Baseball and Other Sports Journal July 2025 Part 8

7-18-25

We’re back from the break.    Tonight’s MLB.TV Free Game was the Giants at the Blue Jays.    The roof was open at the Rogers Centre and getting a good look at the stadium, I have to say, it looks beautiful after the remodel.    I know stadium renovations are hideously expensive, but if you do it right, it’s like getting a new stadium with all of the memories and nostalgia still there.

I was watching the Giants’ broadcast mostly hoping to hear Jon Miller for a few innings, which happened, but I ended up being busy at work and didn’t get to hear much of it.    Dave Fleming had the best line of the broadcast talking about the Jays, “They have solid D all over the place.”    All together now: That’s what she said. They did turn two double plays in first two innings.

In the second inning, Justin Verlander was not doing well.    He gave up 4 runs and 7 hits over 2 innings.    A hit batter loaded the bases, but he limited further damage.    In the third inning with two outs and one on, Verlander walked a batter and was taken out. Verlander is 0-8 in his starts this season, but is still married to Kate Upton, so he’s a winner.    It would be a 4-0 Jays win.    The Giants had 11 hits (one was actually an error) and no runs.    The Blue Jays had 10 hits and only scored in one inning.   

I got some bonus baseball with the Royals at the Marlins tied at 5 in the tenth. The Marlins had been leading the game, 5-0 earlier.    Adam Fraizer doubled in two for the Royals to make it, 7-5, in the tenth. The Marlins scored in the bottom, and then Kyle Stowers, who was in the Swing Off at the All-Star Game earlier in the week, hit a monster two-run homer to walk it off.    The Marlins’ announcer was borderline hysterical during the call. 8-7 Marlins win.

Tonight’s Chihuahuas game came on late for a West coast game in Tacoma.    The Rainiers are in the first place with the Chihuahuas a game behind them.    Unfortunately, the broadcast was having connection problems with stadium, so the sound quality was bad.    I was busy and found myself mentally tuning out.    Also, the Rainiers dropped 8 runs on the pups in the second.    In the fourth, Luis Campusano doubled in a run and Yonathan Perlaza homered in three runs to make it, 8-4.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty did say, “This game wasn’t over yet,” earlier, but that was about it for the comeback.    Rainiers win, 9-5.

7-19-25

I went out with dad and Lamae to Wecks for lunch to start my day.    My opinion of the place hasn’t changed since the last time: it’s not that great and it’s a bit overpriced.    At least the waitress was pretty.    I went back to dad’s to watch the Amazon Prime game between the Royals and the Marlins.   

The Royals were wearing powder blues, which frankly looked terrible.    The Marlins were in their Miami Vice-inspired uniforms and looked much better.    There was a confused Giants fan in a bright orange jersey in background along the third base line that was a continuing aesthetic distraction.   

There weren’t that many fans there, which is too bad since it seems like a neat place to see a game.    Without the crowd, you could hear the drum and horn corps in the outfield.    They changed tunes depending on what was happening on field.    New management got rid of the huge, flamboyant sculpture in the outfield, which I sort of agree with, but now it looks too plain there like there’s something missing.    They got rid of the fish tanks behind home plate, and they replaced the Clevelander club with a set of bleachers.    Unlike Toronto, this wasn’t a great remodel.

The Marlins scored in the first off a triple and a fielder’s choice, 1-0.    In the top of the second, there was a great running catch by the Marlins’ centerfielder.    In the bottom, the Royals turned an impressive double play going from the first baseman to second base back to the pitcher covering first.

I was having a problem with the stream.    It kept crashing between innings and I had to keep restarting.    I tried switching between coverages, but the Marlins’ broadcast had the audio and video out of sync.    The Royals’ announcers were talking about their pitcher, Paul Quantrill, chewing gum on the mound, except he didn’t chew until he was between batters.    The Marlins’ announcers mentioned the Royals had three catchers on their roster with their ages totaling over 100 years.    That’s, of course, mostly Salvador Perez. In fairness, the broadcasters said their ages totaled over a 100, too.

