Pawsox Come to Town

The games this week start at 6pm, which make it a bit difficult to get to the stadium in a timely manner. I listened to the first inning and a half on the radio at home, which was a true challenge trying to get the starting line ups.

We arrived at the stadium during the top of the third inning, and went off in search of dinner. I decided to try the grilled chicken sandwich (which TV Stevie said was the best thing he'd eaten at the food preview). It was fabulous. If it didn't come with fries, it would be perfect! TV Stevie and I shared the fries that came with my sandwich. He ate another of those quarter pound hot dogs, well done. We're going to start calling it a Steve-dog.

The entire 207 gang was in attendance tonight. That always makes for a fun time. Trivia, laughter, baseball. Does it get much better than this? TV Stevie came up with a great trivia question: Which players who were #39 have had their number retired? The Throwback Thursday Game Worn Jersey Raffle tonight was for number 39, which is what prompted the trivia question. I actually got it (after many hints): Roy Campanella, The Dodgers.

Yesterday's player of the game was not Mitch Atkins, but rather, Mark Teahen.

Chris McConnell has been sent down to Harrisburg; Xavier Paul has been put on the restricted list.
Josh Johnson played his first ever Triple A game tonight (SS). Sandee and I realized after the fact we should have voted for him as player of the game because he really hustled.

Work has begun on the new scoreboard. You can see something new right above the fence. Paul from the Chiefs seemed happy that I noticed. They've hired someone to run the board and he's going to school to learn how to do it. Paul also mentioned installation of the controls for the board has started, and it's a sight to behold.  It's going to be a Whiz-Bang of an experience. ETA: May 7.

Work has begun on installation of the new scoreboard.

The Bryce Harper Report
2nd inning: 1-3
4th inning: single
7th inning: double
The kid is 19. He's never played CF before. He dropped 2 balls in the 8th that should have been outs. He's 19. He's never played CF. Patience.

The Corey Brown Report
1st inning: 1-3
3rd inning: 7
5th inning: 3-1
7th inning: single
9th inning: K

Most exciting inning: The 7th.
It began with the score 4-0 Pawtucket. The Sox starting pitcher was tiring. Single by single, error by error, the Chiefs managed to fill the bases and score three runs. Then Garret Mock, former Chief, came in to pitch. Rally killer! The next three batters struck out. As Maven said, we couldn't even force a tie with a double play.

Tonight's jersey give-away was -- you guessed it -- Garret Mock's Throwback Thursday from last year. Sandee really wanted it, because it was Chad Mottola's number, Chad being her all-time favorite Chief. Guess who won it?

Molly modeling Garret Mock's game-worn jersey from last season.

Carlos Maldonado waved to us in the ninth.

Crazy Fan Man tried to strike up a conversation with Anthony when Anthony went to place our votes for Mark Teahen as player of the game. Scary!

As TV Stevie and I were leaving the stadium -- actually, he was taking photos of me in my new game-worn jersey -- we ran into one of his clients: Cate from Cate & Sally in Skaneateles, along with Cate's husband. Their daughter met Pawtucket CF Alex Hassan when they were attending Duke. They started dating. Alex played A ball, then Double A Ball (Cate and her husband went to Binghamton to see him play when Boston's double A team played there), and now he's in Triple A, playing center field for the PawSox.

Cate Davis and husband, waiting to take PawSox CF Alex Hussan for Dinosaur

Tonight there is going to be a post-game family dinner at the Dinosaur. (Proud dad wanted me to mention that his daughter played lacrosse for Skaneateles.) They never followed baseball much, but are learning the subtleties and nuances of the game and are finding it enjoyable. Wait until they figure out that they will never see all the nuances baseball has to offer because it is an ever-changing pageant.

Day Two

Sunny and chilly, but not nearly as cold as Opening Day.
Instead of wearing the new uniforms from Opening Day -- which are probably Throwback Thursday uniforms now that I think of it -- we were back to the same old "we used to be the Blue Jays Triple A Team" jerseys. Too bad. The rest of the stadium experience has been freshened up. I wish the everyday uniforms would be, too. I guess there's only so much money.

