MLB Season Preview 2020 Part 1

So does this mean nobody wants to hear my picks?

This seems like an odd time to do this.  Part of me is considering this a lost season, whenever they decide to play it.  I don’t want to write about baseball or even care.  The part of me with the wallet though went out and bought my usual season preview magazine today.  (It’s the latest issue of Baseball Digest, by the way.  It was a bit of a compromise.  The Sports Illustrated preview wasn’t out yet and I didn’t want one of the three more comprehensive magazines available.  I just wanted an overview.)  Also, I had already written up a bunch of stuff earlier for this, so why not finish it? 

MLB has shutdown Spring Training and delayed the start of the regular season because of a politically-motivated hoax . . . err . . . they’re a bunch of virtue-signally pricks trying to appease the media and avoid harassing lawsuits from fans that might claim to have gotten sick from going to a game . . . err . . . there’s a nasty cold going around.  Whatever.  It’s been done.  The MLB wasn’t kidding about shutting down.  They even stopped sending me their daily update e-mails.  Was I in danger from getting infected from those?    

It could be worse.  My Aunt Judy and Uncle Don had plans for a road trip to see the Cardinals in Florida.  Spring Training was cancelled right before they left.  They’re still going on the trip, but did get their money back for the game.  I’d peeked in several Spring Training games.  It looked like full houses in Florida and Arizona, so it was good they did get tickets in advance.  A co-worker was also planning on making a quick trip to Arizona for a game just to see one. 

Random Thoughts

The new three-batter minimum rule for relievers is being implemented this season.  This is theoretically a big deal in how the game will be played from now on, but there’s been little said about it.  The Players Union was surprisingly supine about allowing this, while still insisting that they won’t allow a pitch clock.  I don’t quite understand this.  As for the rule, we’ll see if this helps to move the game along.  We can only hope.

I’m surprised.  The Rockies still possess Nolan Arenado and the Indians still have Francisco Lindor.  Joc Pederson still being with the Dodgers after his trade blew up is even more surprising.  All of these teams are going to have get rid of these very good, but likely miffed players this season.

I couldn’t believe I was hearing ESPN Radio advocating for Aubrey Huff being invited to the Giants’ 2010 World Series anniversary, which the team had publicly excluded him from.  The commentators don’t approve of him, but they wanted player accomplishments to be separated from politics and political correctness.  I had to recheck the radio settings to see if I was really listening to ESPN.  They were actually right in their opinion.  (Yep, a stopped clock is right twice a day.)  Huff’s comments that I saw were not bad, but they were opinions that don’t agree with the liberal mainstream.  Then again, I didn’t see every comment.    

The thing I’m really looking forward to most this new season (whenever it happens) is hearing Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks describe the new Rangers’ park.  It’s a big unknown right now how it’ll play and I can’t wait to see it on TV.  (I’m vaguely worried I’ll lose my El Paso radio affiliate for games and that FOX won’t show a game there when I’m at home on a weekend.)

Lastly, there was a story that Canadian and new Hall of Famer, Larry Walker, was going to fulfill a life-long dream and be designated an honorary emergency goaltender for the Avalanche for a game.  I hope Larry’s still in good shape.  We’ve already had an emergency goalie enter a game this year.  I’m sure Larry would like nothing better than to come in and win a game between the pipes, like the Hurricane’s emergency goalie did.  I saw a video from an hysterical Maple Leafs about that game.  He wasn’t just mad that his team had lost to a Zamboni driver, but the driver was in fact an employee of the Leafs. 

This emergency goalie rule is a really weird.  The closest baseball analogue I can think of was during a Rockies game in the 90’s.  They’d subbed out their starting catcher and their emergency catcher during the game.  The backup catcher was injured in the ninth and had to come out.  Manager Don Baylor went out on to the field and asked for a volunteer.  It didn’t go well, but I appreciated Juan Pierre’s bravery.

Sign-Stealing

[The bit I’d written beforehand was a rant about a controversy that just doesn’t seem that important right now.  Well, at least some good has come from this Corona Virus.  I’ll go ahead and post it anyway for some amusement.  Hey, remember back-in-day. like a month ago, when we all cared about this crap?]

 

I’m going to be a bit shocking here, but I still think this sign-stealing scandal is the best thing that’s happened to baseball in years.  It’s gotten the national sports media talking about baseball for reasons other than to say that’s it’s boring and not worth talking about.  Of course, just because they’re talking that doesn’t mean they’re saying anything worthwhile.  I’d heard a sanctimonious ESPN Radio host pronounce before Spring Training that a “consensus” had determined that the Astros should be stripped of their 2017 World Series title.  He said it like that’s all it took, a “consensus,” and it was going to happen.  (Consensus of who?  People around the network?) 

