Now we start to get into the heart of the bobblehead schedule. Always love this time of year but it puts a lot of miles on my car. Just passed 210,000 this week, so since I passed 200,000 just before baseball season that means I will probably put around 23,000 miles on the car this year. That is one of the reasons I am pretty sure this is the last year that I will be gung ho about it. I am just finding that I am just not as excited about going to games as I used to be. Maybe its because I’m getting older and just don’t have as much energy as I did in my 20s or maybe its because I have enough work to do.
Did not go up to Williamsport on Monday. Too much rain was in the forecast, even though they were scheduled to play a double header. It was one of those that the forecast seemed to change by the hour so I decided I didn’t feel like driving the 2 1/2 hours to Billport only to have the game canceled or sit through a rain delay. The Black Bears will be back in July so I’ll just head up then with hopefully better weather.
Game #73 I am not usually one to be excited by All Star Games but I decided to make an exception this year since the Carolina League’s was in Frederick. Maybe it’s just the Major League All Star Game that doesn’t excite me. Now this game used to be California League vs. Carolina League but since the leagues realigned a few years back that stopped. That I would have liked to see since I never see those California League teams (for obvious reasons). Dinner was at Brewer’s Alley in downtown Frederick with another stop at the new Olde Mother location. That leaves me only Monocacy to hit and I’ll get that when I come down for a Saturday game.
I missed most of the pregame festivities and arrived feeling lucky to nab a parking spot in the main lot. It was packed to the gills, never seen that before. The game was played between the two divisions, North and South. Michael Baumann (Frederick) started for the North against Jason Bahr (Down East) for the South. I was hoping this would be played at a brisk pace and the first inning took nine minutes to play. But in the second Juan Hillman (Lynchburg) gave up four runs in a poorly played frame. Then the scoring stopped. It looked like the South had an insurmountable lead when they plated another in the 6th that first baseman Aldrem Corredor (Potomac) should have fielded. But the North struck back in the bottom half with the big hit coming from fan favorite Willie Yahn (Frederick). At that point I left, it was almost 9:30 and it was a muggy and uncomfortable night with little to no breeze going. The North managed to tie the game in the next inning and took the lead on Nick Banks’ (Potomac) 3-run homer in the 8th. The South managed to plate 2 in the ninth but couldn’t get a third across for a North 9-8 win. It should also be noted that this was played somewhat like a normal game in that there were very few reserves so the managers tried to get everyone in which meant removing the DH mid-way through the game so two pitchers wound up batting in this game.
Game #74. The Atlantic League is complete as the Sugar Land Skeeters came to town to take on the suddenly hot York Revolution. Let’s hope this newfound ability carries over to the second half because the first half is lost. Either way it was nice to sweep that smelly team from across the river over the weekend and take a lead in the War of the Roses series. It was a muggy night with rain threating but the tarp was pulled right after I walked in and the game started on time. Corey Walter took the hill for the Revs against Roy Merritt for the Skeeters. After 2 scoreless frames Sugar Land’s (and Rev killer) Anthony Giansanti hit a 3-run homerun to open the floodgates and Sugar Land started to roll. The Revs never got the bats going and when they did they blundered their way into outs that cost the team runs, like Wellington Dotel getting thrown out going from second to third with the next batter hitting a double that would have scored him. Just one of them nights. The Skeeter pen put up blanks for a Sugar Land 7-1 win.
Game #75. Since I skipped Williamsport this is my first trip for some hot New York/Penn League action. Too bad the Orioles top draft pick has not signed yet since he’ll probably start here (of course what do I know!). Made a few brewery stops on the way, Slate Farm in Whiteford, Alecraft in Bel Air and Independent in Bel Air. First time at Slate Farm and Alecraft. I’ll be back, especially Slate Farm since it is right on my way to Aberdeen. Kevin Magee went for Aberdeen against Valente Bellozo for the ValleyCats. After a first quick inning Magee did his best Oriole impression giving up 2 homeruns that not only cleared the fence but hit off of the top of the building behind the bullpens. Problems got worse for Aberdeen when they gave up 4 runs in the 4th. Bellozo pitched 5 scoreless frames but his relief struggled. They let Aberdeen back in the game giving up 4 runs but Tri-City plated 3 in the 9th to put the game out of reach, despite Aberdeen doing the same in the frame. TriCity wins 10-7. I would also like to mention that Lancaster’s former on field host I.M. Fun is still at Aberdeen as Captain Fun and he still has his same old schtick, though he does seem to be toned down just a notch this year.
