Baseball Journal June 2025 Part 6

6-25-25

The Chihuahuas started the second half of their season tonight against the Space Cowboys.  It was another big comeback win with a five-run eighth to give them a one-run lead.    In the top of the ninth, Nate Mondou made an error that let on the tying run, but then he made an incredible catch on a little popup to end the game.    6-5 Chihuahuas.   

A light rain was falling there in El Paso by the end of the game.    We’d already had a big shower yesterday and earlier in the night here in Las Cruces.    At 4:00am, another storm hit and dumped a huge amount rain on us.    I’m only mentioning this because it’s the first good rain we’ve had here all year.    We may have fireworks for the Fourth after all.

6-27-25

There was a price to be paid for that rain.    The next night, the Chihuahuas were rained out.  This necessitated a double header today with two seven-inning games.    The pups were down 4-0 until the bottom of the fifth in Game 1, when they scored 6.    The Space Cowboys came back with 3 in the sixth to retake the lead, but the Chihuahuas scored another 4 in the bottom of the sixth for the win, 10-7.    A huge crowd filed in late in the game to cheer the team on.    A light rain was reported at the end, but it didn’t affect Game 2, which was 11-5 loss, but the fans got an early Fourth of July fireworks show afterward.

The MLB.TV free game was audio-only between the D-Backs and the Marlins.    (The fish won, 7-5.)    During the game, one of the announcers incredulously gave the final score of the Orioles beating the Rays, 22-8.    Even more amazing, the O’s were down 6-0 early in that one.   

Meanwhile on Twitter, I noticed “Josh Jung” was trending.    What did the Rangers’ player do or have happen to him?    He went 0 for 6 tonight, and Rangers fans were furious with him and blaming him for the 7-6 loss to the Mariners.    They wanted him sent down immediately.

6-28-25

I went over to dad’s to watch the MLB Free Game on Amazon Prime.    Oddly, once again, it was a shutout involving the Yankees.    This time is was the A’s winning, 7-0, over a phlegmatic Yankee team.    The Yankees were not looking sharp in the field.    I can hardly blame dad for keeping the TV on and watching Blue Lagoon while the game was on.    At least in two weeks, you can go to the Stadium and get your Billy Joel bobblehead doll, according to the in-game Yankee promotion.   

I went out to get lunch afterward.    (Dad didn’t want to eat out today.)    I got a Grilled Cheeseburger and Reese’s Concrete at Freddy’s.    I walked over there, so I had an appetite, and it was all good.    It was hot out, but not terrible, and there was a nice breeze blowing.   

Back home, I joined the Rangers versus the Mariners in progress in the fourth.    I was sort of glad I had missed most of the game as I started listening.    The game was close, but the radio coverage was nearly unbearable.    The station kept playing like six minutes of commercials between every inning.    Not only was I missing the game in commercial, I was about to go nuts hearing that many commercials in a row.     

All is forgiven (not really), because I got to hear the end.    It was 2-2 going into extras.    In the bottom of the tenth, the Rangers loaded the bases with one out and Marcus Semien singled in the winning run, 3-2 Rangers.    Because of the spotty coverage and kind of lousy reception, I’m not sure if Josh Jung was playing today or not, as per the wishes of the fans.

While it was a beautiful day, storm clouds suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the evening.    The first I noticed them was during the Chihuahuas’ radio broadcast and the constant static bursts.    As the station powered down for sundown, it was almost impossible to listen to over the crackling.    (It didn’t actually rain, though.)    It was either that or watching a Mexican League game on TV, so I kept straining to listen.    (The Dorados, wearing a purple NASCAR-looking uniform with advertising all over, including their posteriors, beat Aguascalientes, 8-6, who had two on with two out in the top of the ninth.)           

I did hear a huge cheer from the crowd and broadcaster Tim Hagerty shouting in the eighth, as Clay Duncan’s home run broke the 5-5 tie with the Space Cowboys.    The crowd also roared for a double play in the top of the ninth and for the final out for a 6-5 Chihuahuas victory.    Bring on those fireworks!       

