Baseball Journal August 13-15, 2018

8-13-18

It was a perfect storm.  I was overwhelmed at work and I walked into four baseball games on TV and radio.  Simply, the work overcame me, along with some equipment issues, and I basically only got peeks in on the games and missed a bunch.  The multiple games were my fault at least, as were my scattered notes.  All the games inconveniently overlapped each other.  I’ll take each of them separately. 

My first game of the night was actually by happenstance.  The TV in the breakroom had been left on, so I flipped over to see who the Diamondbacks were playing.  It was Rangers.  While the Chihuahuas’ game that was on was more important to me, I couldn’t resist actually watching a game in Arlington.  It was 4-3 Texas in the seventh when I came in.  Zack Greinke just came out.  Robinson Chirinos had hit a three-run homer earlier, along with a Ronald Guzman solo shot.  The D-Backs’ announcers were impressed with the Rangers’ power.

They mentioned a curious roster fact that Arizona was carrying three catchers, while the Rangers only had one official catcher in Chirinos.  Isiah Kiner-Falefa is their backup, and he’s good, but he also plays at other positions.  Chirinos drove in Adrian Beltre in the eighth to make it 5-3 Rangers, which was the final.  I missed the ninth.  That’s pretty much how my night went.  The stadium and the fans had a classy moment in the eighth.  Jake Diekman, who was traded to the D-Backs from the Rangers at the trade deadline, was warming up in the bullpen.  When he got up, his Ranger highlights were played on screen and he got a nice ovation from the crowd.

Hey, I wonder what’s on the MLB Network?  I thought as the Ranger game went to a commercial.  It was the premier matchup of the night between the Giants and Dodgers with Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw facing each other.  Though the game was in Los Angeles, they were carrying the Giants’ feed, which included Jon Miller doing the announcing.  How I would have loved to have watched this game, but I couldn’t.

Bumgarner went six innings and gave up two runs, while Kershaw went eight with one run.  I stepped in to the breakroom in the top of the ninth.  The Dodgers were up 2-1 with two outs and two on.  The Giants just loaded the bases when I stepped back out for a minute.  (On Twitch, Dizzykitten was playing with one of her cats onscreen and I couldn’t look away.)  When I came back, the Giants had just taken the lead on a pinch hit single by Nick Huntley.  After another single and an error, it was 5-2 Giants, which would be the final.  Dodger fans were devastated.  They had all been standing and clapping when the Giants were down to their last strike.       

Meanwhile, the Chihuahuas were playing the Bees in Salt Lake.  This series was the last meeting between these two teams who are at the top of their division.  Not being able to listen at my other workstation caused me to miss the beginning of the game.  I picked a good moment to start listening in the third with two on and two outs.  Luis Urias got knocked down by a pitch, but came back swinging on the next.  Urias hustled an infield hit into a single.  Auston Bousfield on second, who was off with the pitch, managed to score for the first run of the game. 

The Bees managed to score twice in the fifth to make it 2-1.  In the eighth, while I was distracted by Dizzy and posting to my blog, I heard Francisco Mejia hit a home run to give the Chihuahuas the lead, 3-2.  I’d missed Urias hitting a sacrifice to tie it earlier. 

The game wasn’t over yet.  In the bottom of the eighth, pups’ starter Jerry Keel came out.  TJ Weir was in with two on and one out.  There was a mound visit during which the PA played Stand by Your Man.  Weir got two outs and got out of it.  In the ninth though, Weir was left in for a second inning and got one out, but the Bees made a successful comeback.  They tied it, and then won it in a walkoff.  4-3 Bees.  I was too busy with work to be sad.

I still had another game option.  The MLB.TV free game was the Padres versus the Angels.  It was audio-only and in the eighth, but I went ahead and listened.  Ted Leitner was again not doing the commentary, but Jessie Agler and Tony Gwynn Jr. were.  I’m not sure what his playing status is, but Gwynn sounds just like his old man.  What I heard of him, I liked.  On the subject of high fastballs, he said, “It’s like Chocolate Mousse.  It looks so good, but it’s so bad for you.”       

  

Just as I tuned in, Justin Upton robbed Eric Hosmer of a home run at the wall.  He stole it from a fan even.  However, it worked as a sacrifice and brought in the tying run for the Padres to make it 2-2.  Upton led off the ninth with a double, but fan-favorite (judging by the cheers of the San Diego crowd) Kirby Yates struck out the next three batters, including Albert Pujols. 

In the tenth, the Angels mounted a rally.  Christian Villanueva made a great throw to Freddie Galvis covering third to get the lead runner there.  Shohei Ohtani came in as a pinch hitter.  I left the room and it was 6-2 Angels when I came back.  Okay.  Hosmer got his homer in the bottom, but 6-3 Angels was the final.  Oh, to have gotten so much baseball tonight and to have it be all so unsatisfying.  Even the results I liked, I didn’t get to see the end of the game.  We’ll hope for a better day tomorrow. 

8-14-18

Yeah, I pretty much did the same thing again today.  At least I got caught up with my work.  I should have listened to the Chihuahuas again, but I knew the Rangers and the Diamondbacks were playing on TV and couldn’t resist.  Of course, what I also couldn’t do was sit down and watch very much.  It was 5-1 D-Backs in the sixth.  Elvis Andrus got a hit and I’d never heard this over the radio before, but the PA in Arlington played an Elvis Presley fanfare right after.  It was awesome. 

The Rangers managed to score a couple of runs to make it 5-3.  Joey Gallo struck out to end the inning.  One of the Arizona commentators noted that the pitcher could throw to that low and away spot a hundred times and Gallo would never hit it.  I can believe that.  I saw Roughned Odor make a great dive and toss to second for a force out to end the inning in the eighth and save a run, but that was about all.  6-4 D-Backs was the final.  Jon Jay, in the gray AZ pjs had the snazziest light blue shoes to with them.

The Cardinals and the Nationals were playing in the MLB.TV free game earlier in the evening.  I still didn’t get to see more than a glimpse.  I couldn’t even write my Aunt Judy to see if she was watching the game back in Missouri.  Matt Adams came to the plate for the Nats when I started watching.  Yadier Molina delayed the game for a minute so that the crowd could applaud the former Cardinal.  I missed Cardinal pitcher John Gant getting his first hit, a home run, but I did see an usher negotiating for the ball. 

In the eighth, I saw Bryce Harper hit a high and away pitch to the opposite field for a homer.  Marcel Ozuna in left field stood there in shock after watching it go out.  Yadi just sat there on a knee at the plate like a statue as Bryce trotted by and patted him on the shoulder.  The Cards won 6-4.  That’s seven in a row for them, but they’re still in third in the Central.

I listened to a bit of Flying Squirrels playing the Baysox.  They were in the middle of a double header and they were playing to see who would be in last place in their division.  It was kind of sad.

I came into the actually-important-to-me Chihuahuas versus Bees game late and did a poor job of listening.  I basically missed all the scoring, but here it is.  Javy Guerra hit a two-run homer in the third and Ty France doubled in a run to make it 3-0.  In the bottom, the Bees came back to make it 3-2.  It was Javy again in the fourth with a fielder’s choice RBI to make it 4-2.  The Bees came back again with a homer, 4-3.  Luis Urias scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh to make it 5-3.

Okay, I was really listening the ninth (sort of).  Francisco Mejia doubled and Allen Craig drove him in to make it 6-3.  In the bottom, the Bees got two on with one out.  Jabari Blash, I think leading the league in home runs, came out on deck to pinch hit and the crowd roared.  Travis Radke came in to face him in his Triple-A debut.  He got him out on one pitch and got the save.  Nice going.  The Chihuahuas won 6-3.  One more game in Salt Lake to see if the pups can expand their lead in the division.

