NM State Aggies vs GCU Lopes Baseball 4-18-21

 

Meet George Jetson!

His boy Elroy!

I think the only reason I get up on Sunday mornings is to see The Jetsons on MeTV.  I probably have other obligations, but this show actually gets me out of bed.  They started showing it a month or so ago and I’ve really enjoyed it.  It’s better than I remembered from whenever the last time I saw it.  I love the big band jazz theme music.  The futuristic show might even be more relevant today.  I really liked this one episode where they showed a football game where the sport was only being played by robots.  It’s a hopeful future with no stupid millionaire athletes shooting off their big mouths.

 

No, this doesn’t have any relevance to today’s baseball game between the Aggies and the GCU Lopes.  I’m just relating the high point of my day.  Almost everything after the cartoon was vaguely disappointing.  Almost . . .   I’ll get to that.  There was nearly no game for me today.  I stuck my head outside right after I got up, and after a shot of hard, cold wind, I said, “Hell, no!”  Yesterday was enough of that.  I went ahead and exercised and showered and tested the weather again.  It wasn’t quite as bad an hour later.  Ron called and I agreed to go. 

 

Ron once again picked up the tickets before getting me.  I’m still pretty sure that it’s not necessary to be there when the ticket window opens.  I bundled up, so I was actually more comfortable than yesterday when it was warmer.  My mask kept fogging up my glasses though.  The rest of the reduced, but capacity, crowd likewise dressed warm.  A lot of the girls and women came in with blankets.  Country music was going on over the PA during the pregame.  The usually perky PA voice sounded either sick or depressed.  I hope she’s feeling better for the next series. 

 

Local player Zerek Saenz was down by the dugout practicing his boxing on apprehensive teammates.  We said, “Hi,” to Adam Young on his way to the pressbox, but there was only TV coverage today, no radio.  On yesterday’s broadcast, Adam was mentioning that Zerek was having a great series hitting.  He was batting .425 at the start of the game.  Drafted star Nick Gonzales was also mentioned several times.  Jason Bush was catching today.  He’d caught Friday’s game and all of yesterday’s double header.  He’s invincible.

Everything seemed to added up today on the scorecard, except that I didn’t like the result.  Cam Blazek started pitching for the Aggies.  His intro song was the classic western hit, Big Iron by Marty Robbins.  The Aggie dugout was full of pep to start the game.  Cam went through the first two batters quickly, but then gave up two doubles which scored a run.  1-0 GCU.

 

Zerek saw his first pitch and promptly hit a single in the bottom.  GCU pitcher Carter Young didn’t have any other trouble in the frame, except the umpire had an argument with his coach over something.  I could almost hear it.  The ump warned about a throw over to first, but it wasn’t a balk.  Carter did finish off the inning with the rare F1, as he called off the other fielders on a popup.

 

The top of the second went quick with a pair of strikeouts.  I was almost thinking both teams wanted off the cold, windy field as quickly as possible.  A foul ball did drop into the stands thankfully missing everybody.  From personal experience, I know that can be scary.  (I have no idea where that post is where I caught a ball in my lap in the stands.  Ron still desperately wishes he’d there to see that.)  The PA still asked for the ball back.

 

The bottom of the second was also unintentionally quick as Cal Villareal was thrown out trying to steal second.  Adam mentioned yesterday that the Aggies kept testing GCU catcher David Avitia’s arm.  That didn’t work then either.  An attractive middle-aged woman with an enormous diamond ring on her finger was seated right below us.  When Ronnie Allen Jr. came up to bat, she got up and video’d it with her phone.  I guess that’s his mom.  She certainly raised a big, healthy specimen of a boy. 

 

The third inning was very quick.  Blazek notched another pair of strikeouts.  The Aggies ended their half on a double play.  Noah Haupt did single.  He still has the best beard in the WAC.  There were a couple of guys behind us that were talking baseball for much of the game.  They might have been scouts, as they were discussing MLB rule changes.  Though this was a TV game, the inning breaks had been quick.  The one before the fourth was the first slightly longer break.  OMG!  It’s Emerson!  For the fan trivia contest, the sports marketing intern of my dreams came down the grandstand and handed out a prize.  I’d assumed she’d moved on since last year, so this was a pleasant surprise.  (This was the other highlight of my day.)

