Baseball Journal May-July 2023 Part 2

6-11-23

Chihuahuas vs OKC Dodgers.  It was a record loss for the pups at 24-5.  Worse, it was a national TV game on Stadium.  What’s amazing was that there were still fans there at the end and they were cheering any good play.  Catcher Michael Cantu pitched a scoreless ninth with a 40-mph . . . umm . . .  I’m not sure what to call it.  He flung ball in the general direction of home plate. 

 

Broadcaster Tim Hagerty tried to answer a question about the highest-scoring minor league baseball game ever in the bottom.  Some team in the 1800’s scored 200+ runs, however that wasn’t the official record-holder.  Unfortunately, the game ended before he could finish the story.  [Note added later: Unfortunately, I think this game functionally broke the Chihuahuas this.  They haven’t recovered from it since.]

 

6-12-23

Rockies vs Red Sox.  Tied in the tenth at 2 in Boston in downpour, the Red Sox first baseman, Triston Casas, made a rain-induced error on a grounder that scored the Rox’s second run of the inning.  Then the umps stopped the game for an hour and a half.  For the bottom of the inning, all of the remaining fans at Fenway were standing behind home plate.  These were the hardcore Sox fans and they were cheering, booing, and groaning on every pitch.  It was kind of great to see.  Unfortunately, they weren’t able to will their team to victory, as the Rockies won, 4-2.

 

6-18-23

Blue Jays vs Rangers.  I don’t really have a game report on this.  I was still suffering with a bad case of heartburn from enjoying a local race last night when the game came on.  I finally laid down to nap in the afternoon, hoping to recover, with the game on the radio.  In and out of sleep, I heard the Rangers go down 6-0.  Semi-conscious, I thought I heard the Rangers were suddenly back in it.  Finally, I got up, feeling much better, and the Rangers had won 11-7.  I missed a heck of game.

 

6-20-23

Chihuahuas vs Tacoma Rainiers.  It was a high-scoring game to begin with, but when the pooches scored 4 in the seventh to put the team up 10-5, it looked like it was going to be the Chihuahuas’ night.  Gag!  Then the Rainiers scored 6 in the next inning to put them up by 1.  With two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Taylor Kohlwey improbably hit the right field line and scored both runners on base.  Luis Liberato unnecessarily executed a belly-flop slide to win the game for the pups, 12-11.  I watched the hit a couple of times on Twitter and never saw the ball hit the line.  The whole ball must have directly bounced on the line.

 

6-22-23

I watched 9 scoreless innings between the Phillies and the Braves.  There were some great defensive plays in the game, as you might expect.  The Braves did bust it open in the tenth to finally win it. 

 

6-23-23

On Friday, unbeknownst to me, former Aggie star, Nick Gonzales, was called up to the Pirates and scored a run in the game.  I found this out Saturday evening.  Dad had mentioned something about a call up earlier (it was on the local news), but didn’t have the name right.  I later tuned in to Stadium’s Minor League showcase game to see Nick playing with the Indianapolis Indians, when I remembered what dad had said and then got the news off Aggie Baseball Twitter.

 

It’s been a full day of baseball this Saturday.  I started out watching the London game between the Cubs and the Cardinals with dad.  There was a great crowd there.  A groundout to short to start the game brought out a huge cheer.  Unfortunately, only the Cubs showed up to play and won, 9-1.  I got back home just in time to start listening to the Rangers play the Yankees on the radio and was highly disappointed by a 1-0 loss by Texas.

 

I decided to watch the MILB Indians game over the Internet right after, even without Nick being there, since I enjoyed their commentators the last time I’d heard them.  They’re a good mix of an older guy and a younger guy doing the call.  It was a tight, close game, and I enjoyed it, but I may have missed out not watching the Dodgers and Astros on Fox.  The Dodgers went up by 3 right off the bat.  The Astros stormed back with 7 runs, but then the Dodgers came back.  In the eighth, the Dodgers took the lead and the win, 8-7, on a balk.  I started watching right after that happened.  The Astros’ pitcher was infuriated with the ump after the inning. 

