NM State Aggies vs Prairie View A&M Panthers Baseball 3-5-22 Game 1

Every time I think I’ve seen everything on a baseball field, something weirder happens.  However, today’s game is going to be hard to top.  I shudder to imagine the unimaginable that could make the end of this game seem pedestrian.  We’ll get to that.

 

The series opener on Friday (which I listened to some of over the radio before I went to work) was an Aggie loss to Prairie View A&M, 7-6.  I blame broadcaster Adam Young for the loss.  Looking forward to this series last weekend, he speculated that the run rule might come into play for the Aggies, as he anticipated some easy wins.  The sportscaster jinx is real.  The Aggies did make a furious four-run comeback in the ninth to make the score close.  Gunner Antillon also got four hits in the game. 

 

Today (Saturday) was the Aggies’ only scheduled double header of the season.  Adam said last week that the games were going to be two nine-inning games.  Anthony Rifenburg, who was filling in for him, reiterated that before Game 1.  I finally found out during the broadcast that I’d heard Anthony before.  He’d worked with our old friend, Tim Hagerty, on a few Chihuahuas broadcasts.  I should have gone up and tried to meet him after the game, but after two games, me and Ron, who I went with, didn’t want to stick around.

 

I’d nearly been warned off by the weather forecast.  Friday’s game was marked by 30 mph winds blowing out.  PV’s starter must have been excellent to keep the Aggies from blasting home runs left and right.  Saturday’s forecast was also for winds, but it turned to be mostly a light breeze.  Otherwise, it was sunny and clear—beautiful baseball weather.  The crowd for this series turned out to be kind light compared to last weekend, but was officially over 500. 

 

I did a double take watching the Aggies take infield.  The team’s ball boy, who I’m guessing is Coach Kirby’s son, was out taking grounders at second with the players.  He took ‘em like a pro, too.  This kid is going to have future in baseball.  I wonder if they let him take batting practice.  On the way to our seats, a lady dropped a bunch of glass beads.  I helped to pick them up and later regretted it.  She was PV’s most indefatigable fan mom and was shaking the beads in a plastic bottle to make noise throughout the game. 

 

A big, tall former MLB player threw out the first pitch.  Unfortunately, I didn’t catch his name from the PA with the radio call in my ears.  He bounced it and laughed afterward.  Just to mention again, a black visiting player knelt for the Anthem a couple of weeks ago.  PV had several black players on the team and none of them knelt.  It might be worth noting that PV’s head coach and several assistants were also black and looked be very no nonsense sort of men. 

These scorecards look a little incomplete.  We’ll discuss that later.  Pablo Cortes was our Aggie starter for Game 1.  I learned that he pitched for my alma mater, El Paso Community College.  It is a bit odd that EPCC has a baseball team, while UTEP does not.  The Panthers swung early and often and Cortes finished the inning in five pitches.  He also made a good play on a bunt attempt. 

 

Athletic Director Mario Moccia came by the MLB player and they sat nearby in the grandstand.  Mario still looked unhappy, perhaps from the Men’s Basketball team loss on Wednesday to SFA.  That snapped a couple years-long home conference winning streak.  And that came after a shocking loss to Chicago State with on and off-court controversy.  Tonight, the team would still be playing for a share of the conference championship and the number one seed in the WAC tournament.  The Aggies came through with a convincing win over Utah Valley, who’d beaten them earlier in the season.  Hometown hero and star, Johnny McCants played (likely) his final game at the Pan Am Center.  After the game, he proposed to his girlfriend on court.  Ahhh.

 

After that digression, we return to the baseball game.  The Aggie offense started off the bottom of the first with an easy popup dropped by the PV shortstop.  In fairness, there was traffic around him with the third baseman and the umpire that probably distracted him.  Kevin Jimenez came up third in the inning.  He slapped a hard foul as some foreshadowing, before banging a liner over the right field wall for a two-run homer.  When KJ returned to the dugout, he was crowned with a sombrero.  Ron told me that PV players hitting home runs yesterday were given a cowboy hat to wear.  Obviously some quick improvisation was required to keep up with the player celebrations.  2-0 Aggies.

