Baseball Journal June 1-3, 2018

6-1-18

The MLB.TV free game was another good one.  This was between the Braves and the Nationals.  Who would have thought these two teams would be battling for their division?  It was Mike Foltynewicz versus Stephen Strasburg on the mound.  It was 0-0 into the seventh.  Dansby Swanson battled Strasburg for several pitches before belting a two-run homer.  An Atlanta fan with a mitt dropped it and it fell into the bullpen.  Folt pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout.  He struck out Bryce Harper to end the game.  2-0 Braves.  I saw a closeup of Trea Turner in the game for the first time.  He looks like he's 16 years old.

In El Paso, it was about 102 degrees to start the game for the Chihuahuas and the Rivercats.  The Sandlot promotion game is tomorrow.  The actor who played “Smalls” was interviewed on Sportstalk.  (I missed it.)  Hunter Pence didn't have a good rehab, but was called back to the Giants today.  The first three Rivercat batters all collected hits.  The last one was a three-run homer. 

It didn't get much better for the Chihuahuas after that.  The Rivercats kept adding on.  The pups managed a run off a series that went walk, walk, wild pitch, sac fly.  The classic run without a hit.  In the ninth, they even lost a runner at third in a rundown on a bunt.  8-1 Rivercats final.  What is with the Chihuahuas at home?

6-2-18

It was an overcast, hazy day in St. Luis . . . err . . . St. Louis for the Cardinals' game against the Pirates.  Once again, thank you to a Mexican station for providing this coverage on Saturday morning.  Marcell Ozuna got the scoring started in the second with a home run to straightaway center that plopped right on to the batter's eye lawn.  1-0 Cardinals.  In the fourth, he had a comebacker to the Pirates' pitcher, Chad Kuhl.  Kuhl lost his mitt fielding it and then couldn't find the ball right next to him.  I'm not sure if that was an error or not, probably.

By the fifth, the sun came out and it got hot.  The umps were wearing sweat stains.  The Pirates tied it on a solo home run.  Luke Weaver (I wonder if he's related to the other Weaver pitchers?) watched the ball fly out and stomped on the mound, cursing.  In the bottom, Tommy Pham would give the Cards back the lead with an RBI double.  2-1 Cardinals.

The Pirates kept it close.  In the seventh, their catcher (didn't catch his name) made a jump catch on a bunt and got the lead runner at second.  In the eighth, David Freeze pinch hit for the Pirates and received a standing ovation from the St. Louis crowd.  They remember him well.  In the bottom, their left fielder Colin Moran (I think) made a great leaping catch at the wall. 

Bud Norris came in to close for the Cardinals in the ninth.  His first pitch was a home run to right field by Austin Meadows (I got his name and what a great one).  Norris struck out the side for the rest of the inning.  At this point, I flipped around the stations.  When I got back to the game, Kolten Wong was just touching home plate after his walk-off home run and getting mobbed by his teammates.  3-2 Cardinals.  I don't feel as bad as the two fans who missed catching the ball as it bounced out of the stands.    

Later in the evening, welcome to Baseball Night in America on FOX featuring women’s' golf, which was running way over because of a rainout yesterday.  Only people in the games' home markets got them on time.  Nearly two hours in, they went to my regional game.  It was the Rockies versus the Dodgers in Denver.  Great, I would have loved to have seen all of this game.  I don't even know if the Rockies have ever been on a FOX Saturday game.  4-3 Rox in the fifth when I joined it.  Great crowd there at Coors Field.

Of course this ran right into the Chihuahuas and Rangers games just coming on.  This was the anticipated Sandlot jerseys game.  I wanted to hear about it.  The actor playing “Smalls” threw out the first pitch and was doing autographs on the concourse.  According to Eric O'Brien on the El Paso news, he was signing for the whole game.  (Unfortunately, Tim Hagerty wasn’t able to do an interview with him.)  Huge Lego sculptures were also at the park, including one of Buster Posey.  It is an exhibition touring ballparks around the country.  There were no runners on base until the bottom of the third with two outs.  Tim couldn't remember a game starting so quietly.  An error got the Chihuahuas the first one. 

In the sixth in Colorado, Joc Pederson hit a solo home run to tie the score 4-4.  I noticed that the late afternoon glare along the first base side was profound.  In the Seventh, a ground out brought in another Dodger run to make it 5-4.  Then it went completely sideways.  Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer to make it 7-4.  The Rockies brought in their third pitcher of the inning when it was 9-4.  Starter German Marquez was side himself in the dugout.  The bases were filled again on walk.  Rockies Manager Bud Black stalked rail.  I think he was taking it personally.  A wild pitch brought in a run.  Then there was a bases clearing triple.  By the time the Rox finally got the third out, it was 12-4 Dodgers.  That would be the final.  Why couldn't I have seen the good part of the game?

While that was going on, it was the fourth in El Paso.  An error in outfield scored a Rivercats' run (or as Eric put it in the game recap, “You're killing me, Smalls!).  This led to a nine-batter, 3 run inning.  That could have been worse.  In the bottom, the Chihuahuas got a couple on, but a double-play ended the inning.  In the fifth, they loaded the bases loaded, but Carlos Asuaje flied out to end the inning.

