Baseball Journal July 2025 Part 4

7-6-25

Is this Day Four of Baseball Palooza, aka Independence Day Weekend?    If I’d been disappointed by the relative paucity of Baseball content on Memorial Day Weekend, this has more than made up for it.    No hot dogs today.    I talked dad into going out for lunch.    We had a coupon-induced choice of chicken sandwiches at either KFC or Jack-in-the-Box.    We chose Jack, since we hadn’t had them before.    Bottom line: KFC’s sandwiches are better and their fries are much better, but the Jack clerk allowed a substitution for a chocolate shake for dad without extra charge.    Thank you, Jack.

The impossible choices continued back at dad’s apartment.    For the Amazon Prime free games there were two obvious contenders to watch.    The Yankees were playing the Mets and the Tigers were playing the INDIANS!    (Would you prefer me calling them what they are, “The Skinsuit Indians?”    They have the same colors and style, but a different name.)    I deliberated on this for a minute before picking the Tigers.

Good choice.    (Although the other game was good, too.    Some of the other games were interesting, as well, and consequential.    The Nationals lost today and their World Series winning manager and GM were both fired.)    Tarik Skubal was pitching today for the Tigers.    I didn’t know this ahead of time, but I knew it was a possibility.    This was the Cleveland broadcast, but you almost wouldn’t know it from the way they were glazing Skubal.    These guys were definitely from the Vin Scully School of Broadcasting, where you know more about the opposition than they know about themselves.    They were giving detailed technical explanations of Skubal’s pitches.

Regardless, the Indians were on a 9-game losing streak and desperate for a win.    Gavin Williams was matching Skubal.    He only gave up a walk early, while Skubal was giving up nothing.    Our old hirsute friend, Austin Hedges, was catching for him.    He’s batting all of .107, but is there to call a good game.   

In the top of the third, Steven Kwan made a great play jumping into the left field wall for a catch.    In the bottom of the fourth, he got the Indians’ first hit.    He beat out an infield hit before Skubal could cover first.    In the fifth, the Tigers managed a bases loaded threat with two walks and a single with two outs.    Williams got out of it with a strikeout.

Bottom of the fifth, Parker Meadows (love that name) made a great jumping catch in center for the Tigers.    The broadcasters were talking to retired player, Austin Jackson, at the time.    He played for both teams and had made a spectacular catch in the ninth of that near perfect game for Armando Galarraga.    Bottom of the sixth, Kwan is on via a blooper.    It’s the Indians’ second hit of the game.    He’s again left stranded.   

For the top of the seventh, Williams was out after throwing about 100 pitches.    Skubal was still in and had only thrown about 70.    In the bottom of the inning, Angel Martinez doubled with two outs.    A foul tip strikeout ended the inning.    The crowd booed.    Are we in the Philadelphia suddenly?    Meanwhile, I got a scoring update from NYC.    Aaron Judge had homered and the Yankees were up, 5-2.   

You’ll notice I haven’t given a score on this game.    In the bottom of the eighth, Skubal was out.    He’d given up 3 hits, no runs, and had 10 strikeouts.    Hedges got a hit with one out and was replaced with a pinch runner.    That hit was statistically unlikely and that sub would have consequences later.    After a walk, there was Kwan again.    He doubled in the runner.    The crowd of 31k finally had something to cheer.    A new pitcher came in.    He got a strikeout.    Slugger Jose Ramirez was given a pass to load the bases, but Carlos Santana was out on a popup.    1-0 Indians.

For the top of the ninth, closer Emmanuel Clase came in.    He hit the first batter, but then got a fly out.    A pinch runner was called out trying to steal second, but the call was overturned.    A ground out off mound followed.    The runner advanced to third.    There was a crowd shot.    They were on their feet.    There were a few Indians shirts mixed in.   

And then the unexpected.    A wild pitch went through replacement catcher, Bo Naylor’s, legs to the backstop.    (Would Hedges have stopped that one?    Actually, Bo is the regular catcher.    Hedges is the backup.)    The runner trotted home to tie it.    A looking strikeout ended the inning.    1-1.    One of the broadcasters said, “We go to extras . . . err . . . the bottom of the ninth.”    I think he was questioning the team’s ability to score and assuming the worst.   

