Opening Day - The Postponed Version

Opening Day was scheduled for yesterday (Friday, 4/12/13), but it rained, so festivities were moved to today. It was cold. Of course, it's April, this is Syracuse, so yeah, it's supposed to be cold.

Saw many familiar faces before the game started: Tim Fox, with his son Ryan, Bill DeLapp from the Syracuse New Times. Maven was there, as were Sandee and Anthony. It was good to be among friends.

The stadium has a new name, because Alliance Bank changed their name: NBT Stadium.

New sign over scoreboard

Brandon Triche from the Syracuse University Orange men's basketball team threw out the first pitch.

Brandon Triche hot-dogging for the fans.

Ryan Tatusko is back in Syracuse.

Ryan Tatusko coming on to field as he is introduced.

Carlos Maldonado was there and waved to us. He even played the last couple of innings, which was great to see.

At one point, it rained quite steadily. It felt completely normal to be chatting with Sandee under our umbrellas while watching the game.  It's been seven months since we've seen each other, and we just picked up where we left off. 

Eury Perez, who's been doing really well with the team so far this season, was hurt fielding a ball because the field was so wet from the rain. My hands were numb and it took me a few minutes to get my camera and turn it on, etc., but here he is getting ready to play after a delay of game while Tony Beasley and the team trainer and others checked on him. He didn't get up for what seemed like a very long time.

Perez getting ready to play after being hurt.

Moves were made in the next inning when Perez didn't come back, and we later heard he was en route to the hospital with a wrist injury. Hope it's nothing serious.

Even though there wasn't much of a crowd, there was one overly-enthusiastic fan who just had to "ride the train with Pops" on the top of the dugout, and who didn't understand why he wasn't supposed to be up there dancing.

What if he fell? He wouldn't fall onto the field. He'd fall even further, into the dugout -- I've heard 60 feet, but not sure if that's true -- and land on concrete. So scary! But no, when security tells these people to get down, they have to argue about it. 

And, as you can see in the above photo, the stadium was nearly empty. Granted, this was late in the game and the Chiefs were shut out, plus it was cold and drizzly, but it was opening day. Baseball is back!

Not that it means anything at this point . . .

Scanning the International League transaction page, I see some familiar names assigned/optioned to Syracuse:

• Eury Perez
• Jason Michaels (I thought he was a coach . . ..)
• Corey Brown (yawn)
• Jhonatan Solano
• Chris Marrero
• Yunesky Maya
• Ryan Perry

And a couple of unfamiliar names, too.

Counting down!

They're Baaaaack

The Chiefs are back home in Alliance Bank Stadium . . . without Carlos Maldonado, who is still in Washington.

Just a few quick notes on tonight's game against the Columbus Clippers (which the Chiefs won 13-4):

• Throwback Thursday Jerseys
• Jhonatan Solano is off the DL and caught tonight's game.
• Jason Michaels is on the restricted list.
• Matt Chico (a pitcher from last year) is playing in the Can-Am League
• Matt Antonelli was picked up by the Yankees and assigned to Scranton Wilkes-Barre, so we may see more of him. His Throwback Thursday jersey from last year was raffled off tonight.
• The scoreboard operators have finally settled on a spelling of Xavier Paul's first name.
• Problems with the sound system tonight: no audio on the commercials or music between innings.
• Carlos Rivero's Lambinitis seems to have abated.
• The Columbus uniforms were very odd tonight: gray top, tan bottoms.

Gray top, tan bottom

I saw my cousin's wife early on in the game. We spoke for a moment, but she was with someone who had a baby and they were worried about sitting in the first row behind the dugout (as well they should have), so they were going up higher. But the whole gang appeared to be there, and several stayed down front:

The scoreboard operators have started outlining the numbers, which make them easier to read. They're also having a lot of fun with the board's capabilities.

The Chiefs bats were hot tonight. There were two home runs. Everything else were singles, doubles, and one triple. 

When it came time to vote for player of the game, it was a toss up between Corey Brown and Seth Bynum. They each had three hits: a home run and a single in common, but Corey Brown's incredible triple in the 7th inning outweighed Seth Bynum's double in the 3rd.

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.

Weekend Update - 207 Style

Rochester came to town on Friday for a four-game stand against the Chiefs. I attended games on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Sandee attended Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I won't be at tomorrow's game, but Sandee probably will be. It's a noon start and I don't have enough vacation time left to attend.

We debuted the Carlos Maldonado Fan Club on Friday night, but because of circumstances beyond our control, we couldn't wave our posters until late in the game. We don't know if Carlos saw them or not. He didn't play on Saturday. We know he saw them today. He acknowledged us the second time he came to bat. I hope we haven't embarrassed him too badly.