In the top of the third, a Royals’ runner at first was picked off on review.    His blue uniform looked terrible with the front covered in dirt.    In the bottom of the sixth, Royal Maikel Garcia at third, with his back to the plate, made a basket catch on a popup and made it look easy.    This was especially impressive, as he was almost injured earlier from bending out of the way of a pitch at his head.    Pity poor Michael Wacha, the Royals’ starter.    He went 6 innings, gave up 1 run, and got no run support.    This has been the story of his season.   

In the bottom of the seventh, the Marlins loaded the bases with two outs, but a fielder’s choice ended it.    In the top of the eighth, old man Salvador Perez led off with a home run to straight away center.    The ball was still sitting up in the ivy (or whatever it is) later in the game.    No kids were running out there to get it like at old Ballpark at Arlington.    Two walks in the inning were left stranded.    We were tied at 1.

In the bottom of the eighth, there was an extended argument over clock management and a batter time out, as the pitcher was working too quick. The batter stepped out without calling time and was given a penalty strike.    He singled anyway.    The Marlins loaded the bases with no outs.    Otto Lopez doubled in two (and he drove in the run in the first).    The crowd there got up and roared and the band got loud.   

After getting the first out, an intentional walk was issued to Kyle Stowers to reload bases.    The infield fly rule was call on a popup, and an FC ended the inning, 3-1 Marlins.    Anthony Bender came on for the save in the ninth.    What a name for a pitcher.    He closed it out for a 3-1 Marlins win.    It was a quick game with a few double plays quickly ending innings.       

The NASCAR Xfinity race at Dover came on during the ballgame.    The highlight was a prerace interview with Austin Hill.    There was this gorgeous girl with long brunette hair in the background shaking hair out and running her fingers through it.    Yikes!    There was water or something on the track which delayed the start.    It would be a sign of things to come.    There was heavy rain on the radar in Stage 2.    By Stage 3, the race was official, and there were sprinkles.    It was put under caution and then red flagged with 66 laps left.    It was still only sprinkling, but the storm was coming.    Connor Zilisch was leading and later given the win.

I went back home and then over to the mall to look for something at Barnes & Noble.    I ended up only getting a snow cone, which really hit the spot after that hot walk over.    I thought I should get a tea at the boba tea place, but the there was a line for that.    I did this while missing the Rangers’ game against the Tigers on the radio.    I’m not sure what I was thinking.    (And worse, I didn’t have anything to do in the early afternoon on Sunday, but I didn’t know that would happen at the time.)

       

It was 3-0 Rangers in the second when I started listening.    Rowdy Tellez, who I didn’t know was now on the team, had hit a three-run homer and I just missed it.    Rangers’ pitcher, Kumar Rocker, got out of a having two on in the fourth and hadn’t given up any hits.    Corey Seager drove in a run in the fifth to make it, 4-0 Rangers.

The no-hitter was broken up in the sixth with two out.    The announcers were constantly mentioning the no-hitter, but I don’t think they jinxed it.    (Never call bother anything a possible no-hitter until the eighth.)    They were also commenting on a “bat race,” maybe with fans participating.    A couple of the bats were going at it in the race.

Rocker was taken out after getting one more out in the seventh.    What a great effort.    In the top of the ninth, Tiger Riley Greene hit a home run.    Wyatt Langford then made a great catch in center for the second out.    Rangers win, 4-1.    I was pleased that the station stayed on long enough for me to hear the whole game.    (Often, they power down well before sundown.)    I was less pleased the next day, when the station didn’t carry the game at all.

The Chihuahuas and the Rainiers started another late game.    The pups were down 3-2 in the second.    In the third, the Rainiers got a two-run homer to make it, 5-2.    It sounded like a huge crowd there in Tacoma during the home run.    In the fourth, Rodolpho Duran singled in two as part of four-straight singles.    The bases were loaded, but a double play ended the inning.    5-4 Rainiers.   