Bottom of the seventh, Allen Craig singled in a pair of Chihuahuas' runs.  Luis Urias tied it with an RBI.  In the eighth, Javy Guerra doubled in Shane Peterson for the lead.  Okay, that's what the box says.  What actually happened, Javy thought he had a home run, may have thought the runner was out at home, and got tagged out walking between first and second, but the run still counted.  4-3 Chihuahuas. 

Whoa boy, then the ninth.  It was another nine-batter inning for the Rivercats.  Five runs scored.  An error (the pups' third of the game) and a wild pitch brought in a couple of them.  The Chihuahuas got on a couple runner in the bottom, but a double-play ended it.  8-4 Rivercats.  The Chihuahuas cannot win at home. 

I didn't get any of the Rangers' game until later.  I saw a highlight of Angel Mike Trout hitting a home run.  Tim mentioned that Tim Lincecum was pitching at the Rangers' Triple-A team in Round Rock.  That's encouraging.  I hadn't heard anything about him all season and was worried he was out of baseball.  In came in in tenth with poor reception.  I didn't get the score, but did hear Ronald Guzman scoring Roughned Odor, who dove across the plate, to give the Rangers a one-run lead.  Trout faced Keone Kela with two outs in the bottom.  Fly ball out.  Rangers win 3-2.  It was a comeback win as they tied it in the ninth on a reviewed play with the tying run crossing before the third out was made.

6-3-18

The Rangers faced the Angels in Anaheim again today.  Eric Nadel wasn’t there for yesterday’s broadcast.  It was hard for me to tell, because of some crappy reception and I only heard one inning.  Matt Hicks welcomed him back.  He apparently did the whole game and got wore out by it.  Eric was wondering where the crowd was.  They were barely boo’ing Roughned Odor.  (This must be a new feud.  I don’t know what started it.)  Matt said was the crowd was “woke.”  That is to say, they just woke up and came to the ballpark.  (A good crowd would show up over the course of the game though.)

Eric also mentioned he’d be at a Dallas library on their off day tomorrow and would be reading to some kids.  Between this and players going out to What-a-burgers for signings, this is some pretty good community outreach.  (It’d also be a great excuse to go get a hamburger.)  While this was going on the radio, I had an Indycar race on the TV.  If you can believe it, the pace car crashed on the warm up lap.  Belle Isle is a dangerous course, basically a slot car track. 

In the second, Shohei Ohtani got on by a hard hit ball to first that got knocked down, but he beat it out.  Eric was impressed with his speed.  Ronald Guzman was manning the bag today.  His long wingspan allowed him to have a chance at fielding the ball.  It’s also the source of his nickname (maybe) “The Condor.”  Isiah Kiner-Falefa, another new player this year, has been dubbed “Izzy.”  (It took me few innings to figure out who they were talking about.) 

The Angels did score two in the inning, though the Rangers had a couple of good defensive plays.  The Angels had a good play by Mike Trout, of course.  He ran into the wall making a catch.  He came away hurting, so we’ll say the wall won that one.  Justin Upton added a home run in the sixth to make it 3-0 Angels.  Nomar Mazara homered in the eighth for the Rangers to close it to 3-1.  The new home run line in the outfield may have come into play. 

Eric did his limerick for the game in this inning.  Matt had earlier apologized for not getting to the daily limerick until the tenth yesterday.  Eric forgave him since he was busy calling the game by himself and complimented his poetic effort.  (This is a strange season of Rangers’ baseball.)  There was also a discussion about RBI’s.  The stat is considered “useless” by Sabermetricians.  I officially consider Sabermetricians useless.  RBI’s are how you judge a productive batter in a game.  Going 3 for 4 doesn’t mean anything towards winning unless you score or bring somebody in.   

As listless as the Rangers were on offense, they were only down two runs in the ninth.  This came up as the Angels’ reliever walked three in the inning to load the bases.  There was some drama, but they were all left stranded to end the game.  3-1 Angels was the final. Doug Fister was the hard luck loser for the Rangers.  It was a quick game at two hours, 40 minutes.

I had trouble listening to the end of the Rangers’ game because of lightning crackles and weather alerts.  A couple of big storms moved through the area.  We could use the rain, but not in the form of hail delivered sideways at 70mph.  Luckily, it missed me.  I only heard some distant thunder.  (I’m as languid as a fainting heroine on a chaise lounge in high humidity though.  It had to be about 80%.)  It did rain in downtown El Paso, which delayed the start of the Chihuahuas’ game tonight by a half hour.  It had stopped raining, but they needed to drain it a bit.

During the break, Tim Hagerty played a couple of interviews.  One was with Jayson Werth, who was a visiting player.  In contrast to his stoic demeanor on field, he was very pleasant in conversation.  He was in Triple-A trying to make it back to the majors.  With the consent of his family, he was giving it one more try this year.  Werth was very humble and grateful about his time playing baseball.  This was great to hear.

It was the Chihuahuas versus the Rivercats to end this five-game series.  In the first, there was a great diving double play started by Javy Guerra with a glove flip of the ball.  Tim is really impressed with him this season.  Luis Urias came up in the bottom and “Happy Birthday” flashed on the video board.  The crowd actually sang to him.  In the second, Javy singled in a run and another came in via a double-play, 2-0 Chihuahuas. 

