Baseball Journal May 2025 Part 1

5-1-25

The morning began with a Chihuahuas double header with the Comets.    The day game was scheduled, but a rain out in Oklahoma City a couple of days ago was the cause of the twin bill.    The Comets won Game 1 via a walk off inside-the-park home run, 4-3.    They play in a big ballpark there and once the ball got to the wall, the race was on.    Tim Hagerty’s call was ecstatic, even if it was against the Chihuahuas.    There were a bunch of kids there.    Glad got to see a whole game, which doesn’t usually happen with a school game, and they got a heck of a finish.

Last week, dad ran into a Diamondbacks game being broadcast on a local station.    They advertised that they’d be showing games, but there haven’t been any since then.    I tuned in this morning for a scheduled day game (I printed up schedules for me and dad), but still no dice.

Game 1 finished just as the Rangers and A’s came on another radio station.    It was also a kids day at Globe Life Field, but they call it, “Weather Day.”    A local weatherman will give a presentation to the kids about the weather.    I think most Midwest teams do this.    The Rangers pitched well, but couldn’t hit and lost, 3-0, and the series, 3-1.    Game 2 with the Chihuahuas and Comets, after the kids had left, was a 12-5 OKC blowout.   

When I came into work, I got a Free Game extra inning with the INDIANS beating the Twins, 4-3.    Jose Ramirez got a hit to tie it, stole a base, and scored on swallow single.    The Free Game of the Day was the Blue Jays versus the Red Sox.    In the eighth and trailing, Vlad Guerrero Jr.  hit a three-run homer for the win, 4-2.    Could I have watched and listened to more baseball today?    Sure, but I’ll be content with what I got.

5-3-25

Here was a unique way to end a game.    The Chihuahuas were up, 4-2, on the OKC Comets in the ninth with two outs and two strikes on the batter, Dalton Rushing.    Rushing asked for time, but the home plate umpire didn’t grant it.    When Rushing argued, he was instead given a penalty strike for delaying the game.    This ended the game and started a lengthy argument.

5-4-25

More umpire hi-jinks in the final game between the Chihuahuas and the OKC Comets.    (I think their new name is just okay.    I’m not sure why they’re named that.)    The pups won, 3-2, but lost their manager, Pete Zamora.    He was ejected in the ninth after arguing a pick-off play that would have ended the game was instead ruled safe.    The batter ended up hitting a come-backer to pitcher, Reese Knehr, who dropped the ball, but the batter didn’t or wasn’t able to run it out.    Knehr got the out for the happy Chihuahua victory, except that the umps and the team suddenly started going after each other and people had to be escorted from the field.    We’re not sure what that was all about.   

5-6-25

It was a breathless 9-7 Chihuahuas home victory over Round Rock tonight.    The Express led initially, but the pups took the lead, but then had to do so two more times in first six innings as the Express kept coming back.    Eguy Rosario finally homered in the game for the Chihuahuas’ team record for home runs over Cody Decker.    I think they were tied since the beginning of the season. Cody was reportedly okay with losing the record.  

In further excitement, there were three extra innings games on MLB.TV that I got to peek in on.    The most interesting was the Giants versus the Cubs.    After a scoreless tenth, the Giants scored 9 in the eleventh to win, 14-5.    It was full house at Wrigley, but the crowd cleared out during that inning.

5-7-25

A rare triple-header today.    I started off listening to the Chihuahuas soundly beating Round Rock in the morning.    This game included an inside-the-park home run for the pups.    I then got a phone call from work that a gas leak had evacuated the building.    My boss called later and told me not to come in.    I had a free day off.   

I took the opportunity to listen to the Rangers and Red Sox.    It was a good game with a disappointing result of the Rangers losing.    The radio station stayed at full power for the length of the game, which I didn’t expect.    I had to wait for the sun to completely go down to find the Rockies playing the Tigers.    It was tied when I got there and stayed that way until the tenth, when the Tigers broke through for the win.    I had some divided loyalties on this one.   

Alright, swell day.    Let’s hear it for incompetent city workers.    They’d broken one of our communications lines last week during street repairs.    The gas leak was also part of this repair job.    Hopefully, they finish up soon, before they blow the building.

