Weird week this week. Hot to start the week for sure, feels like August. I’m not complaining. I vowed to not complain about this when I was shivering in April at Citizens Bank Park in a 20 degree wind chill. That is easily the most miserable game I went to this year. Sure it’s hot. I know very few of you actually get to see me in the flesh but I’ve been wearing an undershirt underneath my shirt. I figured that it would absorb the sweat much better and if all else fails I can take off my shirt and have that still. I’m not the skinniest fellow around after all. That has worked beautifully this year and I’ve gotten a nice tan this year too.
Onto this weeks baseball contests:
Game #109 New Britain at York. Nice easy day today, stuck around home. I haven’t been in to see the hometown 9 for a bit and boy has the roster changed. Fan favorites Telvin Nash and Alonso Harris are back and well, they couldn’t make much of a playoff push without them. Nash brings the pop to the lineup that they are desperately missing. Also missed a lot of guys for my autograph pennant but that is the way the schedule fell. Got to see a new pitcher for the Revs, Carl Brice. The problem is that signings this time of year are not really going to be good. By now anyone worth anything has been snatched up. Brice didn’t even make it through four. Estarlin Arias made his Revs debut next and was not much better. He gave up the big hit, a grand slam to Vinnie Siena. This game started well for the Revs, they got 4 in the 1st off of Bees starter Kyle Simon but did not get back onto the board until the 7th when they chased Simon and got 3 back. Ryan Dent added a solo shot in the 8th but it wasn’t enough as New Britain wins 9-8. I left after the 5th, it was hot and humid and I had cold beer in my fridge. It was 96 degrees at the start of the game after all but at least there was a breeze that picked up in left field. At least the K man struck out so I got free mozzarella sticks from Rutter’s.
Game #110 Altoona at Trenton. Off to New Jersey for an Aaron Judge bobblehead. Stopped at Vault Brewing in Yardley beforehand to kill a bit of time before arriving at Arm and Hammer Park about an hour and a half before the gates opened. Sat on a bench for about half an hour before getting in line (there were people who were already in line). I have started using a side entrance since it is in the shade and you can look out over the Delaware River. They had 4 boxes of bobbleheads and that was down to 2 after they opened it for season ticket holders. Minor quibble but why not just go into the main entrance and why did some of them even bother to stand in line at all? Weenie Boy was getting anxious but all was well and I got the first bobblehead of the last box when we went in. That’s a whew since it would have been non-stop whining on the way back. Don’t roll you eyes, by the time we went into the gates these were already selling for $70 on eBay.
Scooter Hightower pitched for Altoona against Adonis Rosa for the Thunder. Had some early fireworks in the 2nd when Hightower was ejected. The Thunder batter called for time as Hightower was going into his motion and he buzzed the tower and was ejected immediately. I call BS on that one and Curve manager Michael Ryan argued vehemently but to no avail. I thought he would be joining Hightower in the clubhouse. Logan Sendlebach came in to my dismay. I have not been very complimentary of him this year and in this case I was pleasantly surprised. He held the Thunder off the board for 4+ innings. Rosa handled the Curve early but they started getting some baserunners and finally broke through in the 5th plating 4 runs. Would have been more if not for a Kevy nominated catch by Thunder left fielder Trey Amburgey who jumped the fence and robbed Jin De Jhang of a homerun, though he did get a sacrifice fly out of it. It started to rain in the 6th and there was a pretty nasty thunderstorm down the river so we left after Altoona batted in the 6th. The tarp came on the field soon after and resumed an hour later but the damage was done. Altoona wins 5-1.
Game #111 Atlanta at Washington. Team #24 in the books, yeah I messed the count up last week. Only Houston, Oakland, Cincinnati and both Chicago teams left to go. Got offered a chance to head down to the Western Shore of Maryland and DC is much closer to there so I went up for a matinée game. Timewise it was no different though. You wouldn’t think that St. Mary’s County is that big but, well it is. It was a nice drive up MD 5 to get to Branch Avenue but then rush hour was over by that point. The interchange to get back to the Metro station has sure changed since the last time I was there. There was a sparse crowd at this one, the announced attendance was something like 28,000 but there was nothing like that there. No surprise, the team is not doing as well as in the past and Washington sports fans are somewhat bandwagon fans. Gio Gonzalez started for the Nats, apparently the team has not won in his past 11 starts. Anibal Sanchez, who is apparently 10-1 against the Nats in his career, started for the Braves. It didn’t look good for DC but it was a short day for Sanchez as he was hit by a line drive in the 2nd and was pulled. He had a 1-0 lead thanks to a Nick Markakis solo shot but that was short lived. His replacement, Wes Parsons, was making his major league debut (#5 for the year if you are keeping track) looked like a rookie and the Nationals quickly took the lead putting up 4 runs on him. He settled down and pitched 5 innings but the damage was done. Adam McCreery followed making his major league debut (#6 for the year) and gave up another 2 runs. The Braves got one back in the 8th and another in the 9th highlighted by a Ronald Acuna solo shot but the Nationals closed the door. I was already on the way out. Traffic in DC is abysmal and Route 5 was clogged until past Waldorf. Washington wins 6-3. Apparently it was National Baseball Card day as well and I got handed a few cards on the way out. The first card was Bryce Harper. That could have been intentional, but score!