8-15-18

There was just one game on today for me, so there was no excuse for me not to concentrate on the big rubber game between the Chihuahuas and the Bees tonight.  (“Big rubber?”)  Of course, I was still being bombarded with actual work while at work (the nerve) and my attention just wasn’t there.  Also, it seemed like the Chihuahuas were doing all of their scoring while I out of earshot.  The good news was that they scored plenty tonight, but the downside was that I didn’t get to hear it.

Actually the only thing I got to completely hear on the radio (an actual radio, not an Internet stream) was the first Aggie Coaches Show for the school year.  It was good to hear Adam Young again talking about NM State.  He had football coach Doug Martin on for most of the hour.  The coach seemed very cautiously optimistic about the team.  I didn’t realize their season started early next week.  They’re at home and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN 2.  Yes, I’d like to go, but it likely won’t happen unless I can go with someone.  While the team went 2-2 and I froze my butt off at times going with Ron a couple of years ago, I did enjoy the spectacle, even during the bad losses.  I’ll probably at least be listening in on the game.    

In Salt Lake City, Jabari Blash was starting for the Bees tonight.  He is leading the PCL in home runs, but I think he’s too injured to really play at the moment.  Tonight, he went 0-3.  Having seen the guy in person (6-15-16), Blash is a heck of physical specimen.  The Bees’ manager may have been desperate to get him into the lineup for some possible run support.  Speaking of interesting lineup moves, the Bees brought out a new pitcher in the second inning.  Tim Hagerty didn’t think the starter was injured.  He did notice that the reliever was throwing with a different hand than the starter, thus screwing up the Chihuahuas’ lineup.  Gamesmanship?   

Tim sounded serious tonight.  This was the last meeting between these two teams in contention to win the division, and winning or losing meant a pretty big swing in the standings.  In the bottom of the second, a ball took a bad hop on Allen Craig at first and a run scored to give the Bees a 1-0 lead.  In the third, while I was out of the room, Francisco Mejia doubled in a run (boy, that trade for him is looking better all the time) and Craig singled in a run to make it 2-1. 

In the fourth, Shane Peterson dove for a ball and came up juggling and finally dropped it.  He just missed throwing out a runner at second right after the drop as Luis Urias came off the bag to catch it.  On the next batter, catcher Raffy Lopez picked off the runner at first, so the defense was still on point for the pups.

In the fifth, Forrestt Allday was hit on the hand and ran around the grass in pain, but stayed in the game.  The Bees went to their third pitcher, so maybe it was just an unannounced bullpen day (which would still be gamesmanship to have not announced it).  Allday would score on a hit by Ty France (another good new addition to the team).  Raffy doubled in a run and Peterson also drove in a run.  6-1 Chihuahuas. 

In the sixth, the Chihuahuas got caught in an odd rundown that didn’t involve any running, but the Urias still drove in a run that inning to make it 7-1.  At this point, Tim loosened up considerably and became his more usual conversational self.  By the ninth, the Bees were using their centerfielder to pitch, Bo Way.  Just hearing that name, I had assumed he was Asian, until I looked at the spelling and saw his picture.  He hit Peterson, but struck out two and was throwing at 89mph, so he had some skills.  The Chihuahuas won 7-1 and were now up four-and-a-half games in the standings.  Woo hoo!

There was one other game on that I could watch.  Once again, somebody left the break room TV on, so I flipped over to the MLB Network.  Later, they again showed the Dodgers and Giants playing in Los Angeles.  It was again the Giants’ feed, which still surprises me.  I’d briefly check in on the game during the night.  It was 0-0 in the sixth, before the Dodgers scored one.  In the seventh, they put up two more to make it 3-0.  In the eighth, Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run homer to tie it.  I watched the extra innings a little more, but missed the Dodgers winning, 4-3, on a sacrifice in the twelfth.  I noticed most of the crowd also missed the end as the stadium was nearly empty by then.

Baseball Journal August 12, 2018

8-12-18

Apparently, it was a much less threatening day in New York City, though the crowd was noticeably smaller.  Once again, Giancarlo Stanton started off the game with another solo home run.  The guys in the booth were impressed with it at 112mph, 413’, and a 17 degree launch angle.  (Those numbers don’t mean a lot to me.  I’m not sure why I recorded them.)  1-0 Yankees. 

In the second, Miguel Andujar committed an error, there was a blown double play, and Joey Gallo got an infield hit (!) after a poor throw by CC Sabathia.  The net result of all that was no runs.  The Rangers got more runners on in the third, but still didn’t score.  In the fifth, Didi Gregorius did made a spectacular play at short on Delino Deshields to shore up the Yankee defense.  In the bottom, the wheels came off on Martin Perez, the Rangers’ starter.  The big blow was a two-run homer by Gregorious.  It was now 6-0.

In the sixth, Eric Nadel talked about Sabathia’s problems, including recovering from alcoholism and his weight.  Eric thought it was interesting that the current career wins leaders in the Major League baseball were CC and Bartolo Colon, a pair of rather stout fellows.  Andujar made a two-base error to put Elvis on second, but he was stranded there.  Perez came back out in the bottom, but was pulled after getting hit some more.  A run scored after he came out to make it 7-0.

CC left in the seventh, having given up 1 hit, though the Rangers had had their chances.  Sonny Gray came in and gave up a couple of hits.  Yankee fans immediately started booing him.  Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in a run on a fielder’s choice.  Gregorius made another great play to get him at first.  Deshields drove in Gallo on an infield hit.  Yankee fans were audibly grumbling some more.  The play at first was reviewed, but Delino was still safe.  This brought out another loud outburst from the crowd.  This is the problem with being a Yankee fan; up 7-2 in the seventh and you’re angry it’s not a shutout. 

In the eighth inning, Gray gave up two more hits and was pulled.  The crowd gave him the business on the way out.  Maybe it’s just personal between him and Yankee fans.  The Rangers loaded the bases with two outs, but left all of them stranded.    

The Yankees won 7-2, but the Rangers did get one good highlight.  In the bottom of the eighth, Gallo went over the wall and robbed a home run from Austin Romine.  Eric kept hesitating on the call as Joey delayed showing the ball in his possession.  In the postgame, Matt Hicks mentioned that Joey had words with fans out there after the catch.  He then threw ball into second deck to some Ranger fans.  Given the way the outfield wall is at Yankee Stadium, I’m surprised he didn’t have to slap the fans away from the ball to get it.

The Chihuahuas versus Rivercats’ game started a bit before the Rangers and Yankees ended.  I flipped back-and-forth for the first two innings and didn’t think I’d missed much.  In the postgame, I found out I’d missed Forrestt Allday robbing Gregor Blanco of a home run at the wall and some strange mayhem on the basepads that helped the Chihuahuas out. 

I did hear the Tim Hagerty calling two kids colliding with each other trying to catch a foul ball on the grassy knoll in the outfield in the first.  The crowd got a good laugh out of it.  Tim got a chuckle in the third over a bunch of kids chasing another foul ball there.  Sacramento was also played The Price is Right theme as bumper music one inning.  Maybe there was a fan contest that inning.  Tim didn’t offer a badly needed explanation.

In the third, Cesar Puello drove in the first run of the game for the Rivercats.  In the sixth, fighting sleepiness (not because of the game, just tired), I took a nap with the game on.  I was listening, but I totally dropped out at some point.  When I woke up, it was 1-1.  Once again, I had to wait until the postgame to find out how it happened.  Luis Urias got a hit, Francisco Mejia drove him to third, and Ty France sacrificed him in. 

In the bottom, Shane Peterson made a great jump catch near the wall.  In the bottom of the seventh, the defense shined again on three good plays on grounders.  France did well there too.  The Chihuahuas’ defense in general has really been sparkling lately. 