In the fifth, Yonathan Perlaza tied it at 6 on home run.    The Rainiers retook the lead in the sixth.    There was then a failed rundown on a double steal, where a runner stole home, 8-6 Rainers.    I switched games around this point, but rejoined the game in the ninth.    The Chihuahuas loaded the bases and a run was walked in, but the Rainers closed it out, 9-7.

When the sun went down, I switched over to catch the end of the Rockies and the Twins.    I joined in the top of the eighth, 8-3 Rockies.    A Twins’ double brought in two runs with two outs, 8-5.    The Rox scored two in the bottom of the eighth.    Suddenly, there was a huge buzz on the radio and I lost the signal.    I tuned back in a little later and got the final, 10-6 Rockies.    There was an unfamiliar voice on the broadcast.    Tim Hagerty with the Chihuahuas had mentioned that the Isotopes’ announcer had been called up to broadcast games for this series.   

Flipping around on the TV, I ran into a soccer match between the El Paso Locomotive playing the Phoenix Rising.    I didn’t know this was on.    They were playing for the Jagermeister Cup.    No, I don’t know what that is, either.    It was 2-2 in extra time when I joined the coverage.    The EP goalie made a great one-on-one save late.    However, the Locos lost, 7-6 on penalty kicks.    Those PK’s took a while.    They should take those shots from the top of the box to make this quicker and more interesting.

There was also Mexican League baseball on between the Juarez Indios against the Rojos.    Yes, it was the Indians versus the Reds.    The Reds were wearing black.    The Indios were in aquamarine tops.    Something like the San Diego Chicken was working the crowd.    In the top of the ninth, it was 2-2 with two Rojos on and no outs.    A wild pitch moved them up.    After an out, the bases were loaded.    There was strikeout and the Juarez crowd got up and cheered.    However, an infield hit somehow brought in three runs.    I’m still not sure what happened. The ball dribbled past the fielder with the runners moving.    The infielder was injured trying to make the play.    5-2 Rojos was the final.

Amazingly, I ran into a big boxing match on another Mexican station, probably on delay.    I know I’ve lost my Press hard card for not sufficiently covering boxing, so I’m not bothering to do a full fight recap.    (Also, I’m just kidding about the Press card.)    The fight was between Manny “Pac Man” Paquiao and . . . wait, is this a rebroadcast of an old fight?    No, this is from today.    Okay.    Paquiao was fighting some guy that looked a lot bigger and younger, which would pretty much describe any other active boxer. (It was Mario Barrios.)   

The old man and kid did go at it hard and it was a back-and-forth fight.    I saw the decision coming.    It was a split-decision with two judges ruling it a draw.    The crowd booed, but I think they did enjoy the fight, just not the outcome.

Comics Review: Uncanny X-Men (Kieron Gillen) Vol. 2

I was over at Zia Comics again earlier this month, after getting my car serviced and going to the Downtown Mall to get lunch at the Rad Retrocade.   (It’s an interesting décor having a burger surrounded by TV’s and video games.) When I got that X-Force volume a couple of months ago, I’d noted a few other X-Men and New Mutants trades that I was interested in.    I got a New Mutants trade last time.    This time I got a small X-Men trade.    I probably picked this up because a nice picture of Magik was on the cover.    Let’s hit the highlights of this volume right off the bat.

So here we have Namor seducing a humanoid cephalopod queen.

Thankfully, they leave the worst of it to your imagination, but unfortunately, not all of it.

Here, noble Namor tells Hope that he’s not interested in her, because she’s too young for him and a redhead.

This is a joke.    Welcome to the Modern Era of the X-Men.   

Here’s most of the point of the story: a lecture on pronouns and gender fluidity.    Are you laughing yet?

I was relatively nice in reviewing Batman:Hush and New Mutants Classic #6.    I was genuinely disappointed in those, but more-or-less still got what I thought I was going to get (great artwork and characters I liked, respectively).    This time, I’m angry.   

