aggies’ backup catcher well.  The music started next door at the softball complex.  They were warming up to play, which meant this game was going into its third hour, but it was a lively game, so it was okay. 

In the seventh, there was an Aggie Baseball t-shirt toss.  I stood up for it, but I think they only threw one into the crowd from the press box.  Justin Dehn was pulled from the game after giving up a hard hit to the second batter.  Good defense and grit carried Dehn today without his best stuff.  Unfortunately, the next two relievers gave up two runs only pitching to three batters.  Chance Hroch was brought in on short rest from last night.  He induced an inning-ending double play, but Nick overthrew first, which allowed a run to score.  Black Bears back up 6-5.

The bottom of the seventh started with Carranza getting hit with a fastball on the shoulder near his head.  He was okay.  Next up, Logan Ehnes doubled.  Carranza was waved in and slid just under the tag.  The catcher immediately complained to the ump.  Carranza said something to the catcher, perhaps something about his bruised shoulder.  Words were exchanged.  Coaches and umpires got between the two, while both dugouts started yelling at each other.  No punches were thrown, but not from lack of desire.  Ehnes made it to third, but was thrown out on a squeeze play at the plate.  He might have missed the sign or couldn’t believe the sign was being given.  (I didn’t.  Small ball isn’t the Aggies’ forte.)  We were tied at 6.

The temperature dropped a bit in the eighth as the sun went behind a cloud.  Hroch had a quick top of the inning.  Marcus Still came in and led off the bottom and was promptly hit by a pitch.  It seemed really unintentional, so tempers did not flare.  Joey tried bunting him over and ended up with an infield hit.  Carranza worked out some more anger by singling in Marcus.  Trey Stine came in as a pinch hitter.  He only saw one pitch, which he apparently liked just fine and didn’t need to see any others.  The wind carried it over the right field wall for a three-run homer.  10-6 Aggies.  I think I heard on the broadcast that the team is second in the nation in runs scored.  I can believe it. 

Hroch stayed in for the ninth.  He walked the second batter.  Next up, Casals accidently tossed his bat on a swing all the way to the net by the Aggie dugout.  He got on via a tough error given to Joey.  (I thought it should have been a hit.)  Hroch was un-rattled with two on and finished out the game.  Aggies won 10-6 in front of a 500+ crowd in a 3 hour, 20+ minute game.  It went long as usual, but was fun.  (The nice weather helped too.)

Let’s hand a gameball to Black Bear, Nick Silva.  He pitched well until he ran out of gas.  Justin Dehn didn’t allow a big inning and kept the Aggies in it.  Braden Williams had a great game behind the plate, catching four runners, and had an RBI.  Caleb Henderson and Trey Stine each had critical and crushing three-run homers.  I still can’t believe Stine came off the bench and whacked the first pitch he saw over the fence.  The Aggies showed some good resilience coming back twice in the game, though their bullpen definitely has some shaky parts.

Let’s have some more.  On to Game 2.

NM State Aggies vs Clemson Tigers Men's NCAA Tournament 3-16-18

Jack Nixon postponed the Aggies vs Clemson Tigers pregame show and went straight into doing play-by-play for the preceding game, which had run over.  Certainly I was impressed by his seamless call of two teams he'd probably never called before.  He must have done some homework for the Aggies' possible future tournament opponents.  Auburn won in a close game.

I was momentarily heartened before the game after checking out the Aggie Baseball win from earlier in the evening.  Embarrassingly, I'd forgotten about the Softball girls.  I found out they had big win over Minnesota that night too.  Back to the basketball, I was able to watch this game on TV, though that did mean I wasn't able to listen to Jack all of the time.  I was still at work though and my viewing and listening tended to be spotty.

Zach Lofton came out firing and put in a three to start the game.  It looked like a great crowd in San Diego.  Some woman was doing the color commentary.  I'm assuming she was a player.  I'm going to refer to her as “The Chick,” since I never got her name.  It was a bit different listening to her.  There was some talk about Zach, since he's had an interesting college career.  He's been at five schools in his five years.  When the Aggie program took him on, Coach Chris Jans was assured that Zach wasn't moved around because of personal problems.  He's a good kid.

Though the Aggies kept up with the Tigers, there were troubling signs early.  Keyon Jones had three straight turnovers, which led to 4 points and a 13-10 Clemson lead.  Over halfway through the first half, rebounding machine Jemerrio Jones had no offensive rebounds.  Worse, the Tigers were having no trouble getting to the rim.  They had a significant height advantage.  

 

There was a feature on the Tiger mascot.  Where's Pistol Pete?  Clemson started pulling away late in the half.  They were keeping the Aggies from getting good shots, they were getting turnovers, and they were putting in hurtful threes.  It was 44-32 Clemson at the half.  Zach had 13 points to lead all scorers.

To start the second half, Jack mentioned that the crowd in San Diego was cheering about another tournament game.  I'd seen something on TV where the hosts were talking about some #16 seed team giving a #1 seed team a fight.  I didn't pay much attention to it, since I was sure nothing interesting would come of it.  However, it was now late in that game and the 16 was still winning. 

Shamefully, I flipped away from the Aggie game to watch the end of what would become an immortal moment in tournament history.  The #16 University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers beat the #1 Virginia Cavilers 74-54.  What's even more shocking than this never before accomplished feat of a 16 beating a 1, it's that they did it in such dominating fashion.  Dad, who was just listening to the radio, told me that the people in San Diego were angry when they turned off this game from the video screens.