Still tied at one, we went to the ninth.  France led off with a single.  Brett Nicholas struckout.  Peterson drove France to third.  Raffy Lopez struckout.  With two out, Javy Guerra came up big with a single and brought France in and gave the pups the lead.  Allen Craig came up as a pinch hitter and drew a walk to load the bases.  Allday (and all night) singled to right and scored two more.  The ‘Cats finally brought in a new reliever to finish off the inning.  (See, this in-depth coverage totally makes up for me falling asleep earlier.) 

Up now 4-1, Rowan Wick came in to close in the bottom.  He allowed a leadoff double, but got the save.  Chihuahuas win 4-1!  This has been one tightly-played series in Sacramento.  I’ve been impressed with the team’s composure over these four games.  They couldn’t bash their way to victory as they usually do, but found a way anyway.

I can’t believe there has been nothing on TV today, and I’ve been listening to baseball games on the radio all day.  Let’s keep going.  KROD obligingly went right from the Chihuahuas to the ESPN Radio pregame coverage before the Cubs versus Nationals’ game.  They spent way too much time talking about who should be the NL MVP this year.  Their picks are Javier Baez and Max Scherzer, both of whom were playing tonight, and Nolan Arenado on the Rockies.  This seems terribly irrelevant with a month and a half left before the playoffs.  The most interesting man in baseball, Bryce Harper, wasn’t even mentioned.  They barely mentioned him at all during the game. 

Tonight’s pitching matchup was between Scherzer and Cole Hamels.  The announcers mentioned how much better Hamels has been pitching since he was traded from the Rangers.  That’s just great.  He only pitched the Rangers into last place in their division.  Scherzer set the tone for his performance tonight with his first pitch, which brushed Anthony Rizzo back off the plate.           

In the second, Mark Reynolds sacrificed in a run to give the Nats a 1-0 lead . . . for the next seven innings.  Perhaps sensing a pitcher’s duel, the hosts talked about wins being meaningless in awarding the Cy Young Award.  Of course, Cy Young ironically holds the record for most wins pitching, but don’t let that bother you.  They did offer a recent quote from Jayson Werth, “Super nerds are killing the game.”  [Tim Hagerty did an interview with Jayson in Triple-A a couple of months ago (6-3-18).]  They also talked about Anthony Rizzo’s recent pitching performance in a blowout.  When asked if he had a memento from getting out the one batter he faced, Rizz said, “I have a 0.00 ERA.”

Hamels went seven innings, only giving up 1 hit and 1 run.  In the bottom of the seventh, Albert Almora Jr. hit a double and Wrigley erupted and I wrote in my notes, “Like a grand slam.”  (Foreshadowing.)  The Cubs got a couple on, but Scherzer slammed the door with his eleventh strikeout to end the inning. 

In the ninth, Trea Turner tripled as Kyle Schwarber misplayed the ball in the outfield.  (Is it too late to use him as a catcher?  Or is he a bigger liability behind the plate?)  Juan Soto walked.  Ryan Zimmerman then doubled them in to make it 3-0 Nats.  But this is Wrigley.  Remember, games there are like an opera and everybody dies in the third act. 

With an anxious Bill Murray looking on from the owner’s box, the Cubs got two runners on off Ryan Madson.  He got the next two outs, but then hit Willson Contreras to load the bases.  Please note that this sequence of events took approximately 20 minutes to play out.  Two words: pitch clock.  In the time it took to get to this point, the Nationals could have called up a reliever from Triple-A to enter the game.  An unassuming David Bote then came into the game to pinch hit.  Fed up with the pace of play, Bote promptly jacked out a walkoff grand slam to end the game.  The Wrigley Field faithful erupted like Albert Almora Jr. just hit a double.  4-3 Cubs win!  Cubs win! 

Admittedly, this wasn’t the greatest game to listen to, but what an ending!  Meanwhile in the Nationals’ locker room, Bryce Harper wished he’d been traded before the deadline.  Meanwhile, Nationals’ ownership wondered if they can still trade Bryce Harper for more than a bag of chips.  Meanwhile, Max Scherzer looked in the mirror and wiped away a tear as he said to himself, “I’m gonna be the MVP because wins don’t matter.  Sniff.  They don’t matter.”  

Baseball Journal August 10-11, 2018

8-10-18

The MLB.TV free game was radio-only with the Diamondbacks versus the Reds.  I tuned in to hear Greg Schulte, who I used to listen to on a daily basis when the D-backs games were carried locally.  He wasn’t there in Cincinnati, but Luis Gonzalez was there doing the color commentary.  It’s always good to hear from the 2001 World Series hero.  I never got the name of the play-by-play guy.  He was giving Gonzo the business, as he tried to remember his hitting stats in the Queen city.  They had a nice banter going, but I was busy and didn’t follow the game much.

At my other workstation, I listened a bit to the Richmond Flying Squirrels.  Their season had had a couple of disappointments this year, namely that they missed Tim Tebow (injury) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (call up) as visiting players.  During their games, they do a report of the other Giants’ affiliates.  Of particular interest, they talked about the Augusta Greenjackets, specifically their Twitter account.  After a three-hour delay, the Greenjackets won Game 1 of a double header in extra innings.  Here’s their tweet: “Greenjackets win on a walkoff balk.  Hey, we’ll take it.  Game 2 of the double header will be starting at 12:55 am.  That’s right AM.”  This led to a response: “We’re down to about 20 fans.”  And the reply: “Shoutout to those fans.  You guys are dedicated.” 

They did actually end up cancelling the game, likely after somebody read the league rules, which probably prohibit starting games that late.  This reminds me of last years’ double header between the Chihuahuas and the Baby Cakes (8-4-17).  The games had relevancy to the playoffs, so they had to get them in if at all possible.  Game 1 got delayed by rain and started at 8:00 in New Orleans.  The PCL had to waive their curfew rule before the games even began.  Game 2 started at 10:45 and went into extra innings and didn’t end until after 1:30 am there. 

I’m sure Tim Hagerty remembers staying up for that game well.  The Chihuahuas played the Rivercats later tonight.  Tim stopped his pregame for the Anthem, which was a great idea, because the lady did a really great job of singing it.  There were some familiar names at the park today.  Giant Gregor Blanco was in the game for Sacramento.  A pair of guys with great names were in the lineups: River Stevens with the Chihuahuas and Ryder Jones for the ‘Cats.  Barry Zito, working in the Giants’ farm system, was also in the stadium and signing autographs.

Let’s quickly sum up the first seven innings.  In the second, Auston Bousfield reached over the wall to rob a Rivercats’ homer.  In the third, Chihuahuas’ starter, Kyle Lloyd, tripled but was stranded.  That hit was a bigger deal than you might think.  Rivercats’ starter, Daniel Camarena, threw six 1-2-3 innings apart from that single hit.  A couple of fans got hit by foul balls, even with the extended netting, so it was still pretty exciting to be there in the crowd.  

Pups’ pitching was pretty good too; it was 0-0 going into the eighth.  In the top, Ty France got the second Chihuahuas’ hit.  Two strikeouts followed, but then a walk.  A new pitcher came to face Luis Urias.  It was a battle, but Urias went down on strikes.  In the bottom, the crowd and Tim were into it.  Peter Bourjos doubled, and the El Paso pitcher came out for an injury.  Bourjos was sacrificed over, but he got in caught a rundown at home on a grounder by Ryder Jones, who made it to second.   Cesar Puello drove him in on a single to give the Rivercats at 1-0 lead.

It wasn’t over yet.  In the ninth, the pups got two singles, but a fly out and a double play ended the game, 1-0 Rivercats.  That was disappointing, but still pretty dramatic.  I should mention that it was an odd day at work.  I had to come in early for a meeting, about seven and a half hours early.  I ended up sticking around all day, took a nap, watched Cincinbear on Twitch, some Gibi ASMR, and then clocked back in for the evening.  I don’t even want to add up how long I was there, but it wasn’t too bad.  Having interesting stuff to listen and watch helped. 