Let’s unpack that thought for a moment.  Commissioner Rob Manfred has already said that results on the field have to stand.  You’d be kicking open Pandora’s Box with revisionist sports history otherwise.  You’d be no better than the NCAA.  Should the 1919 Reds be stripped of their title since the “Black Sox” threw the series?  Does Pete Rose and the Reds vacate his wins as a manager while he was betting on the games?  And if he was betting on games while he was a player, there go his individual stats.  On that matter, let’s scrub Barry Bonds’ and all the other steroid guys’ home runs.  All those baseball stats before integration are now suspect.  Maybe at least we give Armando Galaraga his umpire-botched no-hitter.

You can argue that in some of those cases that what the players were doing wasn’t against the rules at the time or the current rules weren’t in place then.  Commissioner Manfred had made electronic sign-stealing illegal before the Astros did it.  You could also argue that he’d set the penalty beforehand and Astros players were willing to risk it to the get the advantage.  They got caught and paid the price that was set.

Then again, the stated price only involved the manager and the general manager.  It mentioned no penalty to the players themselves or their accomplishments.  Sure, we’ll risk getting caught cheating under those circumstances.  It came out later, after a multitude of players had expressed indignation and possible retaliation that Manfred said he’d wanted to go after the players involved, but the Players Union would not consent to it.  He had to give blanket immunity to the players in order to investigate what was found out was a “player-driven” scheme.   

Likewise, I suspect that manager AJ Hinch disapproved of the sign-stealing scheme, but there was nothing he could do about it.  He knew it was his job on line if they got caught, but he probably couldn’t punish the players involved without Union consent or exposing what was going on.  Without that, the players were free to ignore any stern lectures, since they were personally benefitting from the scandal.  At that point, Hinch could only blow the lid off the scandal himself.  He could probably live with losing his own job at that point, but not other people losing their jobs because of his decision, including his boss, GM Jeff Ludnow, and hurting his own team.

[My rant petered out at this point.  My new Baseball Digest had a couple of missives about the scandal.  One was a reader letter that suggested allowing pitchers and catchers to use electronic means to relay signs to each other.  Duh.  This should have been authorized immediately after this story broke. 

The other was an article about sign-stealing, current and historical.  It detailed the Giants using a telescope in 1951, which may have lead to Bobby Thompson’s famous home run.  However, the first recorded incident of electronic sign-stealing occurred in ‘98 . . .  1898!  It involved a telegraph wire running into the ground under the third base coach from a player in an office using opera glasses, who would buzz him with the signs.  And a “consensus” wants the Astros stripped of their title over this.  Really?  I feel strangely vindicated.]         

New Playoff Format and Realignment

Before Spring Training, the MLB floated some hair-brained scheme about expanding the playoffs and adding a reality show element to it with a selection show, where a team picks their playoff opponent.  The second half of that I won’t even dignify with a response (just a muffled giggle).  As for expanding the playoffs, as long as you’re showing playoff games on FS1, TBS, MLB Network, Food Network, SyFy, and wherever else these games are getting dumped off to, it’s pointless.  There’s no reason to showcase games where viewers can’t find them or don’t know they’re on.  MLB, either put together a coherent TV package and/or provide an online option for the playoffs, or stop trying.    

During a Cubs/White Sox Spring Training game (I’ve got to go to Spring Training someday), the commentators mentioned the possibility of expanding the playoffs with a contraction to a 154 game schedule.  The loss of four home games would be made up by a radical regional realignment of the teams, which would reduce travel costs.  The commentators liked the idea of the Cubs and White Sox playing for a division title. 

I kind of like that realignment idea, but it’s not going to be clean.  There’s going to be some oddballs.  Moreover, I think MLB really wants to expand to 32 teams.  Right now, they can’t with Tampa Bay’s iffy situation.  I think the A’s, MLB’s other new stadium-desiring problem child, will be getting a thoroughly remodeled Coliseum with the Raiders leaving.  As soon as Tampa Bay figures out whether they’re going to be playing there or in Montreal and how they’re going to get a new stadium, MLB will be taking applications for new franchises.       

On to Part 2.

Aggie Basketball Season Recap

I just don’t feel like doing a big recap for basketball since the season finished in an incomplete fashion.  What a mess my game recaps were this season.  I put them all over the place.  This abbreviated summary turned out to be more trouble than anything.  I’m not exactly in the mood to reminisce anyway.  If baseball and softball are really over, I’m not even going to bother recapping them.  (On the plus side, I’ve still got a bunch of other stuff that I’ve been meaning to work on and post and now I have the time.  Yay?) 

The Men had a tremendous season given their injury difficulties.  They’d lost their point guards, Clayton Henry and AJ Harris, early.  Terrell Brown was also hurt for several games.  The team underachieved and lost the Cayman Islands Classic and had their streaks broken against the Lobos and the Miners.  Briefly, the team was at full strength and did well in beating Mississippi State (12-22-19).   