Well, Angel Martinez doubled to start the inning.    The next batter bunted him over to third.    Oh wait, that would have been the game winning call.    Instead, the batter swung away on every pitch and popped up.    Why were the broadcasters not questioning this?    Nope, the Indians didn’t score.    Now we go to extras.

We were in the tenth.    The Yankees and the Mets were in the seventh with the pinstripes up, 6-4.    We were all surprised for a final time by what happened next.    The inning began with an automatic runner and the first batter singled.    Trey Sweeney then hit a big foul ball to left . . . that hit the foul pole!    Three-run homer!    The next batter got on via an overturned call, the third of the game.   

A “Let’s go Tigers!” chant went through the park, as Indians fans started deserting. There were plenty of Detroit fans there.    Riley Greene then hit a two-run homer.    That’s six runs before even the first out.    A comebacker then hit the pitcher and he had to come out adding injury to insult.    The Tigers finished the inning up, 7-1.    Reminder, this game was scoreless through seven-and-a-half innings.           

In the bottom, Kwan, our player of the game, drove in a run on a sacrifice.    The remaining Indians fans sarcastically cheered.    7-2 Tigers was the final.    This was the game of the weekend, as far as I’m concerned.    Sorry to the Indians.    That was a hard luck loss for their tenth in a row.

The Yankees broke their 6-game losing streak by beating the Mets today, 6-4.    I turned over to that game right after and only saw part of the bottom of the ninth.    I was there in time to see Mets manager, Carlos Mendoza, get ejected for violently arguing balls and strikes.    The Mets announcers thought he was right.    (Upon replay, he was right.)   

The Queens crowd was capacity and into it.    A “Let’s go Mets!” chant broke out.    Mr. Met was taking in the game from behind home plate.    He had a fan was fanning a young lady next to him.    A strikeout ended the game.    Juan Soto was left on deck.    This maybe makes up for the Yankees for a story that I read earlier.    Judge had gotten hit in the face yesterday on a ball tossed by a teammate.    He was wearing a band aid over the cut.

Decisions, decisions.    Well, I like the Rockies, so I went with their game with the White Sox.    It was 4-4 in the fifth.    I was there in time to see a Rockies runner thrown out at the plate, but no problem.    Michael Toglia came up and hit a two-run homer.    The Rockies scored 4 in the inning and took a 6-4 lead.   

There was a stirring rendition of God Bless America for the Stretch by an airman.    Seriously, I’ve never this song so many times over three days.  Mickey Moniak got a hit in the bottom of the seventh.    The Rockies’ announcers broke into a half-hearted, “Oh, Mickey, you’re so fine.”    I guess this is a running gag.    They managed to load the bases, but Ryan McMahon struck out.   

Rockies backup catcher, Hunter Goodman, was named to the All-Star Game reserves during the inning.    This was then announced to the crowd and the broadcasters talked to him in the next inning.    Meanwhile, a hand held camera followed a souvenir helmet with ice cream that was delivered to a hardworking cameraman covering the field.    In the ninth, the broadcasters were discussing a possible injury, “There’d be some tears for that.    That could break your wrists and hurt your feelings.”    6-4 Rockies win.

There was one free game left still going on. It was between the Pirates at the Mariners.    It was in the seventh, with the M’s up, 1-0, on a Randy Arozarena solo homer.    The M’s were wearing their faux 90’s throwbacks: blue with gold trim on a cream colored uniform.    They are extremely sharp, but I question the lack of player names on the back.    I barely tolerate the Yankees and Red Sox doing it.    (For the Yankees, it’s because no name on the back is going to be bigger than the name on the front.    I don’t know what the Red Sox excuse is.)

It was a probably rare cloudless day in Seattle with the roof open.    A full house was present.    Mariner pitcher, George Kirby, was taken out after giving a hit.    He left with 9 strikeouts.    The next batter hit a little infield popup.    It was dropped by the second baseman.    An out was called and I thought it was an infield fly, but the ump came on and declared it an “intentional drop.”    Batter out and dead ball.    It’s different from an infield fly because the fielder actually caught it.    Learn something new about baseball every day.