In the third with two on, one by an error, Brett Nicholas singled.  There was a misplay in the outfield, followed by a wild overthrow to third.  Nicholas ended up on third, driving in both runs.  Allen Craig then drove him in, 5-0 Chihuahuas.  For the Kid’s Club feature, Tim had a talky giggler in the booth.  The kid’s main hobby was sleeping, which his mom kept interrupting in the morning.  Tim encouraged him to play a prank on his mom by waking her up early.  (How subversive.  I didn’t know Tim had it in him.)

There was a spectacular sunset in El Paso that evening, filled with oranges, yellows, and reds.  Tim talked about it, and the video board even put it up between innings.  (Here it was just yellow to the west and dark and nasty to the east.)  Chihuahuas’ starter, Dillon Overton, went seven scoreless innings, only giving up two hits.  For the eighth, the team’s new Japanese pitcher, whose name I’m not going to be able to spell out by myself, worked a quick inning with some great defense behind him. 

The Rivercats got a runner on in the ninth.  Before it happened, Tim called a double play, and that was how the game ended.  5-0 Chihuahuas win.  This was a very quick game, even with a half-hour delay.  It was two hours and 17 minutes and finished before 9:00.

NM State Baseball and Softball Recap 2018 Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

4-7-18

NM State Aggies vs CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners Softball.  Ms. Legs made an appearance in the stands as Aggie Softball run-ruled Game 1, and shutout the Roadrunners in Game 2.  

4-10-18

I missed the Aggies playing the Lobos, and not for the last time this season, and they won 9-0.  Coach Brian Green got his 100th career victory.

4-13-18

Aggie Softball had a double header in the Phoenix against Grand Canyon.  They won the first game in a close contest and suffered a crushing loss in the last inning of Game 2. 

4-14-18

NM State Aggies vs Chicago St Cougars Baseball.  I missed out on a free t-shirt for this game, but I’m not bitter.  I also missed out on seeing Aggie Women’s Tennis and gorgeous Eli Arnaudova for the final time this year.  I hope she isn’t graduating this spring.  After a solid season defensively, the baseball team really butchered this game in the field with four errors and barely managed to beat a team win-less in conference play.  They won more convincingly the next day (4-15-18).   

4-17-18

Aggie Baseball had an early evening game against Sul Ross State.  The game featured three sets of brothers, including having a Munden brother on each team.  The Aggies won, but not very convincingly against a DIII school.

4-20-18, 4-21-18, 4-22-18

Aggie Baseball endured cold, wind, rain, and even darkness to win two of three on the road from a bad Northern Colorado team.  I was unimpressed, even with the wins.  I probably should have cut them a bit of slack because of the conditions there.  Matt McHugh did a good job doing color commentary on the radio.

4-25-18

What a change.  From 40 degrees and lower in Colorado to 97 degrees in Arizona.  The warm temperature did the Aggies good as they got their first victory against Arizona State in Phoenix.  Okay, I was back on the bandwagon.

4-27-18

My first look at Grand Canyon’s new baseball stadium via GCU’s video feed came at the cost of an Aggie run-rule loss on Friday.  The Aggies came back with a run-rule win on Saturday, but lost the series on Sunday.  Meanwhile, Aggie Softball was playing Seattle U here for the regular season championship Friday.  They lost this game, meaning they’d have to win twice on Saturday for the championship.

4-28-18

NM State Aggies vs Seattle U Redhawks Softball.  As of Game 1, I have officially seen everything in a ball game.  The fans in the stands corrected the ump on the score and he agreed and had it changed.  The Aggies won this game on a walk, which run-ruled the game in the fifth.  They won Game 2 on a convincing run-rule as well.  Kelsey Horton added to her legend with a walk-off grand slam that won them the championship.  The feel-good moment of the game was Caity Szczesny homering and nearly jumping out of her shoes.  Senior Day ceremonies were held afterward.    

5-1-18

Poor scheduling with Aggie Softball playing Arizona and Aggie Baseball playing the Lobos next door.  Softball even had to cancel one game of their double header to accommodate baseball.  Doesn’t anybody take a close look at the schedules before making these commitments?  I saw this coming right after the schedules came out.  The girls played tough, but lost 5-1.  The guys had a great win, 13-2.

5-4-18

Aggie fans totally “Stuffed the Skew” with over 2,100 showing up for their Friday night game against Utah Valley.  I don’t know how they got them all in there, but they did.  And they saw a great, close game with the Aggies coming out on top 4-3.  Coach Brian Green in the post-game interview credited the crowd willing the team to victory.

5-5-18

NM State Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Baseball.  It was a great day for baseball.  The Softball girls were there and were nearly taken out by errant foul ball.  I heroically jumped over four rows of seats to catch the ball and save them.  In gratitude, they took me out and we partied all night.  What a great season this was!  (That story might actually be less embarrassing for the team than what actually happened.)  Oh, and Aggie baseball won.    

5-6-18

NM State Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Baseball.  The last home baseball game of the season was a good one.  It was a great day for a game and a big crowd for a Senior Day sendoff.  I finally got to see the female PA, Alexia, as she was introduced to the crowd, since she was graduating too.  Nolan Fox on the radio, another graduate, thanked Adam Young for his tutelage.  Then there was the bird that was nearly hit by a foul ball, but didn’t move.  He was an Aggie Baseball bird, “We don’t move.”  The Aggies would win on a walk-off grand slam by Nick Gonzales.  He must have been watching Kelsey Horton last week.       

5-8-18

Kelsey Horton won WAC Player of the Year . . . again.  Unlike last year, she didn’t trip while dancing at the banquet and enter the tournament injured.  Well, that was the other teams’ only hope.