Unfortunately, AJ and Clayton would be done for the season shortly into the conference schedule with additional injuries.  UTEP transfer, Evan Gilyard, had come into his own by that time to fill the position.  Trevelin Queen had surgery later, but was able to come back with a vengeance.  There were some close calls, but the Aggies went undefeated in the WAC and finished with the nation’s longest winning streak.  Johnny McCants, Ivan Aurrecoechea, and Jabari Rice had great seasons.  (Jabari had the shot of the year against Utah State, 2-15-20, to win that game at the last second.)  Much like last season, the team had multiple players step up in different games making them very hard to defend against. 

It was a great season, but an incomplete one.  The rest of the WAC was mostly having a down year.  The Aggies likely would have won the tournament.  Coach Jans had to be pleased with their resilience, but could only wonder how it would have gone in the NCAA Tournament.  For that matter, how good would this team have been without so many injuries?  Their bugaboo at the big dance has been poor seeding.  A couple more early wins would have helped there.  On a personal note, I was able to go to two games this season (1-11-20 vs UMKC and 2-1-20 vs GCU) and enjoyed them.  Seeing that full house for the GCU game was awesome. 

The Women’s season was a near complete disaster.  They were the preseason WAC champion favorites, but struggled all season.  I believe the loss Kalei Atkinson before play began blew a hole in their lineup that they never recovered from.  I think she was poised to be one of the team’s best defenders and would have come on well offensively.  The team might have also leaned way too hard on their star player, Gia Pack.  She was the team’s best shooter and best rebounder.  The rest of the team often seemed to get caught standing around watching her play.  

Aaliyah Prince should have been a good compliment for Gia, but seemed to disappear for entire quarters and even games.  (I wonder if she was hurt at times.)  Many of the new and returning players didn’t pan out.  Just to make it worse, Gia missed the last seven games of the regular season.  That should have finished the team off, but instead, it made them stronger by the end.  Aaliyah came on.  Adrianna Henderson, Tayelin Grays, Adenike Aderinto, and Dee Dee Echols had some great games.  Freshman Soufia Inoussa busted out.  Freshman Shania Harper also played a lot of minutes.  She’s a bit rough, but is built for future success.  I hate to say it, but the team might have been much better if Gia had missed seven games earlier in the season. 

We’ll never know if this team could have won the WAC Tournament.  They’d lost to their next opponent, #1 seed UMKC, twice in close games this season, but the Roos would have been facing a better team this time.  I’m sure Gia was looking forward to squaring off against Ericka Mattingly, who was the WAC Player of the Year, an award Gia probably would have won if she’d been able to play out the season. 

Just personally again, I only went to seven games, not even half their home games, and the Aggies only won two of them.  I had some highlights (?): 11-13-19 vs UTEP (I got to see Katarina Zec and Brooke Salas), 11-17-19 vs Lobos, 12-18-19 vs ASU (with 1600 kids in attendance), and my in-person season finished with a great overtime win versus the Roadrunners 2-29-20 (saw Aileen Galicia there, it was bittersweet).   

NM State Basketball WAC Tournament Recap and Aggie Softball Update

Obviously, the title of this post is burying the lead.  This post will encompass several somewhat disconnected subjects.  I just didn’t know how else to report on these extraordinary events. 

3-11-20 WAC Tournament WBB vs UTRGV Vaqueros

This game started in the late afternoon.  Since I would have otherwise left for work about halfway through the game and since I needed to get something on the way anyway, I left for work early with the intention of listening to the whole game there.  What actually happened was a bunch of chatting with my co-workers.  I felt like I barely heard any of it.  (And in spite of being there early, I fell behind doing my work as well.)  If I’d known this was going to be all of the tournament basketball I was going to get, I probably would have made a better effort to listen to the whole game. 

I did listen to the UTEP Miner Women beat the FAU Owls in C-USA Tournament on the radio in the morning.  It was a complete wipeout by the Miners, as they beat them by 28 points, 95-67, including 36 points in first quarter.  Six players were in double digits scoring.  (My dear Katarina Zec did well.)

From what I heard of the Aggie pregame, the good news was that star, Gia Pack, was good to go today.  You could probably expect her to be a bit rusty.  She didn’t start, but came in off the bench early in the game.  Even after missing seven games in conference, she was still voted to the first team in the WAC just based on her numbers before her injury.

This game was the #4 seed, UTRGV, versus #5 NM State.  Some thought this might be the best matchup for the tournament.  Oh, boy.  This is going to be a bit skimpy here.  Like I said, I wasn’t able to listen much.  What also didn’t help was that the first quarter was very low scoring with long scoreless droughts by both teams.  Gia’s first shots were a pair of free throws, which she uncharacteristically missed.  It was 11-8 Aggies after ten minutes. 

