Monday, Monday

Arrived late at the ballpark.

There were a lot of people. Maybe too many people!

Fortunately, no one desecrated our row tonight.

Roster/Player update:

• Austin Bibbens-Dirkx released
• Atahualpa Severino outrighted to Syracuse 
• Chris Marrero back in Syracuse (saw him coaching 1B tonight)
• Jason Michaels has disappeared (he usually coaches 1B. Past two evenings, players have been coaching)
• Manny Mayorson and Mitch Atkins on 7-Day DL
• former Chief Lee Hyde is now with the Traveling Wilkes-Barres. He faced one batter tonight, walked him, and was pulled from game.

The Big Board:

I like the KKKK tracker.

And putting the pitcher's name next to the number of pitches is extremely helpful, especially when playing a team like the Traveling Wilkes-Barres that does not have player surnames on the backs of the jerseys.

Still Winning

The Chiefs are still winning.

Henry Rodgriguez has been sent to Harrisburg.

Tyler Moore hit the longest HR hit by a Nat this season: 462 feet.

Corey Brown and Zach Duke are All-Star game bound.

I heard Jason Michaels was retiring and going into coaching. Kevin Brown mentioned this in a post-game interview the other night. He's now listed as a coach on the Chiefs' website . . . but is on the 7-day DL on the League Transactions page.

Chris Marrero has been optioned to the Chiefs, as has Carlos Maldonado.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx to the Senators (again).

And the Chiefs are still winning.

Another Chiefs Loss/Yankees Win

Almost like a mirror of the major league teams, the SWB Yankees beat the Chiefs on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Only the Chiefs hot bats and Mitch Atkins pitching on Thursday night kept this from being a sweep.

The game started at two. It's a hot & sunny day in Syracuse, but there's a fabulous breeze that kept sitting in the stands tolerable.

The jersey raffle featured Roger Bernadina's jersey.

Yes, Austin Bibens-Dirkx is gone, but James Skelton is back.

Some weird stuff to start off the game. The National Anthem was sung by an  a cappella group, who started. Stopped. The leader played a pitch pipe. They sang the first line. Stopped. Pitch pipe again.  Really weird.

Then there was a delay in the bottom of the first. Dickerson rounded first base and did something to it.
The grounds crew had to come out and work on it, causing a delay of game.

Grounds crew repairing first base as the umps look on.

Kevin joined us again today. He said he saw Corban Joseph get on the team bus last night, and the resemblance to Ellen Degeneres is astounding.

Seth Bynum shaved.

Bynum without his facial hair

This woman is the Yankees' Number One Fan.

No Comment

Post-game interview with Cervelli happened right in front of me, but a rude fan stood in front of me so I had to snap a photo off the board instead of the field. That's a major problem with 207 Row 1: people think it's okay to just stop and stand and never pay attention to who might be sitting there trying to watch the game.

Cervelli Post-game Interview

The Father's Day festivities consisted of fathers running the bases after the game with children aged 12 and under. Madras shorts! Everywhere!

Except on Dan Fellman, who had the good sense to leave his plaid at home.

What?

Austin Bibens-Dirkx to Harrisburg????
Huh???

Extra Innings in Triple A, Too

Another perfect night for the perfect pastime. Scranton Wilkes-Barre is still in town, pretending to be home.

 Matt Antonelli was interviewed on the big screen before the game. Jason Benetti asked him what it was like to be homeless. Matt responded that he's living out of his car. His trunk is full, his backseat is full, and yeah, the hotels are nice, but he's living out of his car. What an awful thing for all of those players. I hadn't considered that they aren't in housing in Scranton.

Voice of the Chiefs Jason Benetti interviews former Chief
Matt Antonelli for the big screen.

The jersey raffle was for Boomer Whiting's Throw Back Thursday. We opted out.

Tonight was Ladies Night, which was very nice, but the time is odd: tomorrow is Father's Day. There's not much going on for dad's, yet there was a lot for the women tonight.

Welcome on the big screen.

TV Stevie bought me a very cool sweatshirt.

Noella "Pinky" Leduc was at the game signing autographs. The GPBL will hold their reunion in Syracuse this year, in September. I think I'd like to go to that.

"Pinky" Leduc waves to fans.

Speaking of autographs, Jeremy Mayo, the newest catcher, was in the Whistlestop signing autographs before tonight's game. I was tempted to go in and ask him if he was afraid. 

The Chiefs lost again tonight, but it took ten full innings for them to do so. Mark Teahen should probably be Player of the Game, but I didn't vote. 

Things I noticed at the park:

Austin Bibens-Dirkx coaching 1B

Too many tats

An interesting couple.

Madras shorts. All over the place. 

Odd moment of the evening: Bottom of the 9th, score tied, SWB coming to bat (they're the home team, remember) and the Big Screen plays all the vids they've put together to whip up the fans. Huh? Wrong team, guys!