 

The PV fans below were cheering so much, I was afraid was going to start joining them by the end the game.  Cortes worked another quick inning the second.  He’d now thrown 12 pitches.  In the bottom, catcher Ryan Grabosch got on the hard way getting hit by a pitch.  With a hit and run on, Nolan Funke doubled him in from first as the ball rolled to the wall.  The catcher has some wheels.  3-0 Aggies.  Mario walked by.  I smiled, waved, and said, “Hi, Mario.”  He waved back and gave me a jaunty smile.  Maybe he wasn’t in a bad mood.

 

Cortes knocked out the first two batters of the third with looking strikeouts.  Preston Godfrey in right made a diving effort on a foul ball during one of the at bats.  Good effort.  In the bottom of the third, there was a t-shirt toss into the crowd.  After a single and a walk, Logan Galina came up to the plate with bad intent and hammered the first pitch over the right field wall for a three-run homer.  This precipitated another t-shirt toss into the crowd for the homer. 

 

Edwin Martinez-Pagani (new nickname: EMP) came up and sent another deep fly to right.  Tre Turner made a good play at the wall.  Grabosch, in a contrary fashion, blasted a home run shot to left center.  Next, Funke gave one a ride back to right.  It really wasn’t that windy out.  Turner made the defensive play of the game by going over the wall and bringing it back.  7-0 Aggies.

 

Turner came up in the fourth and dropped in a double for the Panthers’ first hit.  Cancel the no-hitter press conference.  Cortes struck out the next two batters to end the threat.  The inning breaks were really short, like about a minute and a half.  It was really helping to move the game along.  On the downside, a couple of times, the radio call came in late.  In the case of the bottom of the fourth, it was after the first pitch/first out.  Gunner later tripled off of the center field wall, before KJ doubled him in.  After a wild pitch and a walk, a new pitcher came in to finish the inning.  8-0 Aggies. 

 

The top of the fifth began with the I Scream contest between two little boys screaming for an ice cream gift certificate.  Would I do that for free ice cream?  I decline to answer on the grounds that it might embarrass me.  Cortes gave up a single.  Cal Villareal dropped a fly ball in center to put two on.  In fairness, he had to run in to have a chance on it and two infielders were right next to him as he reached for it.  Cortes got a strikeout and made a putout to end the inning.  The Aggies went down in order in the bottom.

 

In the sixth, Turner hit another double.  This one was a high bouncer over third.  Cortes came back with two strikeouts.  He finished the inning with a great offspeed pitch.  In the bottom, a kid with the PV fans ran out to go get a foul ball.  He came back with it, showed it to dad, and then returned it to the pressbox for whatever sweets they’re giving away for balls.  What a polite fan.  The Aggies went down in order again in the bottom.  On a popup by Brandon Dieter, all four infielders and the pitcher converged on the ball before the third baseman made the play.

 

To the top of the seventh and Cortes was still working.  I didn’t see it, but Anthony said on the radio that the first batter tripped and fell over first base running down the line.  There was an infield single afterward.  KJ made a slide stop on the ball and a nice try on the throw.  Gunner made a good running throw from third for the final out.  Time to stretch.

 

While I was standing and singing, there was a bit of a commotion on the field.  The umpires were leaving.  Coach Kirby was trying to stop them, but to no avail.  The PA then started playing the Aggie fight song like they do at the end of a game.  Game over, man.  Game over.  Both the teams thought they were playing nine innings, but the umps disagreed and that was that.  A befuddled Anthony came back from commercial break and had to explain that Game 1 was suddenly done.  He had no explanation.  Ron was standing and mad.  He wanted more baseball.  I was nearly doubled over laughing at these preposterous events.

 

So, the Aggies won 8-0.  I suspect both coaches would have been playing this game differently if they’d known it was only going to last seven innings.  Our gameballs go to Pablo Cortes for his unexpected complete game shutout.  He only gave up four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.  (And he got the WAC pitcher of the week award.)  Kevin Jimenez went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI’s.  If Adam had been doing the game, he would have been infuriated.  KJ didn’t get the opportunity to come up and hit a triple and finish the cycle.  (I know Adam obsesses over things like that.)  Logan Galina gets a nod for his three-run homer.  For the Panthers, Lorenzo Hardit pitched well in relief for two and 1/3 innings.  Tre Turner had a pair of doubles and did well on defense.

 

Ron was getting a little steamed at my chuckling as we left the grandstand for the half hour break.  I picked up a small popcorn at the concessions that I’d been craving and we snacked in his car on fruit and snackbars.  I checked the time.  This game ran about an hour and 30 minutes.  Wow!  No wonder Ron felt a little cheated.