The Aggies began the second quarter with a 7-0 run.  (I missed the whole thing.)  Gia had zero points, but had captured five rebounds.  Adam Young, on the radio call, gave a shout out to a TV commentator for a good catch on of an out-of-bounds ball into press row.  Soufia Inoussa hit a three at the buzzer as part of her ten points of the half.  32-20 Aggies.

My notes for the third quarter, “I’m missing everything.  I’m not even working.”  The Aggies built up a sizable lead.  Gia got going and hit a three.  UTRGV hit a couple of threes to get within eight late.  Shania Harper made a layup and drew a foul to get the lead back up to 11.  49-38 Aggies.

For the fourth quarter, I sat down and started working, which actually allowed me to listen to the game in peace.  The Aggies built their lead up to 14.  UTRGV went on another run with a couple of threes to cut it to seven.  Timeout Aggies.  Back to play, the girls were hustling as a pair of players going for a loose ball took out a ref.  During UTRGV’s foul shots, Adam pointed out that you could hear the Aggie Cheerleaders chanting “Chik-fil-a,” like they do at the Pan-Am Center for the missed opponent free throw promotion.

Soufia and Tayelin Grays’ shooting rebuilt the lead to 61-47 with five minutes left going into a media timeout.  Aggressive play by the Aggies out of the break put UTRGV in the bonus for the rest of the game.  Even with the lead, Coach Atkinson was still getting frustrated.  She tossed her clipboard after a turnover under basket.  The Aggies were still double digits up, but UTGRV was getting lots of offensive rebounds and scoring. 

With one minute remaining, a UTRGV senior fouled out.  Right after, Adrianna Henderson was charged with a flagrant foul for throwing elbows under the basket.  Adrianna was fouled right after and made a pair of free throws to make it 67-58.  She drew another foul and made two more free throws in the final 30 seconds.  By that point, UTRGV conceded.  Aaliyah Prince nearly went for an easy layup, but the coach told her to stop, since the other team wasn’t fouling.  Aggies win 73-61.

Soufia Inoussa had a career day with 16 points.  Adrianna Henderson had 15.   Gia Pack played for 30 minutes and nearly had a double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds.  It was a low shooting-percentage game.  The Aggies led 43 to 31 in rebounding, though they trailed 13 to 9 in offensive rebounds.  Adam was shocked that the Aggies had 23 turnovers and still won.  UTGRV had 14.  Coach Atkinson was very happy with the team’s defense anyway.    

3-11-20 Aggies vs UNM Lobos Softball

There were a couple of Wednesday games scheduled for this month.  I picked next week’s game against Texas Tech to take the day off.  Ron went to this rivalry game in the evening against UNM.  It didn’t occur to me until later to check on the game.  When I did, I horrified that I’d missed out on video coverage of the game from the WAC Digital Network.  I hadn’t even thought to check for that.    

I only got to watch the bottom of the seventh with the Aggies leading the Lobos by one run.  Matalasi Faapito pitched a complete game, albeit two relievers came in during the final inning, but failed to record an out.  Mata had started the inning and had to come back in to finish it and secure the 4-3 Aggie win.  I had to go back and look at the scoring.  Shelby Shultes had a home run and a two-RBI double.  Nikki Butler drove in the other run with a double. 

It looked like a pretty good crowd from the video.  I was really jealous of Ron since he’d gotten to see this great game and possibly the last Aggie game until the fall.  In retrospect obviously, I should have gone to this game, but I couldn’t have known at the time what was going to happen next. 

WAC Tournament 3-12-12

Corona Virus Alert!  Corona Virus Alert!

Civilization pretty much effectively ended today.  We are now living in the Walking Dead/Mad Max Post-Apocalyptic future.  Alex Jones is reporting that the Clockwork Elves have quarantined the planet.  They cashed out all of their stocks and took all the toilet paper before they left.  Oh, I hope I’m not causing a panic here.  I know this crisis is being woefully underreported in all forms of mass media.  I’m just trying to help.  Wash your hands.

I might be a little salty at the moment.  I turned on my TV this morning for the C-USA Women’s Basketball Tournament on Stadium.  I was looking forward to being able to traitorously indulge in watching and rooting for Katarina Zec on UTEP.  Instead, a couple of stunned announcers came on and said the tournament was canceled.  (At least I got to see cutie Kristen Balboni for a couple of minutes.)  Thanks to Stadium for coming on for a couple of minutes to explain the situation.  (The UTEP Men could only ask, “Why didn’t you guys end the tournament before we lost last night?”)  

