NM State Aggies vs WKU Hilltoppers Baseball 5-11-25

Let’s hear it for the weather this weekend. These last two days have been beautiful. Sunny, not too hot (75-degrees), and a nice cool breeze blowing right to left. Yep, that weather. And Aggie Baseball was blown out again by WKU. It’s hard to get too upset when it’s such a pleasant day at the ballpark even when you lose on Senior Day.

Scary moment driving to the ballpark today. I saw another driver get confused on the lanes and drove the wrong way down a major street. Thankfully, there wasn’t much traffic on a Sunday morning and it was a short distance before this person was able to make a turnoff. In the Presley Askew Field parking lot, there were a couple of trailers tailgating, including a nice-looking silver Airstream.

Inside, I finally picked up a corn-in-the-cup at the concessions. I’d been mostly eating breakfast before going to these morning games. There was nobody in line ahead of me, but ten people lined up behind me after I ordered. Timing is everything. Instead of a cup, they handed me a big dishful of corn and it was spectacular. Why wasn’t I doing this all season? I thought with each bite.

There was a great crowd of 612 on this beautiful Senior Day. I don’t think there were any scouts today. They’d probably decided the Aggies weren’t giving the WKU prospects enough of a challenge. Fan Michael was handing out autographed posters to the families of the players, as he does every year. The Reese family was here. Nellie Reese was wearing a cool violet-colored Padres hat. She’d stolen it for day from her brother, Cooper Reese, who has a large collection of hats.

Once again, it was an easy add on the scorecards today. I’ll thank Adam Young on the radio broadcast for his help in scoring this weekend. (Though I was mentally correcting him when he tried to hand out an error after an out where a double play wasn’t turned.)

Ian Hoslett started for the Aggies. He gave up a single to the first batter, but then got a strikeout and catcher Dane Woodcook threw out the runner on the same play. (This is apparently not a double play in official scoring. I was wrong there.) Taylor Penn started for the Hilltoppers. (Both starters were TBA before today.) Mitch Namie singled in the first. Steve Solorzano was hit really hard with a fastball. You could hear it in the stands. It looked to me like it was on the shoulder, but others said it was on the wrist. He stayed in. I think I’m right, because that shot would have broken his wrist. Unfortunately, both runners were left stranded.

Hoslett had a 1-2-3 second. Ethan Lizama may have had the hardest hit ball of the day, but he hit it to right field and the breeze knocked it down. Right fielder Joey Craig camped under it with his back to the wall for the out. In the bottom, Boston Vest led off with a homer. He hit his shot to center. Austin Haller at second made a great play on a Craig grounder that hit the mound first. He stayed with it for the out. 1-0 Aggies.

The nice WKU couple was again behind us. Trey Reese had a conversation with the dad about Nolan Ryan. Trey had seen him play as a kid. Trey also mentioned that a major change to the ballpark configuration was under consideration. We were all shocked and Trey was concerned that he shouldn’t have said anything. Given that the scoreboard is still mostly unreadable in sunlight, I don’t know that reconfiguration should be a priority. In the latest newsletter from the new AD, she was bragging about putting handrails in the Pan-Am Center. I agree. Those steps are a bit steep. That’s why there are already handrails there. (It’s a great new era in Aggie Sports.)

The Hilltoppers punched back in the top of the third. Haller led off with a homer to tie it at 1. In the bottom, Brandon Forrester began with a big flyball to center. Star WKU centerfielder, Ryan Wideman, waved his arms and never saw it, as it dropped in. Forrester had a gift double and Namie cashed him in with a single. Aggies back up, 2-1.

Hilltopper Carlos Vasquez tied it right back up with a home run to start the fourth. Hoslett set the next three batters down in order. Wideman hit a high flyball to center and Aggie centerfielder Camden Kaufman almost lost it. It was a tough sky today.

Gavin Perry came in to pitch for WKU in the bottom. Adam mentioned that earlier in the season against LA Tech, Perry had given up 7 runs in an inning. WKU came back with 10 runs in the bottom and won the game in a run rule. The WKU couple said that game was crazy with a football score.

Perry hit Vest with a pitch, but he was erased on a double play. After, Craig beat out an infield hit with some astonishing speed. Another single and a walk loaded the bases. The WKU coach came out and talked to Perry. He came back and struck out Namie on three pitches. Good talk.