 

We waited for Game 2 to start.

Vintage Cards 2

One more group of vintage cards from the turn of the last century.

Vintage Cards 1

These were mixed in with the postcards.  (I've still got a bunch more postcards.)  These are really old (from 1906 and 1908) and very ornate artifacts.  The card covers are embossed in relief (in other words, they're 3-d).  

This one is probably more recent.  It does has an actual cloth ribbon tied to the cover.

Mad Trading Cards

Over Christmas, a co-worker gave me a Mad Magazine paperback book and some Mad trading cards.  They're kind of cool, but are probably too small to read the small print on the backs.  (Honestly, I mostly read Crack when I was a kid.)  

NM State Aggies vs Oakland U Golden Grizzlies Baseball 2-27-22

After yesterday’s successful outing, let’s watch two.  It was a brilliant sunny day out.  Sundays do feature $1 hot dogs at the park, but owing to the 1:00pm start, I went ahead and ate before I left for the game with Ron.  He’d also sort of scared me off when he told me yesterday that there were lines into the grandstand all game long for those hot dogs last Sunday.  (Boy, did I regret not eating a couple of dogs at the game instead of what we got for dinner.  I’m still kicking myself.)

 

There were lots of kids out at the park for another Little League day.  We took seats in front of the Las Cruces Dodgers.  The scouts weren’t present today, but the kids took their places in the center grandstand.  Attendance turned out to be over 950, probably the best of the season so far.  One of the kids was wearing a Washington REDSKINS hat.  Cancel him immediately!  Now, of course, they’re the Washington Commies.  How appropriate.  Out on field, the Aggies were wearing their white hats again.  Oakland (Michigan) looked sharp in their camo hats and cream colored uniforms.           

 

I saw a heartwarming scene at the foot of the grandstand.  A masked pair of father and son stopped behind home plate.  The son took off his mask and dad took his picture with the field behind him.  Then the son put his mask back on and they found their seats.  Remember this little scene for later in the game. There were maybe 50 people in the crowd masked, including what looked like a Japanese couple.

 

Ron noticed that the Oakland Coach had stopped warm up early.  He was angry with his guys dropping balls and not taking it seriously.  Boy, did that turn out to be foreshadowing.  Sports Marketing goddess, Emerson, led the troop of the Little Leaguers on to the field for the Anthem.  One of the kids tossed out the first pitch.  He went into a full wind up for it.  He ran off before the catcher could give him the ball. 

 

During the Aggie player introductions (which are seriously screwing up me writing down the Aggies’ lineup pregame), Gunner Antillon went to third and chatted with the umpire there.  Catcher Ryan Grabosch went to the plate and shook hands with the ump.  Our starter, Ian Meija, took the mound wearing a turquoise-colored glove.  Bold fashion choice.  There was a multitude of crowd chatter to start the game.  It was a happy ballpark.    

I can’t believe these added up, but I’ll take it.  Meija started the game with a walk.  The next batter hit a high chopper to Gunner.  He made a good effort, but Brad Goulet beat out an infield hit to put two on.  Michael Stygles faked a bunt and instead executed a hit-and-run and drove in a run.  On the next batter, there was something of a delayed double steal.  Stygles was thrown out, but Goulet scored.  The Oakland fans gave the team a big round of applause.

 

Ian got a ground out, but gave up another hit.  Grabosch framed a pitch and held it, but didn’t get the call.  Ian came back with a strikeout and Grabosch rolled the ball to the mound.  The ump, however, didn’t rule the batter out.  Suddenly, I was having a flashback to the end of the game last Saturday.  Ian did too, and quickly picked up the ball and threw out the runner at first.  0-2 Grizzlies. 

 

Jacob Wosinski started for the Grizzlies.  The kids picked up a chant for leadoff batter, Brandon Dieter, but Wosinski struck him and the next two Aggie batters out.  If you were rooting for Oakland, I hope you enjoyed the first inning, because the rest of this game will not be pleasant for you.  Meanwhile, there were a couple of tremendous blondes in the crowd.  One was majestic with long, wavy hair and was built to heroic, curvy proportions.  Ron saw her and was in love.  There was also another blonde with shoulder length lightly permed hair and an incredibly sweet, cute face.  This all made up for yesterday, which was a bit of a girl-watching drought.