The jersey raffle was for Carlos Maldonado's Throwback Thursday jersey from last season. I really really wanted it. So did Sandee. We both spent way too much money on raffle tickets. Our odds were good, because there was practically no one at the stadium. Even so, we didn't win. We're Carlos's biggest fans, and we couldn't win his jersey.

Between innings we heard snatches of the Electric Slide and the Macarena. Too funny.

The Bryce Harper Report:
2nd inning - struck out
4th inning - blooped out
7th inning - popped out
9th inning - singled, but then forced out at 2nd when next batter singled.
We are still not impressed with his fielding.

Yesterday's Federal Baseball blog was all about the Chief's game.

The Taco Bell K-Man struck out in the 8th.

Chris McConnell is also back with the team. I forgot to list him in the Opening Day Blog.

There were many jokes about five of us in the row wearing our Skychiefs jackets. And about the Opening Day Bunting hanging in front of TV Stevie & me. John Simone promised he'd keep it up for us until Monday.

Sandee & Anthony bought burgers from the new food scene. Said they were awesome. I should have taken a photo of them, but forgot to. I will get back into the swing of things as the season progresses.

We did call out to Carlos Maldonado several times when was on his way back to the dugout after warming up the pitcher, but he couldn't hear us.

We got to see Atahualpa Severino and Josh Wilkie pitch.

Josh Wilkie Warming Up

 Funny quote of the day: This came from behind us. Two men were on base. Tyler Moore was at bat. A home run could have tied the score. "I'll give you my taco if you hit a home run!"

And now for the shocker of the game: I wanted to vote for Corey Brown as player of the game. (Unfortunately, there were no ballots available. I asked the interns to please pass on the request).
Yes, you read that correctly.

I WANTED TO VOTE FOR COREY BROWN AS PLAYER OF THE GAME.

Corey was the lead off hitter. He hit a single his first at-bat. He made a spectacular catch in right field (his new position now that Harper has taken over center).

Total over all: Corey at 4 at-bats, three hits (including a stand-up triple) and scored the Chiefs only run when Seth Bynum doubled. I don't know why Federal Baseball says Corey was 2 for 3 with 2 singles. They're wrong. I was there. I even took a photo.

Corey Brown stand-up triple in the 8th inning.

Mascots & Roster Update



Scooch 6.8.10

 

Pops 6.8.10



Just a couple of candids of Scooch and Pops.

Too crazed to post more.

Oh, some stuff I just found out:

Carlos Maldonado is on the

 7-day DL again.

Jhonatan Solano has been activated.

Chris McConnell is now in Harrisburg

Chad Gaudin is up from Hagerstown

2B Steve Lombadozzzi is up from Harrisburg.

Sunday Afternoon With the (SWB) Yankees

Another very competitive game, although the Chiefs weren't able to pull off this one. It was an exciting 9th inning, tying run on base, winning run at the plate. Great baseball.

The First Base Coach Cheer:

• Adam Fox -- a little wave
• Tug Hulett -- a smile
• Jesus Flores -- talking to players in the vistors dugout

Oddities of the Day:

• the woman walking by us with a tray filled with condiments. Nothing else. Just ketchup & mustard.
• Pena (Hassan) pitching against Pena (Ramiro), followed a couple of innings later by Flores (Randy) pitching against Flores (Jesus).  (Maven called out, "Come on Pena!", so I asked him, "Which one?")
• Cheering when the 1st base coach and the batter have the same first name: Chris Marrero and Chris McConnell (last night); Jesus Valdez and Jesus Flores (today).

Annoyance of the Day:

• The Ballot box for the voting for the Player of the Game was gone when Anthony went to cast our votes, around the seventh or eighth inning. A friend of ours asked, "What if someone who wasn't in the starting line up comes in and hits a grand slam to win the game?" A very good question! And the scenario came true -- okay, no grand slam, but still -- in the ninth inning. Tug Hulett and Jesus Flores, neither of whom were in the starting line ups, came in during the ninth and made signficant contributions to the game. But could we vote for them as Player of the Game? Nope.