I got to see Aggie great, Nick Gonzales, in the ninth, unfortunately it was for a strikeout.    Mariners win, 1-0.    Kirby outdueled Paul Skenes today.    Even more surprising, the Mariners had swept the series with three shutouts.    This was after the Pirates had swept their previous series against the Cardinals with three shutouts.    The M’s broadcasters said this was the first time this had happened in MLB history.    I’ll take their word for it.

I returned home.    Dad was likely glad to be rid of me after three days of non-stop baseball.    I didn’t make a bigger fan out of him.    I might have turned him into an anti-fan.   

While waiting for a final couple of games on the radio, I tuned in briefly to a US/Mexico championship soccer match.    They were playing Houston, so it wasn’t a home game for the US.    (It wouldn’t be a home game for the Americans if they were playing on the moon.)    There was a heavy smoke over the field from an indoor fireworks display, which I missed.    Even with the US team up, 1-0, early, I wasn’t into it.    Of course, the Mexicans scored 2 and won, 2-1.    The US soccer team is, as usual, a bunch of losers, and Mexico still sucks no matter how many soccer games they win.

The Chihuahuas did not come on, except for a quick message that the game was in a weather delay in Albuquerque.    I couldn’t get the Rangers game with the Padres to come in.    I’d have to wait until after sundown and try another station.    I tried to keep monitoring the Chihuahuas, but after 90 minutes, I missed the start by maybe 20 minutes.

By the time tuned in, the Isotopes were up 3-0 lead in the first.    Also, as the sun went down and the radio station powered down, I was getting lousy reception.    I kind of mentally tuned out.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty reported that the Padres and Rangers were tied at 1 in the fourth.    A couple of Chihuahuas were in the game.    He then reported it was 3-1 Padres a minute later.    He was later confused that the score was then 2-1.    The Rangers’ broadcast would later explain that a run was taken off upon review.

In the fifth, the Chihuahuas finally scored, as Mason McCoy drove in 2 to make it, 4-2. That’s about it until the ninth.    With a runner on, a high fly ball was knocked down by the wind.    It would have tied it if it had gone out.    Isotopes win, 4-2.

I found the Rangers game and unlike last night, this time it was coming in.    Actually, it was better reception than the Chihuahuas, so I should have tried earlier.    All I heard was the last couple of outs, as the Padres won, 4-1.    You could hear the sellout 40k there in San Diego.    From the postgame, Fernando Tatis Jr. did everything and was the hero.

How many games was that over a four-day period?    [Edit: It was 26.]    This might beat my previous record from Memorial Day 2019.    Am I feeling guilt and shame for “wasting” my three-day weekend?    If I can figure out what I would have done instead of this, maybe.    Am I tired of baseball after all of this?    No, I’m hoping I can watch more tomorrow.   

Comics Review: Record of Lodoss War: The Crown of the Covenant

I’ve looked over the large manga section at B&N several times, but not seen anything I wanted to get involved with.    A couple of weeks ago, I saw a video about Sword World.  (Actually, this isn't the video I'd watched.  I can't find it.  There's stuff about Sword Word at the end of this.)    It’s the Japanese version of D&D.    It’s sort of an explanation why there’s so much D&D-inspired manga and anime, but D&D isn’t popular in Japan.    Lodoss is one of those inspired series.    I happened to see this book and that it was a new storyline, so I thought it was a purchasable coincidence. A very long time ago, I think I rented a Lodoss video, so I think I’ve seen it. That’s my only relation to it.   

I guess I should speak a little about Sword World, though the current version doesn’t really have much to do with this manga. There a website featuring a huge amount of game materials translated into English. I downloaded and looked over a bunch of it. In short, this probably isn’t the RPG system you’re looking for. I found the latest version slightly incomprehensible. It only uses d6’s, but don’t mistake that for a lack of complexity. It’s like D&D, but you’re like, “What’s with all the rest of this stuff?” I might compare it to D&D 5e, but with charts and flowcharts. The Starter Rules Set is maybe a little more understandable.