 

The sun finally peaked through starting in the fourth inning.  It had been partly cloudy to overcast.  The fielders hadn’t had much trouble with the wind or the clouds to this point.  A fan brought in a large black dog, so pets are still welcome, but they have to be masked.  On field, this was where the wheels came off for the Aggies.  Blazek got the first out, but then gave up a couple of singles. 

 

Kevin Jimenez then lost a foul popup in the sun at third on the next batter.  This had consequences.  In the prolonged at bat, there was a dribbler between Bush and Blazek. They both banged into each other trying to get it.  Blazek was okay, but surprisingly, the “invincible” Bush was still on the ground.  The trainers ran out immediately for him.  The crowd was hushed for a couple of minutes until they got Bush to his feet and helped him off the field.  This could be bad (and I feel bad for jinxing him).  Britt Graham trotted out to take over catching.

 

It was bad on field too.  The bases were loaded.  Jonny Weaver then hit a double down the third baseline.  The crowd didn’t think it was a fair ball, but it scored two runs.  The second out was recorded on a liner, but a grounder to KJ that ate him up on a bad hop scored two more runs on the error.  Yet another run was singled in before the third out was recorded.  6-0 GCU.

 

Clank!  Another foul went into the stands in the bottom of the fourth.  This one was closer to a fan, but didn’t hit.  Given the configuration of the net, the canopy, and the stands, I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the first time two balls had dropped into the stands.  KJ singled and was moved to second on a walk to Ethan Mann.  He kept dancing around second and seemed to distract Young on the mound.  Finally, Kevin either tried to steal third or was just straight picked off.  The GCU dugout yelled out, “Thank you!”

 

Hayden Johns came on to pitch the top of the fifth.  He was greeted with a home run to left and then a double to left.  Johns then issued two walks before being relieved by Lyle Hibbitts.  The umpire also issued a warning to the GCU dugout and called out their manager.  Again, I could almost hear it, but not quite.  Since the dugout had gotten pretty vocal, I think the ump was warning them about taunting.  Being aware of the game and series situation, he may have wanted to head off any altercation between the teams.  GCU scored two more runs on sacrifices to make it 9-0.  I nearly muffed my scorecard this inning, which would have completed the disaster.

 

The Aggies were now in danger of getting run ruled on their own field.  Cal led off the bottom of the fifth with a hit.  Britt, with the great walkup music (which I still can't identify, sorry), legged out an infield single.  Haupt then singled in the Aggies’ first run.  Jake Baer singled in a run, and Brandon Dieter drove in a run with a fielder’s choice.  At least the Aggies wouldn’t be shutout today.  Kevin Jimenez was pulled for Zach Smits, who made the final out.  The coach was probably unhappy with KJ, even though he is the better hitter.  9-3 GCU.

 

Emerson came by to throw souvenirs to crowd.  She’s gone to a softer, lighter hair color and still doesn’t have a ring on her finger.  Smits took over first and Mann went to third.  They were both immediately tested in the sixth and didn’t have any problems fielding for a quick inning.  Stacy’s Mom played between frames.  The guys behind us thought the song was "Messed up."  I guess they haven’t seen the video to confirm that opinion.  Ronnie’s mom was joined by, I guessing, his grandma, and they both video’d his next at bat.  The Aggies didn’t score here.

 

Do I have to recap the rest of this game?  The highlight of the top of the seventh was a flyover by two military helicopters.  A little late for the Anthem guys. The sun finally came out in the bottom and warmed things up.  The guys behind me were wondering if the run rule was in play.  The Aggies must have heard that and then loaded the bases, but Mann popped out to end the inning.  The wind caused some problems as three fielders converged on the fly and none of them seemed sure to catch it.  I thought I saw Volleyball Coach Jordan across the grandstand.  He was having a long conversation with one of the regular fans. 

