Who Let the Dogs In?

Fabulous night at Alliance Bank Stadium.

Carlos Maldonado was catching for Yunesky Maya. The Chiefs won, and it was a great game. Mark Teahen (who was in pajama pants tonight, instead of the traditional show-the-sox uniform) hit a triple with 2 RBI to put us on the board.

Teahen in Pajama pants

Carlos Maldonado hit a home run, his sixth, which turned out to be the winning run. YOU GO CARLOS!

It was Bring your Dog to the Game night, so we saw a lot of pooches on the Big Board.

But the funniest thing we saw happened to walk past us, heading toward the sections where the dogs were.
I was able to take an interesting photo.

One-Four-Six-Three

What a difference a day can make! Tonight's 11-4 win over the Norfolk Tides was a great game to watch.

Arrived at stadium during bottom of 1st, when Pinch Hitter Jim Negrych was announced. Pinch hitting for Corey Brown, who must have been called up to the Nats at the last minute.

We voted for Yunesky Maya as Player of the Game. Some people might think Jesus Valdez deserves that title for his 3 RBIs, but Yuneski pitched 6 innings, and the Tides scored only 2 runs in those 6, each one a single shot home run. Pitchers never seem to get their due, at least not at ABS in the Player of the Game voting.

Carlos Maldonado walked twice. The first time, Josh Johnson hit him home.

Carlos at third, waiting to come home

 Carlos coming home

Greeting Manny Mayorson as he follows him home.

Then Carlos hit a home run in the 6th. Single shot, but beautiful none the less.
Brett Carroll hit a home run right before Carlos did, for 3 RBIs.
A better shot of "Captain America".

The Chiefs ended with 11 hits and 11 runs. Looked kind of funky on the scoreboard.

Play of the game was 1-4-6-3 triple play in the 9th inning. Tides batter hit to pitcher Eric Arneson who threw to 2B Seth Bynum, who threw to SS Josh Johnson, who threw to 1B Carlos Rivero. Very cool moment.

Couple of awkward moments: in the 7th inning, there were several defensive moves on the part of the Chiefs, which weren't announced until a third of the way through the inning -- after we'd already figured it out. Seth Bynum replaced Jim Negrych. Seth batted. Then it was time for Mark Teahen to bat, but his graphic never came up on the scoreboard. It remained on Seth. Perhaps this was in honor of Seth's old game worn jersey being auctioned.

Annoyance of the game:
Several times, people came to sit in Maven's seats. Danny-the-Usher asked them to leave each time. The last time, the guy started arguing with Danny. Danny asked to see the ticket, and the man clearly didn't have a ticket for that seat . . . and argued about it. What's to argue about? It's not the seat you bought!

I did see Maven on my way out of the stadium. He's sitting out of the sun for the time being. We miss him. Intensely. I miss discussing the game and players with him.  Next time I see him behind the net, I may go over and sit with him for an inning or two.

Slow Night In Chiefsville

It was a slow night last night. The Tides scored, the Chiefs tried to catch up, but it just didn't happen for them.

I forgot to mention that Josh Johnson is back with the team, along with a "new guy," Eury Perez.  Jeff Howell is on the 7-day DL.

Items of note:

Seth Bynum in tall sox

Seth Bynum wore tall sox. I really like the look. Mark Teahen does it all the time. Seth only seems to do it in Weekend Red.

The song Centerfield seems to be getting more play now. I like that.

Sandee and I keep trying to catch the lyrics of Carlos Rivero's at-bat music, but we can't, and we really want to know what it is. I want a copy of it. (With lyrics, we can Google!).

There was a really great Brett Carroll graphic last night, naming him Captain America. (Brett had the Chiefs' only RBI.) Unfortunately, I had to scramble for my camera and didn't get a clear shot. Sandee got a better shot. Maybe she'll post it.

Brett Carroll as Captain America

I also like the red strip where the innings are numbered, and the white numbers on black background. Very easy to read.

And when the bases were loaded in the 6th, the following graphic was on the board, which was great, because I wasn't scoring last nights game and had forgotten who was where.

Who's On First?

We also noticed that instead of "Instant Replay," the graphic now reads "Second Look," which is a much more accurate label. 

Toward the end of the game, there was a great video that started out showing the backs of the players jerseys (Marrero hasn't played enough games this season to be included, but he was), then went to action shot. Nice little promo.

When I arrived at the stadium, there were a bunch of people sitting in the second row of 207. They were doing the vulture eat thing: eating while leaning over the backs of the seats in front of them. They were mostly okay, otherwise (even if they were Oriole/Tides fans) except for a couple of things. Eventually they allowed their small boys to sit in Maven's seats. Okay. Except they threw their garbage all over the place. (We always pick up ours and throw it away on our way out of the stadium each evening). And instead of using the stairs, adults and children alike stepped on the seats to get to the first row, then climbed over the railing. There were a couple of times I was really worried that the boys would fall backwards and crack their heads on the concrete. And that railing isn't all that sturdy.