When I get to the stadium early enough to catch the starting line-ups, I've started officially scoring the games. If we're late, as we were today (bottom of the first), then I merely take notes.

Friday, I was on time. I did manage a few notes while scoring the game:

• The scoreboard operator keeps experimenting with different color combos. Some are better than other. 
• The games on the scoreboard are cute, but if you attend regularly and the same quizzes keep showing up, it gets kind of boring. I will say that the sales force has done a fabulous job finding ways of selling sponsorships on the scoreboard. There are some pretty creative things going on. 
• The Taco Bell K-Man now has a Taco Bell logo on his page on the scoreboard.
• Xavier Paul's name keeps changing from Xavier to Zavier to Xavier, possibly inning-by-inning. The only spelling we haven' seen is Javier.
• There was some fun with Clete Thomas (a Red Wing). Instead of his photo, the scoreboard operator put up a picture of cleats. 
• Carlos Rivero had a major case of Lambinitis. An embarrassingly major case.
• I didn't buy any tickets for the Corey Brown Throwback Thursday Jersey Raffle.
• Pops was able to toss t-shirts to the upper deck.
• Photos of the stadium on the new scoreboard are from last season -- or older. The painted horse was removed for this season, replaced by a Welcome to Chiefsville sign, but the photos during the between innings-games all show the horse.

This sign replaced the painted horse.

In the first four innings, Rochester broke three bats. Maple.

Today was Mother's Day and the Chiefs gave free manicures and 5-minute chair massages to all Mom's. I don't have fingernails, so I didn't do the mani, but I definitely got my massage. Because of that and the fact that we didn't arrive until the bottom of the 1st, I didn't score the game.

Observations:

• Cowbell Man (from Rochester) was nicely color-coordinated in shades of blue
• Someone must have spoken to Carlos Rivero or gave him a better athletic cup because there was no sign of Lambinitis. 
• Solano's Throwback Thursday was the jersey raffle today. TV Stevie bought tickets, but he didn't win.
• Carlos acknowledged our posters. It seemed to me that the dugout was hanging on the rails and the bullpen was watching us and the signs. I could also be blowing our impact out of proportion. We did not make it onto the scoreboard. Don't know if the TV cameras (the game was televised by TWC Sports) picked us up or not.

Oh, and TV Stevie chased down a Carlos Rivero foul ball for me. I got a baseball for Mother's Day. I am pleased.

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.

No More T Moore

I shouldn't have been surprised when I turned on my computer this morning and learned that Tyler Moore had been called up to the Nationals. Surprised by the sunburn I sustained on my face at yesterday's double-header, yes. The news about T-Mo? I was devastated. Not that he hasn't earned it, because he has. Too bad it comes at the expense of the Chiefs, but that's the nature of minor league baseball.



At the last game I attended in Rochester, the home crowd yelled encouragement to "New Guy." That's just the way it is. There's always a new guy.

Talking to Paul (from the Chiefs) during the game -- he's right in that the next couple of weeks and months are going to be interesting. Washington is going to have to send someone back down once players leave the DL. Will we see Harper and Moore back in Syracuse, or will Danny Espinoza and  Steve Lombardozzi be back? Makes me glad I broke down and bought official scoring books yesterday.

It was a beautiful day for baseball in Syracuse today.

Not a cloud in the sky at Alliance Bank Stadium this afternoon

No T-Mo at 1B, no Harper in the outfield. The players were in their weekend red. Colin Balester's Throwback Thursday jersey from last season was being raffled. While en route to the stadium, we heard a radio interview with Tony Beasley in which he talked about Carlos Maldonado (among other things).

Second shock of the day came when I read that Corey Brown was yesterday's Player of the Game. Kevin and I decided they gave Corey PoG honors to make up for T-Mo's call-up, even though T-Mo earned both. Yeah. Right.

The Corey Brown Report:

1st - 4-3

4th - 9

6th - 4-3

8th - 5

Carlos Rivero hit a home run, which was really nice. Several times the tying run was at the plate, but the Chiefs just couldn't pull it out. We voted for Rivero as Player of the Game.

Carlos Maldonado caught today's game. We never did get him to wave at us, but Jhonatan Solano waved when he was 1B coach in the 9th. (We couldn't figure out who was 1B coach during the rest of the game. Possibly Xavier Paul or T-Mo's replacement, Jim Negrych. 