 

The Lopes scored two more runs in the eighth.  Two bad throws to first were ruled hits and prolonged the inning.  11-3 GCU.  Mom and grandma danced in their seats to Mambo #5 between frames.  The Aggies went down quietly.  Eric Hernandez worked the top of the ninth for the Aggies.  He made a nice play on a comebacker for a double play, as he worked around two hits and a hit batter.  In the bottom, Nolan Ewens pinch hit with Wild Thing as his walkup.  The dugout gave him a big cheer for getting into the game.  Tristan Stacy bat for Zerek.  The coach was probably protecting Zerek’s batting average.  Tristan struck out, but took first on a wild pitch.  The game ended 11-3.  GCU wins.           

 

It was a solid act of defiance by the Aggies for this game not to have ended early.  As it stands though, they were swept in the four-game series.  There’s not much to applaud today, but Zerek Saenz did go 2 for 4, and Noah Haupt went 3 for 4 with an RBI.  For the Lopes, Tayler Aguilar went 4 for 5 with an RBI and Jonny Weaver went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI’s.  I’m probably not giving their pitching enough credit.  They were all relatively small and slim and didn’t throw hard, but avoided giving up a big inning.

 

I felt better after this game than yesterday’s, but only because I was warmer.  I can’t believe how much time I was outside this weekend and didn’t get any significant sun.  Ron had a couple of foul balls.  I offered to return them to Emerson (and only her), but he didn’t want to give them up.  I looked around the “Kiss and Cry” area, but didn’t see anyone obvious to ask about Jason Bush’s condition.  He’s one of my favorite players.  I didn’t want to make Ron wait around until the players came out. 

 

I called my dad and he was watching the two races that were on that afternoon.  Ron and I picked up a Little Caesars’ pizza and went over to watch the end of them.  The IRL race featured their new “rookie” Jimmie Johnson.  Denny Hamlin dominated his home track at Richmond in NASCAR only to lose it to Alex Bowman on a late race restart.  (I was the only one happy about that.)  The pizza was not that great.  Their Cheeser! Cheeser! pizzas are great, but they’re not always on the menu.  I was glad I got to see dad this weekend, since he didn’t want to go to any of the games.  Ron was happy to see the races and thought he might come back next weekend for Talladega.  That’s a wrap for this weekend.      

NM State Aggies vs Tarleton State Texans Softball 4-17-21

 

(This is what it's come to: I'm doing feet fetish pics on the Internet.)

I didn’t expect to be back at the Softball Complex this season, but here I am.  Ron was available this weekend and wanted to see the softball team since he’d missed the last home series that I went to.  He’d hoped that we could still catch Game 2 of the Aggie Baseball double header afterward.  In any case, the baseball would be on the radio, so we could watch softball and listen to baseball.  I didn’t entirely agree with this plan, but went along with it.

 

Friday night would have been the day to go to softball.  In Game 1 against Tarleton State, the Aggies run ruled thanks to two home runs by Nikki Butler, including a grand slam.  In Game 2, Matalasi Faapito pitched a no hitter for a sweep.  Baseball didn’t do so well.  They gave up a slim lead late and lost to GCU.  While keeping up with those games, I actually got to watch a couple of MLB games, but the marquee game with the Dodgers and Padres was blacked out on the MLB Network.  I don’t understand why Padre games are blacked out in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We truly don’t have a broadcast affiliate here (and just lost our Rangers affiliate in El Paso).

 

The weather forecast was iffy for this weekend, but it was pleasant when Ron picked me up.  He’d gone by to get tickets first.  I questioned this precaution, but he might have been right in retrospect.  I suggested going over to Subway to get cold sandwiches to eat between games to avoid the panic of trying to run out and get a meal like last time.  Ron had a cooler ready.  As soon as we stepped out of his car to get it, the wind was suddenly blowing hard.  This was not a good sign.          

