Opening Day - The Postponed Version

Opening Day was scheduled for yesterday (Friday, 4/12/13), but it rained, so festivities were moved to today. It was cold. Of course, it's April, this is Syracuse, so yeah, it's supposed to be cold.

Saw many familiar faces before the game started: Tim Fox, with his son Ryan, Bill DeLapp from the Syracuse New Times. Maven was there, as were Sandee and Anthony. It was good to be among friends.

The stadium has a new name, because Alliance Bank changed their name: NBT Stadium.

New sign over scoreboard

Brandon Triche from the Syracuse University Orange men's basketball team threw out the first pitch.

Brandon Triche hot-dogging for the fans.

Ryan Tatusko is back in Syracuse.

Ryan Tatusko coming on to field as he is introduced.

Carlos Maldonado was there and waved to us. He even played the last couple of innings, which was great to see.

At one point, it rained quite steadily. It felt completely normal to be chatting with Sandee under our umbrellas while watching the game.  It's been seven months since we've seen each other, and we just picked up where we left off. 

Eury Perez, who's been doing really well with the team so far this season, was hurt fielding a ball because the field was so wet from the rain. My hands were numb and it took me a few minutes to get my camera and turn it on, etc., but here he is getting ready to play after a delay of game while Tony Beasley and the team trainer and others checked on him. He didn't get up for what seemed like a very long time.

Perez getting ready to play after being hurt.

Moves were made in the next inning when Perez didn't come back, and we later heard he was en route to the hospital with a wrist injury. Hope it's nothing serious.

Even though there wasn't much of a crowd, there was one overly-enthusiastic fan who just had to "ride the train with Pops" on the top of the dugout, and who didn't understand why he wasn't supposed to be up there dancing.

What if he fell? He wouldn't fall onto the field. He'd fall even further, into the dugout -- I've heard 60 feet, but not sure if that's true -- and land on concrete. So scary! But no, when security tells these people to get down, they have to argue about it. 

And, as you can see in the above photo, the stadium was nearly empty. Granted, this was late in the game and the Chiefs were shut out, plus it was cold and drizzly, but it was opening day. Baseball is back!

Outright Energy

Carlos Rivero outrighted to the Chiefs.

Tu me das energia!

The Game Goes On

It appears I missed the annual "Garage Sale" at Alliance Bank Stadium. Never received my e-mail notice about it. Hmmm.

The Chiefs still have ties to the post season, even though Washington is out of it.

How, you ask?

Gregor Blanco on Breast Cancer Awareness Night
July 21, 2011 Alliance Bank Stadium

Former Syracuse Chief (2011 season) Gregor Blanco plays for the San Francisco Giants. In fact, he plays very well for the Giants.

In other news, several 2012 Chiefs are already playing winter ball in South America:

• Carlos Rivero & Tanner Roark are in Venezuela
• Zech Zinicola & Hassan Pena are in Mexico
• Manny Mayorson & Atahualpa Severino are in the Dominican Republic

The game goes on.

L'il bits

The Chiefs are on their longest road trip of the year. Tonight's game has been rained out.

Here are a couple of bits of news:

John Lannan named IL pitcher of the week.

Corey Brown and Carlos Rivero have been named to the 2012 International League Post Season All-Star Team.

Davey Johnson says one of the first positions they'll be calling up when expanding the roster is catcher. My money is on Sandy Leon, altho' I think Carlos Maldonado deserves the opportunity.

A former co-worker went to a Reds/Nats game this weekend and said that the Reds scoreboard tells the players' walk-up music and their Twitter account.

Foul Balls

I missed four games -- Friday thru Monday -- because I was out of town. But TV Stevie was there, as were Sandee & Anthony and others. Lots of folks stopped by to say "hi" to me last night. Sandee tells me she took lots of notes and will get them up when she has two minutes to breathe.

The team goes on the road again today and won't be back until September 1, when they'll play two games against Rochester. That will be it from ABS this season. The final game will be in Rochester. Sandee & Anthony plan to go.