The WKU mom asked why I was keeping a scorecard. I asked why everyone isn’t keeping a scorecard like all good baseball fans should. The top of the fifth began with a two-base error. We’ll take that over another home run. Hoslett then gave up a walk and had a wild pitch, but he finished strong by getting the next three batters without giving up a run.

There was a kid uniform dressing contest between innings. It was cute. I noticed in the Aggie dugout that a player was juggling all of the time. I think it was Cade Shumard. This reminds me of Taryn Bennett with Aggie Softball. If you could teach the whole team to juggle that might be pretty intimidating to see in the dugout. The Aggies got a bit of traffic on in the bottom of the fifth, but failed to score.

I missed giveaway jersey night on Friday. I was seeing them everywhere in the crowd and was getting jealous. They looked pretty good. Former AD Mario Moccia came in. I almost didn’t recognize him wearing a colorful Hawaiian shirt. He had his two girls in tow. They stayed for a couple of innings, as Mario went around and greeted some people. I’m sure he’d be really impressed with the new handrails in the Pan-Am Center.

Jaden Davis relieved Hoslett after five innings started with a walk. Kyle Hayes came up with one out and blasted one out for a two-run homer. Trey shook his head, “That was four straight sliders.” After a single and a walk, Coach Angier brought in Matthew Yarc. This didn’t help. Two more singles scored another run. Dalton Fiveash then cleared the loaded bases with a double. Yarc finished the inning with a pair of strikeouts, but the Hilltoppers were now in command, 8-2.

Treyson Peters came in for the Hilltoppers for the bottom of the sixth. Judging by the cheering behind me, I’m guessing this was the WKU couple’s son. Unfortunately, he threw 8 straight balls and walked the first two Aggie hitters.

The WKU coach took Peters right out for his best reliever, Cal Higgins. Uncharacteristically, he walked his first batter, Woodcook, to load the bases with nobody out. Dane yelled back at his dugout in encouragement. Forrester was up next and given first after being grazed by a pitch. (There was some skepticism about this.) This brought in a run and Namie drove in another on a fielder’s choice. Reid Howard at short got a grounder next and dropped it, but still managed to turn a double play. 8-4 WKU.

Yarc began the seventh by walking Wideman, who then stole second. Yarc caught Wideman going to third, but made a bad throw and Wideman took the base. This was ruled a steal, instead of an error. (Wideman’s very fast and among the national leaders in steals. This ruling felt like some padding for him. It was initially ruled an error.)

Wideman came in on a groundout. Gianni Horvat at second made a great dive stop on that grounder for the second out. After Yarc hit a batter, Hazen Wright was brought in. I questioned why he wasn’t brought in earlier, since he was the only Aggie pitcher with a sub-5 ERA. I pointed out to Trey the ERA discrepancy between the teams on the program (shown above). He was stunned seeing it. Overall, it’s over a 4-run difference. Forrester dropped a grounder on Wright’s first batter, but no further damage was done. 9-4 WKU.

A girl came into the stands carrying a tub yelling, “Last call for hot dogs! Cash only!” She sold them all. The WKU couple bought a couple. Higgins gave up a single in the bottom of the seven, but that was all. For the top of the eighth, Wideman brought in run on a sac fly after a couple of walks. In the bottom, Namie also brought in a run with a sac line out. One bit of comedy happened when Woodcook took a terrible swing in his at bat and the dugout laughed at him. They did cheer him on right after that. 10-5 WKU.

Dylan Weekly came in for the Aggies to pitch the ninth. He gave up a homer to his first batter, Lizama. Forrester then made a great charging play on a weak infield grounder. The Hilltoppers did get two on with a walk and hit batter, but they were left stranded.

Patrick Morris relieved Higgins for the ninth. Senior Kade Benavidez led off as a pinch hitter and hit a flyball to left, which the fielder clanked on. It was a rough day to be an outfielder. Vest worked a walk. Kaufman hit a slow roller down the third baseline. Vasquez let it go hoping the ball would go foul, but it never did. The bases were loaded, but a looking strikeout and a lineout ended the game. WKU wins, 11-5, and sweeps the series.

Just a few Gameballs today. For the Hilltoppers, Austin Haller went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s and a home run, and Dalton Fiveash had a big bases-clearing 3-run double. For the Aggies, Mitch Namie went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s and Ian Hoslett had a great 5-inning effort only giving up 2 runs. The Aggies were in this one, except for that bad sixth inning. They weren’t able to counter with a big inning of their own. Given the stats shown above, this series’ results were in line with expectations.