 

I just about bailed on the Chihuahuas/Rainiers on the radio.  The pups went down 8-3 halfway through the game.  They did not give up.  They put up 4 in the fifth.  In the eighth, Jantzen Witte hit a grand slam to give the Chihuahuas an 11-9 lead and the win.  There was a big crowd there in El Paso for fireworks.  They went crazy for homer, the team went crazy, and Tim Hagerty on the radio call went crazy.  (I didn’t go crazy, but I was pleased.) 

  

Finally, I turned over to the Angels/Rockies game on the radio.  I’d already been warned by Tim, as he was recapping MLB scores.  His last update was that it was 24-0 Angels in the sixth inning.  The Rockies’ experiment in using a batting tee, instead a pitcher, was a disaster.  I came in in the eighth, just as Brenton Doyle hit a home run for the Rockies to make it 25-1.  A large crowd cheered.  (Perhaps they were all waiting for fireworks afterward, too.)  The game took under three hours, by the way.  (And just to irritate Angel fans, the Rockies would go on to win two of three from them in the series.)

 

6-27-23

I got a text from NM State Baseball last night directing me to their Twitter.  (I’m not sure how they have my number.)  Nick Gonzales, in his first home game with the Pirates (and debuting their City Connect uniforms), had gotten his first hit, an RBI triple, and a 442’ home run to center.  Yeah. 

 

6-28-23

Then the next day, NMSU came back down to earth with an $8M settlement with the former Men’s Basketball players suing for sexual abuse.  The possibility of criminal charges are still pending, but they’ll likely be dismissed.  Only the lawyers were made whole.

 

The Chihuahuas beat the Isotopes, 11-8, to start the second half of the season with a new 1-0 record.  (Triple-A has gone to the split-season format.)  Jantzen Witte hit his third grand slam of the season.  However, the pups also gave up a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth.  New record; same old team.

 

The Yankees were playing the A’s in the MLB.TV free game.  It was a game I’m sure nobody was excited for.  When the Yankees went up big early, I sort of tapped out.  A little later, I noticed the “Perfect Game” notation on the scoreboard.  As it was in the seventh, the alert was legit.  I was called out of the room at work, just after Domingo German got the 27-th out and completed the perfect game, so I did get to see it.  The A’s broadcast I’d been watching had been trying to jinx it.  They were even bringing up graphics about perfect games during play.

 

7-3-23

It’s been a little frustrating rooting for the Rangers the last two weeks.  I’d listened to them lose two of three to the Yankees in close games.  They dropped two of four to the terrible Tigers.  I listened to the last one of those.  Then came this important four-game home series against the Astros, who are in second behind the Rangers. 

 

The Rangers had lost of two of the first three by July third.  I was waiting to go to work, unlike a lot of people on that day, and watched the game.  MLB.TV was offering all their games for free for the next few days.  It was third day game in a row and the fourth sellout in a row with a decidedly mixed crowd in Arlington.  Jose Altuve has been getting the loudest boo/cheer every time he comes to bat.    

 

The Rangers immediately went down 6-0 with a grand slam mixed in.  The Astros drove it up to 10-2, before I tapped out and checked out the Cubs at the Brewers, when I remembered Bob Uecker would be doing the call.  The Brewers had also gone down 6-0, but had clawed back to 6-3.  They tied it in the seventh with a loaded bases double.

 

I’d hardly dared to look back at the Rangers, but suddenly they were only down by a run.  Just as I started watching again, Adolis Garcia homered to tie it.  Corey Seager hit a sac fly in the 8-th to give the Rangers an 11-10 lead.  The Brewers scored 2 in their 8-th to take an 8-6 lead and the win.  That worked out okay for them, but the Rangers couldn’t hold their lead.  They gave up 2 in the 9-th and lost 12-11.      

