Bit of a light week this week. made possible due to the rain and just simply a lack of intriguing other options. The bobblehead season is almost over. At the beginning of the season it looks like a daunting list but now it’s almost over. I can’t do this again next year, the grind is just too much. It’s not like I won’t stop going to games, I’m just going to stay more local early in the week I think. If I remember right I said the same thing last year and well, here we are.
Game #116 Hartford at Reading. Monday’s game in Scranton was postponed by rain and I didn’t feel like heading back on Wednesday. I’ll be back there for a game in September to get The Office bobblehead. Picked up a Ryan Howard bobblehead here as he was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. Never got to see Howard play in Reading as I wouldn’t get into minor league baseball for another 6 years but he was quite the player. It’s too bad he blew out his Achilles, one can imagine what could have been. It’s probably a question many Phillies fans ask. Howard still looked like he could swing the bat and given the way his career ended it is easy to forget just how good he was. Anyway Connor Seabold pitched for Reading against Jesus Tinoco for Hartford. It was also Baseball Bingo night and once again I got the number for the catcher stealing a base. Weenie Boy got that one too and he also got the pitcher hitting a double and a homerun. Since two NL affiliates were playing the pitcher would hit so he was behind the 8-ball. I did better than last time getting 3 in a row for numerous ways but just couldn’t get more. Considering the last time I only got 1 total spot this was an improvement. Weenie Boy did almost get bingo but the number he needed, which was the catcher flying out, did not happen. For the most part this was a blah game. Seabold was good striking out 10 Yard Goats until he ran out of gas and Hartford took advantage of it. They padded their lead but Reading did make a comeback with 2 solo home runs in the 8th but it wasn’t enough as Hartford wins 5-3. Great crowd though, looked like a sellout.
Game #117 New Britain at York. Stayed local to take in the Revs and giving them my kiss of death. Yep, I think they have a pretty lousy record with me in attendance. Good crowd tonight on National Night Out. Troy Terzi made his Revs debut starting against Devin Burke for the Bees. I don’t know where Terzi came from, he has no stats on baseball reference so for all I know this was his pro debut. (Update later: He pitched for a Division 3 NCAA school and entered the draft with expectations of being drafted in the top 10 rounds but went undrafted) He had a unique delivery to say the least and he did pretty well through three innings. Then the Revs went to the bullpen and the first reliever gave up a 2 run bomb that ended up in a backyard across the street. Fortunately that was all the scoring that New Britain got as the bullpen shut the door from there, not that Michael Click didn’t try as he flirted with disaster in the 6th and 7th innings. The Bees were playing from behind all night as Telvin Nash got one just over the centerfield wall in the first to plate two and another was added in the 2nd. They also got to ex-big leaguer Brandon Beachy in the 7th for two more. York wins 5-2 and I got free mozarella sticks at Rutter’s since the K man struck out!
Game #118 Indianapolis at Lehigh. Last trip to Allentown until hockey season probably. It looks like Lehigh will win their division and I might take in a playoff game and it is possible that they could be the only local team to make it. Looks like Altoona will as well and Trenton will also but that appears to be it. Stopped at Saucony Creek Brewing in Kutztown for dinner. As I was leaving a thunderstorm was just coming up though I managed to stay just in front of it on my drive into Allentown. There was a brief rain delay to start, 5 minues, which is my kind of rain delay. Another storm was on its way but it looked like there was a 2 hour window to play so the game was started. I knew something was up when Lehigh changed its starting pitcher from Cole Irvin to Jeff Singer (a relief pitcher) but I’ve seen the Revolution do this before where they start a reliever when inclement weather is on the horizon so that if the rain does hit their starter can come in a eat later innings up. Indy did not follow suit and started J.T. Brubaker, their scheduled starter. Max Moroff, the second batter of the game, hit a monster shot into left field, I’m not quite sure that ball didn’t go into orbit actually. It was one of those that you knew it was gone right off of the bat. In the second the heavens opened up and the radar screen did not look good. It is nice that the Iron Pigs have in stadium wi-fi! Since I was looking at at least an hour and a half delay and maybe more I cut my losses and left. I am glad I did, the game was suspended with Indianapolis up 1-0. The rain stopped on the way back as I passed through Kutztown. Lehigh won the resumed game 4-1.
Game #119 Akron at Harrisburg. Picked up an Anthony Rendon bobblehead. Only a handful of bobbleheads left in the season. Stopped for a beer at Millworks in the Broad Street Market before the game. Good stuff and they bottle now, hooray! Funny Weenie Boy story, when we walked out of the market he walked up to the wrong car to get into. It was the same make but not the same model and not even the same color. When I woke up the weather forecast was terrible but it did improve through the day and the sun was even shining for a few innings of this one. Former big leaguer Logan Darnell started this key game for Harrisburg against Triston McKenzie for the Rubber Ducks. I was not sure who to root for. Akron leads the division only a half game ahead of Altoona but Harrisburg just won’t go away and an Akron win in the two remaining games in this series could all but dig their hole a bit too big to overcome. Who to root for? This started as a pitcher’s duel with only one run, at that scoring on a wild pitch, through the first 4 innings. Then things slowed down. Darnell began to struggle and gave way to Ronald Pena who gave up a 2-run shot to Jodd Carter. Harrisburg tried to come back but it was just one of them days. Carter Kieboom had a home run stolen by Carter, could be a Kevy nominee. Akron wins 5-1.
Game #120 Lexington at Lakewood. Almost forgot about Lakewood this year. Well, maybe not forget since I intended to go for their bobblehead game but that wound up being preempted by another bobblehead so I went to that instead. So its off to Jersey for a Sunday game with anything other than August weather. It was 68 degrees when I left my house and it never got above 72 with rain pretty much the whole time, sometimes heavy. Despite that I made it there in about 2 1/2 hours. It’s been a pretty good season for Lakewood this year and Lexington who is in the lead to win the second half of their division so this could have playoff implications. Spencer Howard started for Lakewood against Yefri Del Rosario for the Legends. Neither pitcher was sharp which made for a long game. Howard threw hard, I should know as I was sitting behind the scouts with their radar guns (there’s a 2-3 mph difference between their guns and the stadium guns). Lexington got on the board first with 2 in the first and then another in the 5th off of a reliever. Lakewood did come back, with one in the sixth and a solo homerun by Matt Vierling in the 8th. They got the tying run to third in the 9th but he was gunned down at the plate and Lexington held on to win 3-2. It rained pretty much the whole game and it got old. Left early and made the short dive to Icarus Brewing for a pre-drive home beer. I could have also stopped in Trenton or gone up the road to Somerset to take in another game but I passed.
On the docket next week:
August 20 – Lancaster at York
August 21 – Columbia at Hagerstown
August 22 – Trenton at Reading for a Roberto Clemente bobblehead (I’m interested in the explanation for this one and am kind of peeved they couldn’t do this against Altoona)
August 23 – Lancaster at York
August 24 – Somerset at Lancaster
August 25 – Richmond at Altoona for a Neil Walker bobblehead
August 26 – Erie at Bowie
Site updates as well. Finally added the Civil War pictures from my trip to Richmond. They can be found at: The Seven Days, Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville, Bristoe Station, Cold Harbor and Petersburg.