Today’s seniors were Kade Benavidez, Austin Corbett, Gianni Horvat, Sheehan O’Connor, and Connor Wylde, who got the biggest cheer from the team. In spite of what happened on the field, the team quickly set it aside and were in good spirits. Over at the Visiting dugout, the WKU coach and a player were interviewed. Like I mentioned in the last game, they brought their own radio commentator. I said, “Goodbye” to Trey and Robin. It was nice sitting with them this season. I told Nellie she was doing a great job with the Volleyball team (and I meant it). I waved to Adam in the booth on my way out.

I called dad after the game. It ran really long at 3 hours and 22 minutes, not including the Senior ceremony, which was fairly quick. I’d offered to bring him lunch yesterday after today’s game. He didn’t want anything, except a small chocolate shake. I went to Subway and planned on getting a sub and the shake at PQ Treats next door, but they were closed. That was disappointing.

Instead, I went down the street to Freddy’s. I’d had hamburgers the last two days. Why not three-in-a-row? Actually, one of their Grilled Cheese Hamburgers was what I’d really wanted the last three days anyway. It was awesome and melted in mouth. Unfortunately, their small shakes were more like kid-sized. I had to apologize.

I totally missed the two baseball games on the radio in the afternoon and missed seeing the sportscar race at Laguna Seca, one of my favorite tracks. Even with a bad loss, I still wouldn’t trade a nice day at the ballpark. I’ll report on the rest of the Aggie Baseball season in my usual ***Memorial Day*** post. I still don’t know what I’m going to do about Aggie Sports next season or what my work situation will be, but I plan on still going to baseball at least.

NM State Aggies vs WKU Hilltoppers Baseball 5-10-25

“I hope tomorrow’s game is better.” You know how bad the blowout was when even the fans of the winning team were dissatisfied. I’ll go ahead and say upfront that Aggie Baseball was crushed today by WKU. It wasn’t a bad day at the ballpark, though. We’ll go ahead and breakdown this penultimate Aggie home game.

We’ll do a quick review of how we got to this point. Aggie Softball’s season ended this week. They were a mid-seed going into the C-USA Tournament, but were eliminated on the first day after two losses. No word on if Coach Rodolph is planning on retiring. Aggie Baseball was coming into this weekend on a four-game losing streak. They’d dropped mid-week games to Arizona and Texas Tech, as well as two losses to conference foe, Kennesaw State. (One game was canceled.)

Coming into this weekend, Western Kentucky has the second-best ERA in the country and has been in the Top 25 in the nation. The top player in C-USA is Hilltopper centerfielder, Ryan Wideman. Friday night, I was listening to the radio coverage. WKU put out their best pitcher, Jack Bennett. In the first, Steve Solorzano touched him up with a two-run homer. WKU tied it in the second.

In the bottom of that inning, Solo struck out with the bases loaded. Unfortunately, that was the Aggies’ chance, as it would be 7-2 WKU after the third, on their way to an 11-3 win. There were scouts in attendance for the game for WKU players. One of them was frustrated videoing game, as Wideman kept getting walked. So, this loss could have actually been worse if they’d pitched to him more.

Saturday, my gameday got off on the wrong foot. After spending most of the afternoon with my dad watching a movie, I needed a quick meal before the game and went to 5 Guys for burger. Frankly, it was unsatisfying. I should stick to just getting hot dogs there or going someplace else. (I’ve been eating hot dogs all week though.)

Getting to the University, I ran right into a huge graduation ceremony at the Pan-Am Center. Luckily, I was able to skirt around it. In the baseball parking lot, there was large tailgate set up with a couple of tents. There needs to be more of that. In the bathroom, I met a WKU fan. He mentioned Wideman was a Top 50 college prospect and very fast. He also thought our hitting was good, but our pitching was bad. There’s been a bunch of injuries and the ones that aren’t injured have an ERA of 5 or more (and most, way more). Later, Trey Reese came in with his family and confirmed all that.

It was a glorious day for a ballgame. It was 81-degrees with blue skies and a cool breeze. There was a good crowd at 514. WKU did bring in quite a few fans with them. We were sitting next to one mom that was cheering a lot for her team. There was another fan and his wife behind us that were very friendly. (The dad was responsible for the quote at the beginning.) Aggie Volleyball was represented by Nellie Reese and Ashley Herman, Bella Garcia, and (our sweetheart) Maggie Lightheart all looking glamorous.

