Catcher-chism Revisited.

I know, I know. I've been missing in action. I never finished blogging about the 23rd, never blogged about the 24th. Team has been on the road since then, and I've been frantically trying to catch up with the rest of my life.

Reading Facebook, then reading the IL Transaction page spurred this blog.

The Nationals signed Kurt Suzuki, who is supposed to be some hotshot catcher.

This news took Jesus Flores by surprise. Davey Johnson essentially told Flores that performance equals playing time.

In the meantime, to make room for Suzuki, the Nats optioned Sandy Leon to Triple A . . . which means the Chiefs.

According to the International League Transaction Page, Catcher Jeremy Mayo has also been assigned to the Chiefs (from Hagarstown), Jeff Howell is off the 7-day DL, and Koyie Hill has been released.

Where does all of these leave Carlos Maldonado, asks moi, co-president of his fan club? Well, according to the article about Suzuki, Carlos has been designated for assignment. He's no longer on the Chiefs' roster. Which really stinks.

On a lighter note: the Washington Nationals bullpen read 50 Shades of Grey. Aloud. For giggles.
Check it out here.

No!!!! (Good luck, Carlos!)

Carlos Maldonado has been called up to the Mothership.
It goes like this:

The Washingon Nationals' primary catcher Wilson Ramos tore his ACL the other day, making  Jesus Flores the primary catcher for the Nats, and the Nats in need of a backup catcher.

Jhonatan Solano (Syracuse's former primary catcher) is on the DL, and has been for a while, which makes Carlos Maldonado Syracuse's primary catcher (and which makes Molly & Sandee very happy campers). Jeff Howell, the backup catcher from Harrisburg, was sent to Syracuse as backup catcher.

When Ramos injured himself, the primary catcher for the Harrisburg Senators, Sandy Leon, was sent to Washington. And he injured himself during his first game last night (sprained ankle?).

So Washington called up Carlos Maldonado.

(I don't know what's going on with Harrisburg.)

YAY CARLOS!!!!

Please be good to him, Washington.

Gifts

Chris Marrero is out until at least the All-Star Break. Guess we'll have to get used to a new 1st baseman.

And there's a lot of talk about Brad Peacock and Tommy Milone joining Strasburg in the Nats' pitching rotation. How cool is that?

Colin Ballester is gone -- a gift for The Maven.

Jesus Flores was tendered a contract with the Nats.

Seth Bynum has signed for another season with Syracuse.

In fact, Seth and Brad Peacock will be in Syracuse for the Hot Stove event in February. There's a gift idea: tickets to the Hot Stove.  Former Chief Carlos Delgado and new manager Tony Beasley will be there, too.

The Chiefs are promoting the Ladies of Summer ticket package as a holiday gift idea. And it's a good one, if you don't go to a lot of games. Personally, I think season ticket holders who happen to be female should also get one of the Ladies of Summer coffee mugs.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.

Where Are They Now?

What are our favorite players doing in the off-season?

Here's what I know:
Jhonatan Solano and Chris Marrero are playing on the same team in the Dominican Winter League.


The Venezuelian Winter League is rife with Syracuse Chiefs (although not all on the same teams). The list includes:

• Ryan Tatusko
• Jesus Flores
• Seth Bynum
• Gregor Blanco
• Josh "You Rock" Wilkie
• Carlos Maldonado

Makes me wish I had the time and dime to head south for a few months.

Don't forget the Fall Classic Sale on Saturday, 10/22 9AM-12NN. Hope to see you there!

The Good Thing About Playing the Paw Sox and Other Bits of Randomness

Last year, we saw Josh Beckett pitch in rehab. Tonight, we got to see Kevin Millwood and Hideki Okajima, both former All-Star pitchers. That was pretty cool.


All Star Pitcher Kevin Millwood




All Star Pitcher Hideki Okajima

The evening started out a lot of fun. Sandee's bag was searched when she came into the stadium.
(That happened to me once, too.)