Moreover, the Aggie Men’s tournament game against Chicago State was set to come on in the afternoon.  From listening to ESPN Radio, I suspected there wasn’t going to be a game, since all the other major conferences had just cancelled their tournaments.  I hung around to see if some kind of announcement would come on when the pregame should have started, but there was nothing.  Thanks a lot Aggie Sports Network.      

Disheartened and apparently a glutton for punishment, I needed groceries and decided to go to Walmart.  Indeed, as I’d been warned in seeming jest I discovered in reality, people really were raiding supermarkets for toilet paper.  That aisle was empty and people were asking when the next shipment would come in.  Literally.  I felt like I was living in a movie.  No, not some disaster or zombie flick.  No, this was more like some French avant-garde film where everyone is absurdly morose and nothing makes sense.

The news got worse later.  The NCAA had cancelled the whole of March Madness.  Ahem.  They’d also seemingly cancelled all spring sports.  This would include softball and baseball. 

Noooooooo!

The Aggie Men’s team was awarded the automatic bid by the WAC, along with UMKC being given the Women’s ticket.  Not that that matters, since there’s not going to be an NCAA Basketball Tournament.  When Coach Jans told the team, he said they became depressed like they’d just been bounced from the tournament.  I’m still hoping they don’t really mean it about softball and baseball.  Maybe they’ll decide to allow some of those games to be played later.  For now, only this weekend’s games have been cancelled, but I’m doubting that Texas Tech softball game is going to be played next week.  I did some quick math.  If it really is all over, I still easily got my money’s worth on my Aggie Country Pass, but that doesn’t really make me feel any better.    

NM State Aggies vs Texas A&M Aggies Baseball 3-6 to 8-20

3-6-20

This three-game series was going to be a big test for the Aggies.  (NMSU, that is.  This could potentially be confusing, so the other Aggies will be referred to as A&M for the rest of this post.)  Actually, this was apparently a late addition to schedule with both teams having an open weekend.  The Aggies, who had gotten some top 25 consideration this week, would be playing at #20 A&M in College Station. 

Today would be another matchup between top five draft picks (like the ASU game last week).  A&M lefty pitcher, Asa Lacey, features a fastball that tops out at 97.  Meanwhile, Aggie star Nick Gonzales had been featured in an article on MLB.com after his five home run performance last weekend.  They’d credited his Aaron Judge socks for the outburst.  (He’s like Judge?  What?  Are they expecting him to be injured all the time?)  I didn’t realize until looking at the article that one of his home runs was an inside-the-park grand slam that occurred after the fielder lost the ball in the sun. 

A&M plays at Bluebell Park.  It is a three-level facility that includes berm seating and suites.  It also features a giant video scoreboard.  The Aggie team thought it was the nicest place they’d ever played at.  I don’t doubt that.  Coach Kirby told them to make themselves at home. 

      

Lacey was as advertised in the top of the first and struck out the side.  Chance Hroch started for the Aggies in the bottom.  He pitched around some jitters with an error at second on Kevin Jimenez and two wild pitches, but A&M didn’t score.  In the top of the second, KJ worked a walk and moved up on a wild pitch.  We didn’t realize at the time what a monumental accomplishment that was against Lacy.  Hroch had two strikeouts in the bottom.

After a fruitless top of the third, A&M came up in the bottom and had a leadoff double.  Foreigner’s Double Vision played on the PA, who was very sharp during the game.  Catcher Jason Bush cut down the lead runner on a bunt, but two more doubles scored two runs.  2-0 A&M.  Nick walked in the fourth on a 97 mph high and inside pitch and took second on a wild pitch.  The A&M coach had said he would be pitching around him in this series.  It was another rough bottom of the frame.  Three more runs came in on a couple of singles and a double.  Nick maybe should have been given an error on one of the singles.  5-0 A&M.

Neither team scored in the fifth with both pitchers having 1-2-3 innings.  In the sixth, Zerek Saenz got on via an error.  It might have also been ruled a hit.  This was a big deal at the time, as it kept the no-hitter intact.  The crowd of over 4,600 cheered at the scoring.  Zerek got caught stealing to end the inning. 

Adam Young, calling the game, said it would have to be clean hit to be scored as such in a possible no-hitter situation.  The rulebook does say that the pitcher is to be given the benefit of the doubt in scoring.  Adam was also doing what broadcasters on the wrong end of a no-hitter should be doing.  He was constantly mentioning the no-hitter trying to jinx it.  (We assume the A&M broadcasters were studiously avoiding mentioning it.)   

Chance was in a groove and struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth.  This was his last inning.  He finished with 5 runs, 6 hits, 9 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 4 wild pitches.  It was a great performance given the competition.  The top of the seventh was Lacey’ last inning.  He was still throwing 96 mph.  He’d allowed three baserunners (2 walks, 1 error) and had 13 strikeouts.  That was a tremendous performance given that the Aggies are one of the offensive stat leaders in the country. 