 

The leadoff hitter for the top of the second collected an infield hit that went off of Meija’s turquoise glove.  The Grizzlies’ aggressive baserunning suddenly came to an end, as a missed hit-and-run resulted in a caught stealing and inning finished quietly.  Meija was now on track.

 

Logan Galina got on to start the bottom of the second.  Jared Miller at third had a tough chance on a slow grounder and threw the ball away.  The first baseman immediately threw up his hands to signal that the ball went out of play.  They did not want another four-base error like yesterday.  (Error count: 1.)  Logan was awarded a hit and advanced to second on the throw.  Cal Villareal drove him in with a single.

 

Shortstop Goulet then made a bad throw on a Grabosch grounder, which drew Cam Post off first and into the baseline where Grabosch ran through him.  Post dropped the ball and his hand was injured.  (Error count: 2.)  The trainers looked at him, but he stayed in and got a round of applause.  Before play resumed, Grabosch patted him on the shoulder.  Tommy Tabak came up and just missed a home run to center, but settled for a two-run triple. 

 

Edwin Martinez-Pagani had an epic at bat next fouling off pitches.  The guys behind us were making jokes about each other’s trucks getting hit outside.  The new foul ball sponsorship quickly got annoying here.  Pags finally worked a walk.  The Grizzlies turned a double play on the next batter.  Post again appeared to pay the price.  He had to lay out on a bad throw and it looked like he got walked on, but he held the bag.  3-2 Aggies.

 

Ian worked a quick third inning.  Goulet did get a strike called when Meija went ahead and pitched when Goulet wasn’t granted time by the ump.  Goulet had words for the ump after he grounded out and received a warning.  Emerson came out for a towel toss into the crowd and the kids went crazy.  I think she enjoyed the enthusiasm.  I went crazy too, but just for seeing her.  (Just kidding.) 

 

Gunner got a leadoff hit to start the bottom of the third.  As catcher, Brandon Heidal, backed up the play, he took the opportunity to chat with the coach in the dugout on the way back to home.  Logan came up and the home plate ump made an appeal to the third base ump on a check swing, except that ump was working at second.  How embarrassing.  Logan struckout on a hit-and-run.  Gunner took second anyway and then took third on a bad throw to second.  (Error count: 3.)  The Aggies weren’t able to bring him home.

 

One of the coaches behind us was giving a steady stream of instruction to his kids using the game play in front of them as examples.  (Hopefully, he was also telling them to not do some of the things out on the field.)  Meija worked another quick inning in the fourth.  Yet another Oakland batter was not granted time in an at bat.  The umps were trying to move the game along.

 

A happy, smiling Emerson came out for a t-shirt toss and the kids became a pack of howling jackals.  Wosinski had a 1-2-3 inning, though Grabosch got on via Goulet booting a grounder.  (Error count: 4.)  Not to mention, Grabosch got time from the ump when he asked during the at bat.  (Wosinski did try to quick pitch.)  On the next batter, Seth Tucker in center made a great running catch of a sure double and managed to double off Grabaosch to end the inning. 

 

Volleyball coach, Mike Jordan, came in.  Ron had seen him out a couple of weeks ago at Softball.  The coach chatted with a few fans on the way to his seat.  How to put this delicately—I’ve never seen the coach look bigger.  He’s ballooning.  Ron didn’t seem alarmed.  I’m worried.  It’s not like the guy has a low-stress job. 

 

Ian gave up a double in the fifth, but no other damage.  Bizarrely, an automatic ball was called before the inning.  The umps did conference before it was called.  Ron and I had caught radio broadcaster, Adam Young, before the game to ask about yesterday’s automatic strike call.  Though he wasn’t there, we thought he might know the rule.  He didn’t and was confused when it happened here.  It was good we had made him aware of it beforehand, which he mentioned.  This must be a new rule.  

 

The Oakland coach had to be counting his lucky stars.  After four errors, they were only losing by one run.  Then the bottom of the fifth started off with another error by Goulet.  (Error count: 5.)  It was a hard luck error as the ball took a bounce in front of him and ate him up.  Dieter then singled.  Pags hustled to third on the hit and was lucky he was safe.  Gunner drove them with a double.  Wosinski got one more out before being replaced by Brandon Decker.  He knocked down a comebacker on his first batter and got the out.  He finished the inning.  5-2 Aggies.