 

The Astros won with 3 errors in the game.  Frankly, neither team really deserved to win.  There was good news for the Rangers.  Travis Jankowski is batting over .300 and had 5 RBI’s in a career day.  His two-run homer in the fifth sparked the comeback.  Who picked Jankowski to be such a key piece for the Rangers this season?  New arrival, Aroldis Chapman worked two scoreless innings in two games since being acquired.  I suspect he’ll be the new closer.

Baseball Journal May-July 2023 Part 1

As usual, I make notes whenever I see or hear something interesting happening in ball game.  This is what I’ve noted so far in the season.

 

5-30-23

Chihuahuas vs Las Vegas Aviators.  I stayed late at work this night to hear the end of this one.  The pups had the lead early, but the Aviators came back and took a 2-run lead, 7-5, in the fifth.  Then the Chihuahuas put up 4 in the seventh to retake the lead, but LV scored in the bottom to make it 9-8. 

 

Okay, the Chihuahuas put up 6 more in the eighth to go up by 7.  Oh yeah, well the Aviators scored 5 in the bottom and hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth.  They came up just a run short, as the Chihuahuas won, 15-14.  The fans there were going crazy in the ninth.  The game finished in just under 4 hours.  It’s hard to complain about pace of play when the teams combined for 29 runs.

 

5-31-23

Chihuahuas vs Las Vegas Aviators.  The Oakland A’s are on pace for one of the worst records ever for a season.  Don’t look for any help coming from their Triple-A team, the Aviators.  They lost again to the Chihuahuas, 20-5.  23 hits for the pups.  Jose Iglesias had quite a night.  He when 5 for 7, with 8 RBI’s, and 3 home runs.  The Aviators most effective pitcher was their DH, who came in for an out in the eighth and for all of the ninth and didn’t give up a run.

 

5-31-23

Chihuahuas vs Las Vegas Aviators.  The pups scored 12 unanswered runs in this game.  The Aviators didn’t score until the eighth and lost 12-2.  The crowd in Sin City went wild (no sarcasm).  Credit to the Las Vegas crowds through this series.  They’ve been large and loud.

 

6-2-23

Orioles vs Giants.  LaMonte Wade Jr. hit the 100-th Splashdown homer into McCovey Cove.  The coverage showed the first one, which was, of course, hit by Barry Bonds.  Two small boats went after it.  A guy with a net snagged it, as the other boat flat out rammed him.  But, Orioles win tonight 3-2. 

 

Padres TV broadcasts have been taken over by the MLB.  Interesting.  In tonight’s game, Rougned Odor had already hustled in the Padres’ only run earlier.  In the eighth, he pulled up lame on a single, as the outfielder let the ball get past him.  Ruggie hobbled along the basepath and slid in to make it to second.  What a gamer!  Cubs did beat Padres, 2-1.  Brutal.  

   

The marquee matchup of the night was the Yankees at the Dodgers.  The blue crew handled them 8-4.  The pinstripes did make a late charge with a 3-run homer by Josh Donaldson in the ninth.

 

Lastly, Las Vegas finally beat the Chihuahuas, 10-4.  It was a back-and-forth game actually, but the Aviators finally busted out with a big inning to win it. 

   

6-4-23

I finally got to see Aggie alum, Nick Gonzales, in action today with the Indianapolis Indians.  He’s now sporting a mustache and batting leadoff.  This Indians team has declined to change their name.  They’ve partnered with a local tribe to give them some backup.  During the game, an Indians player ran into the home plate ump while crossing the plate.  The player grabbed him and held on to keep him from falling over.  After, the ump patted him on the head for the effort.  Also, the Indians have a great broadcast team.  They’ve paired up an older and younger guy, who play off each other well.  I was impressed.

 

6-6-23

Chihuahuas vs OKC Dodgers.  Tim Hagerty was interrupted during his broadcast by a lady in the suite next door wanting him to put birthday wishes up on the video board, mistaking him for the PA.  (This type mistaken identity also happened to Adam Young at Aggie Baseball.)  Unfortunately, this happened as he was trying to call an inside the park home run by Luis Liberato.  Next inning, Tim got information from the lady, though with some difficulty due to a language barrier, so that he could properly wish the person happy birthday over the air.  Tim was giddy tonight as a storm blew through and delayed the game, but the pups won, 15-5.