Deep in the Heart of Texas played for the stretch.  Lyle Hibbitts, I think it was mentioned he was from the area, came in for the bottom of the seventh and gave up a two-run homer to make it 7-0 A&M.  With Lacey out for pitch count reasons, Aggie hitters took advantage.  KJ led off with a single to break up the no-no.  Daniel Head then singled.  Austin Duffy doubled and drove in KJ.  Tommy Tabak hit a grounder.  He got on via an error, but still got the RBI.  Zerek got an infield hit for another run. 

Just like that, it was 7-3 with two more on.  The A&M crowd was still probably sure of a win, but just saw what the Aggies could do to mediocre pitching.  The A&M coach brought in a new side-arming pitcher.  Nick struck out.  Tristan Peterson grounded out on a close play at first.  Coach Kirby asked for a review, which was available in this SEC facility.  The Aggies were not able to capitalize further.

Hibbitts was still in pitching in the eighth.  He gave up a solo home run to make it 8-3.  There was another new pitcher for A&M for the ninth.  Jason singled, but that was all the damage.  8-3 A&M was the final.  All of those quick innings meant a quick game that only lasted two-and-a-half hours.  Well, we found out how the Aggies do against superhuman pitching.  We’ll see if the rest of A&M’s staff is more mortal.

A bit later in the evening, I thought about Aggie Softball and wondered how they were doing at their tournament in Arizona this weekend.  They were run-ruled in an earlier game against Wright State, but their later game against ASU was still going on and there was video available from the PAC-12 Network.

I joined the game in the bottom of the sixth.  #17 ASU was down 2-0 to the Aggies.  The announcers were a bit incredulous over the score.  This was a matchup between the #1 and #2 teams in the country in hitting home runs.  Analise de la Roca got the 2-0 win with Felicia de la Torre getting the save.  Felicia had come on in the sixth with two on and one out and got two strikeouts.  She finished out the game. 

All of the Aggie scoring was Matalasi Faapito hitting an RBI double, and Shelby Shultes getting the other RBI on play where she got on via an error.  Shelby was catching for the game.  Nikki Butler reportedly played at first.  This win over a good Power Five opponent made me feel a bit better about this evening’s sports.  I’m sure AD Mario Moccia was heartened.

  

3-7-20

The pregame started off with quotes from both coaches raving about Asa Lacey’s performance yesterday.  They’d both called it one of the best pitching displays they’d ever seen.  Also on the pregame, Adam Young talked to a ‘96 Aggie Baseball alum.  His teams had beaten #1 Long Beach State in Las Cruces and #1 Texas Tech on the road.  That must have been a pretty good team (or he was totally BS’ing, just kidding).  Not to mention, it’d be nice if big programs would come here more often.

In the top of the first, there was a great play on a Nick Gonzales’ foul ball.  The fielder made the play with his back to the field.  There was also a great play by a fan kid with mitt on the berm on a Tristan Peterson foul.  Damn, even A&M’s fans are good players.  Chris Barraza started for the Aggies.  Tommy Tabak crashed into the wall getting the final out in the bottom of the first.  This kid goes all out. 

In the top of the second, A&M starter, Christian Roa, who is another highly regarded pitcher for them, walked the bases full.  Austin Duffy delivered with a two-run single.  2-0 Aggies.  In the bottom, one of the A&M players was using ABBA’s Dancing Queen as his walk up music.  I don’t even want to know why.  (Hopefully, he just lost a bet.)  Another was using music that I’d heard an Aggie player use a couple of years ago.  Not to mention, still another was using is using a rap remix of an old song that I can’t identify that I’ve heard other players using.  It’s driving me nuts, because I really like it.  Barraza worked into trouble, but got a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

The third inning was quick, which was a good thing.  This game was already an hour old, which I would mostly attribute to a pair of slow-working pitchers.  In the top of the fourth, a foul off of a suite was caught by a fan below.  That got a rise out of the crowd.  Roa got a pair of strikeouts.  In the bottom, Barraza made a good play on a bunt.  He then gave up a single.  The PA played The Stroke by Billy Squier.  Tabak made another good catch in center to end the inning.

To the top of the fifth, Duffy tripled on a misplayed ball.  Tabak singled on another misplayed ball and drove him in.  Both balls went over the fielders’ heads as they were playing in.  Zerek Saenz bunted Tabak over.  Nick was given an intentional walk.  His longest-in-the-nation on-base streak is still going at over 80 games.  TP smashed an RBI double down the line to bring in Tommy.  A&M brought in a new pitcher.  Jason Bush hit a grounder into the drawn-in infield and Nick came home on a fielder’s choice.  He collided with the catcher and was called safe.  Nick came up limping, but he was okay.  The A&M coach challenged the play.  He was ruled safe after a long review.  5-0 Aggies.