It’s crappy decompressed storytelling and smarmy Whedon-esqe dialogue, without the cleverness or great characterization of Joss Whedon’s writing.    And, of course, The Agenda is promoted.    In that, the comic is of it’s era.    I was not expecting the gross out above, nor how much gray area the X-Men would be operating in.    There’s no idealism here.    The X-Men look like superheroes, but it’s a facade.           

There’s two stories in this volume and the X-Men coordinate with the Avengers in both.    At the beginning of the Tabula Rasa story, we have Captain America praising the X-Men.    Cap doesn’t know here that the dangerous incident was actually caused by a former X-Man and another X-Man could have stopped it, but didn’t want to kill another mutant to do so.

By the end of the second story, here’s Captain America questioning the X-Men’s motivations.    It’s like they’re only really interested keeping mutants safe.   

This aligns with Magneto’s ethics.    He is okay with saving a mutant at the price of a mass murder of humans because of how few mutants there are.   

Cyclops also gets blackmailed over running a secret assassination team.

I’m not really talking about the stories themselves, because they’re sort of irrelevant and not that interesting.    The X-Men in this are the Extinction Team.    It’s made up of some the most powerful mutants to combat extinction-level events.    Cyclops is way too eager to engage in combat as shown in the above page.

I’d thought this story was part of the Krakoa Era when I first started reading this, where mutants were attempting to start a homeland on an island.    No, this is the Utopia Era, where mutants were attempting to start a homeland on an island.    Didn’t we already do this with Genosha in the 90’s, where mutants were attempting to start a homeland on an island?

A homeland for a small group of special people who employ an assassination squad to help them remain safe there?    Does this sound like anything in the real world you know of?    Perhaps if the mutants had a super PAC that purchased US Congressmen to do their bidding, it might sound more familiar.   

The obvious problem with any of these Homeland Eras was that they did it wrong.    It should have been Magneto and the “evil” and “neutral” mutants, along with a few X-Men who agreed with their mission, inhabiting an island and declaring a new mutant homeland.    They’d be protectors of mutantkind in the world and providing some benefit for humankind in general.    In the background, they’re running assassinations and not so nice stuff, not to mention running psyops on the X-Men to make them look like threats to the world.    In this scenario, the X-Men would be true “outlaw” superheroes and the bad mutants would appear legitimate.

Several years ago (12-17), I wrote up an X-Men MCU proposal.    Boy, has everyone’s perception of Disney changed since I wrote that! “They could integrate them into the Marvel Universe without retconning anything or doing a goofy multi-universe.” So much for that.    I made the case that mutants needed to be rethought out a bit.

A bunch of people born with superpowers would be celebrities, recruited by companies, the military, and government agencies in our world.    They’d be followed like royalty . . . unless there was a good reason to think they were all just dangerous.   

I’m sure there’s an analogy with Newtypes from Mobile Suit Gundam to be made.    (I just watched and enjoyed the new GQuuuuux show.)    Repeated attempts to exterminate humanity by Newtypes in various series and movies should have resulted in a severe backlash, though “good” Newtypes did help avert the catastrophes.       

Did you like anything about this, dude?    Here’s where I’d like to praise the Greg Land artwork in the first story, but frankly he’s not that good here.    The picture of Storm above is likely the best sample.    He’s a long way from his great Sojourn artwork (where he was probably tracing models from naughty magazines, but it was still great).     

  

I did kind of like Namor speaking the third person.    He also answers reader questions on a reprint of a letters page.    He’s kind of a joke, though.    I was intrigued a bit by the development of Colossus’ power being combined with the power of the Juggernaut.    I don’t feel like I really got to see him truly smash things.    Magik is in this, but without the New Mutants, it all feels very superficial.    She’s just there because she’s a useful teleporter. Unit, the second story villain, is pretty disturbingly powerful and psychotic (and annoyingly pleasant).

Okay, no more X-Men books from the Twenty-first century.    Let’s just focus on X-Men from the 80’s and 90’s from now on.   