 

6-7-23

Dodgers vs Reds.  Phenom Reds’ call up, Elly de la Cruz’s, second game brought his first home run in the first inning.  It was nearly a blast out of the stadium.  The Dodgers went up 6-3, but the Reds tied it in the third.  In the bottom of the ninth, Will Benson hit a 2-run homer to win it, 8-6, for the Reds.  It was his first MLB homer as well.  It was also the Reds’ second walk off win in a row over Dodgers during this series.

 

6-8-23

Chihuahuas vs OKC Dodgers.  Two nights in a row the pups tied the score in the ninth to force an extra inning.  Yesterday, rehabbing Nelson Cruz drove in a game-tying run, though the team lost in the tenth.  Today, the dogs got the tying run in the ninth and won it in the tenth, 4-3.  The Dodgers are the best team in the PCL and the Chihuahuas are playing them tough.

 

6-9-23

Chihuahuas vs OKC Dodgers.  Chico had the play of the game tonight.  He caught a foul ball late in the pups’ loss.  The crowd started yelling for it, but he wouldn’t part with the ball.  The PA eventually came on and started chiding him before he relinquished it to a kid.

 

6-10-23

There was a drone delay in El Paso during the Chihuahuas game tonight.  Players were cleared off the field.  You never know when a drone might be armed with Hellfire missiles.  Less funny, there was a fan injury delay in St. Paul on Stadium’s Saturday MILB Showcase game.  A ball tossed into the stands caused a fan to fall over the rail over a concourse next to the dugout and on to the concrete.  They didn’t show anything other than the EMS workers there taking a gurney into the tunnel.  Some of the fans around applauded, so the broadcasters thought the person was still conscious.  I didn’t see any news about it the next day.  

Fort Selden 50-th Anniversay Celebration Part 2

Part 1

There was a small museum for the fort, but very nice.  They were selling chunks of the Fort Selden walls up front, which gives you an idea of what condition they're in.  Here's a display with some cute sheep.

They had a couple of uniforms on display.  I question those spiky helmets, especially out in the desert.  General Douglas MacArthur was here as a child when his father was the commander here.   

Here's a small canon.

Outside, the staff had started a cookout with burgers and hot dogs.  (Yes, it was hot out, over 100 degrees.)  There were probably over a 100 people there for the celebration.  My hot dog was excellent.  Dad and Gerald enjoyed their burgers.  There were several displays outside, including this buck wagon.

I was wearing the Fort Union shirt that dad had bought me last year on his trip around the state.  (It's at the northern end of the state.  It's in somewhat better shape than Fort Selden.)  A guy stopped me and told me he'd been there.  He'd served in the Cavalry.  Gerald had as well.      

This is a statue of a Buffalo Solder out on the former parade grounds called, The Sentinel.    

 

Here's a couple of views of the fort ruins.  I was honestly a bit too embarrassed to take better pictures of the site.  It is not in good shape.  The adobe walls were originally 10' tall and 2' thick.  Time and the elements have worn them down to nothing.  Some of the walls were only standing because they're being propped up.  There is a rock-built stockade, but it's in the same shape.

There was a tent set up outside with chairs.  We sat for a couple of speeches that were not about the fort, but rather the Historical Society and their efforts to preserve what's left.  There was a guided tour afterward that dad and Gerald, surprisingly, didn't want to stay for.  (The guide was going to detail the preservation efforts.)  We wandered around the ruins by ourselves for a little bit, before going back into the museum.  They had cake inside, which we enjoyed before leaving.    

The helpful staff at the site were positively giddy.  They were the best parts of the experience.  I liked the museum, but honestly, the ruins probably aren't worth saving in the condition they're in and given what they're made of.  I would recommend taking a trip out there, especially if they're having an event.  Leasburg Dam State Park is right next door.  I'd probably recommend going when it's a bit cooler or bringing plenty of water.  I may have gotten a little heat exhaustion on the trip.  

