Baseball Journal July 2025 Part 2

7-4-25 Independence Day

If you thought yesterday was bad, today, having no distractions from work, I really zoned out on baseball.    I watched six games and listened to one.    [Edit: Errr . . .    Actually, I went back and counted.    It was the same total as yesterday, but I was watching way more today.]    I would have watched more than that, but my iPad ran low on power and local radio didn’t carry the Rangers game today.   

When I found out about the MLB.TV Free Weekend, I found the Cardinals playing the Cubs just after noon on the schedule.    I assumed my dad would want to see them, so I brought the iPad over to him and hoped it would be available on Amazon Prime.    It was not.    It was an Apple TV only game.    Just as well, Aunt Judy informed us that it was a very disappointing 11-3 loss for the Cards.    The Cubs hit 8 home runs in the game.    (The wind must have been blowing out at Wrigley.)

Thankfully, other games were available.    An early Nationals/Boston game just finished, but the Reds at the Phillies were in the fourth with the Reds up 6-4.    I saw Elly de la Cruz drive in a run to make it, 7-4.    Also on field, the Reds turned a double play going from the pitcher throwing to second and then the shortstop throwing out a runner at home.    The Phillies manager took too long to decide to challenge the call and was denied.   

In the sixth, the Phanatic was dancing on the field with Betsy Ross and Ben Franklin, who was wearing a Phillies hat, though their team was down, 9-4.    The broadcasters were having a good time regardless.    (Seemed a bit early for them to be drinking.)    Kyle Schwarber got the Phillies back in it with a drive hitting the top of the outfield wall to drive in two.    In the eighth, the Phillies loaded the bases with 2 outs, but Alex Bohm struck out looking.    9-6 Reds was the final.    I can’t believe the crowd wasn’t booing more.    Even worse for them, since it was a day game, they didn’t even get fireworks afterward.

Meanwhile, I’d brought my portable radio and the ESPN game was the Yankees at the Mets.    If it had been the Cardinals game, that would have been helpful, but this was a pretty good substitute.    Jasson Dominguez led off the game with a homer for the Yanks and Aaron Judge followed him with another to make it, 2-0 Yankees.    The Citi Field crowd gave Juan Soto a big cheer when he came up in the bottom with a man on.    They got to cheer some more when he hit a two-run homer to tie it.    He also doubled in the third and was driven in by Pete Alonso to make it, 3-2 Mets.    However, Cody Bellinger would tie with a solo shot to make it 3 all.

About this time, the Phillies game ended and I picked the Mets game to start watching.    Good call.    They were doing some crowd shots which included a hot girl in a cowboy hat and a tank top, three guys in hot dog outfits, Mr. and Mrs. Met working the crowd, and a fan keeping score in a really nice scorebook.    (I’m jealous.)    There were also a surprising, or maybe not so surprising, large number of Yankees fans in the crowd.

The Yankees took the lead on another Jasson Dominguez home run scoring two this time.    5-3 Yankees.    In the bottom of the fifth, Yankees pitcher, Marcus Stroman had an involved discussion with the umpire, who had gigged him for not engaging in eye contact with the batter before pitching.    This came up a couple of times in Aggie games to the general mockery of the fans.    The opposing managers were already going at the ump over the strikezone (and they were right).   

The Mets hit a home run to make it, 5-4 Yankees in the sixth.    In the seventh, they brought in a new pitcher, Huascar Brazoban.  I just like the name, but he struck out the side in the inning.    In the bottom, Aaron Boone came out to change Yankee pitchers.    He was wearing a Yankees t-shirt, like it’s Casual Day at work.    At some point, I’m anticipating managers going out the mound wearing a bathrobe and slippers.    The change didn’t help.    Jeff McNeil sent one to the second deck with a two-run homer to give the Mets a 6-5 lead.

Former Aggie and current Brewer, Joey Ortiz, was mentioned on the broadcast for hitting a grand slam against the Mets in the last series.    Today, the Mets were short on pitchers.    After good eighth, manager Carlos Mendoza told Reed Garrett that he needed him to go back out in the ninth.    Garrett paced in the dugout for the whole half inning waiting to go back out.    In the ninth, McNeil made a great diving play to get the second out and Garrett had a 1-2-3 inning for the 6-5 Mets win.    Judge was left standing on deck if it hadn’t gone in order.

Let’s keep going.    I joined the Pirates at the Mariners in the seventh with the M’s up, 4-0.    Cal Raleigh hit two homers in the game and his second was a two-run shot to make it, 6-0, which was the final score.    I finally got the name of the Mariners’ Aussie color commentator, Ryan Rowland-Smith, who adds a unique voice to a ballgame.    Him and the play-by-play guy (whose name I missed) were discussing solving a Rubik’s Cube at one point in this shutout win.

Next up, the Rays were at the Twins in the eighth, tied at 3.    This was the only game I noticed today that was poorly attended, even though the weather was lovely.    Maybe it’s the impending sale of the team.    In the ninth, Harrison Bader hit a walk off home run to win it for the Twins, 4-3.    He’s a former Cardinal that was one of Aunt Judy’s favorites.    I texted her the news.