Finally, after the fireworks, I said, "They put stairs in the stadium for a reason."

One of the adults replied, "We're Canadian. We don't use them."

To which I thought, "The Canadians I know have far better manners than you."

Next time I see this, I'm calling security (talking to the ushers is completely pointless and a waste of breath).

I am a taxpayer. The facility is owned by the county. I don't want a lawsuit because of someone else's stupid rudeness.

There were fireworks after the game, rescheduled from the night the power went out. During the fireworks, Sandee noticed a player with his family sitting in the dugout watching the show. Then they came out of the dugout for a closer look. Judging by the player's build we think it was Eric Arneson. After the fireworks were over, father and child went onto the field. Dad stood at home plate and beckoned for the child to run home. It was so cute! Sandee and I cheered, especially when the child finally made it!

As we were leaving the stadium, we noticed flames in the area from which the fireworks were launched. It's been a very hot, dry summer. We may even be in a drought situation. I tried to get a photo without the net, but when I moved further down the 1st base side, the flames were blocked by the advertising.

Grounds crew watching the fire

"Fire"works

One of the security guards hustled us out, saying, "We have to empty the stadium because there's a fire." He told us this as the firetrucks arrived. 

It was time to leave anyway.

Maybe today's game (Sunday, 7/21) will be better.

Stampeeded

The Chiefs lost to the Buffalo Bison again Friday night.

TV Stevie & I arrived at the stadium very early. So early, in fact, that the Player of the Game had not been changed from Jim Negrych to Jesus Valdez, the person for whom Sandee & I voted Thursday night: his grand slam in the 4th inning got the Chiefs back into the game.


Other items of note left over from Thursday's game:

• It was the longest game of the season -- not sure if that's innings-wise or time-wise.
• The Throwback Thursday raffle jersey was Chase Lambin's from two years ago. We didn't win it. 

Before Friday's game:



Carlos Maldonado signed some autographs for some fans. When he turned back to return to the dugout, he waved to me.

Carlos Maldonado returning to dugout after signing for fans.

It was Lions Club night at the stadium. The Lions consider their involvement with the Chiefs their "civic duty."
Duty?
Whatever happened to delight? Privilege? Joy?

Carlos Maldonado caught the ceremonial first pitch from the Lions Club speaker's grandchildren.

Lions Club Ceremonial First Pitch

He also caught the ceremonial first pitch from some boy band called Kicking Daisy.

Kicking Daisy Ceremonial First Pitch

I find that name (Kicking Daisy) offensive. Daisies are my favorite flower. Why would one kick them?

The Throwback Thursday jersey was for Shairon Martis. We didn't win that one, either.

Before the game started, there was a full-screen graphic on the board: Whose Bats Are Hot (maybe since being back with the Chiefs.) Carlos Maldonado and Jesus Valdez. So if Carlos has a hot bat (and he was awesome on Thursday night -- 5 at-bats, 5 times to 1B), why didn't he play last night? Makes no sense to me.

As I said, the Chiefs lost. It was ugly. Mark Teahen had the only Chief RBI of the game.


Lack of ballpark etiquette: 

Why would you come to the stadium and discuss the sexual practices of Islamic clerics (including Mohammed himself) in great detail -- especially when you are neither Islamic nor a cleric -- and in great detail and at the top of your lungs? The people sitting around you do not want to hear you expound. The admonition used in daycare centers applies also to baseball stadiums: "Use your indoor voice." If you must discuss this in public. Which we'd rather you didn't.

Why would a county employee say (after Bison Rob Johnson's name was announced in the starting lineup) "Finally, an American name!" at the top of his lungs so that people sitting several sections away could hear this racism? If you actually feel this racist sentiment, see above comment about "indoor voices." Those of us who are at the stadium because we love baseball care only about the team for which the player plays, not his country of origin. 

Now for a couple of fun questions:

• What is Carlos Rivero's at-bat music and where can I get a copy?
• What is Jarrett Hoffpauir's at-bat music and where can I get a copy?

Extra Innings in Triple A, Too

Another perfect night for the perfect pastime. Scranton Wilkes-Barre is still in town, pretending to be home.

 Matt Antonelli was interviewed on the big screen before the game. Jason Benetti asked him what it was like to be homeless. Matt responded that he's living out of his car. His trunk is full, his backseat is full, and yeah, the hotels are nice, but he's living out of his car. What an awful thing for all of those players. I hadn't considered that they aren't in housing in Scranton.