What are its unique points? You can play as a Tabbit. That’s a humanoid rabbit. No, they’re like cute little rabbit halflings, not giant green rabbits, like Jaxxon from the Star Wars comic books, you freak. You can be a Lycant (not pronounced like it looks) and be a wolf person. You can also play as Runefolk, which are sort like Blade Runner Replicants and Eberron Constructs. There are guns and I think they’re considered magic weapons doing magical damage. And this is just the basic rules. There’s two huge supplements with it.

There is a default setting of Raxia. It’s pretty well detailed. I don’t think there’s any encouragement for doing your own setting. There are also whole campaigns and adventures available, though they’re not quite what you’re used to. These are a set of instructions on how to run the adventures with little regard for deviation, or even interaction, apart from rolling reactions on a table. It’s much more methodical than what most gamers would call a “railroad.” (There’s a literal magical railroad connecting areas of the continent, again like Eberron.) Some of these campaigns were structured to where they give rules on how to run them as solo adventures.

I also got a previous version of the rules, though probably not the original set of rules. This was much more 3e inspired with multiclassing. Halflings, called, “Grassrunners” (for some reason), were a core character class. (They’re in a supplement in the current version.) This version is tied to Lodoss. The island is on the setting’s world map as “Island of the Damned.” It isn’t the main adventuring area. There’s a much larger continent to the north. I skimmed a bunch of Sword World material; I’m not a scholar on it. The current version might also be part of the setting, but I can’t find a continental map of Raxia in the books. (I might just be missing it.)

Overall, I’d put Sword World on the level of interesting inspirational material, but not a replacement game system over whatever you’re using now. In the setting, all of the characters (for the most part) are members of an Adventurers Guild that accept missions for money and there’s plenty of opportunities on Raxia. If you like the setting, it could be used with your favorite game system fairly easily, since most of it is borrowed from D&D. (Just stat out Tabbits as halflings with fur and extra cuteness.)

Okay, back to the manga. The iconic Deedlit appears on the cover, which is an immediate attractor to anyone with even a passing familiarity of the Japanese take on European fantasy. And it brings up the question: How do you sleep with those ears?

This volume is mostly all setup for the series. Lodoss has been at peace, but now one of the kingdoms, Flaim, is getting ready to invade the other kingdoms. The small island of Marmo has lost their king. The eldest prince has refused the crown. His three younger brothers have a conference to decide what to do.

Alucia will take the crown and defend the kingdom.

Zayd will rebel against his brother and flee to Flaim to join their cause.

Lastly, Lyle, the idealist, will attempt to find the eternal maiden, Deedlit, and the Knight of Lodoss, to rally the other countries to fight Flaim.

It’s complex and pretty well thought out. By the end, Zayd is in the Flaim military and is off to war. Lyle finds Deedlit and convinces her to join him on a quest to restore peace.

Map from the manga.

Map from the older Sword World edition. You can see Lodoss in the lower center.

This was labelled as a special Barnes & Noble edition. I don’t know what was special about it over than a little color section at the beginning. There was also an afterward from the creator, who is a big fan of the original.

So, what do I think? The artwork is okay, but nothing spectacular. The characters are interesting and the cast isn’t overwhelming in size to this point. The story is interesting and detailed, though not terribly original. Like I said, this book just sets the table. There’s some minor action, but this is mostly exposition.

It’s enough to kind of make me want to read more, maybe not enthusiastically. If I knew how many volumes this was going to be I could make a more informed decision. This is one reason why I’ve been reluctant to get back into manga. Reading a long form serialized tale that likely has an ending point (granted, that might be after a hundred volumes) is attractive, but it makes you reluctant to just try a random book. I’ll mentally debate getting more. (Two more volumes are available now.) If you’re a Lodoss fan already, you might want in on this. If not, but you like Japanese fantasy, you might want to give it a try.