These scorecards added up right on the first try. Amazing when it doesn’t matter and I don’t care, it works out. There were a couple of plays I was distracted on that I think I scored correctly, but I don’t care enough to look them up. I also highly question the official scorer on a couple of plays, but they didn’t matter to the outcome.

Connor Wylde started for the Aggies and also began on a wrong foot by giving up a home run to Joe Siervo, the first WKU batter. It got worse with a walk, a balk (more on this later), and another walk and a hit batter to load the bases with no outs. Wylde came back with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to end to the frame. 1-0 WKU.

There were a group of little boys’ head poking up between the stands and field. They’d found a great view there in the gap, but probably not super comfortable. Mitch Namie came up in the bottom of the first and drove one out to the wall. It was a sure double, but bobbled in the outfield by Wideman and Namie took third. The official scorer had it as a triple. (I feel like WKU was getting some protection there.) Solo drove Namie in on a groundout to tie it at 1.

WKU is a pretty big time program. They were a rare visiting team that brought their own radio announcer. I usually only see that at Softball when somebody like Nebraska comes here. Meanwhile, our PA has increased the bounty on foul balls brought back to the booth. For three balls, you get “swag.”

Wylde started off the second with another hit batter, but a flashy double play started by shortstop Brandon Forrester ended the threat. WKU starter, Drew Whalen had a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning.

And “boom” goes the dynamite. The top of the third started with three walks and then a two-run double Ethan Lizama. Wylde got two strikeouts in a row and almost got out of it. Austin Haller then laid down a perfect bunt single to drive in another run. This setup Kyle Hvidsten coming up and blasting a three-run homer. A caught stealing thankfully ended the inning, but not before WKU took a 7-1 lead.

Fan Michael has said before that the PA should play more Mexican music to intimidate the visiting players. I looked into the WKU dugout and a couple of guys were Salsa dancing the music. So much for that. A great play at third by Hilltopper Carlos Vasquez on a liner got the first out in the bottom of the third. Forrester singled next, but was thrown out stealing.

Fan Michael knows everyone at the ballpark. This paid off for him today. After talking to a couple of fans from the Diamond Club, he left and came back with a plate of brisket, a chicken drumstick, and a couple of rolls. Oh, it smelled good, too. That was hard sit next to.

Aggie Camden Kaufman in center almost made a great running catch in the top of the fourth on a Wideman hit. He caught the ball, but lost it hitting the wall. This went for a triple. Kyle Hayes followed that with a shot that hit the top of the outfield wall and then bounced back on to the field. It was another triple and it scored a run. Lizama came up and bunted one back to Wylde, but he fumbled the ball and couldn’t pick it up. Wylde got it back together one last time and got a strikeout and a flyout to end the inning. It was a character-building day for him. 8-1 WKU.

One of the scouts walked by. I couldn’t identify what team he was with, but he was wearing this giant ring on his hand. The gems on it sparkled blindingly in the light. I’m sure it was a World Series ring. Solo had a walk in the bottom of the fourth, but the Aggies couldn’t do anything with it.

Jake Carvajal came in to pitch for the Aggies in the fifth. He loaded the bases on three straight singles. Wideman hit a powerful liner to right. Austin Corbett jumped up and grabbed it and limited the damage to one run driven in. 9-1 WKU.

The Reese family was having an interesting conversation behind me with the WKU couple. There was a slightly disturbing, but cool revelation that Robin Reese’s dad is a sniper. He apparently uses that skill to keep interlopers off his property. However, most of the talk was about baseball and also fraternity hazing. (I contributed to that conversation.) Trey and the WKU dad commiserated about going to games at Texas A&M this season. It’s a rough crowd for visitors.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Aggies finally mounted some offense. Kaufman led off with a home run. Two Aggies got on afterward with two outs, but couldn’t be driven in. 9-2 WKU. Carvajal had a 1-2-3 top of the sixth. He was helped out by Corbett making a great catch at the wall. Dawson Hall relieved Whalen in the bottom of the sixth. The Aggies got two on again, but didn’t score.

The top of the seventh started with Forrester making a great slide, catch, and throw to get the first out. There were two walks and then a flyball second out. And then the Apocalypse. Wideman singled in a run and Hayes hit a three-run homer. Lizama singled and then was balked over to second.