I did finally ask my boss about the Chihuahuas’ radio station being blocked on the network.  He didn’t block it, but also wasn’t able to get it unblocked.  He’d had trouble earlier in the day when a senior officer asked him to unblock the PGA website for the PGA Championship being played today.  He wasn’t able to get that to come through either, which may have possibly shortened employment tenure.  Who’s controlling our network! 

8-11-18

This worked out well.  The MLB game on Mexican TV this morning was the Rangers at the Yankees.  So, I was able to bring up the Rangers’ radio broadcast to listen to while I was watching the game.  The TV was about 30 seconds behind the radio call, but it wasn’t too bad.  What was bad was the impending weather in New York City.  It was 80+ degrees with 79% humidity.  Can you guess that the forecast was for rain?  Still, that didn’t deter 45,000 fans from showing up with umbrellas and ponchos ready.

In the first, with Shin-Soo Choo on first, Roughned Odor struck out on a hit and run.  The umpire, however, made a slow call and Choo reached second without a throw.  It was an odd-looking play.  In the bottom, Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run on a 3-0 pitch.  Greg Bird drove in a run to make it 2-0 Yankees.

In the second, Ronald Guzman came to bat.  He got mentioned on the Mexican pregame show where he was called, “Yankee killer.”  Last night, he had three home runs in a big 12-7 win.  The Condor also had his whole family there, in Rangers gear, watching.  His dad hadn’t seen him play in person in the Bigs before because of a fear of flying.  Guzman was pitched around and walked twice in the game.

In the third, a light rain started.  Matt Hicks gave some ominous weather warnings concerning the rest of the afternoon.  On field, Elvis Andrus drove in Choo from third.  Elvis was then thrown out at second, when he tried to take second on a pitch that skipped a little ways away from the catcher.  Adrian Beltre was at the plate at the time and had motioned for him to stay.  2-1 Yankees.

In the fourth, the Yankees stranded two runners.  Eric Nadel and Matt were looking at the radar and counting the outs until the game was official.  The imminent storm cell just missed the stadium as the guys seemed ready to call the game for weather.  In the fifth, Ranger starter, Drew Hutchinson came out with one on.  The runner scored, but it was a good effort today, much better than his start last Sunday (8-5-18).  3-1 Yankees.  

In the seventh, the TV coverage was showing dark clouds massing overhead.  This was the YES TV coverage.  They were doing game breaks showing the Red Sox game in progress.  It was the only other game being played at the time, but it looked like the Yankees were watching the Sox with stalker-like green envy.  Zach Britton came in for the Yankees and loaded the bases with two outs.  He walked Beltre to bring in a run.  Ruggie was moved up to third.  Odor faked a move to home and drew a balk out of Britton which brought him home as the tying run.  When are pitchers going to stop falling for that?

The rain finally arrived in the bottom.  It was heavy enough to send the fans scurrying for cover.  Ranger reliever, Chris Martin, actually lost his grip on the ball and dropped it on the mound.  He also dropped the ball in pitching and gave up a two-run homer to Miguel Andujar.  In fairness, the ball went out to right field and would have been an out in any other stadium (except ironically the Rangers’ Globe Life Park).  5-3 Yankees. 

In the eighth, the rain stopped temporarily.  Eric jipped Paul Olden making a PA player introduction and dedicated his limerick of the day to him.  Olden replaced the Yankees’ iconic PA, Bob Sheppard, whom I do a great impersonation of.  Pouring rain began again in the bottom.  Matt made a Biblical movie reference to the cloud cover. 

Aroldis Chapman came in to close in the ninth.  The rain could be classified as a deluge.  The guys in the booth could hear it hitting the mound from the field mics.  Chapman was having some understandable trouble gripping the ball and finding the strikezone, as he walked Isiah Kiner-Falefa.  New dry balls were being cycled into the game constantly.  At this point, the field was wrecked and the umps certainly didn’t want to call the game or suspend it now. 

Chapman got two outs as the rain faded a bit, but then Ruggie singled.  Beltre next took a 100mph fastball to his thigh.  He jumped around and whinced, but waved off the trainer as soon as he got to him.  Jurickson Profar came up with the bases loaded.  Even the rain held its breath as their battle went to a full count.  Finally, Chapman struck out Profar swinging on a strike to the outer black.  Yankees win 5-3.  “What a finish!” proclaimed Eric.  I have to admit, even with the result, that was a great game.  No doubt the weather added to the drama.  

The environment was nicer in Sacramento.  The California wildfires had died down a bit, I guess.  Tim Hagerty reported not smelling smoke for the game between the Chihuahuas and the Rivercats.  There were 10,000 in attendance.  Perhaps there were fireworks afterward.  Would that be a fire hazard? 

Brandon Belt, rehabbing from the Giants, was in the lineup for the Rivercats.  The crowd gave him a good cheer when he came up to bat.  Before the game, Tim mentioned that there had been four total runs in the last two games.  For the first three innings, it was looking like more of the same.  In the fourth, after a couple of deep shots to the outfield, Allen Craig finally willed one over the fence to make it 1-0 Chihuahuas.  In the bottom, the ‘Cats hit a couple of deep fly balls.  Forrestt Allday was kept busy in the outfield.  In the fifth, he made another great catch at the wall.

In the sixth, Belt came out of the game.  His replacement at first got booed.  Cold.  More Allday (and all night) as he doubled in the inning.  Raffy Lopez drove him in to make it 2-0 pups.  Chihuahuas’ starter, Logan Allen, in his Triple-A debut, was putting on a great performance.  It wasn’t until this inning that the Rivercats finally threatened.  They got two on with nobody out.  Logan got a strikeout, but then loaded the bases.  Then it was Allday again, who made a sliding catch on a shallow hit that saved a run.  Logan stayed in and faced Kelby Tomlinson.  It went to a full count, but Logan finished with another strikeout.

In the seventh, there was another fan hit by a ball.  I think it was a kid hit in the stomach.  Tim reported he had the wind knocked out of him.  More netting?  The Rivercats’ manager got himself ejected after taking out his pitcher after a pair of Chihuahuas got on.  He was complaining about check swing call that resulted in a walk and two on, instead of a strikeout and a caught stealing at second.  An intentional walk then loaded the bases, but a double play ended the inning without damage.     

Raffy had a rough eighth.  He made an error on a bunt base hit and the batter would come around to score later.  Another batter hit him on the head on his backswing, which resulted in concussion protocols by the trainer.  Rowan Wick came in and got a strikeout to end the inning, but it was now 2-1.  In the ninth, Shane Peterson tripled, but a strikeout and another double play kept the pups from getting any insurance runs.  Wick came back out in the bottom and didn’t need a bigger lead.  Allday appropriately squeezed the final out in the outfield for a 2-1 Chihuahuas’ win.  They also gained a game on the Bees, who lost tonight.  This was a good day of baseball.

Baseball Journal August 6-9, 2018

8-6-18

I finally figured out that I was using the wrong e-mail address to log into MLB.com Friday.  No wonder it wasn’t working.  I still don’t know why it was demanding that I login.  Ironically, I was too busy tonight to watch the free game, Tigers versus Angels.  What little I did watch was two out-of-contention teams going through the motions while playing in front of a lousy crowd in Anaheim.  It was kind of depressing.  The Angels had such high hopes this year.  Now they have the final indignity of their manager, Mike Scioscia, denying reports that he’s retiring, while the baseball media is writing retrospectives on his career.  I don’t want to feel sorry for these guys, but it’s kind of hard not to.

In El Paso, the Chihuahuas continued their series against the Round Rock Express.  The pups came out swinging.  In the first, Luis Urias hit a two-run homer.  Auston Bousfield nearly hit another, but still doubled in two runs.  Javy Guerra drove him in with a triple off the wall.  The crowd moaned.  They wanted him to go for an inside-the-park home run, but settled for a 5-0 lead.

