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?

Lannan Rocked

TV Stevie and I were late to the game tonight, and we missed an awesome first inning. The Chiefs scored 5 runs. Carlos Maldonado hit a single (yes, he caught the game). Charlotte scored one run in the second inning.

Sandee and I arrived in time for the bottom of the third inning. Yes! The Chiefs scored 6 more runs in honor of our presence.

Carlos Rivero singled
Carlos Maldonado singled
Corey Brown bunted a single (forcing an out at 3rd)
JJ Johnson singled
Mark Teahen singled
Jason Michaels struck out
Brett Carroll singled
Jim Negrych singled and there was an error in there somewhere
Jarrett Hoffpauir singled
Carlos Rivero popped out to RF.

Carlos Maldonado at 2nd

Carlos Maldonado at 2nd

Carlos Maldonado (and others) going into dugout
after scoring in the third inning.

It was an awesome inning. An awesome game. Charlotte was really off their game, with 7 errors. At one point we joked about them tying the Chase Lambin single-season record in just one game.

Jhonatan Solano coached 1B and waved to us.

Carlos Maldonado hit a double in the 4th, was stranded, then hit into a double play in the 5th to end that inning. He acknowledged us several times. Since the stadium was practically empty, he had no problem hearing us.

The two young men in front of us in the last row of Section 107 told us they'd be rooting for Carlos Maldonado. They did a fine job. They must have been impressed by the way Carlos acknowledged us

New Maldonado Fans

The Chiefs won, 12 - 4. John Lannan posts his second win.

Stories of the night:

• K-Daddy received a call from Suspect, who asked him to relay a message to Maven, Sandee, and the rest of 207. He will be back at the stadium in a while. (We heard another story from an usher, saying that management told the players to stop giving him tickets because people were complaining.)
• Broken bats -- we've noticed a lot of broken bats this year, and Sandee's friend Josh (who came to the game tonight) explained that it's because bats are now being made from maple instead of ash. The emerald ash borer is killing off ash trees in this country, so bat manufacturers have switched to maple, but they haven't yet perfected a way to make the maple as strong as ash.
• The guys down in the front row of Section 109 kept trying to start a wave. How do I put this delicately? The moon came out. Several times. I tried to take a photo, but my camera wasn't quick enough to capture it.
• Frank, one of the security guys, was acting bat boy for the Charlotte Knights. 
• One of the new Carlos Maldonado fans came up to us at between the 8th and 9th innings and told us how they'd been to dinner at Ichiban, and sat next to Kuhn, Gallagher, and Golson (they ate chicken and steak). They ended up giving the Charlotte Knights a ride back to their hotel and left tickets for tonight's game at will-call for them. 

And I will leave you with a shot of the new scoreboard at night. The next home game is the debut of the scoreboard, and it promises to be awesome.

Rain, Rain: GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!

First Pitch: 7:40PM

As Mike (the Assistant GM of the Chiefs) and I discussed yesterday, it's astounding how the Chief's at-home schedule and the forecast for rain have been perfectly aligned so far this season, starting with Opening Day.

Yesterday's game against Rochester started late. This is the photo I texted to Sandee so she'd know she wasn't missing any action while driving to the stadium.

Rochester games are always fun. There's a crew of Rochester fans who show up in Syracuse for every game, and they always sit in the same seats, near us, so it's almost like they're part of the community we've created. Also, one of our favorite Chiefs from last year, Chase Lambin, plays for Rochester this year. Seeing him play 3rd base again is interesting.

Before last night's game, AXA gave away scholarships to graduating high school seniors. X-Chromo's friend was a recipient, and she was there to cheer him on.

And YAY on Seth Bynum being back in the line-up (at short stop).

First base coach cheer: Tug Hulett heard us yelling, seemed startled by it, found us in the stands and waved.

Oddity of the night: During the 2nd (and final) rain delay, I looked up toward the luxury boxes and saw bubbles drifting into the rain.

Scariest moment of the night: Third inning. Jeff Frazier at bat. He swings and misses the ball, but hits the catcher in the head with his bat. At least, that's what it looked like to us. I could be wrong. The catcher needed several moments to recover.

Best inning:  Why, the third, of course. Not because an opponent was hit in the head with a bat, but because the Chiefs scored 6 runs, making the score 8-1. And the bases were loaded, with two outs, when the game went into rain delay. It was eventually suspended. Today's scheduled game is already a double-header due to a rainout earlier in the season. Last night's fireworks were also rained out. Perhaps they'll be rescheduled for tonight. (I took a photo of Sandee and Anthony from the third base side of the concourse. They were in their seats, umbrella up, trying to wait out the rain. Unfortunately, the photo is too dark to share here.) August 26th will now be a double-header due to all the Syracuse-Rochester rain issues.

Good fun 1: Yolanda Vega from the NYS Lottery was on hand, and between innings, she and Dave Anthony threw balls into the stands. Description of a prize package was taped to each ball. I caught one. We won scratch off tickets . . . I want to say $50 worth, but I could be totally wrong on that. When all was said and done, we won $9.

New things at the stadium: Bright red banners behind the net, for the Home Plate Club seats. They look great. Also, it looks like the Chief's scored a new graphics package for the scoreboard. I saw some different things last night. Lookin' good, Chiefs!!

Good fun 2: Sandee gave me presents: A small plastic bat filled with candy that we use as noise makers when our team does something awesome (lots of use in the bottom of the 3rd last night!); incredibly awesome flip flops to wear to games (when it doesn't rain).


Sandee (and Anthony) are very clever!