 

To the top of the sixth, the kids were singing along with a PA song I sort of eventually recognized.  (Believer?)  Meija gave up a single to the second batter, but KJ caught a liner on the next and doubled off the runner.  AD Mario Moccia came in in the bottom.  He still looked profoundly unhappy, probably about the Men’s Basketball team.  The Aggies went down in order in the inning.  Grabosch was hit by a pitch, but also appeared to swing.  The appeal to first, said no swing, but after a conference, Grabosch had to go back to the plate.  I don’t think that was the right call.  (If you’re hit but swing on the pitch, it’s a strike, but there was no swing.)

 

On the radio, Adam called out the Oakland coach for eating a big bag of Sweet Tarts during the game.  I looked.  He was.  There’s some in depth game analysis for you.  I’m not just looking at girls and reading my scorecards here.  (I could see eating a bag of Skittles, but Sweet Tarts?)

 

Ian gave up two hits to start the top of the seventh.  He then helped himself out by catching a liner back to him and doubling off a runner.  In the bottom, the wheels really came off for Oakland.  There were two more errors (Error count: 7), a walk, and another two-run triple.  That was pinch hitter Preston Godfrey hitting one down the first base line.  Pags stole third in the inning (he must be living right) and scored on an error.  There was a pitching change, which was proceeded by the kids singing, “We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher!”  That got a laugh out of the crowd.

 

Emerson came out one more time for the Pocket Contest.  The crowd and the kids all stood up—posed to rush her with the items.  The PA asked for a pen, an earring, and . . . a mask.  The crowd spontaneously immediately booed.  It was a beautiful moment.  Emerson was laughing as the crowd was going nuts.  Ian came back out for the eighth.  He had a pretty low pitch count and worked a final quick inning.

 

Then there was the catastrophe of the bottom of the eighth for the Grizzlies.  The good news: there were no errors.  The bad: 6 runs, 4 hits, 2 hit batters, 2 walks, and a balk bringing in a run.  A soft-tossing lefty that didn’t have a good feel for the strikezone, Chase Keeney, came in in relief and did not help.  Eventually, I was calling out the Oakland coach to put down the Sweet Tarts and put in a new pitcher.  The big blow was a three-run homer by KJ.  There’d been a weird shift on him where the shortstop played in short right (the lagoon) and it had worked up to that point.  14-2 Aggies.

 

Much of the crowd got chased off (no pun intended) after the homer.  I went to the bathroom between innings to avoid the line after the game.  I came back to a multitude of changes in the defense and pinch hitting in the ninth.  I was scrambling to keep up on the scorecard.  Adam was mentioning something about a player’s former team was the Tarp Skunks?  Yesterday, there was an out-of-town score involving the Long Beach State Dirtbags?  Where are these names coming from?  Redskins and Indians are now available names.   

 

Anyway, the Aggies won 14-2.  Ian Meija gets an obvious gameball for going 8 innings with 5 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 2 runs.  Great performance.  Gameballs also for Gunner Antillon, who went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI’s, and for Kevin Jimenez for his three-run homer.  The Grizzlies had a bad day.  I feel that Jacob Woskinski was a bit a hard luck loser.  He gave up 5 runs and 6 hits, but had 7 strikeouts and I only had 1 of those runs being earned.  The official scoring was 3.  I don’t doubt the official scorer knows the rulebook, but my reading was that any runner advanced by an error is unearned.

 

Then I made my own error.  We weren’t sure where to go to dinner and were going to go see my dad to watch the end of the Fontana NASCAR race.  I picked Subway, only because it was close and I thought it’d be quick.  Also, PQ Treats is right there for dessert.  It wasn’t quick and, though I saw someone getting served at PQ Treats when we came in, it wasn’t open when we went to order.  Ron’s sandwich was okay.  Mine was a meatball and most of the flavor in it came from the lettuce.  (And I would have gotten a foot-long if I’d known there wasn’t going to be ice cream afterward.)            

 

As for the race, Fontana needs a severe repaving.  The bumpy in-car views looked like they were driving on a gravel county road.  (Weren’t they supposed to redesign this into a short track this year?)  Kyle Larson won the race and took out teammate, Chase Elliot, in doing so.  I’m sure this will be forgiven and forgotten quickly by them and the fans.

 

It looked like a good race, but I think I made the right call going to the ball game.  It was good day, but not a tasty one.  I’m going to have to work on my food ordering game. 