Not much had changed when I got back to the Aggie game.  Clemson was still up 54-40, five minutes in.  Pistol Pete got a little airtime.  The Chick reported that Pete and the Tiger were friendly before the match.  (No doubt the Tiger was jealous though.  Seriously.  Being Pete must be awesome.)  The Chick did hang out with Pete a bit.  I'm sure he charmed her.  She asked him about mustache care.  When briefly on camera, it didn't look like she had a problem with that.  Perhaps she was asking for the men in her life.      

I'm avoiding talking about the game.  The Aggies did manage a comeback attempt.  Keyon Jones hit three's on back-to-back possessions to make it 60-49 with 10 minutes left.  Zach hit a three to bring it to 68-60 with 6 minutes left.  Jemerrio got it to 68-62 with a couple of points in the paint to cap a 10-2 run.  The Chick reported from talking to the coach that Double J even wants to win every practice.

It was a good effort, but Clemson had an immediate answer.  The Aggies just couldn't figure out how to stop them down low or in transition.  They were giving up too much in height, which as they say, you can't teach.  (Although that Baltimore team looked even smaller than the Aggies.)  The lengthy and frequent commercial breaks also had me flipping stations.  I caught a little of a Diamondbacks/Dodgers' Spring Training game.  There looked like a full house there.  The announcers were fascinated by switch-pitcher Pat Venditte throwing with both arms for the Dodgers. 

Zach hit another three with 30 seconds left, but there was no dramatic finish here.  The Aggies' season ended with a 79-68 loss to Clemson.  The big difference stat appeared to be points in the paint going 42 to 28 for the Tigers.  Zach Lofton did all he could, finishing with 29 points.  Jemerrio Jones put in another double-double effort.  There was no post game interview with Coach Jans.  In fact, the radio coverage ended pretty quickly.  Jack sounded a bit melancholy, but I'll pick everyone's spirits up here.

Season Rewind

Wow, when I went back over the season, I couldn’t believe all the highlights (and some lowlights).

11-5-17  I listened to this game, but didn’t even write anything about it, since it was a hastily put together charity exhibition, and they were completely crushed by Texas Tech.  It seemed like a really bad sign for the second game of the Chris Jans era.  He even brought this game up right before the NCAA Tournament as being one of their motivators for the rest of the season.

11-17-17  For longtime Aggie fans, this may have been the game of the year.  It was the revenge win against the Aggies’ traitorous ex-coach Paul Weir and his Lobos here in Cruces.

11-25-17 and 11-30-17  The Aggies stomped their other rival, UTEP twice (though I only wrote about it once).  The Miners had a pretty down year for their entire athletics department.  This was just par for the course.

12-3-17  While this wasn’t much of a game against Prairie View A&M, it was a great game for me, since I had free tickets.  I also had the privilege of going to the Barbara Hubbard Room and I got a motivational speech from football Coach Doug Martin after their big win versus South Alabama.  This game was my personal highlight.

12-6-17   Bad loss to the San Diego Torreos.  Who?

12-9-17  The Aggies got a close win against the Lobos in Albuquerque.  How sweet it was sweeping all the games against our two archrivals.

12-16-17  At the United Center in Chicago, the Aggies beat Illinois in a thriller.  Jack Nixon was a believer after this game.

12-22-17  Ah, a tournament in beautiful Hawaii.  No time for sight-seeing with the high-level competition there.  How did the Aggies get invited?  Doesn't matter.  They proved they deserved it with a win against Davidson, a team that college basketball wonks get all hot over.

12-23-17  Shock the world!  #6 and unbeaten Miami no longer either after running into the Aggies.  This got the program some national attention.

12-25-17  Christmas is usually disappointing for me.  I never get what I really want: real estate.  I was more realistically hoping for a tournament-winning victory over USC, but that didn't happen either.  I was still pretty pleased with the team anyway.

1-11-18  What a way to finish a road trip; three conference games.  The game this night was at Grand Canyon, one of the toughest places to play in the WAC.  No problem for the Aggies.  They wiped them.

1-20-18  I got free tickets to another game and to the Hub (and a super cool poster).  The team returned home 7-1 after a 37-day road trip.  This was their second win upon getting back and was a convincing victory over Utah Valley.

2-10-18  Pack the Pan-Am.  The Aggies needed every single fan at the sell-out as they willed the team to victory over GCU.

2-15-18 and 2-17-18  The Aggies lost two in a row on the road, including an OT loss to Seattle U and wearing down against Utah Valley's strong shooting.  This caused the team some soul-searching and likely cost them getting into the top 25 for this season.

3-9-18 and 3-10-18  WAC Tournament.  They were tested by Seattle U and then dominated GCU in the championship.

Athletic Director Mario Moccia thought hiring Chris Jans was pretty close to a sure thing for success.  He pegged that one.  Here's hoping we can keep him for a while.  Zach Lofton ended his college career with an exclamation point.  I hope somebody in the NBA sees his potential too.  Likewise, Jemerrio Jones, who just about averaged a double-double this season.  Lastly, let's look forward to a bright future with the human highlight reel and local boy, Johnny McCants.  Much like the football program, Aggie Basketball just needs to keep building on what they've established. 

I had a great season.  Not just from listening and watching, but from being able to go to and enjoy a couple of games in person and even experiencing the hospitality suite.  That's likely ruined me for just going to a game.  It's likely I'll remain a mostly remote fan, as opposed to an in-person one.  Good luck to Mario in pursuing Pan-Am upgrades with luxury suites.  That would probably be a great boost to the program.