5-9-25

Can you believe 10 scoreless innings in an MLB game?    That happened between the Red Sox and the Royals tonight.    With the game going to extras, I got watch the bonus coverage on MLB.TV.    The Red Sox scored in the top of the eleventh, but Vinnie Pasquantino drove in the tying run in the bottom.    Right after he did so, there was a Sasquatch sighting in the crowd.    Vinnie’s nickname is “Pasquatch.” Some guy in a hairy suit was there walking on the concourse on camera like the famous footage from the 70’s.  The Royals won it in the twelfth on a walk off single, 2-1.    It was a full house there in Kansas City and seemed like a playoff game.

There were more dramatics in El Paso as Luis Campusano tied it in the eighth against Round Rock with a homer, and Oscar Gonzalez won it, 4-3, in the ninth with an RBI single.

5-10-25

After coming home from a 19-2 Aggie blowout loss, I didn’t suspect that that wouldn’t be the biggest margin of victory I’d experience today.    It was actually a day of blowouts.    When I turned on the radio, I heard the Rangers’ postgame show.    They won, 10-3, over the Tigers.    I have mixed feelings about this, as I’m a fan of both teams.    Jacob DeGrom pitched well in the victory.

Next, I listened to the Chihuahuas open up a can of whup-ass on Round Rock, 14-8.    It wasn’t even that close.    During the game, Tim Hagerty had a guest doing play-by-play.    At one point, Tim interrupted him with a gasp, as he relayed the outrageous mid-game score from the Rockies and Padres game, 16-0.   

When the sun went down and I could get KOA out of Denver, I flipped over and caught the final out.  The  Padres won 21-0.    Somehow, “won” seems like an insufficient term to describe the outcome.    This was the eighth loss in a row for the Rockies.    Last season’s historically bad White Sox team may be eclipsed this year.    It’s like Rockies’ management is trying to reenact the movie, Major League, but the players apparently aren’t motivated to spite their owners and win anyway. 

Part 2

Comics Review: DC Comics Presents Superman

 

What a cover! How could I resist? This is a magazine, but it’s all comic book inside. It’s been produced in support of the new James Gunn’s Superman movie this summer. The three issues inside were cited as inspirational material for the movie, though not the story of the movie. Superman for All Seasons has already inspired Smallville. Lex Luther: Man of Steel seems to trod familiar ground with Lex being jealous and suspicious of Superman for his motivation to go after him (rather than blaming him for being bald in an unfortunate incident as a kid with Superboy).

All-Star Superman is the only one of these series I’ve read all the way through. (Admittedly, I read it on an . . . ahem . . . archive site.) Maybe with the new movie referencing it, they’ll do a new reprint trade (and sell it for $50 thus causing me to pass it over).

The opening page is the famous page from the series: Superman’s origin in one page, four panels, and eight words. Awesome and iconic. I’ll be shocked if some form of this doesn’t show up at the beginning of the new Superman movie. (Somebody make a poster of this, please.)

The premise is suitably epic: Superman saves a solar probe that was sabotaged by Lex Luther. The intense exposure to the sun has terminally poisoned Superman. Having only limited time, he sets about to make the most of it, while Luther prepares to finish him off.

First up, he finally shares his secret with Lois Lane in the epilogue.

The intro unfortunately assures us that this story was not the basis for the new movie. Grant Morrison’s story is pretty wild and meant to provide something of an ending for the Superman myth. The sci-fi segments with Quintum (the chap in the colorful jacket) and his super-scientific base on the moon are a trip. I don’t know how well some variation of this story would have worked for a movie, but it’d be interesting. Frank Quitely’s artwork has a Moebius-like sci-fi quality to it, but much more friendly somehow. It’s like one iconic still image after another. This story was meant to be for the ages.

Superman for All Seasons I haven’t read all of, so I can’t comment on the whole series. However, I have seen Smallville, which took some inspiration from this series. Writer Jeph Loeb was a producer and a writer on the TV show. In this issue, Clark has an almost Spider-Man-like moment as a tornado hits Smallville and he feels guilty. Clark thinks he could have done more to stop it. The end of Season 1 of Smallville, the town gets hit by a tornado as well, but it’s not as life changing for Clark.

Really, this issue at least focuses more on Pa Kent and his concerns about his adopted son’s future. Clark is a good kid and doesn’t know what he should do with his powers. The tornado puts him on a mission and Clark is convinced that he needs to leave Smallville to put his powers to good use. This is pretty much the whole story.

This line has been used in two different Superman TV shows

I like Tim Sale’s background artwork for this, but I’m not sure his character work is the best fit. I’ve definitely seen better character art in his Spider-Man: Blue (which was also written by Loeb). His hyper-muscular, yet baby-faced/baby-fat version of Clark doesn’t quite ring with me. It doesn’t quite give him room to grow into an adult version from an adolescent. The characters are emotive, but not appealing.