NM State Aggies vs Oakland U Golden Grizzlies Baseball 2-26-22

This weekend series against the Oakland, California Golden Bears . .  .  Wait.  What?  They’re the Golden Grizzlies?  Golden Bears makes more sense.  Huh?  It’s Oakland, Michigan?  Okay, if you say so.  I’m okay with playing the Washington Generals as long as there’s a game on. 

 

Take Two.

 

This weekend series against the Oakland, Michigan Golden Grizzlies (sorry that I wrote the name wrong on my scorecard) started well for the Aggies.  (It’s still Aggies, right?  And we’re still in Las Cruces, New Mexico?  You just take anything for granted anymore.)  The Aggies won 13-7 on Friday against them.  That score is a bit misleading.  It was 12-0 after five innings.  Only one starting Aggie player was still in at the end; the rest were subbed out. 

 

Saturday didn’t start well for me.  Dad had once again expressed interest in going to a game, but backed out when I called him in the morning.  An hour later, a completely out-of-breath Ron called me to cancel going with me also.  He was having problems breathing.  He thought it might clear up later, but he couldn’t guarantee it.  At that point, even with nice weather outside, I thought twice about going.  I could just listen on the radio.  Then I remembered that Sammy Natera was pitching.  That’s the guy that struck out 14 last weekend and was the national pitcher of the week (though not the WAC pitcher of the week, some guy threw a 7-inning no hitter in conference).  I thought I’d better go. 

 

And the first thing that greets me when I enter the grandstand, there’s Ron chatting with one of the fans.  He’s fine.  I’m gratified about that, but irritated that he didn’t call me back so we could have driven over together.  In any case, new at the field were a couple of portraits now mounted on the front of the batting facility.  I asked the guy Ron was with and he identified them as standout alumni Nick Gonzales and Daniel Johnson. 

 

Another good crowd was shaping up.  The final number was over 900 (out of a 1,000 seat grandstand).  There were the hot chicks, of course.  There was a squad of scouts there to look at Sammy.  There were a bunch of kids, some of them were invited Little Leaguers.  (There were hardly any kids last weekend.)  We had a special guest of honor: Striking the Wonder Dog!  He’s in a well-deserved retirement from retrieving tees on the football field.  I said, “Hello.”  Ron reached out and petted him.  I wasn’t sure that was allowed.  (Apparently his owner wasn’t around when this happened, only a staff member.)          

 

Aggie Softball was actually playing next door, but it was an off weekend for them before going on the road for a while.  I was surprised to see them in the field playing in full uniform.  Yesterday’s baseball game was disrupted for a minute when a softball home run went into the baseball outfield.  (That must have been a tremendous shot to clear two walls and walkway between them.)  Anthony Rifenberg (?) was on the radio, as Adam Young worked an Aggie Women’s Basketball game at home at the same time.  We again had a live Anthem performance.  The guy is really good.  He should also be doing it for Men’s Basketball and Football.     

The totals on the scoreboard at the end of the game were wrong.  My scorecard was right!  It had to happen someday.  (This will probably be the only time.)  The Aggies took the field in their white hats again.  It’s not a bad look, but it’s taking some getting used to.  Natera started off the game well with a “three-pitch see-you-later,” strikeout looking.  (That was Anthony’s description.)  He then gave up two hits, but came back with two more looking strikeouts.  The ump was calling a low strikezone that was helping out.

 

No offense to Striking, but a truly adorable puppy came in.  He was being carried by his owner everywhere inside.  No doubt, he was afraid of the dog getting stolen (like by me).  A co-worker came in and we exchanged waves.  The ball kid was back in the Aggie dugout.  There was also the thunder of children racing after foul balls that went out of the park.  Unfortunately, there was now a sponsor for the foul balls that was announced on every one of them.  That got annoying immediately. 

 

In the bottom of the first, the wind started blowing in a bit and it was knocking down fly balls.  Gunner Antillon got on via a hit by pitch.  Kevin Jimenez followed with a double.  Preston Godfrey brought Gunner in with a sac fly.  Then, Nolan Funke came up with a two-run homer to center.  That had to have been a very muscular shot.  Edwin Martinez-Pagani followed with another single, but was thrown out trying to steal second.  The Aggies don’t seem to be as good at stealing as the coach thinks they are.  I’m not seeing a lot of stealing success so far.  The Oakland fans present let off a cheer with the final out.  3-0 Aggies.