Okay, counting yesterday, this was the third balk called on a third different pitcher. In the MLB, there was this one ump nicknamed, “Balkin’ Bob,” for his propensity for calling balks. Obviously, we’ve got another one on the crew this weekend.

Where was I? Coach Angier gave Carvajal a talk telling him that it was his inning. After two more singles, a wild pitch, and another run, the coach changed his mind and Colton Sneddon was brought in. Sneddon promptly gave up a three-run homer to Hall. Hvidsten was up next and absolutely vaporized a ball. I completely lost it after it left his bat. It might have hit a lightstand beyond the outfield wall. The estimated distance given was 444’. The fielders didn’t even turn around to watch it. Boston Vest at third slapped his mitt on his thigh. I thought he might go full Tanner from the Bad News Bears and slam his mitt down.

Vest then had an error at third. The coach left him in. Two more singles drove in another run. A strikeout finally finished the inning. 19-3 WKU. That was 10 runs all scored with two outs.

Between innings, the ump was given some water. He washed his face and neck absolutely exhausted and sweltering. He’d traded words with Coach Angier earlier over the strikezone, but I felt bad for him here. The Aggies got a couple on in the bottom of the seventh and Solorzano drove in a run, but that was all. WKU wins 19-3 in a run rule.

Today’s edition of Gameballs is hurtful. The Aggies get one. Brandon Forrester at least had good day going 3 for 4, along with a couple of great plays in the field. (Austin Corbett also made a couple of good plays in right field.)

For the Hilltoppers, Drew Whalen got the win going 5 innings and giving up only 2 runs. Four position players get gameballs for hitting. Ryan Wideman was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI’s. Kyle Hayes and Austin Haller both had 4 RBI’s and a 3-run homer each. The number 9 hitter in the lineup, catcher Kyle Hvidsten, was 3 for 4 with 4 RBI’s and 2 home runs. Damn. Western Kentucky is a good team. However, even a bad team will take advantage of eight walks and two hit batters.

Properly chastised for my fandom, I retreated directly back home. This was not the way I wanted Aggie Baseball to go out at home for the season. Their pitching corps has been decimated. They just need one win to secure a tournament berth, but I don’t know if they can do against the competition they’re facing. (Next week at LA Tech, may be worse. They’re almost undefeatable at home.) As bad as these last two games have been, it’s really hard to beat the same team three times in a row in a series. We’ll hope for the best tomorrow.

Baseball Journal March/April 2025

3-27-25 Opening Day

I wasn’t sure how much Baseball I’d actually get to see today.    There wasn’t a radio game on during the day to listen to, but when I came into work, there were immediately two extra-inning games on MLB.TV.    (They show the extra innings of any game for free.)    The Royals lost to the INDIANS badly in the tenth and lost the fashion show with their new powder blue uniforms, which look more like pajamas.    The Nationals wasted a 13-strikeout, no walks, no runs, six-inning performance by Mackenzie Gore by losing badly in the tenth to the Phillies.    There was almost another extra innings game with the Pirates, but the Marlins won it in the bottom of the ninth.    (A third extra inning game would have been too lucky.)    More on this game later.

These games finished in time for ESPN Radio's game between the Dodgers and Tigers featuring Tarik Skubal versus Blake Snell, two Cy Young winners.    Skubal gave up a home run in the first, but Snell got ruffed up and lost the lead.    A 3-run homer by Teoscar Hernandez in the fifth would give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.    Shohei Ohtani homered in the seventh, which was good for them, as the Tigers made it interesting in ninth, but lost, 5-4. With a pair of wins already from their Japan series last week, the Dodgers’ undefeated season is starting to look more likely.

Meanwhile on Twitch, DJ Pyka doing an 80's Night.    I was trying to listen to both, but kept turning up the volume on the music and occasionally singing along.    MLB.TV’s scheduled free game was a night cap between the Mariners and the Athletics.    There was a guy with an Aussie accent doing the color commentary for the M's.    I didn’t catch his name, but it was interesting to listen to for ballgame.       

The A's went up 1-0 on a Tyler Soderstrom solo homer.    This held up until the seventh. A passed ball brought in an M's runner from second, but he was called out on replay.    A runner at third scored on a sac fly next anyway to tie it at 1.    Soderstrom homered again in the eighth, but Randy Arozarena homered in the eighth to tie it again.    A 2-run homer by Jorge Polanco off of departed Ranger, Jose Leclerc, gave Seattle the win, 4-2.