By this point, there were no more games listed, so I watched some Youtube videos, which was a mistake.    I had an early dinner.    Dad had bought hot dogs at the grocery store earlier in the week and had gotten me a fruit and yogurt parfait, which was really good.    The Rangers game did not come on the radio.    Maybe nobody was at the station today to switch to it.    (The Rangers lost, 3-2, to the Padres.    That was probably a pretty good game.)    I checked back on Prime and there were now more games listed, including a Tigers game, but I’d run down the battery and had to quit.

Never fear.    I flipped around on the TV and suddenly found the White Sox playing the Rockies on one station.    The Diamondbacks playing the Royals was in the pregame on another station.    Actually, this was the game I was planning on going over to dad’s to watch before I knew about the free weekend.    I think he likes the Royals.    I saw this game on the TV schedule, but didn’t see the Rockies game.    I also turned the radio back on and the Chihuahuas were about to play the Isotopes for a near sellout game in Albuquerque in front of 12k fans.

I was there for the White Sox scoring the first runs of the game in the fourth, when a bases loaded single brought in two.    The Rockies came back in the fifth as an error on a double brought in their first run and a double brought in another run to tie it.    The Sox left fielder did go through the netting going after a foul.    The crowd in Denver was huge.    They did the wave for the flyaway cam.      

In Phoenix, it was a cool day at just 98-degrees (compared to 120-degrees as usual there).    The Royals got it going early with a three-run homer by Vinnie Pasquantino.    The D-Backs announcers were just talking about how the Royals hadn’t homered in a week.    The D-Backs did answer back with a couple of runs in the bottom.    I wondered where Corbin Carroll was.    He’s rumored to be back soon.   

In the second, the Royals loaded the bases.    There had been two on and an attempted sac bunt was dropped with that runner safe.    Bobby Witt Jr. singled in a run.    Pasquantino and Salvador Perez both brought in runs to make it, 6-2 Royals.   

I was still flipping back-and-forth with the Rockies game.    The White Sox were up, 3-2.    The big crowd was urging on the pitcher in the top of the ninth to hold the score, which he did, but the Rockies failed to score in the bottom.    3-2 White Sox final.    It wasn’t quite dark there, yet.    The fans probably had to wait a little bit for the fireworks show, which the announcers said would be really good.   

I went back home at this point.    Dad was nice enough to drive me up the street, dodging people setting off fireworks on the road.    I put the Chihuahuas game on the radio and the Diamondbacks on the TV.    I’d lost radio signal earlier in the fourth with the pups up a couple of runs.    I resumed with the Chihuahuas up 5-3 in the eighth with the bases loaded.    A hit batter and a walk brought in two runs and two more came in on a single.    It was 10-3 when the inning ended.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty said the large crowd, who had been noisy earlier, was now quiet.

Meanwhile with the Diamondbacks, they were down, 9-2.    The broadcasters became fascinated with the 50/50 raffle, which topped out at $397k.    I saw Baxter the AZ wildcat mascot on top the dugout.    He was wearing American flag pants and a patriotic muscle t-shirt.    In the seventh inning stretch, I got my final God Bless America rendition of the day.    I’m not sure how many of those I watched today.   

I took a 20 minute break to go outside and watch the city fireworks.    My neighbors were also setting off some large, impressive fireworks directly overhead.    (It was scary.)    Ron Marinaccio struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to give the Chihuahuas a 10-6 victory.    The Royals won their game, 9-3.    The D-Backs won the best player name contest with Blaze Alexander coming into the game.    At least the disappointed home town fans got their fireworks shows.    They actually opened the roof in Phoenix for their show.    And I dropped off, exhausted.    Watching multiple games in a day, one at a time, like I was earlier, was definitely the better way to go.     

Baseball Journal July 2025 Part 1

(I've been writing too much this month, so I'm starting early on posting.)

7-1-25

Strangely, I was even busier tonight at work than last night for month end processing.    I was also listening to a debate for much of the evening.    After it was over, I tuned into the Chihuahuas versus the Isotopes late.    The pups came back from being down, 7-2, to tie it in the eighth, but gave up 2 in the bottom to lose 9-7.    Both teams had opportunities late to tack on, but weren’t able to.    There was a great crowd there.    You could hear them.

The MLB.TV Free Game was the White Sox at the Dodgers.    As you’d expect, the Dodgers were an easy winner, 6-1.    Shohei Ohtani homered.    The announcing was terrible.    They were reminding me of peak Yankees broadcasts, where they’re not even watching the game and are barely interested.    “We’re just waiting for the playoffs to get serious about the game call.”    Clayton Kershaw was prominently mentioned.    He’s expected to hit the 3,000 strikeout milestone in his next game.