Last night was "Italian" night at the stadium. There were a lot of people. The players photos were on an "Italian" background on the Big Board.

Corey Brown doesn't look any happier in Italy
than he does in Syracuse

I had to ask people to move out of my seats when I arrived. I don't get it. The ushers know we're season ticket holders. The ushers know it's unlikely we won't be at the game. Even when I was out of town, TV Stevie brought guests to the games. Yet I have to ask people to move from my seats at least once a week.

I tracked down a foul ball. It was pretty funny because it bounced all over the place. XGman and his wife were certain it was under their seats and kept looking for it. I picked it up as it rolled under TV Stevie's seat and very nonchalantly held it up. In the meantime, the ushers, the XGmen, and lots of others were still looking for the ball. 

A child behind me wanted the ball, and when he didn't get it, he started crying. So the ushers converged on me. Yes, the same people who allow strangers to sit in my paid-for seats decided that not only must I ask interlopers to move from my seats myself, but I also have to give up my foul ball to a little kid who's crying. They were pretty insistent. I believe Sandee used the word "browbeat."

Okay, lest you think I'm a big mean adult, I didn't realize the kid was going for the ball, nor did I realize he was that upset. He was behind me, and in spite of the myth, Mommies really do not have eyes in the back of their heads. We just tell our children that when they're young.

So I gave the kid the ball. No biggie. I gave one to Sugarpie a few weeks ago. I have one fouled off by Carlos Rivero on Mother's Day (some kid tried to sweet talk that one away from me, but I wasn't giving it up. TV Stevie chased it down for me.) Last night's kid was very nice, said thank you a couple of times,and even posed for me. I'm not an ogre. And now maybe the kid will grow up to be a baseball fan.

One-Four-Six-Three

What a difference a day can make! Tonight's 11-4 win over the Norfolk Tides was a great game to watch.

Arrived at stadium during bottom of 1st, when Pinch Hitter Jim Negrych was announced. Pinch hitting for Corey Brown, who must have been called up to the Nats at the last minute.

We voted for Yunesky Maya as Player of the Game. Some people might think Jesus Valdez deserves that title for his 3 RBIs, but Yuneski pitched 6 innings, and the Tides scored only 2 runs in those 6, each one a single shot home run. Pitchers never seem to get their due, at least not at ABS in the Player of the Game voting.

Carlos Maldonado walked twice. The first time, Josh Johnson hit him home.

Carlos at third, waiting to come home

 Carlos coming home

Greeting Manny Mayorson as he follows him home.

Then Carlos hit a home run in the 6th. Single shot, but beautiful none the less.
Brett Carroll hit a home run right before Carlos did, for 3 RBIs.
A better shot of "Captain America".

The Chiefs ended with 11 hits and 11 runs. Looked kind of funky on the scoreboard.

Play of the game was 1-4-6-3 triple play in the 9th inning. Tides batter hit to pitcher Eric Arneson who threw to 2B Seth Bynum, who threw to SS Josh Johnson, who threw to 1B Carlos Rivero. Very cool moment.

Couple of awkward moments: in the 7th inning, there were several defensive moves on the part of the Chiefs, which weren't announced until a third of the way through the inning -- after we'd already figured it out. Seth Bynum replaced Jim Negrych. Seth batted. Then it was time for Mark Teahen to bat, but his graphic never came up on the scoreboard. It remained on Seth. Perhaps this was in honor of Seth's old game worn jersey being auctioned.

Annoyance of the game:
Several times, people came to sit in Maven's seats. Danny-the-Usher asked them to leave each time. The last time, the guy started arguing with Danny. Danny asked to see the ticket, and the man clearly didn't have a ticket for that seat . . . and argued about it. What's to argue about? It's not the seat you bought!

I did see Maven on my way out of the stadium. He's sitting out of the sun for the time being. We miss him. Intensely. I miss discussing the game and players with him.  Next time I see him behind the net, I may go over and sit with him for an inning or two.