Call up, Cal Quantrill started for the Chihuahuas.  The Express loaded the bases on him in the fourth and got a run, but Cal got a double play next to end the inning, 5-1.  In the fifth, the Express again went to a four-man outfield for Raffy Lopez.  Hanser Alberto, playing nowhere near third base, got the out standing in the outfield.  Round Rock scored in the sixth to make it 5-2, but the Chihuahuas loaded the bases in the bottom.  Raffy got a RBI on a walk.  Brett Nicholas got another on a fielder’s choice, 7-2.

Tim Hagerty got a weather report from Omaha where the Storm Chasers were playing the Bees.  It was raining and the game was official.  He was hoping for a rainout and it happened later, so the pups would be gaining a game on the Bees tonight.  On the subject of the Angels’ affiliate, Tim talked about Scioscia retiring.  Seriously, the last quote I’ve seen from Scioscia was that he wasn’t leaving.

I was having déjà vu in the seventh, Raffy drove in another run on a bases loaded walk.  Forrestt Allday and Nicholas also drove in runs to make it 10-3 Chihuahuas, which was the final.  That’s six wins in a row!  Cal got the win.  Eric Yardley, the only other pitcher used, got a three-inning save. 

8-7-18

Once again, I was too busy to watch the MLB.TV free game.  It was the Cardinals versus the Marlins.  I like the Cards, but this wasn’t the most relevant matchup for potential playoff baseball.  There wasn’t a great crowd there in Miami, and it looked like there was quite a bit of Cardinal red in the stands.  The announcers even mentioned a family they’d met that follows the Cards around for road games.  I’m still amazed by how pleasant Tim McCarver is during the Cardinal broadcasts I’ve seen him on, totally unlike his broadcasts with Joe Buck.  The Cards got a good 3-2 comeback win, though I can’t honestly tell you how it happened.

I’m going to have to talk to somebody about not being to get Chihuahuas’ games at my other workstation.  It’s killing me and affecting my work.  I listened to the end of a Flying Squirrels’ game.  I missed apparently the play of the game where a Rumble Ponies’ player successfully stole second and was then ejected.  I didn’t get an explanation in the postgame. 

The Chihuahuas played the Round Rock Express in their final game of their series.  The puppies (I’m just going to keep trying to find another nickname for El Paso) got the scoring started in the third with an error and Francisco Mejia and Raffy Lopez driving in runs.  Raffy was thrown out at the plate on an Allen Craig single, but three runs scored in the inning.  Round Rock came back in the fifth with a two-run homer and then tied it on another run. 

The Chihuahuas came right back in the bottom, as Craig doubled in two to make it 5-3.  The Express intentionally walked Raffy to pitch to him.  They seemed scared to death of Raffy at the plate this series.  However, the Express went through two Chihuahuas’ relievers in the seventh to take the lead with three runs, 6-5 Round Rock. 

The bottom of the seventh got interesting in a different way.  El Paso manager, Rod Barajas, started giving the ump grief from the dugout during Forrestt Allday’s leadoff at bat.  Allday struck out, made a quick comment to the ump, and was immediately ejected.  Barajas charged out the dugout and threw down his hat and was also ejected.  The fans cheered him on.  After he left the field, Barajas threw another hat out on the field for good measure.  Luis Urias then struck out and had words with ump, but remained in the game.  Mejia then struck out to end the inning.  No arguments there and not unexpected given how the inning started.

In the eighth, Shane Peterson made a great jumping catch of a foul in the outfield.  In the bottom, Deolis Gurrea, the Round Rock pitcher from the last inning, finished out his line with five strikeouts, one walk, and one groundball.  In the top of the ninth, Brad Wieck started complaining about the strikezone from the mound along with one of the coaches in the dugout.  I’m guessing the game was being poorly called, but that’s a dangerous way to live as a pitcher.  Babe Ruth, as a pitcher, got tossed for arguing like that. 

Bottom of the ninth, down one run.  No problem.  Javy Guerra bunted his way on to first.  Dusty Coleman then doubled into the corner to put the both of them into scoring position.  Brett Nicholas, facing his old team, singled.  Guerra scored to tie it and Dusty came in under the tag with the winning run.  Chihuahuas 7-6 to complete a four-game sweep.  Not to mention, they did it off RJ Alvarez, the best closer in the league.  Oh, the Chihuahuas must be hating that they’re getting a day off tomorrow when they’re this hot.

8-8-18

Day game today in Arlington between the Rangers and Mariners.  It wasn’t blisteringly hot there, but was very humid without a breeze.  The Rangers had five rookies in the lineup, I guess to see if they can really play or not.  I joined the game (or rather my local affiliate joined the game) in the first with the M’s up 1-0.  Adrian Beltre drove in a run on an error.  Joey Gallo singled (!) to drive in another.  He now has one more single than home runs (that’ll change here shortly).  It was 2-1 Rangers right off the bat (see what I did there).   

In the second, there was an uncharacteristic error on a foul ball by Ronald Guzman, but no harm was done.  In the bottom, Willie Calhoon took first after being hit by a pitch, maybe.  Or did ball hit the bat and was it an out?  The umps conferred about it and didn’t change anything.  Then Mariners’ manager, Scott Servais, came out and complained.  Calhoon was called out.   Unsurprisingly, the Rangers’ manager, Jeff Bannister, came out and asked for a challenge.  Eric Nadel called this whole incident a “fiasco.”  Calhoon was obviously hit in the replay and stayed at first.  “We have been subjected to four minutes of twittery,” declared Eric. 

It was Gallo again in the third with a two-run home run.  Guzman joined in by driving in another run, 5-1.  The Rangers were getting their hits today.  In the fifth, Mike Zunino homered to the tune of one of the longest home run calls ever.  Eric kept hesitating, because it looked like it might get caught by Carlos Tocci at the wall, 5-2.

Then that Gallo guy came up again in the bottom with a leadoff home run.  It was his 31-st of year.  He probably has more homers than singles again.  There was also another long home run call as the ball just tucked around the pole.  Matt Hicks was convinced that the pitch was so inside that it should have hit him.  How did he hit that out?  The Rangers keep hitting and scored another run on a double play, 7-2.  In the sixth, Roughned Odor tripled.  He hit it right into the shift and it still fell in.  Ruggie ended up getting caught in a long rundown on an Elvis Andrus hit, who made it all the way to third during the play.  The M’s pitcher somehow got injured on the play and had to come out.     

Yovani Gallardo went six strong innings for the Rangers in sweltering conditions.  In the seventh, the Rangers gave up a run on bad defense and had to go to a second reliever, who gave up two more.  Suddenly it was 7-6.  No worries.  In the bottom, Guzman drove in Isiah Kiner-Falefa with a double.  Isiah got on after Dee Gordon took a ball in the face from a bad hop.  Calhoon then doubled in Guzman, and Jurickson Profar drove in a run.  What was in the water today! 

It was a long hot inning.  A new M’s reliever came in.  With Profar at second, Kyle Seager somehow brain farted on an Andrus’ grounder and everyone was safe.  I was listening and I’m still not sure what happened.  No error was charged and Elvis got on via a fielder’s choice.  Seager had had a rough series with three errors and a mental error over the last two games.  Beltre drove Profar in to make it 11-6 Rangers.

In the eighth, Eric read a fan submitted limerick and encouraged others to send theirs’ in.  I’ll get my quill out and start scribbling later.  In the ninth, Zunino hit his second homer to lead off, but that was the last score of the game.  11-7 Rangers!  The boys pounded out 19 hits today!  Well, that was fun.  That was also my only game of the day, except for a little Flying Squirrels’ action.  In the postgame, they promoted the next game featuring “Fireworks in your face!”  No explanation was given.  Before the game, some of the players will also be doing faith testimonials for the crowd.  I hope these two events don’t end up being connected in some tragic way.