Fort Selden 50-th Anniversay Celebration Part 1

 

Dad invited myself and his friend, Gerald, out to the Fort Selden site 50-th anniversary celebration Saturday night.  Admittedly, I had nothing better to do, so I was okay with going.  There was also supposed to be some free food. 

The historic site is just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico, just off I-25.  The parking lot was full when we got there.  

This is a view of the nearby Robledo Mountains.

We passed this car in the parking lot.  It's a green Jaguar.  We think it probably belonged to a state senator who was in attendance.  

This was a little bench area outside of the museum.

This event and the site are maintained by the Dona Ana County Historical Society.  You can see some of the ruins of the fort walls on the brochure.  

More pictures in Part 2.

Comic Review: Archie as The Man from RIVERDALE trade paperback

 

Once again, I missed reviewing an Archie book.  The last time I discovered I did this, I was baffled, as I’d really liked the digest.  I went back and noticed that I’d reviewed a bunch of comics around when I would have gotten this trade, but somehow missed it.  This time, it might have been because I didn’t think much of it.

 

I was excited to get it.  I’d heard of this Archie spy spoof, but never read any of it.  The book is a handsome volume at over 200 thick white pages for $11.  It is a slightly larger digest that is formatted to better display a standard comic.  Most of the stories are from the Life with Archie title and are done by Frank Doyle writing and Bob White on the art.

     

The material is firmly of its era from the mid 60’s.  The concept alone of super spies depends on the Zeitgeist of the time.  The more I look at it, the more I see the incredible influence of James Bond on pop culture in the 60’s.  TV shows and movies of the time were all over the craze, such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. from which these stories derive their name.  It was natural that Archie comics would want to get in on it. 

 

Unfortunately, they didn’t do a good job of it.  The original idea had Archie, Jughead, and Betty recast as spies fighting Reggie and Veronica as the bad guys.  Soon enough, they were all on the same side as part of POP (Protect Our Planet) fighting the evil organization, CRUSH.  This then turned into the spy teens fighting costumed supervillains.  Huh?

 

It seemed like they never quite had a good grasp on what they wanted to do with the concept.  The first couple of stories had the boys using guns and some super silly spy equipment.  The guns then disappeared, but the gadgets got more ridiculous.  The villains were sort of normal at first, but then became silly supervillains.  Most of the plots involve the villain trying to steal some new invention from wealthy industrialist, Mr. Lodge.

 

I’ll tie this back to my review of the Jughead Superhero Special.  What didn’t work with the spies, worked well with the Archie superheroes.  The “Whistler” character appears in the both and I wouldn’t be surprised by more crossovers.  I can’t really figure out why they took a good-sounding concept and sort of ruined it by confusing the premise.  I’m probably looking at the editors here.  The other problem is the use of   acronyms for everyone’s names.  That gag should have been retired after the first story, but they used it all the way through.

 

All this said, the book is kind of irresistible.  I bought it right after flipping through it without hesitation.  Mostly, it’s the art, particularly the fashion.  The girls are, of course, as beautiful and glamorous as ever, but the guys in sharp suits are a revelation.  Even Jughead looked cool.  Also, just a personal preference, I really like Veronica with the short haircut.  It was originally based on Jackie O’s hairstyle, but eventually Veronica made it her own.  It’s decidedly retro now, but was stylish at the time and provided a differentiation between her and Betty.

 

I don’t recommend this if you can find it.  Aside from its actual execution, it’s frustrating to read, because you can see how much fun this could have been.  I don’t know the timeline or relationship between the spy stories and the superhero stories, but it seems like they really just wanted to do the superhero stories and the spy stories were a backdoor for it.  Regardless, the Man from RIVERDALE (I’m not putting in all of the periods) or the Girl from RIVERDALE (there’s a story featuring Betty in the back of the back) needs to be revisited.  Put the guys in suits, make them spies, and have fun.