Game #112 Road Warriors at Southern Maryland. Headed home from the Western Shore and this was on the way. Hit Ruddy Duck in Dowell for a mid-drive brew and Mully’s Brewing in Prince Frederick on the way back for a sixer to go. I didn’t stick around for a lot of this game since it is a bit of a hike back to York and well, the Road Warriors are not that good, not that the Crabs are that good either. Casey Delgado pitched for the Blue Crabs against Raul Rivera-Alicea for the Road Warriors. Neither starter was good to start as they gave a combined 5 runs in the first. Both teams added one more run by the end of the third. Delgado was not good. At one point it reminded me to Bob Uecker in Major League when he walked the bases loaded (Ball 4, Ball 8, Ball 12!). Rivera-Alicea was hurt by his shortstop botching a doubleplay ball in the first. After the third inning though things settled down and this gave moved really fast. No more scoring took place and the Road Warriors win 4-3. I also picked up a free t-shirt since it was Washington Sports Night or something like that and the Racing Presidents made an appearance too.
Game #113 Erie at Altoona. Off to Altoona to pick up a Jack Wilson bobblehead. Stopped at Robin Hood Brewing in Bellefonte beforehand for a beer. I had the S’more beer since I like milk stouts and I found out that Weenie Boy has not only never had a s’more but has never even heard of them!? How? I have a Jack Wilson story everyone so listen up. I used to go to Piratefest every year, mostly for the autographs. One year they had the prospects come in and sign rather than alumni players and Jack Wilson was one of the prospects. He’s not a big guy and well, doesn’t stand out from the crowd and he was able to just walk around like one of the fans. I passed him in the hallway and told him you won’t be able to walk around like this next year. No, he wouldn’t. Wilson had a nice career and he was a great defensive shortstop. OK not a great story but too bad!
This game came very close to being over as it began. Luis Escobar started for Altoona and struggled a bit in the first but settled down without giving up a run. Alfred Gutierrez started for Erie and nearly got himself in the running for a Kevy for the worst minor league pitching appearance (soon to be known as the Jimmy Yacabonis Award) giving up 5 runs in the first. The pitching coach came out and after that he settled down and pitched well, nearly throwing a 7 inning complete game. With a 5 run lead Escobar nearly gave it all back in the 4th but wiggled out after giving up 4 runs. Altoona’s Alfredo Reyes missed a homerun in the 6th by inches (must have been, it looked to me like it hit off the yellow top of the fence) but came around to score eventually. The Curve bullpen shut down the Seawolves for the last 2 innings and held on to win 6-4.
Game #114 Erie at Altoona. Onto game #2. Cam Vieux pitched for Altoona against Christian Binford for Erie. I thought Binford’s name sounded familiar and thanks to the radio broadcast I found out he previously pitched for the Bowie Baysox. He was traded a little over a week ago for cash. Erie got up quick and added a Willie Castro solo homerun in the 6th. I was gone by then, it is a long drive back after all. Altoona then turned around and put up 4 in the 6th to take the lead thanks to a Cole Tucker bases clearing triple. Sandy Baez had been slated to start for Erie and was the fellow who gave up the runs. I’ve seen enough of Baez this year, he will probably earn the Kevy for worst minor league pitcher for the season. Altoona wins 4-2. Cole Tucker had a huge doubleheader which was nice to see. It was a good crowd for this one too.
Game #115 Mahoning Valley at West Virginia. Weenie Boy went to WVU. Yeah I do wonder about the quality of the education he received there at times and he does admit he spent more time drunk seemingly. Made the pleasant drive out the National Road and stopped at Mountain State Brewing for lunch/dinner and then Morgantown Brewing before heading to the stadium. Both York-native Brett Kinneman and Pirates first rounder Travis Swaggerty started, so yay! Through the first four innings of this one it was played pretty well with the most eventful thing being a snake in the section to the right of me which the grounds crew spent an inning removing. Only one run was scored thanks to a throwing error on a pickoff from West Virginia starter Alex Manasa. Then in the 5th Mahoning Valley starter Cameron Mingo couldn’t get anyone out. The Black Bears plated five in the inning highlighted by Daniel Amaral’s bases clearing triple. The lead was short lived as Manasa turned around and gave up 4 in the next frame on a grand slam by Henry Pujols before being yanked. The Scrappers got one more run in the inning. I left at stretch time so I was not there to witness Kinneman walk it off in the 10th with a two run shot. While I regret that it took 4 hours to get home thanks to a nasty thunderstorm in Western Maryland and a tractor trailer wreck near Sideling Hill. West Virginia wins 9-8.
On the docket for next week:
August 13 – Indianapolis at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (maybe the weather forecast looks bad)
August 14 – Hartford at Reading for a Ryan Howard bobblehead
August 15 – up in the air
August 16 – up in the air
August 17 – Indianapolis at Lehigh
August 18 – Akron at Harrisburg for an Anthony Rendon bobblehead
August 19 – Rome at Lakewood