Lex Luther: Man of Steel attempts to establish Luther’s motivations in hating Superman. He’s xenophobic, not believing that Superman is just here to help. And he’s jealous, Lex should be the most celebrated man of his time, but has been completely upstaged. In this excerpt, Luther is ruthless, but also seems quite charming and down-to-earth in certain circumstances. Whatever kindness and magnanimity Luther displays probably has a selfish ulterior motive. In Shakespearian terms, he is “but a plain-dealing villain.” If only he was what he pretended to be, Lex would be hailed as a hero.

There have been several alternate takes in other stories where someone like Lex is right and someone like Superman is a threat to humanity. Thankfully, none of them have ever come close to supplanting the original premise. There’s even an actual Superman story where the Guardians of the Universe (the little blue guys in Green Lantern, not the Galaxy Guardians with Chris Pratt) were concerned about Superman interfering with humanity’s development and implanted a hypnotic message in his mind to put limits on his involvement.

The harsh artwork in this story is a jarring change from the previous two stories, but fits a story about Lex. There’s not really a story in this, though it does set up a premise for the rest of the series. It’s another Luther plot to destroy Superman. I’m not saying it’s bad, though. It’s well done for what it is.

Stories like this try to explore Luther’s psychology, but let’s be honest: he’s a one-dimensional character. He just wants to destroy Superman. It doesn’t matter if Lex is a reclusive scientist, or wearing green and purple power armor, or he’s a wealthy industrialist, or he’s President, or he’s a tech billionaire. As long as Superman’s destruction is his main obsession, does it really matter why he wants to do it or even what form he takes? I suppose this makes him some sort of Greek mythology hero with a fatal flaw. I think this is why Smallville’s Lex was such a great character. It shows him, at least in the beginning, without this flaw.

Overall, this magazine is sort of sucker bait. It’s just a promo for the movie and a sampler to sell comic book trades. At least they picked the best stories. If you haven’t already read or own the material, it’s certainly intriguing enough to buy and consider additional purchases. I’m happy with it to put it as a display for the cover.

Comics Review: Archie Milestones #29 Jughead Super Hero Special

I’d already picked up a pile of used Archie digests at Coas Bookstore over a couple of trips and they’re mostly unread to this point. I’d sworn off getting more, but then this came up new on the newsstand. I’d really enjoyed the last Jughead Super Hero Special (7-4-23), so I was well-disposed to getting this one.

I have to warn you that Jughead’s alter ego, Captain Hero, is only in a couple of stories, though he is prominently on the cover. There are a couple stories of Jughead getting superpowers or using his natural prodigious appetite or assuming another super-identity, but this volume mostly features the rest of the Archie gang in costume or out seeing superhero movies.

Captain Hero does shine in this appearance with Fireball. (No, I hadn’t heard of this MLJ hero either.) Archie has to call in a superhero to help control his chili, who in turn, has to call in an expert on dangerous food.

There’s a story that’s something of an explanation of some of the kids having powers, sort of. Archie becomes Captain Pureheart when Veronica is in danger, Reggie becomes Evilheart when he sees Archie with Veronica, and Betty twists her ponytail and becomes Super-Teen whenever Pureheart is in trouble.

Pureheart has his bad days. Here he has trouble catching a quick-disguise villain and is lucky the guy doesn’t take off with his girls.

The Archie Gang’s pets become a sort of Legion of Super-Pets in a couple of stories.

We also have this story, which seems to draw from other DC super-groups. Jughead dressing up as Stone Boy from the Legion of Substitute Heroes, you might think was a coincidence, but Betty and Veronica obviously being Duo Damsel from the Legion of Superheroes, makes it an obvious homage. The LSH universe would be a great place to mine for goofy heroes.

Of course, there’s another obvious homage in the story.

The Mighty Crusaders and other MLJ superheroes make appearances. The Kennedy Brothers do an excellent job illustrating a team up with the Archie gang heroes.

I love this little story with Captain Flag. “Prepare for some truth, justice, and American pain!” Somebody should steal that line.

Doesn’t Ronnie look cute with a tie?

Trying to be racist doesn’t work out for her, though. This is edgy for an Archie comic.

Lastly, there are several one-page Captain Sprocket comics spread throughout the digest. These might be from Madhouse.

Overall, like the previous superhero volume, this is fun material. Given that some of this is recent reprints (that I’ve read), I suspect there may not be enough to fill another volume any time soon, so get this one now.