5-9-18

The Aggie Baseball beat the Lobos to sweep them for the season.  Shamefully, I completely missed the game.  When I realized that, it was one of the low-points of the season for me.

5-10-18

The WAC Softball Tournament begins.  I am there.
Game 1, Game 2

5-11-18

Aggie Softball won their first game in impressive fashion.  I impressively made it through 13 hours of softball that day.
Game 3 (Aggies), Game 4, Game 5, Game 6

5-12-18

Nikki Butler homered twice in the Aggies’ second win of the tournament. 
Game 7 (Aggies), Game 8, Game 9

5-13-18

Kelsey Horton set the program record for home runs and led the nation in the stat as well, as the Aggies won the WAC Softball Championship.  It was a great game to win the tournament on. 

5-18-18

Aggie Baseball won their second game in a row versus UTRGV, keeping their regular season championship hopes alive.  Meanwhile, Aggie Softball played their first NCAA Tournament game.  They lost 2-0 to Arizona State.  There was no coverage of the game for me, not even Statcast.  Thankfully, the team at least tweeted updates during the game.  Adam Young was busy in Edinburg, but couldn’t Jack Nixon have gone and called the game or somebody else?  They’ve broadcast their NCAA games the last couple of the years.  If the team doesn’t feel slighted, then I do.  At least the baseball guys supported the girls with a great tweet.

5-19-18

Rough day for Aggie fans.  Baseball lost out on first place and second place in the WAC with a gut-wrenching loss in Edinburg to UTRGV.  I’m still stinging from listening to that loss.  We’ll never know, but I think this loss may have motivated the team for the WAC Tournament.  Softball lost 9-0 on run-rule to Long Beach State and ended their NCAA Tournament run.  I’m sure Coach Rodolph told them afterward what I’ll say now, “Girls, you had a great year.  I’m very proud of you all.”

5-23 to 25-18

I really did start working on this post before the WAC Baseball Tournament started.  After that last lost and their early exits the last two years, could you blame me for being skeptical about how Aggie Baseball was going to do here?  Well, they sure showed me by going 3-0 and steamrolling right into the Championship game on Saturday.

5-26-18

I’d sort of like to forget this game for the result and how long it took to get there, but then I’d be overlooking Brock Whittlesey’s heroics.  This was his signature moment in the program, going over seven innings in relief.  And this was after pitching two of the last three days.  

5-27-18

After five hours of ball late yesterday and a crushing defeat, I’d like to say that made today’s championship win by the Aggies over Sacramento State even more sweet, but that’s not the case.  This game was tension-wracked all the way through.  I could only enjoy it after that final out.  The possibility of losing was almost unbearable after having made it to this point.   

6-1-18

The Aggies finally got their third game against Texas Tech today.  Unfortunately, it was in Lubbock in 104 degree afternoon heat.  It was even hotter on the turf.  Neither team lost to the heat, but the Aggies lost 9-2 to the #9 team in the nation.

6-2-18

Kyle Bradish pitched one of his finest games of the season, going into the eighth inning versus Kent State.  It was hot there again, but Kyle threw 120 pitches and only yielded one run.  Unfortunately, that one run came on a heart-breaking, first pitch two-run homer off of reliever Brock Whittlesey.  That was enough for Kent State to win 2-1.  The Aggies’ season ended, but what a ride!

6-5-18

And two more final accolades for Aggie Sports this season. Kyle Bradish was drafted in the fourth round by the Angels.  This was the highest an Aggie had ever gone in the draft.  With several players from the last couple of years playing pro ball, this is going to have a lasting positive impact on the program.  Kyle, if you make it into the Bigs with the Angels, I will root for them (on days you’re pitching, otherwise no way, I’m a Ranger fan).  Nick Gonzales was also named a freshman collegiate All-American.  And he didn’t even start at the beginning of the year.     

Cody Decker, a former player of Coach Brian Green and a baseball icon, started this season with a good luck tweet.  He ended it with another tweet of congratulations for a great season.    Adam Young called this the greatest year in NM State sports.  Certainly baseball and softball helped to make that possible. 

I really hope that the university can hold on to both the coaches.  Kathy Rodolph is responsible for all of the success that Aggie Softball has ever had.  I was actually worried about Coach Green’s job going into the WAC Tournament.  He’s a good recruiter, but I don’t know if he’s able to manage the team to a championship was what I was thinking.  I happily apologize.      

Not only did I start writing this too early, I stopped and started on it three times, just to make it harder on myself apparently.  I probably should have made separate posts for baseball and softball, but there was some intertwining between their games and ultimately, they mirrored each other in winning their WAC Tournaments.  I don’t want to pick a favorite game or moment for either team this season; it’s just going to be remembered as 2018 and a pair of championships.  

NM State Baseball and Softball Recap 2018 Part 1

It was a great season on the diamonds at New Mexico State.  Well, sitting in the stands it wasn’t always great.  In fact, it was miserable at times because of the weather.  It definitely made one grateful for the pleasant afternoons and evenings later in the season. 

Both teams took steps forward this year.  Softball not only won the conference again, they did it against increased competition, namely Grand Canyon being eligible for the tournament.  They also played some top teams and did well.  Last year, those teams just trounced them.  Baseball hammered some inferior competition at the beginning of the season.  For the first time, Aggie Baseball beat an SEC school, beat Arizona State in Phoenix, and swept the Lobos.  Otherwise, they stumbled in conference and against good competition.  However, their pitching really came together at the tournament and they rode that to a conference championship.