Baseball Journal July 2025 Part 7

7-14-25 Home Run Derby

Granted, not quite as good listening as watching this event, but I got the radio call of the Home Run Derby on ESPN Radio.    I was able to supplement the call with clips on Twitter.    For example, you needed to see O’Neil Cruz hit that 513’ home run out of the park.    He was a definite crowd pleaser with his monster shots.    Cruz wasn’t even an all-star and possibly slightly injured, but he showed up to hit home runs.    He had 21 homers in the round, tied with Junior Caminero.    Cruz hit 5 of the 6 longest home runs in the round.

MLB home run leader, Cal Raleigh, hit from both sides of the plate in his at bat.    Did I hear this right?    He’s 5 for 39 this month, but all his hits are homers?    Cal faced Junior in the final.    In Junior’s final, a kid in the outfield robbed him of one.    (I think it still counted.)    “Big Dumper,” though, won it.    He was humble afterward, and the only catcher and only switch hitter to win the competition.

7-15-25 All-Star Game

Once again, I was listening to ESPN Radio’s coverage of the All-Star Game.    I heard the whole pregame show.    Aaron Judge got on my good side.    In an interview, when asked about his first all-star game, he talked about getting to see the players he looked up to.    (There are no players he looks up to.)  Judge’s first at bat, Buster Posey was behind the plate calling signs against him and he thought it was so cool.    Buster is one of my favorite players as well.   

The players were wearing their regular uniforms for the game, which is a change everyone agrees with.    (ASG uniforms tended to be embarrassing.)    Paul Skenes worked a clean first for the NL.    In the bottom, Tarik Skubal was touched up with 3 straight hits.    Ketel Marte drove in 2 for the NL.    ABS was in was use this game.    Skubal used ABS to get an out.

Clayton Kershaw was mic’d up for his two-batter outing on the TV coverage.    I was able to later to find the video.    He was so happy to be out there.    Also during the game, there was a Hank Aaron tribute.    It was pretty impressive with the tribute video being showed as a hologram on the field of play.    I had to find the video of that later, as well.

In the sixth, Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer and Corbin Carroll added a solo shot to make it, 6-0 NL.    It’s never that easy.    In the seventh, Brent Rooker three-run homer and Bobby Witt Jr. drove in another for the AL, 6-4.    Atlanta home town player, Matt Olson, was not given an error on the Witt RBI, though the broadcasters thought he probably should have.    Man, whoever was playing the organ in Atlanta was giving Dieter Ruehle a run for his money as best ballpark organist.    I was seriously impressed with what I was hearing in the background.   

Jacob Misiorowski came in to pitch for the eighth for the NL.    “The Miz” has been in the Majors for five weeks and many of the pundits have been grumbling about his presence in the ASG.    “He’s taking the place of more deserving veterans.”    This would be a great argument, except for how many All-Stars, especially marginal ones, get the nod and then bow out.    They just want the designation for contract negotiations.    The fans wanted to see The Miz.    He came out throwing 102mph and had two flyballs, one line drive, and one single.

There was a discussion of a Persian cat on the red carpet.    A player had made a viral video of his dressed up cat walking on a red carpet at his hotel.    He thought about bringing him to the actual red carpet ceremony, but wasn’t sure how that would work out.    (Translation: he was afraid the cat would upstage him and everybody else.)

Robert Suarez came for the save in for the ninth.    Witt drove in another run for the AL to make it, 6-5.    Edwin Diaz was brought in with the Narco trumpets.    With one out, Steven Kwan had an infield hit that drove in Witt to tie it at 6.    Witt and Kwan are clutch, but we’ll get a more clutch performance here in a minute.

We were tied after nine innings.    Before the game, the announcers wondered how anyone would score with this all this great pitching.    12 runs later, we get to finally use the tie-breaker rules, which had been instituted a couple of years ago to avoid any ties, but not continue the game; we’re playing another round of home run derby.   