Comics Review: Batman: Hush

For the Juneteenth holiday last month, I decided to take a short 100-degree walk over to the mall for some shopping.    The guy running the GNC was about to put up a “Back in an hour” sign, before I caught him and made a quick purchase.    Over at the Barnes & Noble, I found a bargain.    I decided to pass on a $55 X-Men trade and instead bought a $35 Batman: Hush trade and a $13 Record of Lodoss War manga.    I think I saved money.    I’d actually went for the X-Men, but this is the second time I’ve passed on it.    Hush is pretty awesome-looking and I couldn’t resist.    (I’ve reviewed Jim Lee’s artwork on it in an art book.)  I invested my “savings” into a snow cone at a new stand in the mall and returned home (in the 100-degree heat).   

Batman: Hush

I’d hoped I’d be doing a gushing review of Hush. I’d be glazing Jim Lee’s artwork and Jeph Loeb’s masterful storytelling. I’ll do half of that right now; the artwork is tremendous. It speaks for itself. I’ll be addressing the story for the rest of this post. Bottom line, I’m severely disappointed.

The garage in the Batcave is somewhat ridiculous, but cool. As noted in the annotations, the Giant Penny and the T Rex do appear in the background in a panel.

Essentially, Hush has Batman interacting with several members of his rogues gallery and his own allies. There is a mystery stringing the encounters together as Batman tries to figure out who is out to get him. The running subplot is Batman’s developing romance with Catwoman.

Harley isn’t exactly the captain of the sharpshooting team.

Where does this go wrong? The interactions are just a series of cameos and pointless fight scenes. The mystery is unsatisfying in plot and resolution. On top of this, a dysfunctional, to say the least, romance is added between two unlikeable characters. It’s not smart. It’s not romantic. It’s just a bunch of cool drawings.

Lois Lane has never looked better.

I feel like I might be selling the story short. Maybe I should go back and reread it. Maybe it’s one of those stories where you can only see how clever it is after you reread it. No, it’s not. Centrally, Hush is a cypher. He’s a not a character, as much as a plot device, and he’s not much of one, and he’s a clumsy retcon on top of it. Hush knows all about Bruce Wayne as a childhood friend and wants revenge because Bruce’s father, a surgeon, saved his mother after a car accident. He’d engineered the accident to kill her and his father, because wanted to be an orphan. He envied Bruce when he lost his parents. And then he somehow found out that Bruce was Batman and then he put on a trenchcoat and put bandages on head and . . . My head hurts, too.

Hush isn’t even somehow the “mastermind” of this “plot.” He doesn’t have any interesting mania or powers. So, if this is your main villain, the whole story isn’t going to work. Hush sure isn’t the mastermind. He had Bruce on an operating table for brain surgery and fixed him. For some reason, there’s a Hush 2 scheduled for next year (2026). This character does not merit a comeback.

If you were following this as a serial month-by-month, I can see where you’d be drawn into reading this (poor pun) and hanging on the mystery. Reading it all at once in a trade, the story is a mess and mercifully stumbles to a halt at the end. Too bad they limited themselves to only a year-long story, they missed out on jamming in more Batman villains and allies. I don’t think you’ll see Hush as the basis of a future Batman movie any time soon without major changes to the story. There was an animated version made of this. I’d like to see it, though fan reaction was mixed. They thought it diverged too much from the source material. That actually encourages me.

Moreover, the characters in this story are written mostly unlikeable and uninteresting. This is a difficult feat to accomplish given how many iconic characters are in this story. Certainly, I’m a fan of several of them. I’m actually not a Joker admirer, but his use in this was almost criminal (sorry, again) in its pointlessness. Somehow, Hush and his handler got most of Batman’s villains to go along with a scheme to . . . destroy Batman? They’ve all already got individual reasons to get Batman. There’s no need for a scheme.

I feel like Batman’s villains should really not get along at all and never knowingly be pawns in somebody else’s plans. If they worked together, they could easily kill Batman and takeover Gotham, but they’re all nuts and/or are powerful by themselves. His enemies should be, on some level, as lone wolf crazy as he is.

I guessed after Issue 1 that the mastermind was, of course, Condiment King. The scenes with the ketchup and the mustard and the fast food locales were obvious clues. Oh, spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read this. Hush has been around for a while, it’s okay. Who else would it have been? The Riddler? That’d be silly. There was no build up for that.