It was a pretty night for a ball game.

Sunset turned the clouds into cotton candy over the stadium

When the scoreboard didn't reflect a strike for quite a while, Sandee wondered aloud if the scorer had to call his mommy and ask if it was okay to give the batter a strike.  A little while later, one of the ushers commented on her umbrella, asking her if she thought it was going to rain. "No, I brought it so it wouldn't rain," she explained.

We once again noticed that when we call our encouragement to the team, they seem to do better.

JERSEY RAFFLE: Cam-meow. Tonight's intern/model tried to tell us that they alternate nights: camo, pink, camo, pink. Ha-ha, we said. We have a blog to prove her wrong!

FIRST BASE COACH WAVE:

• Matt Antonelli ignored us all night. We know he heard us.
• Corey "Ignore-y" Brown ignored us all night. We know he heard us. In fact, Corey Brown is JACKET MAN! It was too warm for his jacket tonight, but we know that face now.

BEST INNING OF THE GAME: The fifth. If you don't believe us, check the box score.

GUEST OF THE NIGHT: Amanda, who is a follower of this blog came over to say hi to us! How cool is that?

GOOD NEWS: Carlos Maldonado is off the DL because Jesus Flores was called up to Washington. Maybe we'll get to see Carlos play again soon!

QUESTION OF THE NIGHT:


What does Syracuse reliver Lee Hyde do after he warms up, but before his first pitch?

 LAMENT OF THE NIGHT: The bullpen.

Fabulous Start to the Holiday Weekend

It was the perfect night for a ballgame. No rain. Sunny. Warm. July. Finally. TV Stevie bought me a Molsons and a Dinosaur pulled-pork sandwich. Awesome.

Before the game, Tug Hulett and Chris Marrero were signing autographs for fans over by the dugout. I love watching the players interact with the kids like that.

Confirming last night's speculation, Ankiel is back with the Nats and Detwiler was called up.

BTW, the Chiefs are having a Patriotic Picnic on Monday.

FIRST BASE COACH CHEER

• Gregor Blanco grinned and waved
• I missed Michael Aubrey both times he coached first
• Tug waved, too.
• No first base coach in the ninth inning

JERSEY RAFFLE: Pink. I bought 10 tickets. I still didn't win.

A little kid -- maybe two or three -- really wanted my bat-shaped rattle. Twice.

There was a group of adolescent girls sitting in section 107 who were rowdy in a funny way. They really loved Scooch and Pops.



Pops and his groupies



There was a new game: Are you Smarter than an Intern? It was . . . strange. No, Montreal is not a Canadian province.

SCARY MOMENT OF THE GAME

Steve Lombardozzi was rounding second and slid. He had the presence of mind to go back to 2nd. Otherwise, he would have been out. I don't like it when the Chiefs slip while running bases.

PLAYS OF THE GAME

There were several great moments tonight.

• JD Martin caught a ball Bowker lined to him, fell, but managed to get a throw off to Marrero at first, who tagged the runner trying to get back to first.
• (Cesar) Valdez pitching to (Jesus) Valdez. Jesus always beats Cesar. Base hit. Add Jesus Flores with another hit and the Chiefs pulled within one.
• Bottom of the ninth. Indianapolis is up by 1. Two outs. Runners at 1st and 2nd. Jesus Valdez steps up to the plate and belts one down the middle. THE CHIEFS WIN!!! We haven't seen an ending like that in a long time.

SOMETHING I'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE:

In the middle of an inning, Michael Aubrey was recalled from coaching first base so he could pinch hit. Tug replaced him at first.

Molly & Sandee showcase Chiefs flipflops

SOMETHING WE NOTICED
Chris Marrero at first base is a true team player. Once first base is out of the action, Chris is ready to help where he's needed, backing up the pitcher, catcher, second baseman, right fielder. We see him everywhere. YAY CHRIS MARRERO!

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"!