Miscellaneous stuff:

• the grounds crew playing basketball out behind the old home team bullpen in left field. Every so often you could see someone taking a shot.
• Dave Anthony claimed the contestant for the dice roll was Ron Howard's sister. I corrected him after the fact: she's Curly Howard's grand-niece. Dave admitted that with the current popularity of the Three Stooges Movie, my joke was more timely. 
• Loved the optimism of warming up a new pitcher in the top of the 9th with the team down 5-2.

Oh, and I bought my fan hands -- in red. They are very odd to wear, but are nice and loud.

Harper Is Gone: The Game Must Go On

Double-header today with Charlotte. A cool but sunny afternoon to be at the ball park.


The first thing I saw as I headed toward my seat was the progress on the scoreboard.

Pretty cool, eh? They were working on it during the game, too. We were all pleased to have a clock again.

The first game jersey raffle was Atahualpa Severino's; the second game jersey belonged to Lee Hyde. TV Stevie bought tickets for that one, because it was number 24. Unfortunately, no one we know won either shirt.

Lee Hyde praying before taking the mound

Lots more broken bats today. Maybe it's the weather. Kevin said he noticed a lot of broken bats, too.

The team wore weekend red for both games.

Tyler Moore was last Sunday's Player of the Game. We voted for him as Player of the Game for both games today, too.

Carlos Maldonado was catcher in the first game. He waved to us. He knows he has a fan club.

The Bryce Harper Report:
He's in LA with the Nats, getting ready to start his first major league game against the Dodgers. Strasburg is pitching. Should be interesting coverage of that game.

Funniest thing in the afternoon:
The announce booth forgot to turn off the mic in the first inning of the first game. The umps had to stop the game. We heard an f-bomb (not loud) from the booth. The umps and players were shouting and pointing, "Turn off the microphone!"

The Corey Brown Report:
Game 1
1st - K
3rd - single
5th - K

Game 2
1st - 3-1
3rd - 4-3
6th - single

Corey played CF both games and was more than adequate out there. Third inning of Game Two he made incredible back-to-back catches.

Coolest new thing in the stadium:
Fan hands. Sandee bought a pair.

Sandee's Fan Hands

The make a clacking noise when you clap. I'm going to get me a pair of red ones. Then Sandee and I can high five each other.

Crazy Fan Man was at the game early. He spoke to Anthony again. But he was quiet throughout both games. We heard him only once, early in the first game.

The Tyler Moore Report:

Game 1 

2nd - K

4th - 3

5th - HR (3 RBI)

Game 2

1st - BB

4th - 4

6th - RBI double

Tyler played 1B in Game 1 and was DH in Game 2

Maven says T-Mo made a mental error in the 6th inning of Game 1. He made the easy out at first then threw to second for the forced out. Because the first out wasn't a forced out, it allowed the base runner to score. If he'd thrown to 2nd for the forced out, then made the out at first (and there was plenty of time), the base runner would not have scored.

Jhonatan Solano was 1B coach for both games, and he waved to us.

The Chiefs won the first game 5-2 and lost the second 11-1

Miscellaneous Stuff:

It appears Xavier Paul is back with the team. Before the 2nd game started, and when the song, "Cheer Cheer Cheer for the Chiefs" was playing, someone wearing #15 was boogieing in the dugout, just having a grand old time.

TV Stevie was in the Whistlestop Souvenir Shop and two women started admiring his SkyChiefs jacket. "We didn't know they used to be the SkyChiefs."

Superman's Closet in my living room 

TV Stevie's response: "Oh. You must not be from around here." Of course not. They were from Washington, and wanted to check out the Triple A Afflilaite. They probably wanted to see Bryce Harper so they could tell all their friends at home that they'd seen him. 

Maven Observations: "This has to be the first team since Adam & Eve with a Tyler and a Tanner on it." (Tanner Roark was starting pitcher for the 2nd game.)

"We have the worst bullpen since Adam & Eve."

So I asked Maven what today's fixation with Adam & Eve was about. 

You must know what he answered. "Baseball is biblical. In the Big Inning . . ."

There was a very scary pigeon at the game today. Game Two. After Crazy Fan Man disappeared. Sandee's theory is that it was Crazy Fan Man. He doesn't turn into a bat like a vampire, but rather, into a pigeon, like a crazy person. This bird swooped into seats, wandered around looking for food, and in general distracted us. Me. Whatever.

 And finally: I've found Jason Botts (along with Jason Bergmann and Jesse English): he's in the Atlantic League, playing for the Sugar Land Skeeters. (Bergmann's with the Camden Riversharks and English is with the Bridgeport Bluefish.) 