Comic Review: Archie Milestones #20 Jughead Super Hero Special

Archie Comics is in a bit of a doghouse with me.  A recent editorial decision has put them firmly in the wrong camp, again.  I don’t really want to support them, but I’m not buying the directly offending material.  I’m also just about out of space to store digests.  That might end my buying altogether.  In any case, I really wanted this one.

 

For all of the Archie Comics I’ve read, I have no experience with the Archie teens as superheroes.  I barely have any with the more famous MLJ superheroes.  This year, Archie has brought those characters back and put them in the Archie universe for laughs.  (They’re way late on trying to cash in on all the superhero movies.  This is probably being done to keep up the copyright on the characters.) 

 

This issue of Archie Milestones fits right in.  Continuing with the title’s theme of focusing on Jughead this year, this issue features Jug’s superhero alter ego, Captain Hero, as well as some of his other superpowered identities.  With Jughead, anything is possible.  This fits right in with the character.  (My favorite iteration is him in the Time Police.)  This digest reprints mostly full-length comics, not typical shorts, so you’re getting a bit more story development (for an Archie comic).

The digest starts off really well with a Captain Hero story by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, a couple of long time superhero comic pros.  It looks great and is well-written.  Captain Hero’s powers are a bit ambiguous.  This will only get more confusing with further stories.  That almost seems to be the point.  There’s no origin story in this volume, unfortunately.

This was followed by a couple of classic Captain Hero stories, maybe from the 60’s.  They are fun.  In one, he has superpowers.  In the other, he has a gun and a bunch of super gadgets.  Archie and Reggie also get into the superhero act, but mostly fight each other. 

I’m not sure when the next story happened.  Archie and Betty, in their alter egos, join Jughead in this one.  The action is pretty dynamic in this.

Hmm. . .  I recognize one of these villains shown, the “Whistler.”  More on that later.

 

Captain Hero is featured in a couple more stories fighting villains.  Jughead, even in his civilian identity is totally jacked.  Must be all the protein from the burgers.

 

Another story from a later time has a more normal-looking Jughead/Captain Hero and seems to establish Captain Hero as a daydream, which would explain a lot. 

 

Next are two full stories from the Archie’s Weird Mysteries era.  It was sort of a teen X-Files/Kolchak the Night Stalker concept.  I’ve watched a couple of episodes and read a couple of comic books and like them.  The Archie characters are established well enough to work in about in any setting.  The first story has the gang meeting the Mighty Crusaders (MLJ heroes).  The second story has the Crusaders teaming up with the teens as their superhero alter egos.  The stories feature a couple of epic panels.  Fernando Ruiz does a great job on the crowd scenes, while Paul Castiglia’s writing juggles the multitude of characters and superhero pseudo-science fairly well. 

The next full story looks like it’s from the 80’s.  Jughead is recast as something like Bruce Wayne/Batman.  As silly as this story should have been, it actually comes off pretty entertaining as presented.  Superhero scribe Robert Loren Fleming and artist Gene Colan did the work, so little wonder they took it seriously. 

Some short tales round off the digest.  A couple by Rex Lindsey stand out.  The opening panel of the first one perfectly encapsulates Jughead.  He runs out of clean clothes and walks down the street wearing a superhero outfit.  In the next, we get a square-jawed muscular Super Jughead.   

 

Misgivings aside, I felt I got my $10 worth and I’d definitely recommend this.  I’d like to see more of the classic superhero stuff.  Some new Archie superhero stuff would also be fun, if they can get the right people doing the stories and art. 

 

I was going to compare the Archie superhero concept to the Archie spy concept in The Man from RIVERDALE.  I actually own a trade collection of that and recognized the “Whistler” from it.  However, I discovered that I somehow never wrote a review of it.  I’ll have to correct that next.  

Sunspot and Apache Point Observatory

Dad also took a short trip here in New Mexico recently to Sunspot and the Apache Point Observatory.  No photographs this time, but dad did bring back the brochures.

This is Sunspot, the solar observatory.  I vaguely remember going there as a kid. 

And this is the Apache Peak Observatory. Both of these sites are run by NMSU.  Sorry, I don't have more information.  I wasn't on the trip.