Pity anyone who left the game early.    This would also include some the players that were subbed out in the game early, who showered, dressed, and left.    Anticipating this, the three players from each team, who would be participating, had to still be in the lineup or available on the bench.    Each player would get three swings, whoever scored the most home runs would win.   

Brent Rooker from the AL set the pace with two home runs.    After a round and a half, the AL was up 3-1.    Kyle Schwarber came up and went 3 for 3.    He went down to a knee to swing out his final shot.    The NL would win the derby, 4-3, and officially the game would end, 7-6 NL.    Honestly, you kind of had to like the NL’s odds.    Alonso, two-time derby champ, would have been the final batter.    Well, this was a great game.    I’m really glad I got to listen to it.    We’ll take a couple days off and then get back to the season.   

Baseball Journal July 2025 Part 6

7-12-25

I nearly forgot.    I was so half-dead Saturday morning, I almost forgot about the Cubs at the Yankees on ESPN Radio this morning.    I got there after the Cubs had scored in the top of the first, 1-0.    In the bottom, Pete Crow-Armstrong made a jump catch on an Aaron Judge line drive.   

Yankees’ starter, Max Fried, was hittable.    The Cubs scored in the third and then added two more after an error.    The Cubs attempted a catcher’s interference challenge, but were denied.    The batter walked anyway.    4-0 Cubs.    Fried was out in the fourth on a reported blister.    A couple of fans at the game make great catches.    One was a hard liner caught barehanded, and the other was caught by a Cubs fan.   

In the meantime, I offered to get dad lunch, along with his neighbor, Lamae, who’d just had surgery.    They picked a pizza at Bubba’s pizza, along with garlic knots and a salad (for Lamae).    We ate at her apartment with her dogs.    It was all good, but pricey.    (Lamae said they have the best salads.)    I’d brought my little portable radio and we listened to the game.    (There wasn’t anything special on TV.)   

The Cubs tacked on a solo homer to make it, 5-0.    Their starter, Matthew Boyd, worked eight shutout innings, but he didn’t work the ninth.    In the bottom of the ninth, Judge got his due and hit a two-run homer.    After a walk, a new pitcher was brought in to finish the game.    Cubs win 5-2.

Dad and I went back to his apartment.    There was a ballgame on Amazon Prime and a NASCAR Xfinity race on TV.    The Rockies were at the Reds, and the race was a road race at Sonoma.    I’m going to have to mix the coverage here, since these events were happening at the same time.   

I picked the Rockies’ broadcast.    They ran a promo for a Grateful Dead Night with Tie Dye t-shirts, which looked pretty cool.    The Reds sac’d in a run in the first.    The Sonoma race began with Marty Smith giving an enthusiastic command to start the engines.  Connor Zilisch and Shane Van Ginsberg were up front, the same two that were fighting for the win at the Chicago street race last week.

The baseball broadcasters had a discussion with a player in the dugout, Kyle Farmer.    I missed some of the story, but when he was younger, Farmer had kept a Sports Illustrated magazine with Pete Rose on the cover with him.    He was eventually able to meet Rose and get his signature on it.   

Rox rookie, Ryan Ritter, hit his first Major League home run and it was a two-run shot, to make it, 2-1 Rox.  On the track, Zil and SVG battling up front trading places for most of Stage 1.  In the fourth, Hunter Goodman, the Rockies’ All-Star, tripled when his hit got past Will Benson in right field, but he was left stranded.    In the bottom, Rox pitcher Bradley Blalock deflected a comebacker at his face with his glove.  The ump was concerned about him and checked on him first before the staff got there.  He was fine.  Orlando Arcia made great jump catch at second in the inning.

Zil and SVG came in early and gave up the stage points.  Sam Mayer took the first stage.    In the top of fifth, the Rockies lost a runner at home in a rundown.    Well, actually the player didn’t run, he just stood there and got tagged.  The Rockies got two runners on, but a double play ended the inning.  In other games today, Byron Buxton on the Twins hit for the cycle on his bobblehead day.       