6-29-25

Arugh!    Today’s MLB Free Game was the Rangers and the Mariners and I was looking forward to it.    I went over to the dad’s and brought up Amazon Prime and they weren’t offering the game today.    I’m not getting consistent results with Prime’s live sports coverage.   I also hadn’t brought my radio and I got stuck there waiting around to help dad do his laundry.

I hopped home after a couple of hours and didn’t bother going out for lunch.    I caught up with the game in a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh.    The game went to extras still tied.    The broadcasters were curiously lifeless in the game call.    This was the third extra innings game in row for the crew, so maybe they were a bit gassed.

The M’s took the lead in the tenth on an RBI single.    Cal Raleigh was thrown out at the plate also trying to score on the play, but another RBI single right after brought in an insurance run.    3-1 M’s.    Have no fear.    Corey Seager “who’s in scoring position at the plate,” (as broadcaster Matt Hicks said) hit a two-run homer to answer and retie it.    That woke the crowd and announcers up.

In the bottom of the eleventh, a good bunt got the Rangers’ automatic runner to third, however, Josh Jung struck out and a second strikeout ended the frame.    In the top of the twelfth, a fielder’s choice brought in a run for the M’s for the lead.    Jung was blamed for not throwing home on the play.    I doubt he’s endearing himself to the increasingly hostile fans in Arlington today.    Former Ranger, Mitch Garver, then pounded one into the second deck for a two-run homer to make it, 6-3 M’s.   

This chases most of the large crowd away.    The Rangers managed a sac fly run in the bottom, but the Mariners would win, 6-4.    At least the radio signal was clear with no weirdness with the commercials.    Broadcaster Eric Nadel gave the stat of the game: the Rangers were 2 for 15 with men in scoring position.

It was Chihuahuas versus Space Cowboys in the evening in what would be a great B-movie title.    The pups had an early lead and nearly executed a triple play in the fourth inning.    They only missed throwing out a runner at home, who scored.    The team has never turned one, though they’ve had a few turned on them.   

I thought I heard broadcaster Tim Hagerty report that a foul ball was caught by a fan who threw out the first pitch.    Regardless, Tim knew him and the guy brought a glove.    The Space Cowboys closed the score by the sixth, but Clay Duncan smashed a three-run shot to make it 7-3.    They’d add on and win, 9-3, to go 5-1 in the second half of the season.

6-30-25

It was a marquee pitching matchup on the MLB.TV Free Game between phenom rookie Chase Burns of the Reds and ace Garrett Crochet of the Red Sox.    That got blown up immediately as the Sox scored 6 in the first.    I thought this wasn’t going to be much of a game.    When Red Sox broadcaster, Lou Merloni, made a great play on a foul ball in the booth, I was worried that would be the play of the game.   

The Reds did make a comeback and made a game of it.    Still, the Red Sox kept scoring, too.    Red Sox Wilyer Abreu hit a deep fly ball in the fifth.    He admired it, thinking it was a home run.    Instead, it hit a wall and took a weird bounce and one of the outfielders fell down going for it.    Abreu stopped looking and got on his horse for an inside-the-park home run to make it, 8-4.   

Abreu wasn’t done.    He popped a grand slam in the eighth to finally put the game away.    The Reds went directly to a position player to pitch and he got a strikeout.    The Red Sox take it, 13-6. The broadcast crew spent the ninth comparing their tacky 70’s wardrobes for tomorrow’s 1975 tribute game.

Baseball (and a little NASCAR) Journal June 2025 Part 5

6-16-25

Big day in the MLB.    Shohei Ohtani would be returning to the mound for a big matchup between the Dodgers and the Padres.    I actually got a little appetizer right before that game started with an 11-th inning 0-0 tie between the Yankees and the Angels in NYC.    The Angels took it, 1-0.    They held on in the bottom of the inning with the Yankees threatening.