8-9-18

The Blue Jays faced the mighty Red Sox in Toronto in the MLB.TV free game.  It was already 3-2 Jays in the second inning.  It looked like a great game.  If only I had time to watch.  (Not to mention Gibi on Twitch was playing Monster Hunter, which dropped today.)  I did see a beauty of a catch by a fan of a Teoscar Hernandez home run.  The fan reached over (but wasn’t interfering with play like he would be in Yankee Stadium) with his mitt and backhanded it.  He then handed it to his boy sitting next to him.  Awesome.  The Blue Jays won 8-5 in a good, back-and-forth game.

I have to mention the Flying Squirrels’ game tonight.  In the eighth, their announcer made the comment that the Rumble Ponies’ manager was “Treating this like Game 7 of the World Series.”  There were three runners on base, all of them put there by different pitchers.  A fourth pitcher came in and struck out Jonah Arenado to end the inning.  In the postgame, I could hear the explosions and terrified screams of agony from the Squirrels’ “Fireworks in your face” promotion.  Like the event organizers, I’m shocked that this turned out so badly.  Who could have guessed?

Meanwhile, the Chihuahuas played the Rivercats in Sacramento.  There was a haze in the air from the California wildfires.  (When is the whole state finally going to burn down?)  The game in Fresno was actually delayed for poor air quality.  Kelby Tomlinson was playing for the ‘Cats tonight, down from the Giants.  Tim Hagerty talked about the Rivercats being affiliated with the Giants because they were more popular than the A’s in Sacramento.  Tonight’s team had posted three rosters before the game, leading to speculation about some possible movement with the big league club. 

The Rivercats scored first on a home run in the second.  Ty France, in his first game up with the pups from Double-A, homered to tie it in the fourth.  Tim gave his background and mentioned Ty, who was playing third base, got a win pitching with his last team.  In the sixth, Ty and Allen Craig collided on a popup.  Craig caught it and neither was the worse for wear.  Earlier, Craig had laid out for a catch at first.

I was still a bit distracted.  (DizzyKitten was also playing Monster Hunter on Twitch.)  In the seventh, the Rivercats got another solo home run to take a 2-1 lead.  In the eighth, Hunter Strickland came in and worked an uneventful inning (unlike most of his appearances with the Giants).  In the bottom, Dusty Coleman threw out a runner at second from centerfield trying to stretch a single.  Francisco Mejia picked off a runner at second, who’d doubled.  It was an odd inning with two hits, but only three batters. 

The final was 2-1 Rivercats.  It was a well-played game, if not a lot of offense.  Credit the pitching.  Starters Dillon Overton for the pups and Chris Stratton for the ‘Cats, along with the relievers, did an excellent job.

Baseball Journal August 4-5, 2018

8-4-18

It’s another game at Wrigley for the MLB Mexican game of the week, featuring the Cubs versus the Padres.  It was a beautiful day in Chicago, bright and sunny.  The wind was blowing out and most of the players were wearing stylish sunglasses, even while batting.  Highlights of Friday night’s game looked excited, so we’re hopeful for a good game today.

Walter Lockett was pitching for the Padres.  He was called up from the Chihuahuas, perhaps on very short notice.  It’s hard to understand the commentary.  I don’t understand the Mexican announcers and I can just barely hear the American ones.  A couple of current Chihuahuas were mentioned during the game, including Francisco Mejia.  Nobody said “Chihuahuas” though.  I was disappointed. 

Behind home plate were a couple of adorable little girls in Cubs hats with eye black on.  I saw a couple Padres fans, though they were wearing the cool 90’s jerseys.  More than perhaps any other stadium, Wrigley Field is great for just watching the crowd.  The WGN broadcasts focused on fans all the time.  Cubs’ games are now on a regional NBC Sports affiliate.  I don’t know if that messes up the Cubs’ victory song or not.

The scoring started in the second with a Kyle Schwarber solo home run.  There was a cut-away shot of the Cubs’ bullpen under the bleachers, where the guys were dancing.  This may be a new tradition.  Then Addison Russell drove in a run.  Then Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer.  Ben Zobrist doubled him in and Jason Heyward drove him in.  5-0 Cubs.  This wasn’t looking like the Padres’ day.

Whoa!  There was a remote with the Cubs’ ballpark reporter.  She is gorgeous!  I need to do some more research on this.  Now, I’m really hating that the Cubs’ daily games aren’t shown nationally anymore.  There were also a couple of shots outside the stadium showing a grassy park.  I have no idea where that is.  It must be new.      

In the fourth, Manuel Margot drove in a run with a ball that disappeared into the ivy.  Hunter Renfroe then sacrificed in a run.  Austin Hedges came up and nearly cleared the stadium with a home run.  The ball was thrown back to the cheers of the crowd, but a fan might have been injured in the scrum for the ball.  5-3 Cubs.

In the fifth, Cory Spangenberg made another great, acrobatic throw to first to end the inning.  He’s been diving and flying around the infield all game.  Eric Hosmer and Renfroe got on in the sixth.  Hedges sac’d in a run to make it 5-4.  It was hard not to notice that the ump was calling high strikes today.  The batters were getting pissed, but he was consistent about it.

The Mexican network coverage showed the Seventh Inning Stretch.  They’re definitely baseball fans there.  In the bottom of the seventh, Jose Castillo came in for the Padres.  He gave up two singles and hit a batter to load the bases with nobody out.  Got to give Castillo credit, he buckled down with an infield fly, a strikeout, and a grounder to third to get out of it.  Phil Maton worked the eighth.  He made a good play to first coming off the mound.  However, the Padres went down 1-2-3 in the ninth to end the game.  5-4 Cubs was the final.  That was a fun game to watch.

During the game, there was a NASCAR Xfinity race going on at Watkins Glen.  On one of my look-ins, it was raining like heck there, but they were still racing.  The cars had wipers going and rain tires on.  They even turned on their headlights.  (I’m just kidding.  I know they’re decals.)  The race had enough delays that I was able to watch the end after the game.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. was more pumped up doing commentary than I’ve ever heard him anywhere else.  He’s really into it.  I plan on watching the Cup race tomorrow.

The Rangers were playing the Orioles in the evening, I think.  The reception wasn’t good.  As soon as the Chihuahuas’ game against the Round Rock Express came on, I switched over to it.  Both games were pretty scoreless to start frankly.  In the fourth was the first serious threat by the Express, but Forrestt Allday threw out a runner at the plate.  In the bottom, an error loaded the bases for the Chihuahuas with nobody out.  Diego Goris walked and a sacrifice from Auston Bousfield drove in two runs, but a great catch in the outfield ended the inning without further damage. 

More great defense, Francisco Mejia threw out a base stealer to end the fifth.  In the bottom, Allen Craig grounded into a double play, but scored a runner from third.  Next, Raffy Lopez doubled and Shane Peterson drove him in to make it 4-0.  Chihuahuas’ starter Jacob Nix worked six scoreless innings in his first appearance with the Ears.  Mejia singled in a run in the bottom, though Luis Urias got caught in a rundown to end the inning.  He made it last for a few throws to the delight of the crowd (and consternation of scorekeepers).

In the seventh at 5-0, the Express finally got going.  They loaded the bases with no outs and scored two, and got a third run on an error.  Peterson jumped into the wall for a catch to end the inning and save another run.  5-3.  Hanser Alberto is the only name I recognize in the Express lineup.  I think all their good players are already up with the Rangers.    

Brad Wieck worked a scoreless eighth with three strikeouts.  Another wick, Rowan Wick, came in in the ninth with one on.  He let on another runner, but closed the game out with a strikeout.  5-3 Chihuahuas was the final.  The pups are on a definite roll.