 

The cool wind alternated between blowing hard and harder for the whole game.  I’d worn a hoodie and put on my windbreaker, but wished I’d put on a long sleeved undershirt.  I’d thought I’d be too warm.  I was wearing a hat, sunglasses, had the hood up, and had earplugs in for the radio.  The mask was again the worst.  When my nose started running from the cold, it became disgusting. 

 

We got a look at the opposing pitcher, Julia Wernet, warming up as we came in.  She was a lanky, pretty blonde and threw hard.  The rest of the Texan team seemed to be built around a slim athletic build.  Their batting helmets were white with sparkling purple bills.  Ron flirted with the pretty ticket girl as usual as we entered.  The crowd probably turned out to be full with the reduced capacity.  We were seated in front of some Tarleton parents, but they didn’t take over that side of stands like GCU fans did last time.   

 

The first inning was eventful from a scoring standpoint.  I think I did this right, but I’m not going to double check it.  After a leadoff hit off of Mata, Georgia Capell hit a deep fly to left as the wind took it.  Somehow it stayed in, but it clanked off of Gabby Aragon’s glove as she ran after it.  I think this was officially scored an error, but a tough one.  Morgan Medford then hit a grounder to short.  Jayleen Burton smothered it, but had no play and a run scored.  I think this was scored a hit. 

 

The next play was a bit confusing.  Katy Schaefer hit an easy double that scored a run, except it didn’t happen that way.  Her hit went over Flex player Jillian Taylor’s head in right field and went to wall.  However, somehow Katy and Morgan both attempted to occupy second base, while Georgia was still standing at third.  I’m not sure what the girls on base saw when that ball was hit.  Georgia eventually broke for home and beat the tag.  Katy was thrown out trying to get back to first.  I’m not going to attempt to figure everybody who touched that ball on that play.  

 

Hailey Tanori in center made a great catch near the wall for the second out.  Mata recomposed herself and got a strikeout to end the inning.  The Texans went up 2-0.  That was a stressful half inning for the guy with the scorecard. 

 

In the bottom, Hailey took a walk.  Mata followed with a single.  Georgia, in right field, made a good diving attempt at it, but only trapped the ball.  Meanwhile on the baseball field in the first inning, GCU took a 4-0 lead, including a three-run homer.  I could clearly see home plate through the tree screen over the walls, but figured I’d better watch the game in front of me and just listen to the other.

 

Ramsay Lopez singled to load the bases.  Nikki was clearly licking her chops at the thought of hitting another grand slam this weekend.  She gave the ball a ride in right field, but Georgia stayed with it and hauled it in.  Hailey scored on the long sacrifice.  Kayla Bowen drove in another run on a fielder’s choice to tie the score at 2.  Morgan at short made two slick plays to get the last two outs.

 

A remake of Blondie’s Heart of Glass played on the PA between innings.  I don’t know who the artist is, but it was pretty good.  [Edit: It was Gisele Bundchen.  I was not expecting that.  Miley Cyrus also does a rock version of the song.]  Mata started the second with another strikeout.  Hailey made a good catch on a liner to center for the next out.  Unfortunately, Jayleen bobbled a grounder at short by Hallie Saintignan, who then stole second.  Mata was not ruffled and struckout the last batter to end the inning. 

 

On the baseball call, it was announced as a probable sellout.  This would be confirmed after the game was over, so there would be no double dip for me and Ron.  After being out in the wind for a couple of hours, I wasn’t going to go anyway.  There were multiple souvenir tosses into the crowd.  I think it was the Marketing lady, Nicole, but I couldn’t tell with the mask.  Certainly she was enthusiastic.  In addition to a t-shirt toss, there were two different package tosses.  Ron caught those and gave them to me.  One was a small towel.  (There was also a little drawstring Lays chips branded bag that was tossed, but I don’t know what was in it.)  The other was the awesome Aggie socks pictured at the top.  Now this was a great giveaway.  Although much like t-shirts, I have too many socks already.  I’ll make room for these though.