Ohtani looked hittable in his one inning outing, but limited the damage to Fernando Tatis Jr. scoring on a sac fly with a great slide.    I ended up not being able to watch much, but it was back-and-forth game early.    In the fourth, the Dodgers busted out.    Ohtani, still the DH, drove in a run to make it, 6-2 Dodgers.    In the fifth, Padres starter, Dylan Cease was still pitching.    I question him not being taken out in the previous inning.    In the ninth, with the Dodgers still up, 6-3, with two outs, Dodger Stadium organist, Dieter Ruehle, played a rift from Time to Say Goodbye.    Cold, but very talented.

6-17-25

The Orioles beat the Rays, 5-1, in Tampa Bay tonight, but the story was in the stands.    A guy proposed to his girlfriend during the game.    Rays mascot, Raymond, was there lending his support for the event.    (I would have requested DJ Kitty.    And, I found out they have a third mascot, Stinger.)    The coverage included shots of happy fans and kids.    They even focused in on a couple, who were O’s fans, wearing matching Orioles Hawaiian shirts.    Dare I say, Steinbrenner Field is going over well with the fans?    The team’s playing pretty well (not tonight).   

Elsewhere, I didn’t see it, but saw the score.    The Angels beat Yankees again in the Bronx, 4-0.    In El Paso, we had the play of the night.    The Chihuahuas were down, 3-1, to the Reno Aces in the bottom of the ninth.    Rodolfo Duran homered with two on for a 4-3 pups’ win.    Given it was over 100-degrees when the game started, the result was a nice treat for the fans there.    Reno had four errors in the game, but only one unearned run, so the loss wasn’t too much of a surprise.   

6-19-25

Ahh!    A day off.    I pretty much wasted it, but that’s sort of the point.    I went out with dad to help him wash his car and then went to Weck’s for lunch, which was next door.    Dad had raved about the restaurant.    I was unimpressed (and it was expensive).    We also took takeout to his neighbor, Lamae.    She was content to let us stick around.    I found an MLB game on to watch, the Rockies and the Nationals.    However, dad wanted to go back home.    This was too bad.    The Nats won in extra innings and broke an 11-game losing streak.   

In dad’s apartment, I put on an episode of Almost Paradise, which dad seems to get a kick out of.    He slept through half the episode, but not the end where the bad guy sets a timer on a nuclear bomb for six hours and starts making demands to disarm it.    The hero shouts, “You idiot!    You set it for six minutes!”    It was ridiculous, but entertaining (and about as realistic as any other cop show on TV).

Also ridiculous was the Rangers and Royals game I was listening to on my portable radio.    The Royals were on a six-game losing coming into the series in Arlington and were about to sweep the Rangers.    Once again, the Rangers couldn’t score.    After the show, I made a short 100-degree walk back home and listened to the end of the game, which was a 4-1 Rangers loss.    (I like all four teams I’ve mentioned here, so I’m not too happy or too sad.)   

I decided to take another short 100-degree walk over to the mall and bought a couple of comic book trades and a snow cone.     After bleeding out money today, I settled down for the evening to read the comics and listen to the Chihuahuas.    I think I mostly drifted out of paying attention, as the Reno Aces had run up an 8-run lead.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty did say at the time, “I’ve seen the Chihuahuas come back from worse.    Never fear.”     

In the seventh, suddenly Tim was shouting, “Grand slam home run, Mason McCoy!”    The Aces’ manager was out on the field arguing the call, as the ball was near the foul pole apparently.    Tellingly, Tim had no comment on whatever replays he was seeing.    An inning later, he’d relate a couple of messages from unnamed park employees, who said, “The Chihuahuas may have gotten away with one there.”    After this, another run was doubled in and the pups were now only down, 11-10.

A fan in the stands started yelling encouragement to the Chihuahuas in the eighth.    Tim chuckled and urged him to continue.    He said players have told him that they hear it and it helps.    Mike Brosseau obliged and hit a tying home run.    In the ninth, both teams had two runners on, but failed to score.    In the 10-th, Chihuahuas reliever, Eduarniel Nunez, came in shooting peas at 100+mph and kept the game tied.    In the bottom, an error on a hit-and-run got a runner to third.  Forrest Wall then singled him in as the winning run, 12-11 Chihuahuas.    What a comeback!