Memorial Day 2025 Part 2

Part1

5-25-25

Instead of waking up early to watch F1 Monaco, I overslept. I’m pretty sure I got the better of that deal. With no Indy 500 to watch, I just listened to the Rangers/White Sox game in the afternoon. The pregame said that Joc Pederson was out with a broken hand and Kevin Pillar had been DFA’d and had retired. I guess Corey Seager is out too, but he may be back soon. I think I can pinpoint why the team is having trouble scoring.

The club was bringing up Alejandro Osuna today for a debut. There’s another new prospect that’s been brought up recently that’s also been playing. Neither of these guys are listed in my baseball season preview magazine as a Rangers’ top ten prospect. Maybe these guys played really well in the minor leagues. Maybe they’re scrambling trying to plug holes with the best of whatever’s available.

Jake Burger got the scoring going with a two-run homer early. The White Sox answered with a solo home run. In the fifth, the Sox had another threat brewing, but had a runner thrown out the plate. Osuna had a great diving catch in the outfield to end the inning.

In the sixth, the Sox did tie it on a solo home run and then took the lead with a sac fly driving in a run. It was a bit of an odd ninth in that announcer Eric Nadel kept not mentioning it was the ninth. The Rangers managed to tie it, setting up Adolis Garcia doubling in two runs, 5-3 Rangers. In the bottom, two Sox doubles brought in a run, but closer, Robert Garcia, picked off that runner at second. The Rangers won, 5-4, and snapped a six-game losing streak.

Playoff hockey was on, but I wasn’t into it. (The game was a blowout, anyway.) I skipped over to the Mall and got a foot-long chili hot dog from Legend Burger, though I came up empty looking for a couple of gifts for people. The dog was good, but didn’t lift my spirits. I spoke to my Aunt Judy on the way over, but that didn’t help much, either. Not being able to watch Indy pretty drained my enthusiasm for the three-day weekend.

Back at home, I ran into the end of another Mexican League baseball game. (I know I’m scrapping the bottom of the barrel here.) Aguas Calientes was ahead of the Chihuahua Dorados, 4-3, in the bottom of the ninth. The Dorados managed to tie it on a sac fly and then win it on a two-run homer, 6-4. It didn’t look like there were that many in the stands, but I think most of the fans were in the shade. It looked hot wherever they were playing.

Tonight’s Chihuahuas’ game was interesting for the wrong reason. By the fifth inning, broadcaster Tim Hagerty felt obligated to mention that there hadn’t been a Chihuahuas’ baserunner yet. This lasted until the seventh with a walk that got the crowd cheering. In the eighth, the pup’s got their one and only hit. Unsurprisingly, the Rainiers won, 6-0.

This was a team record for hits . . . err . . . hit for the Chihuahuas. Tim reported that before the game, one the Chihuahuas had said he’d eat a moth if they were no-hit. There have never been bigger stakes in a baseball game. Also mentioned was that the A’s 11-game losing streak ended today. I wasn’t aware of this. (I watch and listen to baseball every day and I’m seemingly blissfully unaware of everything going on.) The team called up a bunch of players from Las Vegas trying to find a slump-busting combination.

5-26-25

I saw dad this morning, but he didn’t seem to want lunch out, so we had hot dogs again and watched an episode of Almost Paradise. We’re both getting a kick out of this show. Afterward, I went back over to the Mall. I still didn’t find a gift I was looking for, so I’ll do something else. For dinner later, I got a Boba tea (sans bobas) and Auntie Anne’s Pepperoni Pretzel bites. The tea was average (especially for the price), but the pretzel bites were very tasty for a light dinner.

I got back home about halfway through the Rangers’ pregame show for their game against the Blue Jays. The Jays were coming off getting swept by the Rays and had also played a day game yesterday before this day game, like the Rangers. Jacob deGrom was starting today, so I was hopeful.

Daulton Varsho homered in the first to give the Jays a 1-0 lead. Kevin Gausman only needed 12 pitches to get through the first six Ranger batters. I was feeling less confident, as this was feeling very familiar. Varsho later doubled in a run, but in the fourth, Wyatt Langford finally got the Rangers on the board with a homer, 2-1 Jays.

In the fifth, rookie Alejandro Osuna got his first hit (and would also pick up his second later). In the sixth with the Jays threatening, deGrom came out. This was his first ever start without getting a strikeout. With runners on second and third, Adolis Garcia in center came up firing on a single and prevented both runners from advancing and they didn’t score in the inning.