 

Brianna Gallegos doubled to start the bottom of the second.  Maya Martinez singled Bri in and took second on the throw in just getting in under the tag.  The Tarleton parents disagreed with the call.  (I probably did as well.)  The Texans brought in a new pitcher, Tristan Bridges.  She was rather petite and slim-looking with a herky-jerky pitching motion.  Tristan could throw hard, but had an impressive offspeed.  She finished off the inning.  The Aggies went up 3-2.  Across the field, Noah Haupt homered to make it 4-1 to cut into GCU’s lead.

 

To the third, the wind knocked down a high fly to center to start, but two batters later, Katy caught the jetstream to right and hit a line drive home run.  Mata gave up another hit.  Jayleen made a play on a big infield popup to end the inning.  3 all. 

 

The next softball homestand was announced as Senior Day.  Nikki is the only senior on the team, but PA said that seniors from last season would also be honored.  I don’t know it they’re still in school.  I’d think not.  I wouldn’t mind seeing some of those girls again if they were around.  I’m missing them as I mentioned last time.  Over at baseball, Ethan Mann drove in a run to make it 4-2.

 

In the bottom of the third, Nikki started off getting hit by a pitch.  Once again, she wasn’t lifted for a pinch runner here.  Gabby singled to put two on.  Brianna hit a fielder’s choice, which Tristan made a nice play on to get the lead runner, Nikki, at third.  (A pinch runner might have had a better chance there.)  Maya doubled to drive in Gabby to put the Aggies back up 4-3.

 

For the top of the fourth, there was the pocket contest.  Hats were the prize.  Okay, I got way too many hats.  I’m not trying.  On the radio, baseball was running about an inning ahead.  I told Ron about the last softball game, which had continual delays for arguments and conferences.  This game was running long, but had been nothing but action.  On the PA, there was an old friend, Harry Belafonte’s Jump in the Line.  I’d missed that happy tune last year.

 

Mata racked up two more strikeouts in the top of the fourth.  Ramsay hit a line drive homer to center in the bottom to make it 5-3.  There was a t-shirt toss to the crowd for the home run.  Ramsay then made a great catch on a shoe top liner at third in the top of the fifth.  In the bottom, Kayla beat out an infield hit.  MacKenzie Peterson at first impressively did the splits trying to get her.  Kayla was thrown out trying to steal second.  Brianna singled.  She took second on a wild pitch and went to third on a bad throw by the catcher, but the Aggies did not score. 

 

Meanwhile at the baseball field, the Aggies foiled a safety squeeze at the plate.  Ron saw it while it was happening.  I heard it a few seconds later on the radio.  In the sixth, Mata walked the first two batters and was relieved by Felicia De La Torre.  She slammed the door with a couple of strikeouts and a grounder.  The final out was caught looking with a dramatic call by the ump.  Nikki did an extra high ball flip to the circle as she came off the field.   

 

The baseball game ended with GCU winning 4-2.  Both starters went the distance in the 7-inning game.  I had trouble hearing the final stats during the bottom of the sixth.  Chris Jefferson for the Aggies had 9 strikeouts at least.  GCU’s pitcher had 11 strikeouts.  Adam Young on the call said he was unusually wild with a couple of walks.  Heh, heh.  Yeah, the guy was really off his game today.  A bunch of scouts were in the crowd to see him.

 

Mata was still in the game hitting and cashed in with a monster shot to right field with the wind.  Ramsay then walked.  Nikki hit a hard foul into the dugout and nearly took out a teammate.  The girl took cover deeper in the dugout.  Nikki almost also took out Kayla on deck with another foul.  Nikki walked and Audrey Shelboski came in to pinch runner (as the trailing runner, I still don’t understand this).  Kayla then almost took out Gabby on deck.  It’s obvious where the most dangerous place to be in the Softball Complex is.  Kayla walked.

 

As the wind was picking up, this was just what I wanted to see: three walks in a row.  For some reason, the Tarleton coach wasn’t inclined to change pitchers at this point.  (I really don’t understand this strategy.)  Georgia in the right field then dropped a short flyball.  The increase in wind and the second baseman also running for the ball probably contributed to the error.  A run scored there and another scored on the fourth walk of the inning to Brianna.  Antuanett Dean came in to pinch run for her.