Zil and SVG cycled back to the front to start Stage 2.    In the bottom of the sixth, Blalock was taken out after a couple of hits in between a DP.    The bases were loaded with Reds, but a strikeout ended it.    Zil and SVG came in again before the end of the stage, and Brandon Jones was the Stage 2 winner.    In the top of the seventh, Yanquiel Fernandez doubled over first base and drove in a run and drove Reds’ starter, Brady Singer, from mound, 3-1 Rox.    In the bottom, Noel Marte struck back for the Reds with a homer, and it was 3-2.

Zil and SVG started up front again in Stage 3.    There was some fuel drama.    Could they make it to the end?    They played an amusing interchange between Austin Hill and his pits.    It was all bleeps.   

In the top of the ninth, the Rox had two on with no outs.    There was even a pitch clock violation on the Reds’ pitcher.    The pitcher proceeded to get a strikeout on a virtual pitchout, another strikeout, and a fielder’s choice to end the inning.    To the bottom of the ninth, Victor Nodnick came in for the Rockies.    He got the save last night.    He gave up a single and Benson tripled him in, which tied it.    There was a walk.    The crowd at Great American Ballpark was standing.    The Rox brought the infield in.  Marte hit it to the infield.    Arcia gloved it and dropped it.   A run scored and the Reds win, 4-3.    I was genuinely disappointed.

We’ll concentrate on the race now.    There were 6 laps left.    Zil was in front with SVG right behind him.    Zil’s crew chief made the call, “about out of gas.”    He’d been urging him to save.    With 2 laps left, SVG bumped him hard and ran on Zil’s bumper for final lap.    Dale Earnhardt Jr., the owner of both cars, looked on with concern from the pit box, but they raced hard and clean.    Zilisch took it for some redemption for last week’s loss.    It was a nearly caution-free race and ran very quickly.

I returned home and turned on Game 2 between the Rangers and the Astros.    Regrettably, I had very bad reception.    I had the TV on, also.    Maybe it was interfering, but I didn’t want to turn it off.    I heard the Rangers take 1-0 lead in first, and then Jose Altuve tied it on a homer in the bottom, and I couldn’t take any more of the static.     I gave up to watch wrestling, but the matches weren’t very interesting.    Finally, the Chihuahuas/Aviators game came on, but I still wasn’t paying much attention.

I got a dust storm alert early in the game.    It hit here and was followed with a light rain storm.    By “light,” I mean about 30 seconds.    So, between the dust and that sprinkling, everybody’s car is now very dirty.    (I washed and waxed my car earlier this week to take it in for servicing.    It was only 90+degrees while I rushed to do it.)    This storm would hit El Paso and the Chihuahuas game later.           

When the sun went down, I tried another Rangers’ affiliate and had better success with reception.    I was surprised the game was still going.    Little wonder, it was in the eleventh, tied at 3.    What I did not know then was that the Rangers had come back on Josh Hader, the Astros’ closer, to tie it.   

Adolis Garcia drove in Marcus Siemen on the first pitch.    The Houston crowd issued an enormous “Boo!”    “Listen to that crowd!” shouted an exultant Eric Nadel broadcasting for the Rangers.    It was 4-3 Rangers.    In the bottom, there was a walk to start and a second walk loaded the bases.    The Rangers brought in a new pitcher and a single drove in 2 for an Astros win, 5-4.    The crowd roared.    I groaned.

Back to the Chihuahuas, it was raining in the eighth and the Chihuahuas were losing, 5-4.    In the bottom of the ninth, the rain had stopped and a double started the inning.    There was a bad throw on a bunt attempt and a Chihuahuas’ runner scored to tie the game.    Another bunt put a runner in scoring position, but he was left stranded.    We go to extras.

The Aviators scored in the tenth.    They then loaded the bases with one out, but the Chihuahuas brought in a new pitcher and got out of it.    In the bottom, the pups tied it on a little grounder that got by two fielders, 6-6.    In the top of the eleventh, El Pasoan Daryl Hernaiz drove in a run on a sac fly for LV.    In the bottom, a Chihuahuas’ runner was thrown out at the plate.    After, a huge flyball caught at wall.    A runner tagged up and scored on it, I think from second base.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty was hysterical doing the game call.    There was another warning track fly ball that would have won it, but was caught, 7-7.   