Pleasant surprise:

• Carlos Maldando played today. Go Carlos!



Carlos at bat




Carlos Maldonado ready for 1st game pitch



"Grizz" from 30 Rock was on hand for the National Kidney Foundation.

"Grizz" throws out first pitch

Kei Igawa was the Yankees' starting pitcher. When his name was announced, there was a collective gasp throughout the stadium.

Kei Igawa


For the third game in a row, the Chiefs are raffling off a jersey from last year's Armed Forces Day. While I am all in favor of US Armed Forces, I don't like the jersey. I've been trying for two season to win a pink one (Breast Cancer Awareness). It seems like they have a lot of Armed Forces ones. (This year's Armed Forces jersey is also the Memorial Day and Independence Day jersey, and is much nicer than last year, altho' TV claims it looks like an Astros jersey).

Camo or used cat litter?

Two former co-workers have told me that they're reading this blog! YaY Kevin and "Flanders"!

The Yankees Are In Town

The Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Yankees, that is.

Yesterday also turned out to be Longhouse Council BSA Night (among other promotions), so there were lots of people at the game. I was nearly T-boned trying to get to the parking lot because people were running the stop sign and not yielding right-of-way. I stopped my car and told the other driver that the stop sign meant she had to stop. Sheesh!

And people were, as usual, sitting wherever they wanted, regardless of the ticket they held. The Usher told several people to move out of reserve seats, but they wouldn't leave. Then when the season-ticket holder arrived, they merely moved over a couple of seats. I was telling Anthony the story and the two girls must have heard me because they spent a couple of innings glaring at me. I, of course, glared back. Then it started raining a little, and they left. Fair-weather fans. I have no use for them.

Enough complaining.

Okay, it rained for a couple of innings, but it was still a great night for a ball game. Ryan Zimmerman, 3rd baseman for the Washington Nationals, made his Syracuse Chiefs debut. He's down for rehab. He looked pretty darn good to me.

Ryan Zimmerman at bat



Ryan Zimmerman playing third



Ryan Zimmerman at first

Maybe some of the many fans were there to see Ryan.

The first base coaches for the night were Adam Fox, Chris McConnell, and Gregor Blanco.

Adam gave us a huge wave and grin.
Chris probably couldn't hear us.
Gregor heard us, but didn't realize he was supposed to smile and wave back at us. Next time, Gregor!

The oddity of the night: someone in the upper deck was blowing bubbles, which drifted over the stadium.

After the game, I spied a very short person in a Chiefs uniform in the dugout. So I hung out a few extra minutes, and sure enough, Adam Fox and his son emerged from the dugout to take batting practice. The Little Fox was wearing a pint-sized Chiefs uniform with his dad's number. It was so cute! And kudos to Adam for being a great Dad.


Fox Jr. & Sr. heading out to left field for batting practice

In their Chiefs uniforms

Batter up!

"Dad! Give me one over the plate!"

"Wild pitch!"

Holiday Fireworks: Memorial Day Version

Sunday night was a fabulous night for a baseball game. Only a few intermittent sprinkles of rain reminded us we were in Syracuse. It was nice to see people sitting in the upper tiers of the stadium. I did miss Sandee and her husband, but my daughter, X-Chromo, and one of her friends sat with TV Stevie and me, and helped me cheer. We saw a lot of people we know. Holiday fireworks displays after the game are always popular with the casual fans. I loved seeing the players in the dugout watching the fireworks after the game.

The first base coaches last night were Carlos Maldonado and Chris McConnell. Carlos smiled and waved when we called out our hellos. There were so many fans in the stand, I'm not sure Chris heard us. Next time, Chris.

Fireworks began before the game was over. I somehow missed Randy Knorr's (manager) eviction from the game, but in the following inning, it was tough to miss Greg Booker (pitching coach) being tossed, followed by Cory Brown's ejection.

The Chiefs lost. Our fielding seemed off, allowing too many base hits. That's just my opinion.

I'm going to miss going to games this week. I'll try to listen to the radio (Sandee, you'd better be cheering your heart out!), but when I'm home, there's always something that needs my attention.