Stampeeded

The Chiefs lost to the Buffalo Bison again Friday night.

TV Stevie & I arrived at the stadium very early. So early, in fact, that the Player of the Game had not been changed from Jim Negrych to Jesus Valdez, the person for whom Sandee & I voted Thursday night: his grand slam in the 4th inning got the Chiefs back into the game.


Other items of note left over from Thursday's game:

• It was the longest game of the season -- not sure if that's innings-wise or time-wise.
• The Throwback Thursday raffle jersey was Chase Lambin's from two years ago. We didn't win it. 

Before Friday's game:



Carlos Maldonado signed some autographs for some fans. When he turned back to return to the dugout, he waved to me.

Carlos Maldonado returning to dugout after signing for fans.

It was Lions Club night at the stadium. The Lions consider their involvement with the Chiefs their "civic duty."
Duty?
Whatever happened to delight? Privilege? Joy?

Carlos Maldonado caught the ceremonial first pitch from the Lions Club speaker's grandchildren.

Lions Club Ceremonial First Pitch

He also caught the ceremonial first pitch from some boy band called Kicking Daisy.

Kicking Daisy Ceremonial First Pitch

I find that name (Kicking Daisy) offensive. Daisies are my favorite flower. Why would one kick them?

The Throwback Thursday jersey was for Shairon Martis. We didn't win that one, either.

Before the game started, there was a full-screen graphic on the board: Whose Bats Are Hot (maybe since being back with the Chiefs.) Carlos Maldonado and Jesus Valdez. So if Carlos has a hot bat (and he was awesome on Thursday night -- 5 at-bats, 5 times to 1B), why didn't he play last night? Makes no sense to me.

As I said, the Chiefs lost. It was ugly. Mark Teahen had the only Chief RBI of the game.


Lack of ballpark etiquette: 

Why would you come to the stadium and discuss the sexual practices of Islamic clerics (including Mohammed himself) in great detail -- especially when you are neither Islamic nor a cleric -- and in great detail and at the top of your lungs? The people sitting around you do not want to hear you expound. The admonition used in daycare centers applies also to baseball stadiums: "Use your indoor voice." If you must discuss this in public. Which we'd rather you didn't.

Why would a county employee say (after Bison Rob Johnson's name was announced in the starting lineup) "Finally, an American name!" at the top of his lungs so that people sitting several sections away could hear this racism? If you actually feel this racist sentiment, see above comment about "indoor voices." Those of us who are at the stadium because we love baseball care only about the team for which the player plays, not his country of origin. 

Now for a couple of fun questions:

• What is Carlos Rivero's at-bat music and where can I get a copy?
• What is Jarrett Hoffpauir's at-bat music and where can I get a copy?

Friday Means Fireworks

Another lovely evening at Alliance Bank Stadium.

The score was 1-0 Chiefs when we arrived. Gwynett scored in the top of the 2nd, tying the game.

Hoffpauir's sacrifice in 3rd brought Bynum home. 2-1 Chiefs

The top of the seventh inning, Sandee mentioned the game was a little boring. That's all it took.

In the 7th, pinch-hitter Jim Negrych hit a home rum that also brought Rivero home.
Score now 4-1 Chiefs.

The Gwynett Braves scored off Jeff Mandell to the scent of fresh skunk (we wondered if it was a coincidence) in the top of the 8th.

Syracuse continued their late-inning ways in the bottom of the 8th: Carroll hit a triple with 1 RBI, then Rivero hit a single that brought Carroll home. Final score: 6-2 Chiefs.

Seth wore his socks on the outside tonight. We liked it. We wonder if he thought the change would help him increase his bat power. Players are very superstitious, you know.

Fun moment of the game: Pops and a bunch of men stood in front of us to have a photo taken. We couldn't see the field. So Sandee and I grabbed our bats and stood up so that we're in the pictures, too.

We needed a little fun.