7-2-25

Our only weekday day game of the month was this afternoon between the Chihuahuas and the Isotopes.    (There is a week off for the All-Star Game this month, so it’s not a full month of games.)    The first pitch was a couple of minutes early.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty was chuckling, but clearly irritated that he didn’t get to give out the lineups before the game.    The early start was for ESPN Sports Center.    They’re broadcasting from 50 states in 50 days and today is New Mexico’s day.    Albuquerque came out in force and over 10,000 showed up for a weekday day game.    Many were under umbrellas.    I’m not sure if those were giveaways.

In the second inning, after Chihuahuas took a 2-0 lead, the Isotopes came back.    The pup’s infield bobbled two double play balls in a row and end up with two errors.    A third DP ball only produced one out due to a speedy runner.    Then there was a third error on a bad throw to second trying to catch a runner stealing.    When the laughing stopped, it was 4-2 Isotopes.

In the top of third, the Chihuahuas left the bases loaded.    That was their last threat of the game.    In the fourth, the Isotopes scored 5 before the first out and two more errors extended the inning.    The Isotopes batted around with only one out.    The big blow was a three-run homer.    The pups brought in their third pitcher of the inning.    The Isotopes sent up 12 batters for 9 runs and a 13-2 lead.   

There was another Chihuahua error in the fifth, which brought it up to six total, a team record.    The offending infielder was biting his glove afterward.    Strangely, there were only 2 unearned runs.    In the sixth, the Isotopes had another three-run homer.    I wasn’t hearing much of the large crowd before, but you could hear them after that one. 18-5 Isotopes was the final.

7-3-25

It was an early Free Weekend on MLB.TV on a Thursday.    What a delightful surprise!    I was busy at work and had had other distractions earlier in the evening, but let’s take time for what’s really important: baseball.    I picked the Tigers and Nationals game first.

Tiger Spencer Torkelson had a huge battle in the first with Nationals pitcher Jake Irwin.    Tork won it was a three-run homer.    Irwin made 38 pitches in the inning.    Things were looking good.    I walked away for a bit and suddenly it was 5-3 Nationals after the first inning.    The Nats had had a three-run homer of their own.   

Tiger Broadcaster Jason Benetti said it looked like a high scoring game.    Unfortunately, it was mostly the Nationals scoring.    Him and Dan Petry were having good time anyway.    The Tigers were not.    They had three errors in the fifth and the Nationals went up, 9-3.    In the seventh, the Tigers came back a bit and scored 2 to force a pitching change to make it, 9-5.    But the Nats carried it in the end, 11-7.

I peeked in at the end of the Brewers at the Mets.    The Mets’ broadcast was doing this weird “Soap Opera” like view with a close up on pitcher side-by-side with the batter at the plate.    I got to see former Aggie great, Joey Ortiz, double, but he was later thrown out at the plate.    He made a great play at short in the game.   

With the Mets up, 3-2, Edwin Diaz came in to the Narco trumpets.    There was a full house cheering in NYC.    Diaz locked it down.    Christian Yelich did get on and stole second, but was out on appeal to kill the rally in the ninth.

The other New York team was playing the Blue Jays in Toronto in front of another full house.    The Jays had a one run lead in the eighth, when George Springer hit a two-run homer to put it away, 8-5.    That was a four-game sweep that knocked the Yankees out of first place and put the Jays in front of them.   

The Cubs and the Indians were scoreless in the top of the sixth.    Neither had scored after 9 innings either.    It didn’t happen until the tenth with the Cubs winning on a sac fly, 1-0.    The Cubs’ coverage said, “They win.    We sing.”    And they showed the crowd singing.    Fly the W flag, guys.

There was a sixth inning “Perfect Game” notice on the game ticker between the Dodgers and the White Sox.    Calling no-hitters and perfect games before seven innings have been played is usually a waste of time.    Indeed, the notice was taken off a minute after it was put up.    The Dodgers sleepwalked to a 6-2 win, much like the Dodgers broadcasters, Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser, sleepwalked though calling the game.    (Okay, that isn’t fair to Orel, but definitely to Joe.)

On the radio, the Chihuahuas and Isotopes’ game start was delayed for rain.    I picked up the coverage after it had started.    Chihuahua Mason McCoy was picked off of third in the fifth.    However, the Isotopes failed in the rundown and the ball went into left field.    Two runs scored to put the Chihuahuas up, 4-2.   

In the sixth, a bad throw on a steal attempt tied the score for the Isotopes.    In the seventh, the pups made a double steal and there was an error on the catcher’s throw. The Chihuahuas went up by 3 and won it, 7-4.    By the ninth, the rain was back and blowing sideways, which had the crowd ducking for cover, but they stayed for the fireworks.

Finally for the night, it was the Royals versus Mariners playing to a full house in Seattle.    The Royals were up 3-1 late when I tuned in.    The M’s got a home run and then got two on with one out.    A wild pitch moved them up.    The crowd was up and cheering.    Julio Rodriguez struck out next.    Cal Raleigh, the MLB home run leader, came up and grounded out.    3-2, Royals win.    Yes, I did get all of my work done, though I did have to stay for a bit after I’d clocked out.

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.