8-5-18

NBC finally put on a NASCAR race on their over-the-air network, so I started watching it before the Rangers and Orioles game started.  Not only were those two events on this afternoon, but there was another drag race (FOX seems fairly committed to NHRA until football starts) and there was a Gary Anderson Sci-Fi puppet show marathon going on the Comet Network.  (Okay, and Yvette Hernandez was on Pasion Deportiva at the same time too.)  The marathon included the Thunderbirds movies and several other TV shows.  I’m still amazed by the puppets and the props used in those productions, very detailed and stylish.

The Cup race was at a sold out Watkins Glen.  There weren’t any weather issues like yesterday’s Xfinity series race.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. was up in a tower, calling the race at the Bus Stop chicane.  Before the race, he was talking about how he used hear all the people partying in the infield on the Saturday night before the race.  Junior vowed that when he stopped racing he was going to join those folks having a good time at the race.  Today, driving over to his perch, he counted over 400 coolers in the infield and here he was stuck in a tower.  Dale hasn’t quite achieved his goal yet.

Just to briefly recap the race, it was pretty hard-fought in the opening laps.  After some attrition of contenders, it was Chase Elliot and Martin Truex Jr. fighting for the win at the end.  Truex ran out of gas on the last lap, but was close enough to coast over the finish line.  Elliot got his maiden win in this 99-th start.  He also ended a Hendricks’ extended winless drought that gave the team their 250-th win.  Jimmie Johnson came around to push Elliot’s stalled car back to the finish line.  Bill Elliot was his son’s spotter and congratulated him in Victory Lane.  It was a great race.  My dad mentioned that the France family may be trying to sell the series.  Hmm.  One wonders how somebody else run the show.

Meanwhile in Arlington (and here in Las Cruces), it was hot as heck.  When the new stadium opens there, fans are going to be so happy, regardless of the product on the field.  The jetstream was also blowing out.  Mark Trumbo on the O’s took advantage of that with a first inning home run.  The Rangers came right back in the first.  Joey Gallo, hitting .194 with 30 home runs, walked to load the bases.  Robinson Chirinos came up and drove in two as Jurickson Profar just got in under a tag at the plate to make it 2-1 Rangers.

In the second, the Orioles got three runs on one hit to make it 4-2.  In the bottom, Shin-Soo Choo sacrificed in a run and an Elvis Andrus’ fielder’s choice tied the score.  Gallo then singled in the go-ahead run with a broken bat.  (He still has more home runs than singles.)  However, the bases were left loaded to end the inning.  That lead didn’t last long as Trumbo hit a two-run home run to make it 6-5 O’s.

In the sixth, the Orioles got another home run to make it 7-5, but the scoring had cooled off a bit.  With the nearly historic losing record by Baltimore this year, the guys started discussing all-time losing teams.  The Cleveland Spiders (they may as well change the name back to that after they retire the Chief) were so bad that the owner cancelled their last month of home games.  They were making more money just playing road games.  They even recruited a hotel bellhop to pitch for them. 

Then the radio station went out for about 20 minutes.  Their signal had kept fading in and out during the game like they were powering down for the night.  I left the radio on, hoping it would come back.  When it did, I was just in time to hear Trumbo hitting his third home run to make it 9-5.  The Rangers managed to get a run without a hit in the eighth, but that was all.  9-6 Orioles final.  Maybe I should have just watched the race.  

  

Later in the evening and about 100 degrees later, the Chihuahuas played Round Rock Express.  A 13-year old Chihuahuas’ fan came on to start the game and read the lineup.  The kid apparently does his own pregame show before games and caught the attention of the team and they invited him to come on the radio. 

Kyle Lloyd, in his first game back from injury, started for the Chihuahuas and went three scoreless innings.  In the third, Forrestt Allday was picked off first, but Francisco Mejia doubled, and then Raffy Lopez singled him in for a 1-0 Chihuahuas’ lead.  In the fourth, a new pitcher from High A-Ball, Emmanuel Rodriguez, entered the game. 

Also entering the booth was a Chico’s Kid’s Club member.  He was 5-years old and wearing his ballpark food, which he enjoyed.  The kid unintentionally quoted from Bull Durham, “Sometimes you win.  Sometimes you lose.  Sometimes it rains.”  The Express got two on, but the kid called the final out.  Tim was loving it.  He loves having enthusiastic, chatty kids on.    

In the fifth, the ump redrew the back line of the batter’s box and made an Express batter stand in front of it.  He did it again in the eighth.  In the sixth, the Express set up with a four-man outfield as a shift.  In the seventh, the Express tied the score on a couple of hits.  Rodriguez came out after four innings and only one run given up.  In the eighth, Kazuhisa Makita came in and worked a scoreless inning.  Tim was amazed by a kid in the upper deck catching a ball.  He hoped the TV crew caught it on video.  In the bottom, a ball hit a bad spot on the infield and Mejia got on, but was stranded.

In the ninth, Javy Guerra committed an error which put two runners on, but the Express did not score.  In the bottom, the Chihuahuas got two on with two out.  Dusty Coleman came up and hit a monster fly ball.  Tim went crazy as ball seemed to hang up in air forever.  Eventually, the outfielder gave up on it, as the ball flew over the fence and maybe out of the park.  The 9,000+ crowd erupted.  That was a three-run walk off homer that gave the Chihuahuas a 4-1 win.  That’s five home wins in a row from the team that couldn’t win in El Paso earlier in the season.

Baseball Journal August 1-3, 2018

8-1-18

The MLB.TV free game featured the uninspiring matchup of the Rays versus the Angels.  Thank goodness fans on the east coast will be able to see the greatness that is Mike Trout, whom none of them have ever heard of.  Only people in southern California and baseball experts have ever of this guy.  It’s a pity that this fellow who’s often in the running for league MVP is so unknown.  If only he’d promote himself more by making controversial statements and getting into trouble like NFL and NBA players.  The baseball media has done all it can by even making up and an entire stat, WAR, to mathematically prove that Trout is the greatest baseball player of all time. 

Or maybe, he plays for a team that is under the curse of Albert Pujols, or more specifically Pujols’ contract, which has hamstrung the team from being really competitive.  No matter how great a player you are, you only win and lose as a team (right, Lebron?) and if you’re on a .500 team, you don’t matter.  Unless your entire sport is actually a reality show, starring you, and the game results don’t matter (right, Lebron?).  Yes, I’m apparently feeling feisty this month. 

The Rays put their new acquisition, Tyler Glasnow, right on the mound today.  Kole Calhoun greeted him with a leadoff home run that went into the Ray tank in the outfield.  Plop!  In the third, Ray Mallex Smith was almost driven in on a single, but tripped and fell at third base.  The inning ended with a double play and nothing coming across.  Glasnow only went three innings, but this is a pitching strategy by Rays’ management, and not because of a bad start.  I don’t know what to say about this theory yet.  Others have tried it unsuccessfully, but the league seems to be trending in this direction anyway.

In the fourth with the Angels up 2-0, Tommy Pham, who I thought was on the Cardinals but is now on the Rays, tripped rounding second.  He would have scored otherwise.  It seemed like this wasn’t the Rays’ night, but on the next play Pham advanced to third on a liner to the outfield.  Andrelton Simmons was running over to cover the base and was smiling at Pham about to talk to him, when suddenly Luis Valbuena threw the ball in his direction.  It was a poor decision that caught everyone off guard.  There was no chance of getting Pham at third and no chance of getting him at home as the ball went out of the field of play. 