And the lights in the sky after the game weren't the only fireworks at the stadium tonight.

The Magic Of Baseball

Tonight started out really rotten. We were late for the game -- outside stuff we had to do. Then something happened when we arrived that really upset us.

So I didn't pay a lot of attention to the action on the field. Except the music. Home team players get to chose their own music when then come to bat. Carlos Rivero and Jarrett Hoffpauir have awesome music. Corey Brown's music makes me want to arrest someone. Or shoot someone. Preferably the so-called artist who recorded it.

The score was 5-3 Pawsox at the middle of the 9th. Sandee and I decided we'd had enough of that score,we started our vocal support of our team. That's all it took. Ninth inning rally tied the score. In one of the extra innings, the Chiefs had the bases loaded, but were unable to score the winning run, even though they were a mere 2 balls away from winning.

The ninth and tenth innings were terrific baseball. Corey Brown, the most dangerous bat in the International League, was instructed to bunt in the 10th inning. There was also a failed squeeze-play that should have resulted in the runner at third being out, but didn't.

Unfortunately, we had to leave in the bottom of the 11th. (The child who was born 5 weeks premature still has timing issues and needed to be picked up at the Regional Transportation Center, just around the corner from ABS.) We did get to hear Hoffpauir hit in the winning run. And we actually got to see the players converge on the field to celebrate the win -- on the big screen while we sat at a stop sign up the hill from the stadium.

Fun to watch, fun to cheer. That's why I go to the park.

Curse of the Catcher's Gear

The calendar may say it's still spring, but it felt like summer today, and I'm loving it.

It was warm and breezy at the ball park tonight. I arrived early -- alone -- and bought a chicken sandwich and a Molson's Canadian. Yesterday's Player of the Game: Mark Teahen. The Jersey being raffled -- Brian Bixler's Throwback Thursday from last season.

Pappi (Poppy) was sitting in the row behind Sandee, spitting sunflower seeds into the aisle. Blech! Last night he  was parked next to us and gave us the peace sign as he was leaving.

There's a guy who sits in Section 105. Tonight I noticed his hat for the first time. This probably means nothing to most of you, but this hat is a WTVH "Fish" Hat. Too funny.

Gio Gonzalez, one of the Washington  Nationals top pitchers, was tweeting for a date for some gala. A second tweet requested that they be 21 or older.

The grounds crew plays basketball in the old bull pen during the games.

James Skelton was injured in a play at the plate in the 4th inning and taken out of the game. Kyle Hudson: SHAME ON YOU!  Maven told me Skelton may have a concussion. A former co-worker, who happens to be a true Nats fan, told me he believes the Nats Catchers gear is cursed this season. I believe it.

A foul ball slammed into a seat only a couple of down from Sandee then bounced onto the field.

A Dunkin' Donuts t-shirt toss t-shirt landed at my feet, but before I could get it, XGMan's guest picked it up and handed it off to some kid walking by.

In the 6th inning, Yuneski Maya hurt himself in a play at 1st first. We were leading 1-0 at the time. Speculation is that it's a groin injury. He left the game. Jeff Mandel came in and proceeded to give up 4 singles before getting an out,. Then he gave up a double. And the damage was done. The Chiefs lost 4-1. Not pretty.

For the second day in a row, Carlos Rivero would snag a grounder then stand there and look around. Carlos? You're supposed to throw it!

Scoreboard fun with Tug Hulett. Thanks for pointing it out, Pete.

Tug!

Seth Bynum was first base coach in the later innings. He waved to us.

Around the 7th inning, we noticed Corey Brown had a fan. She was sitting in the handicapped area behind Section 205. She agreed to have her photo taken.

Corey!

I won the Brian Bixler Throwback Thursday jersey!!!