 

The top of the second brought out another t-shirt toss to the crowd.  (The first came after the home run.)  The Sports Accessories trailer outside seemed to be doing good business again, so they probably didn’t mind giving out some freebies.  This inning began with another pair of hits.  One of them was a popup behind first that the wind might have been playing with.  Sammy came back with three-straight strikeouts.  The last one was again on three pitches.

 

I didn’t get the Aggies’ lineup before play started.  Zerek Saenz wasn’t starting today again.  The Aggies went down in order in the second with two strikeouts.  I’d sort of forgot that Men’s Basketball was playing at the same time this afternoon.  I checked with Ron for the score a couple of times.  The Aggies were down by four at the half to Chicago State on the road.  That was surprising, since the Cougars are not a good team with only six wins (two in conference) this season.  With a couple of minutes left in the game and the score tied, I switched over my radio for that game.              

 

At the baseball game, the Grizzlies led off the third with a single.  KJ made a great leaping catch at second and then doubled off the runner.  Sammy next gave up a double, but struck out the following batter to end the inning.  Also of note, there was a little toddler in sleepers wandering around the front of the grandstand.  Too cute.

 

Back at the basketball game, I learned that the Aggies were down four players for this game for various reasons.  Also, star player, Teddy Allen, wasn’t on court at the end of the game with no reason stated.  The Cougars won the game, 61-59, on a last second layup.  In the postgame, I was hearing names of Aggies playing that I hadn’t heard all season.  Coach Jans came on in complete contrition, and apologized to everyone for the performance of the team.

 

Then, it got worse.  Three of the Aggies were out sick with an unspecified illness.  The other missing player had been arrested for (allegedly) beating up his girlfriend.  (That player had played really well in a game a couple of weeks ago.)  Un-discussed, that I heard on the radio call, was why Allen wasn’t playing.  Dad told me later that Teddy and Jans had had big argument on the sideline late and that the coach had sat him down for the rest of the game.  The Aggies are still in the lead in the conference, but could have clinched today.  Now, they’re going to be in a dogfight over their last two games.           

 

Meanwhile back at the ballpark, there was the Pocket Contest.  They were asking for sunscreen, Chapstick, and an Aggie button.  A couple of Softball players in uniform came in.  I guess their practice was over.  Play in the bottom of the third began with a grounder to third.  The next play was set to be the same though a bit harder, but Brandon Nigh threw the ball away way past first.  Gunner made it all the way to third before the ball came into the infield.  While I was scoring this, he suddenly crossed home. 

 

I fumbled with my radio, which was still on the basketball postgame, to get it back to the baseball coverage, which had a few seconds delay on it.  Anthony, flabbergasted by the play, said that the catcher had backed up first base getting the errant throw.  When the ball came into third, there was no one covering the plate.  Gunner simply ran down the line to easily score.  Anthony couldn’t believe, and doubted he’d ever see again, a four-base error.  The Aggies got two more runners on, but weren’t able to get them home.  4-0 Aggies.

 

To the top of the fourth, Natera got a ground out, but gave up a walk (his first of the season) and a single.  Nigh was pulled for a pinch hitter, either for the error or for not covering home.  Sammy got another strikeout.  Seth Tucker came up and hit a sharp liner to second.  KJ laid out for it, but the ball just glanced off his glove and scored a run.  A flyout ended the inning.  4-1 Aggies.

 

There was the I Scream contest on field with three kids screaming for ice cream.  The crowd was amused.  Not so amused was Athletic Director Mario Moccia, who came in.  He hasn’t traveled with the basketball team much lately like he usually does.  This was the first time, I’d even seen him at the ballpark.  Clearly, he’d been watching the basketball game before he came in judging by the sour look on his face. 

 

Grizzlies pitcher, Chas Sagedahl, walked the first Aggie batter of the fourth and gave up a hit to the next.  On a 3-0 count to Kyle Westfall, who was trying to bunt, Sagedahl was pulled for Brett Hagen.  I was mentally going over what the scoring rules were on a walk in this situation, but it resolved into a fielder’s choice anyway, as the lead runner was thrown out at third.  Brandon Dieter hit a hard grounder at the third baseman that the fielder had little chance on.  (It was a tough day at third for the Grizzlies.)  Logan Galina came into score from second.  Dieter stole second on defensive indifference, which was strange.  The Aggies loaded the bases on a walk, but a ground out to first ended the inning.  5-1 Aggies.