6-22-25

So, it was a boring weekend, except for the war.    Funny, I was talking with a friend on Saturday about the possibility and, at the same the time, the attack was going on.    We didn’t find out about it until a couple of hours later.    I was at dad’s apartment at the time.    I’d went into the back bedroom to talk on the phone.    I guess about an hour later, I came back into the living room and startled dad.    He’d forgotten I was there.

Friday night, the Chihuahuas got clubbed by the Aces hard enough that they had a position player pitching in the ninth.    The team didn’t get the first out until the tenth batter of the inning.    (That wasn’t all the position player’s fault.    He didn’t start the inning.)

Saturday morning, oddly, the same thing almost.    On the MLB.TV Free Game, I came in for the eighth with the Yankee starter out and a reliever trying to preserve a no-hitter against the Orioles.    Of course when I’m watching, he gives up a hit, the only O’s hit in the game.    The Orioles put in a position player to pitch in the bottom of the eighth.    He was lobbing in 35mph pitches, but got a double play and was unscored on.    9-0 Yankees win.    I’m sorry they didn’t carry the postgame show.    Manager Aaron Boone was going to have to answer for taking a pitcher out of a no-hitter.   

I was watching this over at my dad’s apartment.    I watched an entertaining NASCAR Xfinity race at Pocono.    Yes, really.    I’ve ragged on that track unmercifully in years past for being boring.    Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first race as a crew chief, filling in for a suspended crew chief.    After the race, he looked so relieved.    Thank goodness, I didn’t screw this up.    Connor Zilisch, all of 18 years old, did a good job impressing his car owner with the win.   

I went back Sunday for the Cup Series race, but couldn’t get it to come in on Amazon Prime on my iPad.    (I was able to watch a live ball game on it, but not the race.)    That was too bad. However, I did get a couple of hours of an IMSA Sportscar race at Watkins Glen.   In the time I watched, the race went from a little damp, to a deluge, to bright sunshine.    Lots of wrecks.   

With no race distraction in the afternoon, I saw the Baseball College World Series between LSU and Coastal Carolina.    It was a bad sign for CC when their manager and first base coach were ejected in the first inning for arguing balls and strikes.    LSU won the game and took the series and championship.    CC did play hard in the game and didn’t quit.    Congratulations for being there playing against a major program. 

Baseball (and NASCAR and Aggie Volleyball) Journal June 2025 Part 4

6-12-25

Way too busy at work to keep track of any games, but I had a day game today before I went to work.    It was a dark, gloomy day in Minneapolis for today’s Rangers/Twins game.    Josh Smith homered to start the game for the Rangers, but the Twins tied it in the bottom.    Jake Burger homered to start the second.    Kyle Higashioka drove in a run, and then Wyatt Langford hit the pole for a three-run homer to make it, 6-1 Rangers.    Who are these guys in the Rangers’ uniforms?

Ranger starter, Patrick Corbin, loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second.    He got out of it undamaged.    The broadcasters were talking about him being a hard luck loser of several low-scoring games where the Rangers scored 1 or nothing.    They weren’t sure if he knew how to pitch with a lead.

Evan Carter homered to start the fifth and drove in another in the sixth.    Burger singled in two more runs and it was 10-1.    Adolis Garcia then greeted a new relief pitcher with a huge three-run homer, 13-1.    Again, where has this team been all season?    Corbin came out in the sixth, after giving up a run and a run charged to him.    It was 13-3.      

By the seventh, the broadcasters were looking at the sky for expected rain.    The Twins walked the bases loaded with two outs.    A reliever came in and a pop up on the first pitch ended the Ranger threat.    By the eighth, it was drizzling, but not enough to stop play.    The Twins put in a position player to pitch the last two innings.  The Twins’ pitcher gave up a three-run homer to Sam Hagerty to make it, 16-3.    In the bottom, Ezekiel Duran was in pitching for the Rangers and lobbing it in at 45-mph.    He had a clean inning.    The Rangers scored 16 in the first game of this series.    Did Brett Boone, the new pitching coach, finally figure out what to say to these guys?