In other Opening Day news, the Pirates got a great start from Paul Skenes and former Aggie, Nick Gonzales, hit a two-run home run.    Unfortunately, the Pirates not only didn’t win, Nick fractured his ankle and had one of the most painful-to-watch home run trots ever.    The injury may have occurred in Spring Training, but finally busted on the home run.    He’s going to be out for a while.       

3-28-25

The Chihuahuas won their Opening Night game in El Paso.    I listened to that game over Aggie Softball’s game, which was on a different station.    The MLB.TV free game was a marquee matchup between the Dodgers and Tigers.    Detroit’s games are being carried by Fan Duel, which was previously Bally’s, which was previously Fox Sports Regional.    I would have liked to have watched more of the game with Jason Benetti calling it, but somehow the audio and video were 30 seconds out of sync for most of the game.    There were even complete drops in the coverage.    I wonder how much longer these regional cable sports networks for going to be around.

The Tigers kept it close and nearly took the lead late.    Manuel Margot was tagged out on the foot at the plate trying to score.    There was another replay on a play at the plate that overturned the initial “Safe” call to keep the score close.    The Dodgers won it in the tenth on a home run by Mookie Betts.    Blurgh!    I nearly lost my dinner.      

4-2-25

I got catch an afternoon Rangers game today.    The Rangers won, 1-0, over the Reds.    What was weird was that the Rangers beat the Reds by that same score yesterday.    At work in the evening, I caught a Marlins versus Mets game in Miami, but only because it went for two extra innings.    You could only tell the game was in Florida from seeing the stadium.    Otherwise, the park was full of Mets fans and with the roof open, you could hear jets flying overhead.    The Mets won in a 6-5 heartbreaker for whatever Marlins fans were there.

4-8-25

Hunter Greene got a 2-0 win over Giants for the Reds.    He worked 8 2/3 innings and only had two 3-ball counts and that was to his final two batters.    He was still throwing at over 100mph.

4-15-25

Here’s another one for Tim Hagerty’s book of Minor League Baseball oddities, Tales from the Dugout.    The Albuquerque Isotopes scored three runs on the El Paso Chihuahuas on a walk tonight.    Follow this.    The bases were loaded and the batter was walked.    One run is forced in.    The runner who was forced to third saw that the pitcher had his back to the plate and took off for home and made it.    The trailing runner ran to third and the pitcher airmailed the throw, which scored another run.    A couple more errors and the Isotopes could have emptied the bases.    They won 7-2 anyway.   

Tim was uncharacteristically unprepared for the play.    He was writing the walk on his scorecard and heard the crowd erupt.    He called it, “Chaos on the bases!” and had to sort it out in the next inning.    Luckily for me, the Isotopes posted video of the play on their Twitter.    (Yeah, I’ve missed plenty of plays while writing something down.    I guess it even happens to professionals.)

Meanwhile, the Padres and Cubs were playing a high-tension game on the MLB.TV Free Game.    I was working and pretty busy, but caught some of the action.    Both teams had loaded the bases and failed to score early.    Manny Machado had struck out with the pond full of ducks.    His next at bat in the fifth, there was an error on a foul ball and he took advantage by cranking out a solo home run.    The Padres threw out a Cub runner at the plate later, but Chicago did tie it and send it to a tenth inning, where the Cubs won it, 2-1.

Both of these teams are playing well early in the season.    The Padres are even ahead of the Dodgers.    So far the biggest surprise has been the Braves.    Their abysmal record is only have a slightly better than the Rockies and the White Sox.

4-18-25

“Show this to Jerry,” was the text on the above picture sent to my co-workers.    My boss, Eric, was in the Dallas area for a conference and went to a Rangers game afterward.    Meanwhile, we were at a business dinner with a motivational speaker.    I’m sure he got the better of that deal.

Eric was nice enough to bring back souvenirs for the department.    I got this cool team signed ball.    Don’t get too excited; the signatures are printed on and  I can’t read any of them.    I will be putting it in a display cube, anyway.    Actual signed balls are available on the website . . . for $1,200!      

I spoke to the lady from work he went with.    They had just wanted something to do when they were off for the night and this would be the first MLB game for the both of them.    Tickets were $40, but actually $65 with taxes?    Given that they were in decent seats, it was probably cheaper since the Rangers were only playing the Angels.    Both had had a really good time with all of the entertainment around the stadium and the on-field between-innings antics.    There were even cheerleaders there.    (I didn’t know about that.)    Both of them had good meals and got beer from a beer-serving robot.    In short, the Rangers’ stadium is a great place to visit.    (And the Rangers won that game.)     