There are various red herrings. Harvey Dent/Two-Face has had plastic surgery from Hush to finally repair his face, which changes his motivations. President Lex Luther makes an ominous appearance. There is a fake out encounter with a resurrected “Jason Todd/Robin II.” That ends up being a loose end that’s resolved in a future story. Actually, there’s a couple of fake outs with Clayface. (I don’t know why he was going along with this scheme so deeply.) These would have been great twists in a better mystery.

The romance flat doesn’t work in this because Catwoman is completely unlovable and not hot enough to be desirable in spite of it. She has the personality of your wife right before she divorces you. Selina admittedly cleans up nice when you get her out of the gimp suit. That’s it. Does Batman have a leather fetish? Because otherwise, I have no idea why he’s chasing this woman? She has a lousy personality, a sketchy background, and all of the loyalty of an actual cat. (Which explains why she leaves him at the altar in an infamous future story.)

Batman, seriously pal, when you take off your cowl, you’re billionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne. You can have pretty much have any woman you want. Bruce should be going out with Sydney Sweeney. Catwoman is settling for a bad idea workplace romance. If you really wanted Catwoman, why didn’t you pursue her when she was drawn much more attractively by Jim Balent? (“She’s anatomically ridiculous for someone who does all those acrobatics.” Interesting that no one ever seems to complain about male anatomy.)

Frankly, Batman is no prize, either. He has a one-note personality. (It’s sort of a Hans Zimmer doom chord.) People who say that Batman is their favorite character haven’t read the comic in a while. His only spark of passion are the captions of his thoughts where he’s obsessing over Catwoman. You know, take that to the extreme and you’d have a more interesting story. It would at least explain why he wants her: he’s crazy (literally) about her.

If Batman’s going to be with anyone in this, it should be Talia, Ra’s al Ghul’s daughter. He already has a kid with her and she’s crazy about him (literally) and she’s also crazy hot. (In-laws always bring problems. Ra’s as a father-in-law is a wash.) At least she loves him. Catwoman just wants a simp to abuse.

This sketch is totally cool. I wish Hush had been more like this without Catwoman as Batman’s ersatz partner. I’m taking shots at what is considered to be a classic Batman story. I really should offer an alternative vision. Hush should have been a known ally or reformed villain who knows Batman’s secrets. This person would be behind the scenes plotting to destroy Batman’s and Bruce Wayne’s reputation by manipulating various villains and allies and incapacitating anyone completely loyal to him. Finally, when Batman is friendless and without any support, this person reveals himself and strikes.

I’d posit Talia as the culprit and her goal is to drive Bruce into her arms and to take over her father’s organization. (Wait, did they already do that story? A couple of times? Maybe there’s a reason they had to make up a new villain.) The Riddler actually reformed at one point. It could be him. What if it was Oracle gone bad? What if it’s a scheme by Catwoman to get Batman to fall in love with her? (Okay, nobody thinks she’s smart enough to pull off an elaborate scheme that isn’t a heist.) You know, I’ve always been a little suspicious of Leslie Thompkins. It could be her and Alfred as a geriatric diabolical duo!

You can still keep the romance angle. During this trial, Batman reveals his secret identity to Catwoman, and she ends up being the only one who unexpectedly stands by him. Sure, this would be a complex story that you’d have to plot out completely in advance. You couldn’t do this story with vague intentions and making up an ending at the last minute, like Hush read like.

This edition includes story notes with Loeb and Lee. Loeb wanted to have Poison Ivy and Catwoman making out. The editors vetoed that one. And, Loeb wanted a scene with Batman and Catwoman having sex with their masks on. Lee vetoed that one. There’s an extensive section of additional art and sketches, which are pretty cool. Lee, for some reason, felt he had to explain the Huntress’ new outfit.

I really did not get Hush with the intention of crapping on it. I am so disappointed. Was I expecting too much given the reverence this story generates? Again, it’s a nice picture book, but the story and characters are terrible. If you haven’t read Hush, you might be better off not, so you can still consider it a classic.