6-12-25

Craig Kimbrel debuted in the Rangers’ organization for Round Rock tonight against the Chihuahuas.    The next night, Jason Heyward played for the pups on rehab from the Padres.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty mentioned Heyward being a World Series hero for the Cubs in 2016.    He, of course, gave that inspirational speech during the Game 7 rain delay.    Hunter Pence in 2012 may have motivationally speech-ed the Giants to a World Series win.    “We few!    We band of brothers!”    Never underestimate the value of a good speech.

6-14-25

Nobody wanted to win this game!    The White Sox played the Rangers this afternoon, while I was over at dad’s watching a NASCAR Xfinity race in Mexico City.    (Congratulations to Daniel Suarez for coming from the rear to win in front of his home crowd.)    I was listening to the game on radio with the race on TV.    The White Sox had a one-run lead late, but the Rangers tied it on a wild pitch and later took the lead on an error.    For their part, Ranger relief pitching had two blown saves trying to finish the game off.    The Rangers had their first extra innings game of the season and won it, 5-4, on a walk off by Adolis Garcia.

The Chihuahuas finally beat Round Rock tonight, 8-0.    However, the highlight of the game occurred during an unexpected pitching change for injury.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty waved off a commercial break to chat with his young son.    I think they spent the day at the water park and had a good time.    The kid is rapidly maturing over the years as Tim has brought him on.    He likes to talk.    I think he’s got a future following in his old man’s footsteps.

6-15-25

The most interesting sports event of the day for me happened in line at Subway.    I was there with dad for lunch.    Coach Hertel from Aggie Volleyball stepped into the line behind me.    I greeted him and chatted about Volleyball for a while.    He wasn’t with the team last year.    I didn’t ask why, but since he was hired back, I assume there were no hard feelings or maybe he had to leave for personal reasons.    He did say Tatyana Battle had left the staff to be with her husband in Texas.    I was sure she’d be a coach somewhere soon.    We both agreed she’s pretty extraordinary.

After talking about last year’s team, I asked Coach Hertel about WKU’s success.    He said that they’re in a regional volleyball hotbed of recruiting there.    Everybody that doesn’t go to Kentucky or Louisville, ends up at WKU.    The coach felt that if Ryleigh Whitekettle had been able to play last year, the Aggies would have beaten them.    (I’m gonna say that they would have had a chance.)   

The team did recruit a bunch of the hitters for this year.    I asked about my sweetheart, Maggie Lightheart.    He said they’d given her a scholarship yesterday at a youth camp (in front of her two little sisters).    However, she was going earn her playing time with some heavy competition.    I told him my little story about OH Tess Fuqua (10-5-24).  He found that pretty amusing.   

I told him that the team had started last season with five setters and ended up with only having two available by the end of it.    The coach said they were going to load up again.    He said Claudia Rossi was coming along well.    I mentioned sitting with Nellie Reese’s parents at baseball.    He was amazed by how different Nellie was from her mom in personality.    (Me, too.    She’s not even like her dad, either.)    However, he did say that Robin has a ferocious competitive streak.    I asked about Rilen Garcia.    The coach admired how she kept getting into the lineup.    He said that she’s so smart and athletic, but is in the wrong sport.    If she were in soccer or softball, she’d be a star.   

Yeah, spoke for a while.    There was only one person working at the Subway and even servicing a few people in line was taking a long time.    Coach Hertel finally gave up and left.    Dad and I eventually got a footlong to split and returned to his apartment.    I’d gone over to watch some more NASCAR.    For the first time season, I was able to watch the Cup Series race thanks to the race being on Amazon Prime and having Internet access at dad’s apartment.    I got the most pressing question about Prime’s coverage answered: Yes, they show commercials during green flag racing.    (It was at least picture-in-picture.)

I had arrived there in the morning just as the F1 Canadian Grand Prix started.    Dad was already watching a golf tournament.    When I checked back a little later, the race was already over.    I don’t know how I lost track of time so badly.    The NASCAR race was in Mexico City, as yesterday’s Xfinity race was.    This was the first points-paying race for the big series outside the US since the 1950’s.    Shane Van Gisbergen dominated the race even with a raging case of Montezuma’s Revenge.    I missed about an hour of the race getting that sandwich, though.       