I’d been checking ESPN Radio beforehand to see if they were broadcasting a game. I checked again at this point and found they were and they were late in a game . . . the game I was already listening to. Oh, well. In the ninth, the Jays were threatening again, but a great throw from Langford in the outfield again kept a runner from scoring. Of course great defense and pitching, still doesn’t score runs, which the Rangers didn’t, as they lost, 2-1. They’ve already replaced the batting coach. I don’t know what they can do next without trading people.

Well, that’s it for Memorial Day weekend. I’m really wondering if I should keep doing this if there’s not going to be more racing coverage. For Memorial Day, I listened to Jesse Kelly’s military tribute show on the radio, so don’t say I didn’t do anything for the holiday.

Memorial Day 2025 Part 1

We’re starting Memorial Day weekend sports coverage early this year. The C-USA Baseball Tournament began on Wednesday with the Aggies playing the #2 seed and possible at-large NCAA bid team, WKU Hilltoppers, in the second game of the day. Before the game, Mitch Namie, Steve Solorzano, and Brandon Forrester received All-Conference honors. The radio coverage was on Magic 105 and I had to endure some really bad pop waiting for the game to start.

The tournament was being held at Liberty U. The weather was cold and damp, but not threatening. WKU swept Aggies two weeks ago.  They did not start their best available pitcher for this game, but their chosen starter did come in with a pretty good resume anyway. Connor Wylde got the start for the Aggies.

It started well in the top of the first, as Forrester tripled on first pitch. Namie sac’d him in to make it 1-0 Aggies. They added to this in the second with a Dane Woodcook RBI groundout, 2-0. In the bottom of the third on defense, Aggies successfully challenged a safe call for a double play that ended the inning. The Aggies are #2 in the country in turning DP’s. Adam Young on the radio was complaining that his monitor wasn’t showing the replay. That had to be frustrating.

The Hilltoppers took out their starter after two hits in the fourth. The bases were loaded when Namie worked an RBI walk. Solo then singled in two, followed by Boston Vest singling in a run, 6-0 Aggies. In the bottom of the fifth, Wylde gave up his first hit and ended up loading the bases. WKU scored two on a fielder’s choice and a single. 6-2 Aggies.

Wylde started the sixth, but was relieved by Jaden Davis after a leadoff walk. Davis walked the bases loaded without an out and Saul Soto was brought in. Soto immediately gave up a bases-clearing double by Ethan Lizama to make it, 6-5. In the top of the seventh, WKU’s Gavin Perry walked the bases loaded, but a flyball out ended the inning.

A Lizama solo home run tied it at 6 in the eighth. WKU brought in their ace closer Cal Higgins with one on and the Aggies didn’t score. We went to extras. Soto entered his fifth inning of work in the tenth. After a walk, Lizama came up again and slugged a double, which scored the runner and won the game for WKU, 7-6. Adam had the easy stat of the game: the Aggies left 15 runners on base. They could have put this one away, but credit the WKU relief corps. The Aggies did score 6 runs on the second-best team ERA in the country. It’s hard to beat a team four times in a row.

(The worst part about this game is that the Chihuahuas were on at same time. From what I was sneaking in listening to, it was a great game. I did listen to the ending.)

5-22-25

The Aggies’ next game was against #3 seed Kennesaw State and was the first of the day. It started at 7:00am, which is well before I usually get up. I tuned just as the seventh inning ended. K-State had just a big inning and were up 10-5, after scoring 5 to take the lead. That would turn out to be the final score.

Mitch Namie had a great day with two home runs and Bryce Campbell had a solo shot. Aggie starter Ian Hoslett apparently lasted into the seventh. He pitched his heart out. It was just one bad inning that did in the Aggies and ended their season.

The Aggies finished the year, 23-33. Broadcaster Adam Young went over the long list of injuries, which certainly hobbled the team. They didn’t have any quality depth to cover the injuries. With those missing players, maybe that final record gets flipped, but they play in a very tough conference with at least three very good teams. Adam did point out that a lot of freshmen got plenty of experience this season, but that’s about it. We’ll hope for better days next year for Aggie Baseball.

5-24-25

Welcome to Memorial Day Weekend officially. My day started going out to the Downtown Mall to the Farmer’s Market. Dad wasn’t interested in going, but I had a few places to hit there. At Coas Bookstore, I found the history of D&D book, Of Dice and Men. I’d heard of this, so I thought it might be an informative read. I checked the Sci-Fi section for a book I’d been looking for for years, Man of Gold by MAR Barker and, lo, there it was! I almost started giggling in joy. I had to wipe this enormous smile off my face before getting to the register. Persistence paid off. What a way to start the weekend!