From here, both teams can look to trying to win a game in the NCAA Tournament as their next goal.  Of course, there’s no guarantee of continuing to win the conference to do so.  It’s not like the other teams aren’t going to try and improve. 

Coach Kathy Rodolph and Coach Brian Green seem to take different approaches in their pre-conference games.  Softball takes on the toughest competition (including the #1 in the nation), while Baseball has a much softer schedule.  There are differences between who they are able to schedule though.  Softball programs will seemingly take on anybody, anywhere, even if NMSU’s Softball Complex is nothing special.  Presley Askew Field for baseball can only seem to attract small eastern colleges that are snowed in early in the year. 

Both coaches seem to be really gifted in recruiting, which will help tremendously in keeping these programs competitive.  Coach Green has been nationally recognized for a couple of years.  Coach Rodolph keeps finding the right pieces to put together a winning team.  She’s definitely built a program that should continue to attract talent.  Baseball is just starting to get that respectability.  The biggest sell is that they’ve been able to put nine players in the pros recently.  Having Daniel Johnson as a top 10 prospect in the Nationals’ organization is a billboard for NMSU.  Kyle Bradish may do the same for the program this year with his high draft pick. 

Let’s hand out some season gameballs for softball.  Kelsey Horton.  Sigh.  Kelsey Horton.  I don’t even know what to say about how great she is.  Kelsey has this presence about her when she comes to bat.  She’s larger than life.  She also really improved defensively at second base.  Let me toss out a couple of others.  Fahren Glackin black-and-blued her way on base constantly.  (I wonder if Kelsey moves back to first with Fahren graduating?)  Nikki Butler made a great compliment to Kelsey pounding out the runs.  Defensively, Jeanelle Medina was a rock at third.

For the baseball team, it’s got to be pitching that gets the spotlight.  Top prospect Kyle Bradish, WAC Pitcher of the Year Jonathan Groff, big game mid-week-er Justin Dehn, and ironman closer Brock Whittlesey formed an Aggie staff for the ages.  The offense, especially at home, was mighty.  Early in the season, they were insanely powerful.  Caleb My Name is Earle Henderson and Tristen Carranza were the anchors.

2-10-18

NM State Aggies vs Kentucky Wildcats Softball.  (Game 1, Game 2) This was the first of NM State’s poor scheduling this spring.  Here was softball playing a nationally-ranked program at the same time that the Men’s Basketball team was playing GCU for the “Pack the Pan-Am” promotion.  Regardless, this double-header sweep had to be the best start ever for the program.  The Aggies didn’t even play that well in the games and still beat them.  The Wildcats just didn’t seem properly prepared.

2-11-18

The Wildcats got prepared quickly overnight.  It was cold and windy, the Wildcats won in a rout, and team autographs did not go well for me, but I did get to chat with volleyball Coach Mike Jordan.

Troy Cox Classic Softball Invitational

2-16-18 A rainout is a bad way to start a tournament, especially given that they were selling tickets right before the inevitable rain started.  I’m still a bit angry over this, and I’m not entirely sure I got my money’s worth.

2-17-18 More scheduling issues.  I had to choose between a baseball double header and using my expensive softball ticket from yesterday.  I did both, sort of.  I missed the second baseball game (which was okay, since they lost in a shocker after utterly creaming Towson 24-4 in Game 1).  I also missed the upset of the softball tournament with Boston U beating #1 Oklahoma.  That said, I saw the Aggies play two good games and the biggest crowd I’d ever seen at the softball complex, which was officially beyond capacity.  The girls’ game against the Sooners may have been one of their best played games of the year.

2-18-18 In spite of my high opinion, Aggie Softball did lose both games the day before.  Thankfully, they won today, making me feel better about my pricey ticket investment, but I did have to get to the park at 9:00am to see it.  I also missed Aggie Baseball, scheduled at the same time.  I didn’t remember until I looked at my post, but me and Ron went to an Aggie Women’s Basketball game that afternoon.  Again, scheduling, but damn, I’m certifiably insane going to all these sports.         

2-23-18

NM State Aggies vs MS Valley St Delta Devils Baseball.  The Aggies won 39-0.  Let that sink in.  Noah Haupt went 6 for 7 and had a program record 10 RBI.  What happened to this kid?  Where did he go for the rest of the season?

2-24-18

NM State Aggies vs MS Valley St Delta Devils Baseball.  After winning 15-4 in Game 1, me and Ron nearly froze to death watching them win 20-0 in Game 2.

2-27-18

NM State Aggies vs Arizona Wildcats Baseball.  The Aggies nearly won this one, but lost 5-4.  They only had one bad inning where Bruno Teramoto committed two errors.  He lost the second base job for the rest of the season after this game.  

3-3-18

NM State Aggies vs the Harvard Crimson Baseball Game 2.  More scheduling issues.  We missed Game 1 while at an Aggie Women’s Basketball game.  (Hey, it was indoors, and they won the regular season championship today.)  This game was a tough loss after two close wins.

3-4-18

NM State Aggies vs the Harvard Crimson Baseball.  Great bounce back win 23-4.  It’s like a really weird football score.   