 

At this point, the run rule was coming into play.  Tristan was finally relieved, but it didn’t help.  Maya singled to drive in two runs.  Tarleton finally got the second out on a fielder’s choice.  Freshman Kendra Levesque came into the game as a pinch hitter.  She looked like bopper and that she did.  Kendra blasted a three-run homer to right center to end the game 13-3 on a run rule.  She’s apparently very popular with her teammates as they completely mobbed her at home plate. 

 

There’s gameball number one.  Kendra Levesque’s three RBI’s on a homer.  Maya Martinez went 3 for 3 with 4 RBI’s.  Matalasi Faapito got the win and went 2 for 3 with a home run.  Felicia De La Torre got the save and did a good job closing it out when the game was still in doubt.  Katy Schaefer for Texans went 3 for 3 with 2 RBI’s and a home run. 

 

I invited Ron back to my apartment to eat dinner, since we weren’t going to be going to Game 2 of Aggie Baseball’s double header.  But first, we went to PQ Treats.  I’d seen a couple of new specials for their Frozen Tornados earlier while getting the sandwiches.  I picked the Elvis Tornado as you might guess.  It was vanilla ice cream, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, bananas, and peanut butter flavoring.  (Of course it all should have been fried if you’re trying to do the classic Elvis Fried Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich.  I tried one once.  It was . . . edible.  That’s all I’ll say.)  We listened to the baseball game while playing some classic Nintendo (badly).  The Aggies dropped that game in a close contest.  We awaited tomorrow’s weather to see if we’d go to the Sunday game.      

 

                 

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 10

 These pages from The Star were in the scrapbook.

This page doesn't have anything about Elvis, but does have some celebrity gossip from 1977.

Story about Elvis' death.

Photo spread.

Death story continued.

Story about Priscilla.

Elvis trivia at the bottom.  

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 9

Sorry, this article is incomplete as far as I can tell.  Relatives sent my mom articles about Elvis from their newspapers.  Here's a story about an Elvis show in Branson.

Okay, so the plot to steal Elvis' body was a hoax?  Also, Elvis on Tour was a cool movie.

 

Ad for an Elvis impersonator show in El Paso.

The article at the bottom from The Star was from before Elvis' death.

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 8

I used to read Bob Greene all the time.  He was another columnist who was an Elvis fan.

Here we have an impersonator doing great business after Elvis' death.

This article is chopped up for some reason.  I almost missed getting a picture of page 2 since it was underneath page 1.

Wow, now that is a record collection.

Meanwhile, this comedian ends his act based on Elvis after his death.

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 7

More on Priscilla's auto-biography, including a Bloom County strip.  

I feel bad for anyone buying the Elvis collection on 8-track.  My parents had an 8-track player in their stereo.  Those things really were terrible.

The "plot to steal the body of Presley?"  There's some dedicated fans for you.

There at the bottom is an ad for a carnival coming to El Paso with a traveling Elvis museum.

At Graceland, there's still luggage on display from when Elvis was getting ready to leave for his next tour before he died.  The top article talks about fans who had tickets for that tour.

The Elvis Collection: 70's Scrapbook 6

More about Mike Stone, Priscilla's lover.  Continued below.  Sideways, Russell Baker was the second host of Masterpiece Theater.  His commentary mention's Priscilla's book.  

Small blurb in the TV article, "Elvis may have been an alien."  I love Ancient Aliens.  I can't wait for Giorgio A. Tsoukalos to cover this.

The article for the above picture is below.

Bob Greene was a national columnist.  Here he gives his list of the greatest songs of all time.  Elvis makes the list.  

The article on the left talks about Elvis' record sales.  Interesting article, "If Elvis had not been."  It's continued on the next page.  Once again, another comparison to Rudolph Valentino.  

"Elvis imitations over?"  That'll be the day.

 

Here Bob Greene gives a critical review of Priscilla's book.