This was followed by a severe disappointment: Zia Comics was closed. I’d rather just feel like a dummy for not considering at time that I was just there too early and I should have returned later, rather than the store being permanently closed. As far as I know, they’re the only comic book store in town. Given how many poor purchases I’ve made at Zia Comics, I shouldn’t be upset about this, but I did get something awesome the last time I was there. I’ll check back another day.

I went around the vendors outside and picked up some honey and looked for a couple of gifts for some people. I only found one thing, a little crocheted animal at a booth run by students. I’ll check out the Mall next door for something else this weekend. I did stand in line for a half hour to get kettle corn. Was it worth it? Yes, though I don’t know if I’ll do that again. The street musician there was at least entertaining.

I offered to get dad lunch, but he instead offered me a hot dog. I decided to take him up on that when I got over to his apartment. We waited around to watch the NASCAR Xfinity race at Charlotte. This will probably be my only race this weekend. The Cup race is on Amazon Prime. The F1 race is live at 5:30am. I’m not getting up for that. I tried a new antenna this week to try and bring in Fox, but it didn’t work, so no Indy 500 either.

Dad was disappointed, too. There have been a Diamondbacks games on Friday night (when I can’t watch). He ran into a Rockies game on another station yesterday. He was looking forward to seeing the Yankees and Rockies play again today, but apparently, it’s only a Friday night thing.

I’d brought a portable radio with me. For additional disappointment, I thought ESPN Radio would be broadcasting the Orioles and the Red Sox this afternoon on KROD, but this did not happen. Maybe all of this was for the best. On Friday, the O’s lost, 19-5, and lost today. The Rockies, amazingly, did beat the Yankees on Friday, but were back to reality today and clubbed to death, 13-1. On Friday, the MLB.TV Free Game was the Angels and they won their eighth in a row, but today the Marlins snapped their streak. Can the Angels actually compete in the AL West?

The Rangers/White Sox game was on the radio, albeit with a lousy signal. The Rangers had lost on Friday to the lowly Sox, 4-1. Today, Jack Leiter gave them 5 good innings, and the Rangers took a 4-2 lead into the sixth. 4 hits, 3 walks, and an error all that inning, and the Rangers were down 8-4. A loaded bases clearing double was the big blow in the 12-batter inning. 10-5 White Sox was the final. If the Rangers’ pitching falls apart, this is going to be a really bad season for them.

Okay, on to the race finally. Cup driver, William Byron won the first two stages pretty easily, but a speeding penalty sent him to the rear for the final stage. Justin Allgaier was in control for the entire stage. There were like three wrecks in the closing laps. Critically for Allgaier, there was a miscommunication on the first wreck and he didn’t come in for new tires and was stuck for the rest of regulation. It would have worked, but the race went into overtime. On fresher tires, Bryron, who’d spent the whole stage getting back to the front, squeezed past Allgaier for the win. If that was my only race this weekend, it wasn’t a bad one.

I decided to go out for dinner at Subway, mostly because I had a coupon, and I wanted ice cream at next door PQ Treats. It was another disappointment. (I’d used up all of my luck getting that book and seeing a good race.) PQ Treats was closed, for the second time in my last two visits, and the guy at Subway said they may get closed down, too. That’s sort of inconvenient for me. Well, my meatball was okay, if that was my last meal there.

Here’s a real rarity: the Chihuahuas beat the Rainiers tonight, 1-0. I listened to that game after I got home. The pups had lost, 8-1, on Friday after giving up a 7-run inning. Tonight, all they needed was a run on a sac fly in a 2 hour, 4 minute game. I doubt there have been many 1-0 games there in El Paso.

Finally on TV, I ran into a Mexican League baseball game between the Juarez Indios (yes, the Indians) and Soles (I don’t know where they’re from). I don’t think this is the top level of Mexican baseball. The Indios went down early, but came back. In the bottom of the ninth, the bases were walked loaded for the Indios and a double brought in the tying run. An intentional walk reloaded the bases and a hit batter forced in the winning run. 7-6 Indios win!

They had a really good crowd, especially for a game that finished at midnight. Mexican league game have a pretty “leisurely” pace. This game had a mascot that looked suspiciously like the San Diego Super Chicken. He seems to have a good relationship with the fans and the team from what I saw.

Part 2