Game #76 Back down to DC for their matchup against division leading Atlanta while picking up a Max Scherzer bobblehead on a perfect day for baseball. Stopped at the new Bluejacket brewing in DC, which is just down the street from Nats Park. The bartender there wanted to get to Philly in time for the Phillies game that night. Considering it took me 2 hours to get there and I left at 1:00, I doubt he made it since he left at 4. New acquisition Dallas Keuchel started for the Braves against Stephen Strasburg for the Nats. Would we get good Strasburg or evil Strasburg like I saw last time? It wasn’t really either. The Braves pounced on Strasburg for 3 runs but the Nationals fought back in the 4th. Keuchel doesn’t have a lot of innings under his belt and I wonder if he was tiring because the Nationals were squaring up on him and driving the ball. They took the lead the following inning. Now the game went to the bullpen and the Nats bullpen has not been good but they put up blanks, though Wander Suero nearly gave it back. I was well on my way home by that point. Washington wins 4-3.
Also had a Straight Cash Homey update. Saw a fan outside wearing a Felipe Lopez jersey. I swear these fans just find them at yard sales or something like that and buy them to fit in. It’s OK folks, you don’t need to show your team pride that way.
Game #77. On a Saturday I was going to head down to Winchester and visit some of the battlefields there on a gorgeous day but I saw that the P-Nats gametime was earlier than anticipated and I forgot that they open the gates early on weekend games. So, change of plan and I decided to visit the breweries in Leesburg and Loudoun County instead. Would have hit those already if the Loudoun Hounds existed but the guy running that was a total sleezeball and ran it into the ground. Visited Black Hoof, Black Walnut, Crooked Run and Bike TrAle in Leesburg, Trampanzee and Beltway in Sterling and Heritage in Manassas before the game. All made possible thanks to half pours. The Carolina Mudcats came to town to take on the P-Nats and I got a Indiana Strasburg Bobblehead on Indiana Jones Night. It is the anniversary of the release of Temple of Doom!
Tim Cait started for the P-Nats and made his Carolina League debut against Nelson Hernandez for the Mudcats. This game turned into a comedy of errors somewhat. There was some very poor defense stuck between some nice plays. As such both pitchers had a lot of runners on there were a lot of runs being scored. It is a long drive home and I usually don’t stick around for a lot of these games and those hard metal bleachers get very hard after awhile. I left with Carolina up and it stayed close but a P-Nats reliever imploded in the end to give them some breathing room. Carolina wins this 9-4. Made it back in 2 1/2 hours, got slowed down by a major wreck on 83 near the PA line but it was worse on the other side since that side was shut down and cars were being diverted onto York Road.
Game #78. Ending the week on an easy not as the Revs take on the Somerset Patriots. Got my autograph pennant updated with the new faces. Almost out of room on it. But now the Revs are hot, it’s too late for the first half barring a major collapse from Sugar Land, so let’s hope that this can carry over into the second half. I think I just need to stay away. Duke von Schamann started for the Revs against Peter Kubiak for the Patriots. Now I will say this for Kubiak, he works fast and as someone who thinks games take too long I do appreciate that. I really do. More pitchers should be like him. Anyway, when I left this game the Revs had committed more fielding errors than they had hits. It was not their day. The pitching coach did not like the ump’s strike zone and got himself ejected, much dirt kicking ensued. Kubiak had some nasty stuff and he was very hard to hit. The Revs got to the Patriots pen but at that point it didn’t matter. Somerset wins this one 12-4.
On the docket for new week:
June 24 – Akron @ Harrisburg
June 25 – York @ Southern Maryland
June 26 – San Diego @ Baltimore
June 27 – Somerset @ Lancaster
June 28 – TBD
June 29 – Greensboro @ Lakewood
June 30 – Cleveland @ Baltimore