The Rays would then go ahead and tie it and take the lead on a Mallex Smith triple, 3-2.  The Rays kept hitting.  They loaded the bases in the fifth without scoring.  Willie Adames homered in the sixth to make it 4-2.  Then, they got three in the eighth to make it 7-2, which was the final.  The Rays’ announcers during the game seemed convinced that their team was ready to win now with their current team.  Not in AL east they’re not, but I wish them luck.  This organization seems to stay competitive all the time with innovative strategies and doing more with less.  Meanwhile, the Angels, with more cash, in a bigger media market, and in an historically easier division, seem to do less with more.

The Chihuahuas’ broadcast was blocked at my other workstation.  Hmph, the nerve.  The Flying Squirrels weren’t playing and FOX Sports Radio was doing endless moralizing over a personal situation in college football, which has now become national sports news.  See, this is the kind thing that Mike Trout needs to get involved in.  This would really raise the raise the profile of baseball in general.  Actually, there is one with the Astros trade of Ken Giles to the Blue Jays for Roberto Osuna.  Osuna has an unresolved domestic abuse trial hanging over him.  Hopefully, this too will reach the level of a national hand-wringing scandal. 

I got a Papa Johns pizza over the weekend.  I wanted a good pizza, but there’s some scandal in management there.  I’m not sure, if by buying the pizza, which side of the situation I was supporting.  Now I’m conflicted if I should have gotten the pizza or not.  Now this scandal-driven society is starting to hit me where I live with my precious pizza.  I don’t like a bunch of amoral, unethical, un-virtuous sub-humans pronouncing judgment on what they find unacceptable in society, especially when they cover for others of their degenerate kind when it benefits them and their Agenda.  The media is about to create a society that nobody can live in. 

I joined the Chihuahuas versus the Baby Cakes, henceforth referred to as New Orleans, under overcast skies in El Paso halfway through the game.  Undefeated Brett Kennedy was on the mound, but New Orleans was up 3-0 in the fourth.  Javy Guerra doubled in a run in the frame.  Tim Hagerty gave a great call as the ball headed foul and somehow landed fair.  The pups scored again, but left the bases loaded, 3-2. 

Brad Wieck came in in relief for two scoreless innings and with five strikeouts. Allen Craig led off the eighth with a double that made took an odd bounce off the outfield wall.  Raffy Lopez then came up and hit a monster two-run home run that went over the batter’s eye and out of the ballpark.  4-3 Chihuahuas with extreme prejudice.  Trey Wingenter closed it out with three straight outs, though the final two batters did drive it to the warning track. 

The Rangers and Diamondbacks were probably playing tonight on TV, but I was busy and, frankly, the Rangers aren’t worth making an effort to watch.  They traded Jake Diekman at the deadline to the D-Backs, so he changed dugouts during the series.  I noticed that Ranger closer, Keone Kela, was also traded to the Pirates.  Given how the Rangers keep burning out their closers, at least until they get the new stadium with a roof, this was likely a good move for everyone involved.  The Pirates’ pitching has definitely been upgraded.

8-2-18

It was a light day for baseball for me, not really voluntarily.  The MLB.TV free game was during the day and I missed it.  I’m still blocked on getting Chihuahuas’ games at my other workstation.  I tried getting the other team’s broadcast, but it was blocked too.  I did listen to some more Flying Squirrels baseball, but I’ve decided that unless something really interesting happens during their games, it’s not worth writing about.

So, I joined the Chihuahuas versus New Orleans late.  I did walk in on Franmil Reyes hitting a three-run homer in the first, but it was in the third when I finally sat down and started listening.  By this time, the game was basically over at 7-0 pups and that wasn’t even the end of it.  The inning went 13 batters.  Three more runs scored as the NO outfielders lost a couple fly balls to make it 10-0. 

In the eighth, Jumbo Diaz (his actual name) came in as a reliever for NO.  I remember Tim Hagerty calling him pitching before in 2017 (and I think I wrote about him and I can’t find the entry, damnit).  He’s still in fighting trim at 350 lbs.  The main drama in the inning started with the first batter, Diego Goris, getting called for a penalty strike for not being in the box when play started.  The ump endured a small amount of heckling from the dugout before tossing someone.  It might have been Brett Nicholas, who wasn’t even playing today.  Goris ended up doubling and Auston Bousfield drove him in.  The final was 11-4 Chihuahuas.  It was a good win, but I wasn’t totally into it.  Hey, Gen Con is on Twitch this year!  (They were showing a Pathfinder 2 demo.  I didn’t care.  Oh, well.  No point in linking to it; it’s over.)

8-3-18

Time to rant some more, but I have reasons this time.  In addition to losing Chihuahuas’ games at my other workstation, MLB.TV suddenly started giving me crap about my login.  The site wanted my login and password, which it then rejects.  When I try to reset the password, it rejects the password it just gave me to reset it.  This has come up before, but isn’t an issue on a daily basis.  In any case, I can’t watch or listen to any the games there today.  Let’s hope this sorts itself out. 

There also wasn’t any Flying Squirrels baseball on.  All of sports talk on all three radio networks (ESPN, FOX, CBS) were discussing a spousal abuse issue.  At no point was it explained to me how this story was any of my business.  Nor did they explain how this involved the Ohio State football coach (excuse me, THE Ohio State), who wasn’t the one beating his wife, but simply MUST resign anyway.  I assume the d*ckheads at the NCAA are getting ready to vacate wins and championships from the university.  (I don’t even like THE Ohio State.  I’m more of a Michigan fan.)

Between this kind of stuff and the NFL kneelers, we may be only a few months away from the end of all major sports as we know them.  We may already be there.  As I said, the NBA is a reality show.  Their games are irrelevant.  The NFL has all the sporting integrity of professional wrestling.  Its only real entertainment value, like horse racing, is betting.  You know we could replace all these jerkoff players with some Korean kids playing Madden on Twitch.  The only difference would be that the games might not be fixed. 

Wait, let me give some love to my former favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys.  Yes, up until last year, even with my love for baseball, the Cowboys were my favorite team.  On some level I should thank the kneelers.  I was really sick of watching my team lose, but still getting talked about all the time.  The Cowboys are like the Lebron James of football. 

I give no props to Jerry Jones for his recent comments, but Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliot both came out and said the Cowboys will stand as a team.  Elliot said something like, “We’re America’s team.  We stand for the Anthem.”  Thanks, guys.  I’ll consider watching and listening to the Cowboys this year just for that, but I have a feeling this kneeling thing is being primed for a bigger political protest in the near future (which is what the protest is really about). 

Oh, I could go on (last month’s recaps ran out to 50 pages), but let’s get to tonight’s baseball game.  The Chihuahuas were playing their last game of the series against New Orleans.  (Don’t get me started on their team name, and Chihuahuas isn’t exactly a great name either for that matter.)  NO took the lead in the first, but Forrestt Allday did make a great jumping catch on the warning track.  Basically, that’s all I heard of the first half of the game.  Francisco Mejia did tie the score in the bottom with his first Chihuahuas’ home run.

I started listening again in the fifth with the score 3-2 New Orleans.  The wind started picking up at the park.  You could hear it whipping on the mics.  The Chihuahuas started a rally, but I had to step away to work.  When I came back a couple minutes later, the Chihuahuas were now up 5-3.  This just wasn’t my night for baseball. 

In the sixth, Auston Bousfield made another jumping catch on the warning track.  The wind seemed to be carrying the ball.  It carried a monster home run by NO on to the Big Dog house to make it 5-4.  In the bottom, their catcher made a visit to the mound to allow the ump to regroup after getting hit.  No mound visit was charged, so there’s still courtesy visits allowed between the guys behind the plate even with the new rule.      

Trey Wingenter was charged with a pace of play violation, but still got the outs in the eighth.  The Chihuahuas put two on in the bottom with nobody out, but failed to plate any insurance runs.  There was a little drama getting the final out, but Rowan Wick closed it out in the ninth for a 5-4 Chihuahuas win.  That’s a home sweep for the pups and nine errorless games.  They are looking good.