3-17-18

NM State Aggies vs Maine Black Bears Baseball.  Aggie Softball had a big win over Minnesota the previous night.  (I had no coverage of it unfortunately).  Aggie Baseball also had a big win on the road versus Alabama last week with Justin Dehn shutting them out.  (I got no coverage of that either.)  Once again, I had to choose between the baseball double header and a softball double header.  Your baseball ticket wouldn’t get you into the softball for free either.  I made the right choice.  This was a great game.  Braden Williams started at catcher and threw out four runners.  In Game 2, I caught a foul ball, my proudest moment at the ballpark (kinda).

3-24-18

NM State Aggies vs Seattle U Redhawks Baseball.  Baseball had a bad loss at Arizona on Tuesday, 3-20-18, but Brett Worthen made his first pitching appearance in two years and looked good.  On 3-21-18, Aggie Softball beat the Lobos in Albuquerque.  I almost got to watch that one.  On Friday, 3-23-18, Baseball had a good comeback win against the Redhawks. 

Today, on a day with free frozen custard and a bunch of cute dogs for Bark at the Park, it was a terrible day to be at the stadium.  What started as a nice afternoon, turned into a windy, freezing cold rain by the end.  I abandoned the game in the eighth, fleeing for my life, as I hadn’t dressed for that weather.  Across the street, eating lunch, the Aggies almost made a comeback while I was listening on the radio.  I might have lost my lunch if they’d won.  At least they won the next day (3-25-18).     

3-27-18

Aggie Sports scheduling issues reached their zenith today as their home baseball game against Texas Tech was canceled.  The conflict had something to do with where Easter fell this year.  This was entirely foreseeable and affected both teams, so they mutually canceled the game.  How disappointing.  

Just to make it worse, Softball was going to be playing UTEP here at the same time.  A game you couldn’t play, cross-scheduled with a rivalry game.  Brilliant.  The girls swept another double header from the Miners this season.  I probably should have gone ahead and taken the afternoon off to see them.   

3-31-18

NM State Aggies vs Sacramento State Hornets Baseball.  An appearance by the Easter Bunny was a highlight today.  The crowd almost didn’t show up because of a start time change.  And the Aggies lost.   

This recap is going way longer than I intended.  We’ll finish this in Part 2.

NCAA Baseball Tournament 2018 6-2-18 Part 2

NM State Aggies vs Kent State Golden Flash

I don't know what happened.  I knew the time of the game.  I wrote it down.  I was watching the clock.  Yet somehow, I tuned in to the game an hour late.  I was watching another game at the time, but I think I just brain-farted (like whoever named the Kent St team).  It was 0-0 in the third when I tuned in, so I didn't miss any scoring.  In fact, I tuned in as the Aggies loaded the bases with Caleb Henderson up.  Unfortunately, a double play ended the inning.

Judging by the comments and the sound of wind on the microphones, it was windy in Lubbock, but wasn’t hot as yesterday.  Kyle Bradish was pitching for the Aggies.  He got some help in the bottom of the third with Logan Ehnes making a sliding catch.  Apparently, he'd made another one earlier.  I also found out that I'd missed Nick Gonzales getting thrown out at the plate, which was the closest to scoring in the game.  The Flash loaded the bases this inning to also threaten, but didn't score.

The tension continued for the next two innings.  Bradish struck out two after a leadoff walk in the fourth.  Mason Fishback was picked off base in the fifth.  In the sixth, Marcus Still got it going with a single and was bunted over.  Henderson doubled him in.  1-0 Aggies.  In the seventh, Coach Green nearly got beaned by a Joey Ortiz foul ball.  Numerous comments had been made about how little room there was behind home plate and how close the dugouts were to the diamond.  The Aggies got two runners on, one on a hit-by-pitch.  The team leads the nation in that stat.  The Aggies didn’t score.  Marcus made a diving catch in the bottom to help keep the lead.

By the eighth, Bradish had thrown over 130 pitches.  (I’m not sure about that number, but it was definitely over 100.)  After a walk, he came out after going 7 1/3 and 9 strikeouts.  Brock Whittlesey relieved him.  On his first pitch, the batter hit a no-doubt two-run homer.  The fielders didn't even move.  2-1 Flash.  Whitt had some more trouble, but finished the inning by catching a liner by his head.  He came off the mound yelling at himself. 

To start the ninth, Tristen Carranza received his twenty-first ball bruise to lead the team.  He went down hard for a minute and came out for a pinch runner.  With two on and two out, Braden Williams hit a hard liner to first for the final out.  2-1 Kent St moves on.  It was a very close game and well-played by the Aggies.  Whitt might have thrown one-too-many innings at the WAC Tournament and wasn’t sharp, but he was still probably the best option to close out the game.  This is hopefully a building block of experience for next years' team. 

The Aggies' season is done.  It's been a tremendous one for Aggie Baseball and the whole athletics program.  I'll be covering it more in a Season Recap later.

NCAA Baseball Tournament 2018 6-1-18 Part 1

NM State Aggies vs Texas Tech Red Raiders

Welcome Aggies to the big tournament!  They'd be facing a Texas Tech team that they'd already played twice this year and would have played three times, but for scheduling issues.  The Red Raiders are #9 in the nation going into the tournament and playing on their home field in Lubbock.  Still, there were reported to be lots of Aggie fans there.  It wasn't a sellout there though.  It was 99 degrees, 130 on the turf.  Adam Young was reminded of stories about old Busch Stadium, where players would come off the plastic grass and soak their feet in ice water in the dugout.  Free water and towels were being offered to the fans that braved the heat.