The Chihuahuas were still in Albuquerque playing the Isotopes that night.    They’d lost a day game yesterday, which started off nice, but finished in howling winds.    We got those winds here in Las Cruces soon after.    The pups had an awesome 10-run, 15-batter inning in the fifth on their way to a 13-6 victory.    I missed the entire barrage, because I was out of my office at the time.   

Interestingly, this wasn’t the only 10-run inning in baseball.    The Diamondbacks put up 10 in the eighth at Wrigley Field against the Cubs, but still lost, 13-11.    The score was 2-1 before the seventh.    During this session of game-time batting practice with the wind blowing out, the teams hit a combined 2 grand slams and 6 home runs.

4-20-25

With a Sunday off from Aggie Sports, I went over to see dad and we watched the final two episodes of Season 3 of Reacher and enjoyed a Whataburger meal.    While watching, I was listening, via earbuds, to a Rangers game.    My reception wasn’t great. At one point, I was wondering why they were talking about Orioles.    I found out later that they had lost, 24-2, to the Reds.    The O’s are having a tough season to this point.

I went back home in the late afternoon and cleaned my car.    The Chihuahuas had a double header on, so I took a portable radio outside to listen to while I worked.    (The twin bill was caused by the Saturday game in Albuquerque getting snowed-out.)    I’d heard a bit of Game 1 earlier, where the pups lost to the Isotopes, 4-3, in extra innings (an eighth inning, since they were playing two 7-inning games).    In Game 2, the Chihuahuas had a cool, 6-5, comeback win with a big sixth inning rally.    Honestly, it was just a nice little suburban domestic moment of doing something with the car outside while listening to a game on the radio.

4-25-25

This was a little hard-to-believe.    In the ninth with two outs, Chihuahuas reliever, Reese Knehr, took a 100+mph line drive off his pitching arm.    He went straight down.    The trainers looked at him and announcer Tim Hagerty was sure Knehr would come out.    Amazingly, Knehr got back up, took a couple of practice pitches and resumed the game.    The El Paso crowd was completely behind him and cheering on every pitch.    Terrifyingly, Knehr got the final out on another comebacker straight at him.    Chihuahuas beat the Rivercats, 9-8.

4-26-25

It was a stinging loss for the Chihuahuas tonight.    After seven scoreless innings, the pups brought in the game’s first run in the eighth on sacrifice fly and went on to score another.    In the top of the ninth with two outs and two strikes, the Rivercats scored two to tie it and went on to win, 4-2, in 10 innings.    I’d give more details, but my reception was awful tonight.    I’m lucky I heard as much as I did.

4-27-25

I went over to dad’s after Aggie Baseball today.    While we were watching a golf tournament, I was listening to a Rangers/Giants game on the radio.    It was 2-2 going into the bottom of the ninth in San Francisco.    Heliot Ramos led off with a grounder and two errors later, he scored the winning rule on what was essentially a Little League home run.    Ouch!    What an embarrassing way to lose!

4-30-25

The Chihuahuas were facing off against a rehabbing Clayton Kershaw again in Oklahoma City.    They’d faced him last year on rehab, as well.    (I’m sure I made a post about it, but I can’t find it.)    Tim Hagerty reported on some fireman outside the stadium watching the game from on top of their firetruck.    Kershaw is so good; he got a strikeout with two strikes.    There might have been a miscount on balls and strikes because of a successful challenge.    We’re still not convinced of the count.    He even threw an eephus pitch, which caused the catcher to run out and talk to him.    Kershaw smiled.    He found it amusing.    

However, a pair of Chihuahua batters homered off Kershaw in the same inning and tied the game up at 3.    Kershaw came out after five innings and the pups piled on late for a 13-4 win.    During a mound visit, the PA there played a Dwight Yoakam song.    Mom would have been so pleased.

Meanwhile, the MLB.TV free game was between the woeful White Sox and the Brewers in Chicago.    It was cold there and the skies looked very threatening.    Thus, there was a small crowd present.    (The White Sox being bad also has something to do with attendance.)    I swear it was mostly Brewers fans in the “crowd.”    They got to cheer on a 6-4 Brewer win.