And finally: I didn't sit in my usual seat tonight -- TV Stevie & I swapped spots. I saw something I'd never noticed before. The question is: why hasn't the county --yes, they own the stadium -- fixed it?

A stitch in time etc.

Stampeded by Bison

It was yet another beautiful night for a ballgame. Neither too hot nor too cold and no precipitation.

I arrived at the stadium in time to make some notes. I missed the Thursday afternoon game, but I listened to most of it on the radio. AM radio doesn't come in well at DayJob, so it was a challenge.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx was signing autographs in the souvenir shop, so I had him sign my hat, right next to Brad Peacock's John Hancock. Bibens-Dirkx was really good with the little kids who had him autograph their Stuff-A-Scooch.

The new scoreboard is coming along. Sandee told me they worked on it all through yesterday's game.

Scoreboard progress

J-Botts isn't with the Bison this year -- don't know where he's landed -- but Valentino Pascucci is, and we've decided he's our "pet" Bison in J-Botts absence. He has a great name and he's a big guy -- like J-Botts and Carlos Maldonado.

Pascucci warming up
before the game

That doesn't, however, mean we were pleased with his HR in the first inning. We were not.

The Corey Brown Report:

1st: K

2nd: K

5th: 7

7th: 7

9th: 8

Not a good night. 

He played RF and saw a bit of action. He handled it with grace.

The Bryce Harper Report:

1st: BB

4th: K

6th: K

8th: 6

He played CF and did not have a good night. He's learning. There were lots of lessons tonight. Lots.

In yesterday's game, from what I heard on the radio, Harper seemed more patient at the plate. I have the impression that he walked a lot. That felt like maturity to me. It didn't happen tonight.

Miscellaneous Stuff:

Jersey raffle: Tommy Milone's Throwback Thursday. Didn't win it. Rats.

Carlos Maldonado waved to us, as did Jhonatan Solano, who coached 1st base tonight. According to yesterday's radio broadcast, Solano has been under the weather, which is why Carlos caught three games in a row. Tonight, a third catcher made his debut in Triple A and Syracuse: Jeff Howell.

We voted for Tyler Moore as Player of the Game for his 2-run homer in the 1st.

Carlos Maldonado gave a warm-up ball to a young fan in the stands. He's such a great guy. 

Oddity of the Night. 

Okay, maybe not odd, but definitely annoying. 

First inning: I noticed the temporary scoreboard was dark.

Corey Brown under a dark
temporary scoreboad

Maven went to tell stadium management in the middle of the first. It did not come on until the bottom of the fourth.

Of course, in the end it didn't matter. The Chiefs lost again.6-4. Didn't need lights to tell us that.

Visitors At Home

PNC Field, home of the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees, is undergoing major renovations this year, so the team will be playing "home games" at various other parks around the International League North, ten of which will be played in Syracuse.

The first one was Saturday, April 14. I missed the game. Does it count, though, if it was considered a road game for the Chiefs?

The second one was today, Sunday, April 15. TV Stevie and I had been out of town for the weekend, so didn't get to Alliance Bank Stadium until the bottom of the fifth inning. Even then, we didn't go directly to our seats. You see, today is Jackie Robinson Day throughout baseball, and part of Syracuse's observance included Jackie Robinson's original plaque from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Jackie Robinson's original Hall of Fame Plaque

A representative from the Hall of Fame explained to us that when Jackie went into the Hall of Fame, he wanted no mention of how he broke the "color" barrier and integrated professional baseball. He wanted to be known as simply a Hall of Fame player. (Which in my opinion is as it should be. The color of his skin had nothing to do with his skill and success in the game.) Several years ago, the plaque was recast to include the information about how he was the first African American to play in the major leagues. The original plaque (see above photo) is now used for educational purposes, such as today's celebration in Syracuse.

As I mentioned, I never got to my seat until the sixth inning. The score was 5-1 Syracuse. The Chiefs scored two more runs as I was settling in for the game. Sandee explained that there were 4 doubles hit in the sixth inning. She also mentioned that I missed another Tyler Moore HR. She also told me he'd hit a couple during the road trip, so he's probably going to be our HR guy for the year. I love it when the 1B is also a good hitter. 

It drizzled on and off for the rest of the game. 

After one pretty spectacular play by starting pitcher Mitch Atkins, the Superman Theme blared through the stadium. That was so cool.

I only saw Corey Brown and Bryce Harper one time each at bat. Pat Venditte, the Yankees' ambidextrous pitcher, struck out Harper. Brown popped out.

Once again, I had my camera on the wrong setting while snapping photos of Venditte.

Venditte 

Venditte pitching

Venditte pitching to Bryce Harper

Austin Bibens-Dirkx came into pitch for the Chiefs in the 8th. That was okay. But when he gave up enough hits in the ninth for the Yankees to score, we were not happy.