Caleb Henderson tripled in the first on a ball that got by a diving fielder.  Marcus Still nearly drove him in, but was out on a diving catch.  Jonathan Groff started for the Aggies.  Tristen Carranza made a snowcone catch in the first, but the Red Raiders scored on an RBI hit and a two-run homer.  3-0 Texas Tech.  Their fans certainly made it sound like a big crowd there as they cheered the runs.  The Raiders got more runners on in the second, but were left stranded. 

A new pitcher came in for Texas Tech in the third.  Their starter was still getting over an injury.  Joey Ortiz would hit a solo home run to make it 3-1.  I wonder if his fielding problems in the WAC Championship might have been due to his sore glove hand?  It was mentioned that Aggie catcher, Braden Williams actually played for Texas Tech two years ago.  NMSU is his third school.  In the bottom, Logan Ehnes made a couple of good plays, nearly doubling off a runner and making a sliding catch, but two more runs scored.  5-1 Texas Tech.

In the fourth, Nick Gonzales hit a pitch out that might have wrapped around the foul pole.  There was no video review available for the game, which is surprising because it was available at the WAC Tournament.  Adam more-or-less settled it by mentioning that the Aggie bullpen, which was close to the pole had no reaction to the hit.  In the bottom of the fifth, Groff gave up a couple more runs and came out for Matt Perea.  Perea would strikeout the side.  It was speculated the next day that Groff might have been sweating so much that he was having trouble gripping the ball. 

In the sixth, Adam got on a fan for not making a play on a foul.  Hey, it was hot out there.  By the seventh, Perea was getting frustrated by the small strike zone.  With two outs, he gave up two walks and then an RBI hit.  A pair of misplays in the outfield scored two more.  After another RBI hit, Perea finally came out for Alex Pinedo.  9-1 Texas Tech.  Poor Perea.  He was one uncalled strike away from ending the inning.

The Red Raiders started the inning with a new pitcher.  He walked one batter and was taken out.  Two hits on the next pitcher loaded the bases.  Henderson would drive in a run.  However, that was the last of the scoring for the game.  The Red Raiders won 9-2.  The final score on the heat was 104 degrees.  No telling what it was on the turf. 

  

The Aggies would be playing Saturday to continue their season. 

Baseball Journal May 29-31, 2018

5-29-18

It was the Chihuahuas versus the Fresno Tacos.  Admittedly, the alternate name thing is kind of cute, but I hope they don’t go all the way with changing the name.  This was a day game, but not a school kid game.  Fresno had a good Anthem singer today.  He almost got the lyrics right.  I may be wrong, but I think the PA was playing walkup music for the Chihuahuas during the game.  It wasn’t insulting music (as I’ve heard during a promotion where fans could donate to hear various songs for the opposition), but it also wasn’t their usual music. 

Me writing about sports seems to be interfering with me actually watching or listening to sports.  I was editing while the game was on and barely paying attention to it.  Tim Hagerty had some interesting commentary during the game.  He had a discussion about the oldest ballpark in the country.  Five different places claim the title.  After an odd play on a batted ball, an obscure rule came up.  Some of the batter’s box is actually fair territory.  Tim had at first questioned the ruling on the play, but then was amazed that the umps were correct.  (And Tim must be very quick in looking stuff up in the rule book.)

Catcher Stephen McGee injured himself on a swing in one of his at bats.  He had to come out mid-at bat.  His replacement struckout, but the strikeout went to the line of the original batter.  The bullpen catcher was the replacement.  Brett Nicholas is the backup catcher, but was the DH.  If he came in to play a position, the Chihuahuas would lose their DH and the pitcher would have to bat.  Between at bats, Nicholas had to go to the bullpen to warm up pitchers.

In the fifth, Manager Rod Barajas was nearly tossed for arguing a play.  He was correct though.  A runner at first tried to advance on an overthrow and was doubled off.  The umps missed it.  Are you fully edified on weird baseball rules yet?  It’s been a rules–heavy game today.  Our pivotal inning was the seventh with the pups down 2-1.  The Chihuahuas loaded bases on three singles to start the frame.  An infield fly, a strikeout, and a fly out ended the inning.  The Tacos won 2-1, but the Chihuahuas have still had a winning road trip. 

 

At work later, I got the Cardinals and the Brewers in the MLB.TV free game.  They were in Milwaukee and Front Row Amy’s cleavage took center stage.  This was the Cardinals’ broadcast, and it was hard not to notice that they were working in close-ups of the display as much as possible in the background.  I was perhaps distracted from really paying attention.  It was 5-0 Cardinals for much of the game.  Late, the Brewers made a comeback.  They got in a run and had two in scoring position, but Lorenzo Cain struck out looking to end the inning.  The final was 6-1 Cards, but I think we were all winners here for watching thanks to Amy.  

5-30-18

I caught a bit of El Paso Sportstalk before the game.  Steve Kaplowitz had some interesting conversations going.  In relation to the Chihuahuas’ tribute to The Sandlot, a caller talked about being an extra for a scene in The Bad News Bears Breaking Training that was filmed in El Paso.  And there was some trivia.  The Golden Knights would not be the first expansion club to possibly win a major championship.  The 1950 Browns in the NFL (pre-merger) did it first (with some poached star players). 