Baseball Journal July 2025 Part 3

7-5-25

Back for more?    Sure!    I was back at dad’s and this time, we’d get the Cardinals at the Cubs.    Yesterday, I’d had dad send an unhappy picture of me in my Cardinals hat to Aunt Judy, since we couldn’t watch the game.    This time I had him send a happy picture of me.   

It was a beautiful day in Chicago with a full house at Wrigley field.    There was a wind blowing out, but not as bad as yesterday when the Cubs set a franchise record with 8 home runs.    The Cards were wearing the blue pajamas today.    They didn’t look too bad, but I’m generally against the 70’s throwback all blues for any team.    Nolan Arenado was scratched from the Cardinals’ lineup today.

In the top of the first, the Cards loaded the bases with one out and scored 2 on a single.    The Cubs did the same in the bottom, but without scoring any runs.    This was the Cubs’ broadcast.    They showed Pete Crow-Armstrong giving the stadium workers a pep talk during their pregame meeting.    They were actually thrilled.    He also saluted the fans when he went to the outfield to take his position.    PCA is already a fan-favorite.

In the bottom of the second, they were talking about Michael Busch hitting three home runs yesterday.    He came up and did it again.    It was a solo shot to center to make it 2-1 Cubs.    A fan in the bleachers caught the ball and was jumping up and down with it.    Nolan Gorman came back in the fourth with a solo shot to make it, 3-1 Cardinals.    They did have quite a few fans there.    In the bottom, the Cubs got two on with no outs.    They were moved over on a wild pitch.    The lead runner got thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice.    After a double steal, another FC brought in a run to make it, 3-2.

Also in Chicago today was an Xfinity NASCAR race, which I turned the TV over to.    Road course ringer, Shane Van Ginsberg was on pole.    On the radio, the ESPN game was the Yankees at the Mets.    In the first, Brandon Nimmo started off with a bang, as he hammered a grand slam home run to put the Mets up, 4-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Cubs scored 2 on a blooper and a wild pitch.    The Cardinals brought in a new pitcher.    The bases were loaded with two outs and PCA struck out.    He slammed his bat down in disgust, but the Cubs were up, 4-3.    Cub great Fergie Jenkins led the crowd for the Stretch and they were totally into it.    Inspired, Carson Kelly homered in the bottom of the seventh to make it, 5-3 Cubs.   

The Cardinals started a comeback in the eighth with a solo home run.    With one on and one out, the Cubs’ pitcher and catcher collided on a nubber in front of the plate to put another runner on.    Pinch hitter, Yohel Pozo cashed them in with a three-run shot out on to Waveland Avenue.    After a five-run inning, it was 8-5 Cards.

Dad and I were watching the neighbor’s dogs and dad was lying on the floor with them.    He likes them a lot (me, too).    In the bottom of the eighth, the Cubs got a runner on via a Catcher’s Interference call.    Seiya Suzuki doubled him in to make it, 8-6 Cardinals, but that would be the final score.    Aunt Judy finally replied back to my picture.    She’d just started watching the game on delay.    We couldn’t say anything about the game, because she doesn’t like having it spoiled.

Meanwhile in Queens, Jazz Chisholm and Austin Wells had solo home runs for the Yankees, but the Mets were still up, 5-2.    I thought about bringing the game up on Amazon Prime, but instead went to the Rays at the Twins, because it was in the ninth and tied.    It was over when I went to it.    A bunt had brought in the winning run for the Twins, 6-5.   

I opted next for the Orioles at the Braves, where it was 5-3 O’s in the fourth.    The Braves were in their 70’s throwbacks (the cool ones, not the blue pajamas).    The Braves tied it up in their half of the inning, but the go-ahead run was thrown out at the plate.    Back to New York, Cody Bellinger doubled in two runs for the Yankees to make it, 7-4 Mets.       

On TV, SVG took Stage 1 of the Chicago race.    The coverage did a drone overflight of Wrigley Field and gave the final score.    Later, with 9 laps to go, Connor Zilisch had worked his way from the back to the lead, in front of SVG and Stage 2 winner, Sheldon Creed.    There was a late caution and SVG got ahead of Zilisch for the win on the restart.    SVG did an impressive burnout on track.    Checking my e-mail (why not?), the daily MLB e-mail had a story about the Single-A Greensboro Grasshoppers throwing a combined perfect game.    That’s interesting enough, but former Aggie, Titus Dumitru, homered in the win.       