In the bottom of the fifth, Barraza was still firing low 90’s peas and had a 1-2-3 inning.  An Aggie fan got a foul.  Adam wasn’t entirely sure if it was an Aggie fan, but it in was in their section.  The fans for both teams are kind of close in color scheme (maroon A&M, crimson NMSU).  A train went by and blew its whistle.  The crowd cheered.  The evening temperature in College Station was going down into the 50’s as night fell.

In the top of the sixth, Cal Villareal doubled.  The fans there were mad and thought it was a foul.  The fielder was again playing in.  Zerek walked with two outs.  Nick came up and was intentionally walked to load the bases.  TP gave one a ride to center, but it was hauled in to end the frame.

Another train went by in the bottom of the sixth, foreshadowing the train wreck to come.  After a single and a walk, a double scored a run.  Frank Dickson Jr. was brought in.  Before his first pitch, he picked off the runner at second.  The large crowd of 4,800 groaned.  A second review was ordered. Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles played over the delay.  (The PA there is spot on.)  The runner was re-ruled safe.  

That change of decision was unfortunate for the Aggies as a three-run pinch hit homer cleared the bases.  Alex Pinedo was brought in after a walk.  The crowd started chanting the number of consecutive balls thrown by Aggie pitchers.  Pinedo then committed a throwing error which advanced the runner.  Two more walks loaded bases.  A&M batted around, but that was as far as they got and left them loaded.  5-4 Aggies.

Daniel Head had a single in the top of the seventh, but that was all of all the Aggie offense there.  For the Stretch, God Bless America played before Deep in the Heart of Texas.  Pinedo hit the first batter to start.  Hurts So Good by John Mellencamp played over the PA.  Pinedo made another error trying to get the lead runner at second on a comebacker.  That advanced the runner to third.  A run nearly came in on a wild pitch, but it was ruled to have hit the batter first and the ball was dead.

This left the bases loaded with no outs.  Aldo Fernandez came in and got a strikeout.  The A&M dugout thought it was only strike two.  They can’t count, but they can hit.  A bouncer up the middle scored two.  The ball went by Nick.  By the tone of his voice, Adam seemed to think he should have had that one or knocked it down at least.  As the crowd was chanting, another hit reloaded the bases.  Aldo got another strikeout.  There was a basket catch by fan on a foul.  The fans were making all the plays tonight.  One more run scored on a wild pitch, before a foul out finally ended it.  7-5, A&M was now in the lead.

In the top of the eighth, Duffy lost his bat on a swing and it flew over the A&M dugout into the netting in front of the stands.  That was a good thing.  The fans might not have wanted to have tried to catch that one at full speed.  Zerek got on with an infield hit and went to second on a throwing error.  After two outs, A&M brought in their closer to face Nick, who grounded out.  The bottom of the eighth and the top of the top of the ninth went down in order.  A&M took Game 2, 7-5.    

This one went three-and-a-half hours and definitely dragged early on.  Chris Barraza did well in starting, but the Aggie relief couldn’t hold the lead.  The Aggie bats woke up a bit today, but needed to apply more pressure throughout the game.  Nick Gonzales still hasn’t gotten the big hit when given opportunities.  Hopefully, he’ll get it going tomorrow so the Aggies can salvage one of these games. 

 

3-8-20

I got up relatively early this Sunday morning.  I exercised and showered in an efficient manner.  I had a busy day planned and didn’t want to be late.  My first indication of trouble was when I tuned into Aggie Baseball on the radio at the appointed time and suddenly discovered they were nearly an hour into the game.  Ah, wouldn’t you just know it.  They must have changed the start time.  It happens.

Undaunted, I faithfully noted what I heard.  The Aggies were down 3-1 as the sounds of a train pulling in could be heard in the background.  For weather conditions, it was nice, but there was a hard wind blowing out.  This would be confirmed as a home run was “crushed” out to the train tracks beyond the outfield wall to make it 5-1 A&M.  Aggie starter Chris Jefferson was having a rough go of it. 

The Aggie infield was also having a bad time.  Broadcaster Adam Young called out Nick Gonzales for not covering second on a steal attempt.  The shortstop does normally signal the second baseman before every pitch as to who’s covering the bag.  For that matter, Kevin Jimenez at second got charged with an error earlier, though that came after a challenge on a play that he didn’t touch the base for an out.  This had kept the inning going and led to the home run.  Hey, not only does the SEC have replay, Adam mentioned they had four umpires working the game.  I don’t think Triple-A games have four umpires!  Anyway, Tommy Tabak made a great play in the outfield on the ninth batter of the inning to finally end it.