Molly in her new jersey

While I was at Stadium Guest Services collecting my jersey, some little kid climbed up on the roof of the dug out to dance with Pops. When the good people in Section 207 pointed this out to Uber Usher -- it's against International League regulations -- Uber Usher  . . . did nothing. The head of security told us it's about a 12-foot drop from the roof of the dugout to the concrete floor, with railings and other obstacles. What kind of moron parents let a toddler do that? And don't get me started on Uber Usher -- the same guy who had smoke blown at his head on Saturday and didn't notice it.

Anthony took our Player of the Game ballots (James Skelton) up to the ballot box and ran into Paul, who said no more raffle tickets for the first row of 207. We've won three this year and it's early June. But how many didn't we win last year? I really wanted one of the pink ones. 

Since arriving home, I've read that Roger Bernadina pulled a hamstring, so Corey Brown will likely be called back to the mothership.

Wow. More than enough to make up for last night.

Along Came James

We arrived at the stadium early enough to see the Chiefs PSAs (which TV Stevie watched being taped the other day) about ball park safety -- foul balls, broken bats and stay off the field. Every one of the on-camera Chiefs had a bit of a southern accent.

The Chiefs played the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs tonight. Former Chiefs Pete Orr and Tug Hulett are both Iron Pigs this year, and we got to see them in action.

Last night's player of the game: Corey Brown. DUH! Can you say GRAND SLAM?

The scoreboard used an orange background again tonight. Looks like a Creamsicle.

Before the game started, I saw a co-worker.

Co-worker Rob Heyman at his first Chiefs game.

It was a foggy night. As the head of security said, the air was heavy, so hits that should have been home runs didn't make it over the fence.

Overcast. The air was very heavy.

There were wisps of fog/mist drifting in front of the upper levels.

Foggy!

There was a great play in the third inning, which I missed because I had to go in search of security. Some jamoke at the end of our row was smoking! We smelled the smoke first. Anthony asked me if I smelled it, and as I turned to say yes, I saw the guy blowing a stream of smoke at the usher's head. The usher . . . did nothing. So I got up and found security. The usher claimed he didn't know it. How could he not have known it?

Anyway, while I was looking for security (who took my complaint very seriously), Skelton got on base, Zach Duke sacrificed to move Skelton to second, then Corey Brown hit a double to get Skelton home.

Unfortunately, the Iron Pigs scored two runs in the next couple of innings. Then Corey Brown hit a home run in the 6th, which tied the game.

Amusing overheard comment: Overbeck over-rated (Overbeck being the Iron Pigs first baseman.

Quote of the game - Maven: "Blue! They should have stopped you at the gate and let your dog in instead!"

Question of the game: with the advent of the new scoreboard is also the advent of what is being called "Instant replay." The TV in me and TV Stevie protest this. What are being shown and labelled as "Instant Replay" are actually game highlights. Instant replay means that which just happened. Sometimes the footage being shown is several innings old. Highlights.

The ninth inning was very intense. We were talking to the head of security (who had a lot of fascinating things to share) but things were also happening on the field. 

Rivero (2nd batter of inning) singled.

Negrych popped out to center field. 

Seth Bynum walked

Then along came James. Skelton, that is. He hit a single, which brought Rivero home to win the game. 

I love watching the team when there's a walk-off win. Unfortunately, I didn't get to my camera until after the crashing into each other. 

Team walking off field after walk-off single by James Skelton

The Chiefs win 3-2.

I will share what the head of security told us in another blog. It was a fascinating -- at least to me -- look at the inner workings of a minor league ball club.

Oh What a Beautiful Evening!

Double header night!
I arrived at the ball park about 15 minutes late -- middle of the first inning of the first game.
Maven and I walked in together. As usual, security checked my bag. What was unusual was the ticket-taker thanking me for my patience, because the security person was new and didn't know all the season ticket holders.

Sandee & Anthony arrived shortly thereafter.

Here are my mishmash of notes from the first game:
The Balls/Strikes/Outs on the scoreboard were horizontal rather than vertical -- which made them much easier to read.

Third inning: Soto (Bats 1B) struck out, sending his bat flying. Maven clapped. Soto glared at Maven all the way back to the dugout.