Voice of the Chiefs Jason Benetti interviews former Chief
Matt Antonelli for the big screen.

The jersey raffle was for Boomer Whiting's Throw Back Thursday. We opted out.

Tonight was Ladies Night, which was very nice, but the time is odd: tomorrow is Father's Day. There's not much going on for dad's, yet there was a lot for the women tonight.

Welcome on the big screen.

TV Stevie bought me a very cool sweatshirt.

Noella "Pinky" Leduc was at the game signing autographs. The GPBL will hold their reunion in Syracuse this year, in September. I think I'd like to go to that.

"Pinky" Leduc waves to fans.

Speaking of autographs, Jeremy Mayo, the newest catcher, was in the Whistlestop signing autographs before tonight's game. I was tempted to go in and ask him if he was afraid. 

The Chiefs lost again tonight, but it took ten full innings for them to do so. Mark Teahen should probably be Player of the Game, but I didn't vote. 

Things I noticed at the park:

Austin Bibens-Dirkx coaching 1B

Too many tats

An interesting couple.

Madras shorts. All over the place. 

Odd moment of the evening: Bottom of the 9th, score tied, SWB coming to bat (they're the home team, remember) and the Big Screen plays all the vids they've put together to whip up the fans. Huh? Wrong team, guys!

And finally: I didn't sit in my usual seat tonight -- TV Stevie & I swapped spots. I saw something I'd never noticed before. The question is: why hasn't the county --yes, they own the stadium -- fixed it?

A stitch in time etc.

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.

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.

Memorial Day and Beyond

The Chiefs are on their last road trip for a while (try all of June). There have been changes. Tyler Moore is back with the team, and according to what I read on-line this morning, so is Corey Brown. There are new folks, too; names I don't recognize but that I'm sure I'll get to know as June progresses.

In the meantime, there was a Memorial Day game that I never recapped, so here it is.

The team wore their "Patriotic" Jerseys -- a brilliant move on the part of Chiefs' management last season. TV Stevie thinks these jerseys look like Houston Astros jerseys, and he's probably right. But they are generic enough to be worn Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Arm Forces Days.

The first thing I did, once I made my way past Scooch and Pops at the top of the stairs, was check the board for the previous evening's Player of the Game. Corey Brown (still). A neat trick since he hadn't played in that game.

We arrived late (middle of 1st) so I didn't bother scoring the game.
There was another line-up shake-up, but at least Mark Teahen was back at first and Carlos Rivero was back at third where they both belong.

One broken bat in the night -- Clippers Catcher Pagnozzi.

The Presidents were still in town; TV Stevie took lots more pics. I finally figured out how to tell Tom from George (besides the names on their jerseys): Thomas Jefferson has reddish hair and brown eyes, while George Washington has blue eyes and gray hair (although they both wear "powdered wigs". TV Stevie also pointed out to me that they were the Mount Rushmore presidents. Sometimes I'm really slow. Really, really slow. I was feeling quite clever when I'd decided Teddy was included with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln because he invented baseball's seventh inning stretch. Like I said: slow.

Other than the Presidents, the most amusing moment of the game was at the end of third, when Teahen struck out for the third out and the stadium announcer started to announce the next batter.

Sandee and I spent some time being amused by some of the outfits women wear to the games. Monday night was definitely horizontal stripe night. And trust me, some of those people should not have worn horizontal stripes.

The most obnoxious people at the game were a couple of rows behind us and loud-talkers. Especially the woman. That was bad enough, but they were Mets fans and kept insisting that if you're a Syracuse native, you're a Met fan. Clearly they were on crack or something. Everybody knows Syracuse natives are Yankee fans (unless they became baseball fans during the era in which the Chiefs were the Triple A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, in which case they are to be excused for being Jays fans).

The Clippers have two players with awesome names (I adore awesome names): Gregorio Petit and Ezequiel Carrera.

Sandee & I decided to start calling Carlos Rivero simply Rivero, to differentiate between him and Carlos Maldonado, who is our "real" Carlos.

The famous Eric Cohen stopped by -- first time this season when TV Stevie has been around. He said something about, "I haven't forgotten the peons," at which point I reminded him that I am not a peon, I am a has-been, and there is a difference. Eric shared the broadcast booth speculation that the reason Corey Brown hadn't been in the line-up for two nights was that he was about to be called up (which turned out to be true.)

Observation: Seth Bynum looks mean in his screen photo.

Best part of the evening: middle of the 7th inning. The crowd sang God Bless America before Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Down front, right behind the dugout, this little teeny, tiny moppet with a head of corkscrew curls sang along -- and she knew all the lyrics.

In the middle of the 9th, the scoreboard now plays Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Happy. Or maybe that's only when the team is losing.

Either way, I like it. Happiness happens.

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.