Double-Header/Double Homers

Saturday's game was postponed due to rain, so they rescheduled it as Game 1 of a double header starting at noon on Sunday. Fortunately it was dry. If there had been precipitation, it might have been snow. Yes, sitting there was a challenge met only by a few birthday parties and die-hard season ticket holders. I put on my windpants and a second jacket before the first game started.

Miscellaneous pre-game notes:
Corey Brown was voted Friday's Player of the Game
Yuneski Maya's Throwback Thursday jersey from last season was the raffle
No visible progress on the new scoreboard
Zach Duke was signing autographs in the souvenir shop, so I had him sign the brim of my hat.
(Why can't I work up enough nerve to ask a pitcher the questions I need answered for my book?)
Players wore the Weekend Red uniforms.
Because Yuneski Maya was the starting pitcher for the first game, Carlos Maldonado played.

Carlos on 1st after hitting a
single in the 4th inning of Game 1

 Bisons wore a nice sapphire blue.

Valentino Pascucci doing sprints
before the start of Game 1

Maven arrived at the bottom of the first inning, with the observation, "There are barely enough fans here to show the ushers to their positions."

In the middle of the second inning, he said: "This could be the worst record in Syracuse history." He's been coming to games for over 50 years. He know a little bit of what he's talking about.

There were a lot of broken bats in both games today. I don't think I've ever seen quite so many in one afternoon.

Question of the Day: The word "Bison" is plural as well as singular. So why is the Buffalo team called "The Bisons?"

The Corey Brown Report:
Game 1:
1st inning - 3-3
3rd inning - K (looking)
5th inning - Single
7th inning - 8
Game 2:
1st inning - 8
4th inning - HR (which is why I voted him Player of the Game for the 2nd game. Or rather, I would have if anyone had been around to take my ballot)
6th inning - 8

The Bryce Harper Report:
Game 1:
1st inning - 8
4th inning  HR (his first ever Triple A home run, and I did vote for him as Player of the Game for the 1st game)
6th inning - single
Game 2:
2nd inning - K
4th inning - 7

Pleasant surprise of Game 1: Mark Teahen in RF. He made a couple of really impressive catches. His fielding usually does not impress any of us.

Oddity of the Game (Game 1):
6th Inning:  The Bisons put in a pinch hitter for their pitcher -- and no one was warming up in the bullpen.
Maven observed that was how much respect Buffalo has for Syracuse: why bother warming anyone up? Well, they should have warmed up the pitcher because Harper singled and Hoffpauir walked. That was all for that pitcher.

Other Maven-isms:
Game 1, 3rd inning
"Team record is becoming clinically fascinating. Soon people from around the league will come just to see us because we're such an oddity."
"The new Throwback Thursday jersey -- the Chiefs head on it is awful It looks like Pee-Wee Herman with lipstick."
"We have the highest payroll ever (with 4 multi-million-dollar-a-year players) and the worst record."
Game 1, 4th inning
"This music sounds like a reggae salsa polka."
Game 1, 5th inning
When Seth Bynum came in to pinch hit for Maya). "It's a circus. The Bynum & Bailey Circus."
Game 1, 6th inning
"They should have a give-away night with magnifying glasses so we can find our wins."

Game One was ugly. We lost 6-1.
Congrats to Bryce Harper on his 1st AAA homer.

Game 2 -- the Chiefs changed into a black jersey with teal numbers. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died even before Harper hit is homer in the previous game. They did not change their pants.

The Bisons changed into boring gray.

Jhonatan Solano was 1B Coach in for most of both games. He waved to us a couple of times. We saw him skipping out to coach 1B in the 3rd inning of the Game 2. That was our first clue that our catchers were feeling frisky.

Carlos Maldonado was swaying side to side the dugout. A foul ball went into the dugout, and he pretended he was bowling with it.  He actually coached 1B in the 5th inning, and danced his way out there. It was pretty funny to watch. Sandee was trying to get a good photo of him, but could get quite what she wanted.

In the 6th inning of Game 2, Carlos went out to the bullpen to warm up Ryan Perry. Sandee went down to the first row of section 105, and instructed Anthony and me to call out to Carlos as he came back to the dugout. We did. He stopped and waved to us. And Sandee's camera malfunctioned.

At least the Chiefs won 1-0. Yay Corey Brown!

Stampeded by Bison

It was yet another beautiful night for a ballgame. Neither too hot nor too cold and no precipitation.

I arrived at the stadium in time to make some notes. I missed the Thursday afternoon game, but I listened to most of it on the radio. AM radio doesn't come in well at DayJob, so it was a challenge.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx was signing autographs in the souvenir shop, so I had him sign my hat, right next to Brad Peacock's John Hancock. Bibens-Dirkx was really good with the little kids who had him autograph their Stuff-A-Scooch.