Unfortunately in the twelfth, an error on a fielder’s choice brought in a run for the Aviators, which would be the winner.    8-7 Aviators.    I enjoyed the race today, but everything else was a pretty disappointing, especially the baseball (even the pizza relative to the price).

7-13-25

The MLB.TV Free Game was between the Indians and White Sox, so I decided to stay home and listen to the other two games available on the radio at the same time.    I chose to mostly listen to the rubber game between the Rangers and the Astros and peek in on the Chihuahuas and the Aviators.       

The Chihuahuas began the scoring and went up 3-0 in the first.    Yonathan Perlaza hit a 2-run homer.    In Houston in the bottom of the first, Nathan Evoldi’s first pitch nearly went out of the park.    It was ruled to have hit the top of the wall and was in play for a double.    This was followed by a walk.    Josh Smith at third made a good play to start a double play and Evan Carter in center made a diving catch to end the inning without damage.

In the second, Carter tripled in Wyatt Langford and Ezekiel Duran bloop-doubled him in.    The broadcasters were talking about how badly Zeke was hitting during his at bat.    2-0 Rangers.    Adolis Garcia blasted a high fastball out of the strike zone to make it 3-0 Rangers.    In the fourth, Carter doubled.    A single moved him over and Anthony Osuna sac’d him in to make it, 4-0 Rangers.

In the fourth in El Paso, it was 4-2 Chihuahuas.    I think I missed a two-run triple and a double steal by the pups in the interim.    Broadcaster Tim Hagerty brought in a guest.    He works at an ice cream stand in the park and also is a Hollywood actor.    He was working on a TV show that Tim and his wife were watching.    He’s also a special needs person and does talks at schools.    I was kind of fascinated with the interview and it went into the next inning.    Knuckleballer Matt Waldron picked off a runner on first to end the top of the fifth.

   

Meanwhile, Zeke made a great defensive play in the fifth, which I basically missed.    Evoldi surrendered a home run in the sixth, 4-1, but stayed in.    Marcus Siemen homered back in the eighth, 5-1 Rangers.    He’d hit a big foul ball earlier, so this was coming.      

Suddenly, I was listening to both games.    In El Paso in the seventh, Nate Mondou doubled when a fielder misplayed it on a jump.    Two runs scored, even with a play at the plate, 6-2 Chihuahuas.    Evoldi came out after starting the eighth and getting two outs.    It was a great performance with the short Ranger bullpen today.    The Rangers win 5-1.

In the eighth in El Paso, the Aviators scored on a double to make it, 6-3.    The pups brought in a reliever, who left two on and finished the inning.    In the top of the ninth with a runner on, a Chihuahuas’ fielder lost a fly ball in the sun, but fount it just in time to catch it.    That was the last threat and the Chihuahuas win 6-3 and split the series. Waldron got the wins to start and finish this series.   

It was midafternoon and I hadn’t eaten yet.    I trotted over to the mall and took note that it looked like it was raining over by the mountain.    When I got to the mall, there were sudden rips of thunder.    Was this a warning I should go back?    I pressed on and was glad I did, because I got back home with a tasty foot-long chili cheese dog and had a great lunch before it started raining.    I was glad I didn’t stop to buy anything else. Well, except for a snow cone from that new place.    They were doing good business today, unsurprisingly with the heat, and it was busy at the mall on a Sunday afternoon, which was surprising.    The craft faire was also there.    

Lastly for this weekend before the All-Star Game, there was a Mexican League game on.    I sort of ignored it, but sat down to watch the ninth.    The Dorados had come back to tie it.    In the bottom, they got a runner to third and a large player came to bat and sac’d him in.    5-4 Dorados win over Soles.    Not much baseball coming this week.    Hopefully I can get the radio call of the ASG.