 

Sammy led off the fifth with a walk and was pulled immediately for Cam Blazek.  Blazek had a pair of outs before giving up a walk to Brandon Heidal.  In his at bat, Heidal had fouled a ball off a netting pole that ricocheted directly into his dugout.  No harm done thankfully.  However, he did get caught stealing, which ended the inning.  Hey, there’s a fan wearing a Johnny Bench Reds jersey.  Of course, there’s plenty of MLB gear in the stands, but that one caught my attention, along with someone wearing an Albuquerque Dukes hat.   

 

The Aggies got a leadoff single to start to the bottom of the fifth, but a double play killed that rally.  Cam retired the side in order in the sixth.  In the bottom, Galina crushed a monster foul ball outside the stadium past right field.  He struck out, but remember that swing for later.  Pinch hitter Cal Villareal hit a bouncer that Hagen fielded.  There was some confusion covering first, before the first baseman got there, made the catch, and then dropped the ball.  That was the only damage in the inning though.

 

The top of the seventh began with a single by Tucker and a wild pitch advancing him to second.  Brad Goulet singled next.  Here, I have a disagreement with the official scoring.  Godfrey booted the ball in right, but I think Tucker would have scored anyway and Goulet didn’t advance to second.  I don’t think there should have been an error on the play.  But, it was fairly shallow single, so maybe.  A double play killed the rally.  5-2 Aggies. 

 

The Aggies went down in order in the bottom of the seventh.  There may have been an automatic strike called.  There was no pitch, but the count changed.  The Aggie dugout was in an uproar at the ump.  Myself, Ron (who noticed the count change), and Anthony did not have a clue what the problem was.  This must be a new rule.  There were several defensive changes for the Aggies in the eighth.  I think it was to put better defenders in.  Pablo Cortes worked around a walk for a quick inning. 

 

In the bottom of the eighth, I was nearly overcome by the strong smell of bologna.  Where the hell did that come from?  The Aggies used their third catcher of the game, Ryan Grobosch, to pinch hit.  Galina came up next and didn’t miss this time.  He banged a monster shot to right.  The fielder acted like he had a bead on it, but it was way over his head.  6-2 Aggies.

 

We go to the top of the ninth.  Alex Bustamonte issued a leadoff walk.  A high foul pop up behind the plate on the next batter seemed to be arcing straight back into the stands.  This got a rise out of everyone.  Thankfully, it blew back into play and Grobosch made a diving catch on it, which the crowd appreciated.  More thankfully he wasn’t hurt on the play, because there may not have been another good catching option left on the bench.  Bustamonte got a strikeout and walked the next batter on a full count with the crowd urging him on.  A grounder finished off the game.  Aggies win 6-2.

 

A kid ran by exclaiming that he got four “home run” balls.  That’s not correct, but good hustle, kid.  At two hours and 44 minutes, it was a fairly tidy victory for Aggie fans.  By and large, they all stuck around until the end, even Striking.  The Golden Grizzlies had their chances (more hits and runners left on).  Big strikeouts and double plays hurt them.  Likewise, the Aggie offense had a couple of opportunities to put the game away, but didn’t get the clutch hit.  They did alright anyway.

 

My gameballs go to Brett Hagen for Oakland for five innings of relief and only giving up 1 run.  (Brad Goulet went 3 for 5 and I think he should have gotten an RBI.)  For the Aggies, I’m giving the pitching staff a nod in a combined 2-run effort.  They got into some trouble with hits and walks, but avoided giving up a big inning.  Logan Galina also gets a gameball for coming in as a sub and going 2 for 3 with an RBI home run and not because of what happened after the game.

 

Ron and I went to What-a-burger (in separate vehicles, which irritated me) for dinner.  Galina came in after us by himself.  He wasn’t in uniform, but had on a warmup jersey with his number on it, thus I was able to identify him.  I went over and congratulated him on a good game and his home run.  (See, this is why you keep a scorecard.)  My that Galina lad is a tall, handsome young man with bright eyes, which lit up when I praised him.  If the rest of the team is like him, little wonder all those hot chicks show at the ballpark.  Ron also wished Galina good luck tomorrow. 

 

Everything worked out okay today.  (What-a-burger even redeemed themselves after my last bad meal there.)  I’ll take that.