Bittersweet

Final home game of the season on a sunny, warm September Sunday. So different from last year's rainy conclusion.

Today was the season ticket holders annual picnic. Things were a bit different this year. Instead of being under the tent outside of the stadium before the game, the concession stand at the far end of the third base side of the stadium provided all-you-could-eat hot dogs, sausage, burgers, fries and peanuts. We had to eat it there, so we arrived before the game. Sandee & Anthony snagged a great table for us. We overlooked the home bull pen and warm up area.

Maldonado warming up the pitcher

Birdseye View from Left Field

The Chiefs warming up

Shortly after we sat to eat, Carlos Maldonado came out to warm up. We called out to him, he saw us, and his smile lit up the stadium. We stayed there until after starting line ups were announced, cheering for Carlos when his name was called. Again, he acknowledged us.

The game didn't start out well. The Redwings scored 6 runs before there was ever an out. The Chiefs responded with two homers in the bottom of the first. They scored another run in the bottom of the second on a Brett Carroll double. Two more runs scored in the bottom of the third before Carlos Maldonado came to bat. (Chris Marrero & Zach Walters with the RBIs). Carlos hit a "seeing eye" base hit, which scored the tying run.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh when the Chiefs scored the go-ahead run and an insurance run. Jesus Valdez and Chris Marrero had the RBIs on those.

In between: Jason Michaels still not around, so the 1B coach was either James Skelton or Manny Mayorson. We finally got James to wave to us, but he seemed baffled, like, "Why are those people calling my name?" Kevin said, "He's probably thinking they must be friends of my mom."

A bunch of kids walked by and wedged a foul ball between the bottom of the rail and the concrete.

Candid Camera?

It stayed there for quite a while. When one kid tried to take it, his mom told him to leave it alone. A little while later another kid unwedged it, the mom started to correct the child, but TV Stevie told her he could have the ball. She thanked us. There are still people with manners in the world.

Play of the game was in the 6th inning. Brett Carroll fielded a ball in right and threw to Carlos, who made a spectacular play at the plate. We're not the only ones who thought it was the play of the game. 

Corey Brown was hit in the knee by a pitch in the 8th inning. It took several minutes for him to walk off the pain enough to take his base. Not good He'll probably be called up to Washington on Tuesday.

Trainer walking Corey Brown to 1B

Rochester hit a HR in the top of the 8th, but that's all folks. The Chiefs win, 8-7.

Carlos turned and waved goodbye to us twice after the team's Walk of Winning. 

A woman sitting behind us noticed and asked how we know Carlos. She thought is was very cool that he has a fan club.

Then the sadness came. The Chiefs home season is over -- one more game tomorrow in Rochester, then that's it. 

Spent a lot of time with Maven after the game, talking about how sad it is. He observed that the next three weeks will be perfect baseball weather, unlike all those early April games we endured. He stays busy in the fall with SU football (which will be shown on the big screen at ABS on select dates), but after the holidays -- it's rough. January and February go on forever. He likes hockey, but it's no substitute for baseball.

Anthony said something about maybe getting Section 207 Row 1 together in the off-season. That's not a bad plan. Not a bad plan at all. 

You what would be really cool? Watching the Nats in the playoffs/World Series on the Big Screen at ABS, weather permitting. Extend our season just a little more.

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.

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.

June 7 recap

The Chiefs lost tonight. They were never really in the game.

Miscellaneous items of note:

The Bats first base coach in the first inning (Brian Peacock) was chewing gum and blowing bubbles. Blue as opposed to the pink that Jeff Howell chewed the previous evening.

The Taco Bell K-Man struck out in the first inning.

There was a player of the game for each of yesterday's games (the first time I've seen that!):
Negrych for the first game, Skelton for the second. And both deserved the designation.

Every time Louisville player Mike Constanzo came to bat a group of fans started calling, "Ri-co! Ri-co!" After about 7 innings of this, I asked on of them the significance. Apparently Constanzo looks like Rico Suave. Does anyone know who Rico Suave is?

Xavier Paul waved to us when he was coaching first base.

One of the "Rico" gang decided to dance on the top of the dugout with Scooch at the end of the 7th inning. This is a big no-no. Stadium security arrived when it was over. The kid immediately put up his hands. Clearly he knew what do do. He was escorted out of the stadium.

Silly comment overheard near the end of the game: "This is semi-pro baseball." (No folks, this is minor league professional baseball. Big difference.)

Play of the game:
(Corky Miller, the Louisville Catcher, is not a favorite of Sandee and Anthony (who've seen him play in Louisville), so I don't have much use for him either -- as a player. I'm sure he's a nice guy.)

Here's what the box score on the Chief's website says:

• Corky Miller doubles (3) on a line drive to right fielder Brett Carroll. Felix Perez scores.
• Sean Gallagher grounds into double play, catcher James Skelton to shortstop Seth Bynum. Corky Miller out at 2nd.
• 
  

Here's what happened:  Corky was on second base, thinking about running to third when James Skelton made the out at the plate. But Corky didn't return to second. So Skelton ran from home plate to second base to tag Corky, who taunted James by waiting for him, then dashing toward second. Skelton just had a tiny flip to the SS to get Corky out.

I wish my camera had been handy. I've never seen anything like it.

Still to come: TV Stevie was at the stadium on business earlier in the day. He saw a lot of players who were all very friendly, all said hello to him. He took a bunch of photos he needs to send to me to post here.

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.