The green pig won the race on the scoreboard (1st time the blue pig hasn't won!).

Mark Teahen wears his socks outside (no pajama pants) and I've decided it prefer it.

Anthony bought a lot of raffle tickets for the Jersey raffle--Josh Wilkie's Throwback Thursday from last year. Scandalous! I asked the interns to come back later: I didn't want my tix next to Anthony's.

Fifth Inning:
Villareal, the Bats' pitcher, struck out bunting, which amused fans sitting behind the dugout.

Also the final out of the top of the fifth was due to runner interference, the first time I've ever seen that call made in person. The runner clearly hindered the SS throw to first.

Free Cracker Jack! (I got a bag last night; Anthony scored a bag tonight)

6th Inning:
Tyler Moore left the game. He'd been playing 1st. Teahen was playing 3rd, Rivero was playing SS. After T-Mo left, Rivero went back to 3rd, Teahen to 1st and Bynum came in to play SS.

6th Inning 1B Coach (many of them tonight) Eric Komatsu actually waved to us when we said hi to him. He was also last night's player of the game -- grand slams will do that.

Tie score (1-1) going into bottom of 7th (final inning of double-header):
Xavier Paul singled
Brett Carroll Sac bunt to advance X
Rivero base on balls (intentional)
Negrych -- singled, which brought X home to win the game.
YAY!!!!

Lots of speculation on why T-Mo left the game. I've read a lot of Tweets claiming T-Mo was injured. That's not exactly what I heard in the stands.

The team changed into their black & teal travel jerseys for game two, because they were the visiting team (making up a game rained out in L'ville last week).

Black & Teal travel jerseys

The scoreboard changed the background from the dark green (which made the numbers easy to read) to a light gray background (which made the numbers difficult to read).  "Why," I asked Maven,"don't they just ask us? We're here every night and we're dead on straight to the scoreboard!"
"That would make too much sense," replied Maven.

The Taco Bell K-Man struck out in the second game.

Crazy Fan Man sat a couple of rows behind Maven. He always says hi to Anthony.

Jeff Howell coached first base for several innings. He was blowing bubbles with his bubble gum. So funny!

Look closely. Howell blowing bubbles with bubble gum. 

The jersey raffle people came back, so TV Stevie (who arrived in the middle of the second game) bought tickets. Anthony bought even more tickets! It's a good thing he did, because Sandee won!

Sandee with her Josh Wilkie Jersey

More Cracker Jack give-away. We all got a bag this time.

Scoreless game going into the 7th.  Because Syracuse was the "visiting" team, they batted in the top of each inning. 

Rivero struck out.

Paul 6-3 out

Negrych double

Bynum Base on Balls (intentional)

Skelton single with 1 RBI (Negrych)

Garcia out 6-4

Garcia then put out three L'ville batters in a row. The Chiefs win again!

We voted for Negrych as player of the game (evening, really)

As we were leaving, I saw two tiny children run onto the field with a player (who had on a hoodie that hid his number, so I have no clue who it was. The socks were out, which is a Teahen thing, but Teahen's wife is pregnant with their first, so I don't think it was him) who walked the bases as these tiny children ran them. So darned cute!

 I love watching the players with their children.

Memorial Day and Beyond

The Chiefs are on their last road trip for a while (try all of June). There have been changes. Tyler Moore is back with the team, and according to what I read on-line this morning, so is Corey Brown. There are new folks, too; names I don't recognize but that I'm sure I'll get to know as June progresses.

In the meantime, there was a Memorial Day game that I never recapped, so here it is.

The team wore their "Patriotic" Jerseys -- a brilliant move on the part of Chiefs' management last season. TV Stevie thinks these jerseys look like Houston Astros jerseys, and he's probably right. But they are generic enough to be worn Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Arm Forces Days.

The first thing I did, once I made my way past Scooch and Pops at the top of the stairs, was check the board for the previous evening's Player of the Game. Corey Brown (still). A neat trick since he hadn't played in that game.