Nick led off the third with a hit, his first of the weekend.  This kept his eighty-two game on-base streak going.  Tristan Peterson hit a smash to short, who knocked down the ball right to his second baseman, who then turned a double play.  The 4,700 people in the crowd collectively gasped.  It’s been that kind of weekend for the Aggies.  A caught stealing ended the frame, almost. 

Coach Kirby challenged the play as the PA went to playing the promotional music.  Adam was glad that there was a system in place to correct bad calls, but admitted that these delays were irritating, especially when they weren’t were going against the Aggies.  (Amazingly, that’s what us fans think of replay too.)  The PA switched to playing the J. Geils Band classic, Freeze Frame during the delay.  (Damn, he’s good.)

Daniel Head crashed into the wall for a catch in the bottom of the third.  Nick made a good play to get a force at second.  Austin Duffy at third threw out a runner trying to stretch out a single.  The guys were looking reasonably sharp here.  In the top of the fourth, an A&M outfielder returned the favor on Daniel and crashed boards to get his flyball. 

In the bottom of the fourth, I got a phone call from my dad.  We were planning on getting a pizza and watching the NASCAR race later.  I wondered why he was calling an hour early.  Dad said he was getting hungry and wondered why I was so late.  And then the light dawned.  I suddenly remembered hearing something about Daylight Savings Time last night.  Oops.  I spent the next 15 minutes finishing getting ready to go and calling ahead for the pizza.  I took my portable radio with me, but between getting the pizza and eating at my dad’s apartment with the race on, my attention to the game wavered considerably.  That’s okay given what happened next.

[I’m going to have to sidebar for a moment.  I used a coupon for Pizza Hut today.  I got a hand-tossed pepperoni with cheese-stuffed garlic knots.  I’m not entirely sure how this chain stays in business.  It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t worth going out for.  Not only are all of the other chains, including overpriced and crummy Dominos, better, but I’ve had better tasting frozen pizza (which is the closest analogy this pizza).  It’s not just that.  Every time I’ve gone to the Hut for one of their goofy new specialty pizzas, it’s never been worthwhile.  Even those knots had a tough crust, no flavor, and the cheese could barely be detected.  Papa John’s quality may have dipped with the loss of their founder, but they’re in no imminent danger of falling this far.  (Also, the restaurant smelled like somebody had crapped on the floor.)]      

Two more A&M runs scored in the bottom of the fourth, one on a wild pitch.  7-1 A&M.  In the top of the fifth, the Aggies had their 36-th strikeout of the series.  A kid with a mitt made a great catch of a foul on the berm.  Adam noted lots of fans brought mitts to the park there.  It was a 1-2-3 inning.  The PA then played the Jackson Five classic ABC, which has “1-2-3” in the chorus.  This guy is too good. 

Mitchell Allen came in for the fifth.  A&M jumped all over him for three more runs and he didn’t record an out.  Alex Reyes came in, but with the same success, as he gave up an inside-the-park three-run homer when a ball to the outfield bounced over Tabak’s head.  Sammy Natera was brought in and he gave up a three-run homer.  The crowd was not quiet during the barrage.  Young and old alike were heckling the opposition.  Adam referred to College Station as “One of the most hostile environments in college baseball.”  16-1 A&M when the dust finally settled.

Nick got his second hit to start the sixth.  I have a strange feeling all of the scouts who’d been there the first two days were gone by this point.  TP hit another screaming liner, but it was caught.  The PA played the Olympic theme song for the catch.  Reserves for both teams started coming in.  Brendan Williams, who I’m not sure has had an at bat this season, pinch hit.  KJ singled next and brought in Nick.  Noah Haupt also pinch hit with the bases loaded.  He’d been sitting out this series with an ankle injury.  Unfortunately, he struck out.  After each strikeout, the PA plays a Texas-ish fanfare.  I’d been hearing that a lot over three games.  16-2 A&M.

Natera worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth.  It might have been the best bullpen inning of the weekend for the Aggies.  In the top of the seventh, I was perusing dad’s newspaper and found out that Nick had been named national Player of the Month.  For February, he’d hit .478 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI’s. 

And suddenly, the game ended.  16-2 A&M wins.  Adam was surprised.  He’d been told there was no run rule before the game, but the coaches might have changed their minds when they met the umps.  I’m starting to think the reason these ground rules aren’t announced to the crowd is so that they can change their minds later. 

This truncated game took two-and-a-half hours.  At least the Aggies didn’t have to suffer for a needlessly long time.  So, what’s our takeaway from this three-game disaster?  Texas A&M is a really good team, especially at home.  We should probably leave it at that.  The Aggies have another tough opponent in SDSU next weekend.  If they didn’t learn anything here, they’re going to be taking their lumps again.  At least I do think that, much like Aggie Softball’s usually brutal pre-conference schedule, this will help the Aggies in conference, win or lose.