  

The Chihuahuas came back to El Paso and assumed their alternate identity as the Diablos for today's game.  80’s music was played during the breaks at the stadium.  Their opponents were the Rivercats.  The Giants’ Triple-A affiliate is set to be rehabbing several guys from the big-league club.  Tonight, Hunter Pence was in the lineup.  A fan called in before the game and wished he’d known about it beforehand so he could have gotten tickets.  I would have liked to have seen the Motivational Man (he did directly help the team win a World Series with his words) and “Buster Posey’s good friend,” according to Jon Miller (on an infamous muffed home run call).  I did see him play in person a couple of years ago (5-29-16).         

Hopefully Southwest University Park made a good impression on Hunter.  Tim Hagerty mentioned he met one of the umpires in passing before the game.  He asked him what he thought the facilities.  The ump thought they were tremendous and looked forward to the trips here.  (He said that before he went outside to work in the 100+ degree heat.) 

The umps got an early chance to shine in the second.  Brett Nicholas attempted to throw out a run and instead held on to the ball.  He claimed interference by the batter.  The umps gathered and then agreed and sent the runner back to first.  The scoring didn’t start until the fifth.  After two deep fly balls outs by the Rivercats, including one by the pitcher, the third batter sent one out.  It seemed to be carried by a friendly wind.  1-0 Rivercats.

As usual, I missed the bulk of the scoring in the middle innings.  It was 3-3 going into the bottom of the ninth.  Diego Goris led-off with an error-aided triple (not technically a triple, but it sounds better than a single and a two-base error).  The wind again may have influenced the ball’s carry as the fielder misjudged it.  Javy Guerra came up with the crowd chanting “Javy!”  He delivered for them with a game-winning single.  4-3 Diablos.  Let’s hope they can keep winning at home when they put the Chihuahuas uniforms back on.

The MLB.TV free game was the A’s versus the Rays.  Yeah, who cares?  Later, I checked the scores and found out there was a no-hitter progress there.  Sure, when I’m not watching that happens.  I brought it up.  The Rays’ Nathan Eovaldi, in his first start of the season, had a no-hitter through six.  I guess he was on a strict pitch limit for his first outing and didn’t come back out for the seventh, when I started watching. 

The A’s broadcasters didn’t make anything of the pitching change.  Switching broadcasts wasn’t an option given tonight.  I would have liked to have heard the Rays’ guys’ reaction.  Jed Lowrie, second batter of the seventh, broke up the no-no.  What few A’s fans were there on a very chilly night in Oakland were happy.  The next batter got robbed on a near home run with an excellent catch at the wall by Mallex Smith.  That was as close as the A’s got to scoring.

In the eighth, a Rays’ homer was thrown back on to the field.  There were barely any fans in the outfield, so the ball had to be chased down.  The remaining crowd gave out a cheer when it came back.  I’ll say this much for the people in the stands there; those are some hardcore fans.  Their broadcasters were also defiantly homer.  Tampa Bay won 6-0.  They only gave up one hit.  The A’s had 4 errors in the game. 

5-31-18

Now this was a great MLB.TV free game matchup.  It was Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers versus Aaron Nola and the Phillies.  It was every bit the pitcher's duel you'd expect.  I picked up the game about in the middle.  Kershaw went into the fifth and was pulled for a pinch hitter.  He gave up one run and the score was 1-1. 

I missed the Philly run, which had some controversy.  The runner, Maikel Franco, never touched home plate.  The catcher, Yasmani Grandal, didn't actually catch the throw to the plate, but was blocking it.  The ump was right there watching.  Both sets of broadcasters noticed Franco not touching the plate as he dodged Grandal and went right to the dugout.  I went to my rulebook and I'm still not sure what the ruling should be in such a situation.

In the seventh, Yasiel Puig made a misplay in the outfield that allowed a runner to score from first to make it 2-1 Phillies.  Nola came out after 7 innings, only giving up 1 run and 2 hits.  Seranthony Dominguez (Sir Anthony, like royalty) came in to pitch in the eighth with a 0.00 ERA.  Aaron Altherr made a great sliding catch in right field in the inning.  I noticed Joc Pederson's walkup music was The Middle, a definite Top 40 sugar Pop song.  That's a bold choice, leaving one's musical tastes wide open to questioning.  (Maybe he's dating the singer?) 

Seranthony (loving that name) closed out the ninth for a two-inning save.  Scott Kingery, after an error earlier in the game, made a great play at short to get Justin Turner at first.  Initially, I thought he had no chance to get him.  The Dodgers asked for a review, but it was upheld.  2-1 Phillies in a quick two-hour, 40 minute game.  Worse news for Dodgers' fans right after the game.  Kershaw was going for an MRI for back problems.

I really enjoyed this game, even in an interrupted fashion.  It felt like a big game and Dodger Stadium seemed very pleasant in the early evening.  The organ player, Dieter Ruehle, was having a good time.  I caught the Twin Peaks theme once, going into the rally riff.  Orel Hershier and Joe Davis did a good job in the booth.  Joe is not Vin Scully, but certainly has a great voice.

One reason I stuck with the MLB game was that the Chihuahuas' game tonight was not going well for the pups.  The Rivercats loaded the bases in the first and got two runs and never looked back.  They won 7-3.  All three Chihuahuas’ runs came in the ninth.