We arrived late (middle of 1st) so I didn't bother scoring the game.
There was another line-up shake-up, but at least Mark Teahen was back at first and Carlos Rivero was back at third where they both belong.

One broken bat in the night -- Clippers Catcher Pagnozzi.

The Presidents were still in town; TV Stevie took lots more pics. I finally figured out how to tell Tom from George (besides the names on their jerseys): Thomas Jefferson has reddish hair and brown eyes, while George Washington has blue eyes and gray hair (although they both wear "powdered wigs". TV Stevie also pointed out to me that they were the Mount Rushmore presidents. Sometimes I'm really slow. Really, really slow. I was feeling quite clever when I'd decided Teddy was included with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln because he invented baseball's seventh inning stretch. Like I said: slow.

Other than the Presidents, the most amusing moment of the game was at the end of third, when Teahen struck out for the third out and the stadium announcer started to announce the next batter.

Sandee and I spent some time being amused by some of the outfits women wear to the games. Monday night was definitely horizontal stripe night. And trust me, some of those people should not have worn horizontal stripes.

The most obnoxious people at the game were a couple of rows behind us and loud-talkers. Especially the woman. That was bad enough, but they were Mets fans and kept insisting that if you're a Syracuse native, you're a Met fan. Clearly they were on crack or something. Everybody knows Syracuse natives are Yankee fans (unless they became baseball fans during the era in which the Chiefs were the Triple A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, in which case they are to be excused for being Jays fans).

The Clippers have two players with awesome names (I adore awesome names): Gregorio Petit and Ezequiel Carrera.

Sandee & I decided to start calling Carlos Rivero simply Rivero, to differentiate between him and Carlos Maldonado, who is our "real" Carlos.

The famous Eric Cohen stopped by -- first time this season when TV Stevie has been around. He said something about, "I haven't forgotten the peons," at which point I reminded him that I am not a peon, I am a has-been, and there is a difference. Eric shared the broadcast booth speculation that the reason Corey Brown hadn't been in the line-up for two nights was that he was about to be called up (which turned out to be true.)

Observation: Seth Bynum looks mean in his screen photo.

Best part of the evening: middle of the 7th inning. The crowd sang God Bless America before Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Down front, right behind the dugout, this little teeny, tiny moppet with a head of corkscrew curls sang along -- and she knew all the lyrics.

In the middle of the 9th, the scoreboard now plays Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Happy. Or maybe that's only when the team is losing.

Either way, I like it. Happiness happens.

An Enjoyable Presidential Race

The Racing Presidents are in town for the holiday weekend.

These characters are from the Washington Nationals, but they are not mascots. The Nats' mascot is Screech, a bald eagle. The presidents --  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt -- are just great fun.

And they're off! (Entering stadium from old bullpen)

I thought Teddy had won, but according to the stadium announcer,
the winner was "George, by a nose."

The Presidents were very active: running through the stands, getting involved in the between-innings promotions, and dancing with Scooch & Pops during the 7th inning.They were an entertaining distraction from a less-than-riveting game.

Teddy Roosevelt

Abe Lincoln

George Washington

I didn't take any decent shots of Tom Jefferson, although he's probably my favorite US President (based on the perfectly silly reason that I loved his character in the musical "1776".) TV Stevie took a lot more photos that he's promised to share with me. 

And oh yeah. There was a baseball game happening during all of this. 

• Corey Brown was player of Friday's game (as Sandee & I voted)
• We voted for Carlos Rivero as Saturday's player of the game. He started a seventh inning rally that at least got the Chiefs on the board so the score was no longer a humiliating 9-0.
• The jersey raffle featured Brad Peacock's Throwback Thursday jersey.

Other things we've noticed that are different this year:

• No MLB scoreboard in right field. Perhaps the proliferation of smart phones makes it obsolete?
• The ushers have been staying a lot later.

Final score: 9-6. Good effort by the Chiefs, but no cigar.