Meanwhile on the radio, the Rangers were a 2-1 winners over the White Sox.    That was a sweep and the Rangers are now at .500.    In interesting baseball news today, the Red Sox swept the Yankees, but traded star Rafael Devers to the Giants for nearly nothing.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty mentioned this during tonight’s Chihuahuas game.    He cited Devers’ unwillingness to change positions for the team as the reason.    The Chihuahuas beat Round Rock tonight, 7-1.    Craig Kimbel struck out the side in the eighth for the Express, and Jason Heyward doubled in a run for the pups in the ninth.    

Baseball Journal June 2025 Part 3

6-6-25

Dad was having hernia surgery today.    I’d be with him to take him to the hospital and would need to stay with him for 24 hours.    The operation went well.    Unfortunately, the drug store didn’t have the pain medicine available, so dad was in bad discomfort for the entire weekend.   If there was one small bit of good news, I discovered that the cafeteria at the hospital served an excellent hamburger.    It reminded me of the burger at Chihuahuas games.    Even better, they served sweet potato fries as a side.    What a bonus!    I may have to go back for lunch sometime.

We got back to his apartment in the late afternoon (after leaving at 7:30am).    I had my portable radio with me to listen to ballgames and even managed to get one on TV.    I unfortunately scribbled some nearly indecipherable notes on some scratch paper I had with me.    I guess I felt the need to do something this weekend while I was sitting around on the couch with dad.   

The first game I got for the day was just a score from the Rangers’ postgame against the Twins.    They lost 2-0.    Arggggh!    When are these guys going to hit?    Well, the good news was that I found a Rockies game on TV.    They were playing the Mets.    Dad had mentioned D-Backs and the Rockies’ games were showing up on Friday nights and I was finally in a position to watch one.    The Rox were wearing their regrettable new City Connect uniforms, which look like a girls’ softball uniform.    (Their previous CC wasn’t exactly fashionable to begin with.)

Meanwhile, I was listening to the Chihuahuas playing the Isotopes on the radio.    During the game, broadcaster Tim Hagerty visited with a team intern from Germany.    He’s a big Astros fan, but has had to watch their games late at night there.    His mom was from El Paso to explain why he was there, but he’s lived in five different countries.    At one point, he took over the game call and called a double.    The kid was kind of fascinating.                

The pups scored three in that inning, but the Isotopes came back with a home run and then an inside-the-park home run.    (That was the fifth insider of the season in a Chihuahuas game.)    The Isotopes would take the lead, but the Chihuahuas would retake the lead on a home run, which was where I lost the radio signal.    The pups would run away with it, 14-9.

Back in Denver, Rox rookie, Ryan Richter, got his first hit, a triple, with his family up in the stands.    He got tagged out coming home on a grounder on a close play.    There was a review and the crowd cheered the result.    I more-or-less figured out half the crowd was for the Mets.    I thought only the Rays got that treatment in their home games against northeast teams.    Slightly more puzzling were all of the Disney vacation commercials during the breaks.  Their deal was $100 a day, as long as you purchase four days.    They also seemed to be implying your child will not be straight after the trip.    (I’m not kidding.)    

It was a tight game.    The Rockies were making a solo home run hold up over halfway through the game.    In the sixth, the Mets loaded the bases with no outs, but three strikeouts ended the threat.    In the seventh, they broke through with Pete Alonso doubling in two.    The crowd chanted, “Let’s go Mets!”    In the bottom of the inning, Sam Hilliard tripled off a fly ball dropped at the wall and was driven in to tie it at 2.

In the eighth, the Rockies loaded the bases with no outs, but a double play line out at third and a strikeout ended the inning.    (Between this game and yesterday’s Chihuahuas’ game, these teams do not seem to be aware of the high odds of scoring in these situations.)    In the ninth, Francisco Lindor came off the bench for the Mets to pinch hit and doubled in two to make it 4-2.    Rockies fans started leaving behind the plate.    4-2 Mets would be the final score.    Even the Rockies announcers had to admit afterward that it was still a pretty good game.

