Counting Down The Season: 5 home games left

After tonight, there are only five home game days left (1 double-header) in the season. We are devastated. What happened to summer?

And worse, what are we going to do until April?

Tonight was Advertiser Appreciation Night and also the picnic for season ticket holders who attend a minimum of 30 games. Great food. A little windy. Two pitchers on hand to mingle with the crowd, including Section 207 favorite Brad Peacock.

Anthony cornered Brad so we could have a photo op with him. We reminded him who we were, and he remembered and reminded us that he'd waved to us. He's a good sport.

Molly, Brad Peacock, Sandee
at the Season Ticket Holders Picnic

Tim Fox

There were lots of people at the game tonight. Pawtucket always draws Boston fans, and Advertiser Appreciation Night brings out a lot of General Admission fans. It was also Dan Hoard's final baseball game of the season. Dan is the PawSox radio announcer, but he's off to Cincinnati to work for the Bengals. Several other media-types stopped by Section 207 to say hi, including NewsChannel 9'sTim Fox.

Tug Hulett is back from paternity leave. Congrats on the birth of Baby Hudson.

And the big news, in case you live under a rock, is that Stephen Strasburg will be pitching in Syracuse on Saturday.

1st Base Coach Wave:

• Gregor Blanco waved in the first inning. He was the 1st base coach for most of the game.
• Corey Brown coached 1st base in the 5th and the 8th. We didn't even bother. 

Carlos Maldonado Watch: We were pretty sure we saw Carlos sitting at the end of the bench in the dugout. He didn't come out until late in the game -- he helped warm up the pitcher in the 8th inning. As soon as we called his name, he lifted his hat in acknowledgment. He's a player who appreciates his fans.

An amusing moment: A group of fans in Boston hats asked the Usher for help. They were on the wrong side of the stadium. "No wonder I'm confused," one man said. "No," someone else said, "you're a Red Sox fan."

Oddest sighting of the night: There was a boy sitting in the 300 section above the home plate netting -- with a butterfly net. Apparently he planned to snag foul balls with it.

Random Act of Kindness: This happened during the t-shirt toss. A woman in the back of Section 107 caught a t-shirt, but dropped it. Someone in front of her immediately scooped it up and kept it. A man in section 109 saw this, and gave her the t-shirt he'd caught. 

Manners Aren't Dead: Paw Sox squatters -- a mom and several children -- sat behind us tonight, but they were very well behaved. At one point, two of the younger boys were trying to get Scooch's attention, but weren't having any luck. So I called out to Scooch to let him know he had some fans. Scooch immediately came over and did his shtick with the boys. Afterwards, they thanked me for getting Scooch over for them. 

Scoreboard Messages of the Night: 

• Chicken Wing Hoard
• The Chiefs Wish Dan Hoard Good Luck with the Bengals
• Steve Hyder: All the wings are yours.

Tomorrow night is the PawSox again, followed on Friday and Saturday by Rochester. We plan to try to attract Chase Lambin's attention then. It worked with J-Botts!

Cheer, Cheer, Cheer for the Chiefs

The Chiefs won! It was a great game, too. Spectacular fifth inning.

TV Stevie and I arrived at the stadium a bit early, not to see the Irish Dancers

(who were a lot of fun to watch), or to see the first pitch (altho' two of the boys throwing out the first pitch are sons of a friend's friend), or even to see Suspect's vacation pictures (which I saw),

but because a former co-worker happens to be in town, calling the Paw-Sox games.



I dare you to guess who!

TV Stevie went up to the broadcast booth with another friend in the business to say hi to former WTVH sports anchor Dan Hoard. TV Stevie took this photo on his iPhone.



Anybody for wings at the Change of Pace?

FIRST BASE COACH WAVE:

• Carlos Maldanado - big wave and big smile
• Tug Hulet - waved and smiled, but didn't seem to be into it (altho' Sandee thought he was watching us as we cheered for Seth Bynum's RBI)
• Jhonatan Solano - big wave and big smile

JERSEY RAFFLE: Pink! Josh Wilkie! Sandee bought tickets but no luck. :-(

INTERESTING OBSERVATION:  Okay, tonight isn't the first time I've noticed this, but it is the first time I actually took a photo.

Spidey!!!!

FUN THING: XG-Man wore seersucker tonight. How awesome is that!

"Everything's for sale. Everything's on sale!"...XG-Man

MOLLY & SANDEE'S PLAYER OF THE GAME: Michael Aubrey. 4 RBIs, including a HR. Yeah.

THE ODDITY OF THE NIGHT: I didn't have my camera ready. Sandee and I saw an unusally dressed woman at the same time and turned to look at each other in complete disbelief. By the time I grabbed my camera, the woman was sitting down. I was ready to snap her photo at the end of the game, but got involved in an intense conversation with another season ticket holder in Section 207 who was upset that people with freebie tix for general admission had come down to sit behind him and were being overly rowdy (unlike Sandee & me with our quiet, lady-like demeanors), and when he complained to the usher, who confirmed the people were using GA tix to sit in a reserved section, the usher let the people sit there anyway. HELLO? Anyway, back to the oddity of the night. I said to Sandee, "That's just what I would wear to a ballgame." Skin-tight blue top, skin-tight gray leggins, and tight black suede boots up to her knees. My description may not sound odd, but trust me (and Sandee), it was odd.