The new scoreboard is coming along. Sandee told me they worked on it all through yesterday's game.

Scoreboard progress

J-Botts isn't with the Bison this year -- don't know where he's landed -- but Valentino Pascucci is, and we've decided he's our "pet" Bison in J-Botts absence. He has a great name and he's a big guy -- like J-Botts and Carlos Maldonado.

Pascucci warming up
before the game

That doesn't, however, mean we were pleased with his HR in the first inning. We were not.

The Corey Brown Report:

1st: K

2nd: K

5th: 7

7th: 7

9th: 8

Not a good night. 

He played RF and saw a bit of action. He handled it with grace.

The Bryce Harper Report:

1st: BB

4th: K

6th: K

8th: 6

He played CF and did not have a good night. He's learning. There were lots of lessons tonight. Lots.

In yesterday's game, from what I heard on the radio, Harper seemed more patient at the plate. I have the impression that he walked a lot. That felt like maturity to me. It didn't happen tonight.

Miscellaneous Stuff:

Jersey raffle: Tommy Milone's Throwback Thursday. Didn't win it. Rats.

Carlos Maldonado waved to us, as did Jhonatan Solano, who coached 1st base tonight. According to yesterday's radio broadcast, Solano has been under the weather, which is why Carlos caught three games in a row. Tonight, a third catcher made his debut in Triple A and Syracuse: Jeff Howell.

We voted for Tyler Moore as Player of the Game for his 2-run homer in the 1st.

Carlos Maldonado gave a warm-up ball to a young fan in the stands. He's such a great guy. 

Oddity of the Night. 

Okay, maybe not odd, but definitely annoying. 

First inning: I noticed the temporary scoreboard was dark.

Corey Brown under a dark
temporary scoreboad

Maven went to tell stadium management in the middle of the first. It did not come on until the bottom of the fourth.

Of course, in the end it didn't matter. The Chiefs lost again.6-4. Didn't need lights to tell us that.

The Empire Strikes Back: 10 - 0

Sunny and cold. It could be worse. It could be snowing. Been there, done that.

Tonight's uniforms were weekend red; the jersey raffle was Henry Rodriguez Throwback Thursday. Rodriquez pitched for the Nats today. Yesterday's player of the game was Yuneski Maya (I voted for him!)

The Easter Bunny threw out the first pitch tonight.

Catcher Jhonatan Solano helping Easter Bunny off the field

The pitcher was John Lannan, who's been in the news lately because he's not happy the mother ship jettisoned him to Triple A.

John Lannon

He lasted two innings in Syracuse, leaving with the score 5 - 0, Scranton.

The Bryce Harper Report:

2nd inning - grounded to second

5th inning - out at first

7th inning - popped to center

9th inning - popped to left

The Corey Brown Report:

1st inning - out at first

4th inning - walked

6th inning - struck out

8th inning - hit by pitch

It was not a good night. I couldn't even think of anyone to name player of the game. Maybe Eric Arneson who came in to pitch in the 3rd. 

Rafael Martin came in for the Chiefs in the seventh, and it was ugly. Cory Vanallen came in after Martin's eighth batter. It was an ugly, ugly inning. Maven heard me calling to "Cory" and asked if Corey Brown was pitching. I guess that scared him. It would also explain 11 batters in one inning.

The famous Eric Cohen finally arrived at the stadium this season. The entire 207 Row One gang was there, too. And Crazy Fan Man showed up for his first game. "If they don't swing at it it's not a strike, right?" "Around the horn, baby." "Come on, Red!" 

The bunting was down. I said something to John Simone promising me that the windbreak would be in place until Monday. He explained that it's supposed to rain tonight, and we don't want to desecrate the flag. That explanation works for me.

Scariest moment of the game: Scranton's catcher went head first over the railing and into the visitors' dugout chasing down a foul ball. 

Corey Brown played center today, while Bryce Harper took right. They conferred during a pitching change.

Brown & Harper returning to position after pitching change

The best part of the game? It's a tie.

Carlos Maldonado waved to us in the eighth inning. He had been warming up pitchers in the bullpen and was returning to the dugout during a break in the action.

I went shopping during the top of the fourth. I've been looking for a hoodie, but couldn't find an affordable (for me) one that had a decent logo on it. Steve found me one last night. The choices were navy or ash. I loathe ash. Fortunately, the navy was in my size. And it was bundled with a t-shirt. It's not exactly a Chiefs hoody, but it's more current than my Skychiefs jacket.