Mitch Atkins, the starting pitcher, is my choice for player of the game. Maven heard me say that, and he said I was absolutely right. Sandee also voted for him. He pitched 7 innings and the other team scored only one run? I think that's pretty darned noteworthy.

Crazy Fan Man (CFM) showed up, too. My latest crackpot theory about him is that he comes late so he doesn't have to pay for parking and there's no one taking tickets, so he comes for free. He was shouting stuff today that we couldn't understand. 

It was a challenge to watch the Chiefs be the visiting team in their own stadium, especially without a scoreboard. I mean, there's a temporary scoreboard that notes balls, strikes, hits, and the score, but we get no stats, no history of the game, no players names. And we're used to our team being the bottom of the inning, not the top. 

We're back to being the home team tomorrow night. 

Winning Against The Empire State Yankees

As we were leaving the stadium yesterday, the announcer referred to today's opponent as the "Empire State Yankees." You see, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees' stadium is being refurbished, so the Triple A Yankees are homeless. They will be playing "home games" throughout the league, including ten "home" games in Syracuse. Our season ticket package includes tickets for those ten home games.

Day three of the season was sunny and warmer than the previous two days.

I stopped at Stadium Guest Services for my Player of the Game ballot and again was told they were available only in the program. Fortunately, TV Stevie bought a program.

Game 1 Player of the Game was Bryce Harper. No surprise there.
Game 2  was Corey Brown -- he would have had one more vote had I been able to find a ballot.

The team wore the red "weekend" uniforms, which brand them as a Washington Nationals farm team. And the line-up was mixed up from the previous two games: Corey Brown moved back to center field, Bryce Harper moved to right and Xavier Paul went to left.

The announcer of the lineups wasn't close enough to his mic and he read the lineups too quickly. Maven tells me that part of the new scoreboard will include an all-new, much improved sound system. Maven also said the wind direction contributed to the muted sound system today. It was very difficult to understand anything.

The best surprise of the day:

Carlos Maldonado catching the game

I texted Sandee to let her know. She and Anthony ended up not being able to make the game. XGMan, who sits on the opposite side of us, also couldn't make the game. TV Stevie and I spread out.

The Bryce Harper Report:
1st inning: base hit.
3rd inning: walked
4th inning: single
6th inning: struck out
He seemed more comfortable in right field than in center.

In other news: Jim Durkin retired. You know, the popcorn-in-a-helmet man. He sold the programs, too. And ice cream sandwiches in the stands during late innings.

Ben, the batting camera guy, stopped by to say hi.

Best Inning of the Game:
Third inning.
Xavier Paul singled
Tyler Moore singled
Bryce Harper walked
Carlos Maldonado RBI single

Carlos Maldonado at bat

Mark Teahen RBI Single
Carlos Rivero (who has serious Lambinitis at home plate) singled, which forced Harper out at home.
Jarrett Hoffpauir popped out
Corey Brown grounded to second.

Stranded!

Carlos Maldonado -- the real Carlos -- was stranded at third.

Congrats to Seth Bynum who, to open the bottom of the fourth, hit the first home run of the year

The jersey raffled off was Randy Knorr's (last year's manager) Throwback Thursday Jersey. We didn't win it.

Today's pitcher was Yuneski Maya, who pitched 6 complete shut-out innings. I voted for him as player of the game. The win is his.

Maya Delivers!

Maya was replaced in the seventh by Austin Bibens-Dirkx. John Simone was walking by when Bibens-Dirkx was announced, and John said he thought Bibens-Dirkx was the first ever hyphenated-named Chief. He was going to check old media guides to confirm that. 

The interns aren't around taking Fan Photos for the Photo Gallery yet. X-Chromo and her friend T were at the game with us and very disappointed not to have their Fan Photo taken. Mom to the rescue:

Faux Fan Foto

We finally ate at the ball park. TV Stevie tried a chicken-and-fries plate. He wasn't impressed. Said there was too much breading on the chicken and he doesn't like the Burger-King-like fries.

Chicken and fries special

I ordered a South-of-the-Border hot dog, which came with a bag of chips.

South of the Border Hot Dog

The hot dog wasn't cooked enough, the tortilla in which it was wrapped was stale and non-supple, but the corn and black bean salsa was fabulous!

X-Chromo had an "okay" hotdog and T wanted ice cream in a helmet, but they no longer sell anything in a helmet. At least, not this early in the season. She was quite disappointed.

The Taco Bell K-Man (Yankee catcher Cervillo) struck out. TACOS! X-Chromo and T planned to go to Taco Bell later tonight.

Yesterday we noticed a bit of a lag in the temporary scoreboard. The strike count went from 0 to 2 in one smooth move. Today, it went from 1 Ball 0 Strikes to 2 Balls 1 Strike in one smooth move. 

It's very difficult to follow the game without a true scoreboard, but the new one promises to be well worth the wait.