In the bottom of the seventh in NYC, Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer, his second homer of the game.    The Mets won it, 12-6.    The Yankees have now lost six in a row.    The Braves game was tied after 9 and went to the tenth.    The O’s scored 3 and won, 9-6.    Though this game went to extras, I’m still not sure I made the right choice as to what game to watch.    The Braves broadcasters were kind of lifeless.

I had no trouble picking the next game, the Tigers at the INDIANS!    Actually, I thought the game was further along than it was when I went to it, but it had just started.    The iPad battery was low, but I thought I could squeeze in one more game.    I wasn’t sure if dad wanted to put up with watching another full game.    Interestingly, this was the Fox national game feed and not an MLB.TV game.    I didn’t know Amazon Prime broadcast Fox games.    Jason Benetti, the regular Tigers broadcaster, was calling the game for Fox.    Tonight, he wasn’t having as much fun as he was when I was listening Thursday night.                               

I joined the game in the top of the second.    I found out Tiger Gleyber Torres was slightly injured in the first inning.    Spencer Torkelson hit a solo shot while the broadcasters were interviewing Tarik Skubal in the dugout.    We didn’t know at the time what a big deal that was.    Skubal also almost got hit by a foul ball during the interview and let out a curse word.    In the fourth, Tork hit one off the left field fence, which Steven Kwan played perfectly and kept it to a single.

I was looking at Youtube on dad’s phone and saw that the Savannah Bananas were on.    They were playing to a full house in Fenway Park.    What I saw was fun with lots of audience participation.    They invited a few retired Red Sox to play with them.    Brock Holt fouled out to a fan in his at bat.    As per their rules, a fan catching a flyball is an out.    The ESPN broadcasters were wondering if the fan was a Red Sox fan.

Casey Mize threw a shutout through 7 innings.    In his last inning, the Indians got a runner to second, but Mize got a foul out to end the threat.    In the ninth, the Tigers loaded the bases with one out, but Tork hit into a double play.    In the bottom of the ninth, Tommy Kahnle faced the heart of the Cleveland lineup.    He got the first two outs, gave up a walk, and ended the game with a strikeout after a battle.    You’ll notice I haven’t been giving the score.    It was 1-0 Tigers.    I forgot to even write it down.   

I’d tuned into the Chihuahuas at the Isotopes game on the radio during the Tigers game.    The pups were up 1-0 in the second when I turned it on.    Between the Tigers and looking in at the Bananas, I wasn’t paying much attention to it.   

I went back home after the Tigers game and just listened to the Chihuahuas.    It was a tight game until the eighth when it was 3-1 Chihuahuas.    The pups blew it open with 7 runs.    Things started to get weird with the Isotopes lineup during this.    I had trouble following this with low reception.    They lost their DH position when they switched catchers.    Then they did a double switch to bring in a position player to pitch.   

None of that maneuvering helped.    The pups ended up scoring 9 runs in the inning and it was 12-1.    The large Albuquerque crowd waiting for fireworks was not happy.    In the bottom of the eighth, in spite of all changes, the Isotopes’ pitcher still ended up batting.    In the bottom of the ninth, the Isotopes did not give up.    They scored a couple of runs and loaded the bases, which forced a pitching change to preserve a 12-3 Chihuahuas win.    As I saw on the TV news, the two teams were in their Copa uniforms with the Chihuahuas as the Margaritas and Isotopes as the Mariachis.

       

I turned over to the Rangers and Padres playing a very late game.    The reception was iffy and crossed up with another station and kept fading in and out.    I heard Kyle Higashioka drive in his fifth run of the game for the Rangers and it was 7-4 in the seventh inning.   

There was drama in the bottom of the ninth.    Luis Arraez got hit by a hit pitch, but swung and fouled it off.    He got on anyway to load the bases.    A new pitcher came in and got a ground ball out to end it, 7-4 Rangers.    It was a sellout crowd there in San Diego.    And I was done for the day.