        

6-7-25

I spent the night over at dad’s to keep him under observation after his surgery.    We mostly sat on the couch watching TV.    I took in a couple of baseball games on the radio.    The Rangers at the Nationals was on in the afternoon.    Marcus Semien drove in two runs on the first to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.    He also drove in two more in the eighth, along with Adolis Garcia bringing in a run.    On defense, Jacob deGrom went seven innings.    He and the Rangers’ relief corps pitched a shutout in the Rangers’ 5-0 win.   

When I heard that Corey Seager was sitting out the game, I’d assumed there’d be no offense.    Obviously manager Bruce Bochy knows better than me.    One amusing incident in the game was a balk that was called.    The guys in the booth reported hearing the ump call it, though they were sitting at “30,000 feet.”    This is a running gag referring to how high up the press box is over the field.

Later, the Isotopes were playing the Chihuahuas in El Paso.    One of my co-workers, Toni, was at the game.    It was Star Wars Night at the park.    The players were in special Darth Vader jerseys that were auctioned off after the game.    Several cosplayers were at the game, including a very tall fellow dressed as Chewbacca.    It was nearly a full house with 8,500 fans there and they stayed to the end for the fireworks.    Toni was thrilled with the display, which included new on-field flamethrowers going off to the Star Wars music.    The only thing she wasn’t thrilled with was her favorite ballpark food, dog bowl nachos.    They’d stripped down the meal from what it was before.

The game itself was also a thriller.    The Isotopes loaded the bases in the first with one out, but the Chihuahuas got out of it.    The pups then took the lead on a two-run homer.    The shot went out of the stadium and may have hit a parked car.    (My radio reception wasn’t great, so I’m not sure I heard that right.)    One thing I did hear was Carson, Tim Hagerty’s co-host for the night, saying about a Chihuahuas batter, “He’s been a pedestrian tonight.    He’s walked on to base, rather than getting a hit.”

It was 6-2 Isotopes in the top of the seventh when I lost signal entirely.    I’d be checking back with the score periodically online.    (I didn’t try listening online.)    I was shocked to see the Chihuahuas winning the game, 8-6.    In the bottom of the seventh, the pups had driven in a run and loaded the bases.    Trenton Brooks followed with a grand slam home run (he’d also homered in the first), and this was followed up with a solo shot by Yonathan Perlaza.    Toni had video of all of this.    (Good timing.)    Toni and the crowd went going crazy during the comeback.    Errr.    I wish I’d been able to listen.           

6-8-25

Today’s Rangers/Nationals game started off in a rain delay.    The coverage seemed to think they might be able to get the game in later.    This was the teams’ only meeting this season and they really didn’t want to do a makeup game.    I was still over at dad’s.    He was doing okay, so I decided to take off for lunch (he didn’t want anything).    Since I was basically only having one meal today, I got a BLT+A at McAlister’s.    It’s a big meal, but I was hungry.

I was gone for maybe an hour-and-a-half.    When I got back and checked on the game, they were late in the fourth.    They must have started right after I walked out the door.    The Rangers were up 2-0 on an Evan Carter two-run homer.    I was there in time to hear the Nats tie it up.    In the eighth, Marcus Semien drove in a run to get the lead back for the Rangers.    It’s good to see these two players getting back on track on offense.

In the bottom, Robert Garcia came in for a four-out save.    Nate Lowe came up for the Nats against him.    These two were traded for each other in the offseason.    Nate won that battle with a double, however the Rangers won the game, 4-2.       

In the evening, it was the finale between the Isotopes and the Chihuahuas.    Trenton Brooks probably wished that the Isotopes would never leave town.    He had another home run in today’s game.    Brooks had four for the series for the Chihuahuas.    The pups were up by four in the ninth, but the Isotopes came back with a two-run homer and a runner on before the Chihuahuas finished it out, 6-4.    Meanwhile on TV, The Sandlot came on.    Dad had never seen it before.    He seemed to get a kick out of it.