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.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

T

The Nats traded Tommy Milone and Brad Peacock to Oakland.

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

Generic Update

Wilson Ramos has been rescued and is getting ready to rejoin his Winter League team to play ball. So glad he's safe!

Ryan Tatusko decided to remain in Venezuela and play for his team there, saying he felt perfectly safe.

And Carlos Maldonado is from Venezuela, as well as playing in the Winter Leagues there right now.

A lot of people seem to think the Washington Nationals are poised to do great things in the next couple of years. And a lot of Syracuse Chiefs are being mentioned as being part of the process.

Molly, Brad Peacock, Sandee

Brad Peacock (RHP) is a name that's popping up with frequency. As is Steve Lombardozzi. Both Chiefs were called up to Washington near the end of the season. Tommy Milone is also on some lists.

Brian Bixler is going to the Astros.

 Matt Antonelli mentioned he's been talking to a lot of different teams.

There are going to be lots of changes in the next couple of months now that baseball season is over.

The continuing problem of minor league baseball: it's tough to get invested when the players might not be here tomorrow.

Brad Peacock!

Congrats to Brad Peacock on his first MLB start last night against the New York Mets. Brad pitched 5 innings and got the win.


Tommy Milone is pitching against the Mets this afternoon. Good luck, Tommy!

From Syracuse to Washington: With Love

I've been in touch with The First Ladies of Baseball, who seem to be the Sandee & Molly of the Washington Nationals.


Part of what I wrote (the night Strasburg debuted in DC):

Take care of your newbies Brad Peacock, Tommy Milone, and Atahualpa Severino. Syracuse's season is over, but the Nats have our best!

Maggie responded:

We’ll take good care of them. And we don’t blame Peacock for his bad outing last night – that was totally not his fault. I, personally, blame Doug Slaten. PS – Very jealous of you guys getting waves from players on a regular basis!

Good to know you'll take care of our guys, Maggie. And as for us getting waves from the players on a regular basis? Well that's easy. We're the coolest people at the stadium!

Reply    See all comm

The Psychics of 207

On July 17th, this blog speculated that Tommy Milone wouldn't be long for the Chiefs. I was wrong in that he wasn't called up until the end of season. Tommy debuted with the Nats against the Mets last night. Tommy won the game. 

Tommy also hit a home run off the first pitch of his first-ever major league at bat. Only eight pitchers have ever done this. Ever. To sweeten the deal, it was a 3RBI HR.

Milone at bat on July 17, 2011

Not surprised. On July 9th, this blog noted that Milone had gone into the game as a pinch hitter. On July 17th, he went 3 for 3 at the plate. (OK, one was ruled an error, but still.)

Tommy, Section 207 is going to miss you, but we're delighted with your success. Like we didn't know you'd make it!

Rumors and Conjecture

Say it ain't so! Rumor has it that Tommy Milone and ::sob:: Brad Peacock could be called up to Washington this weekend to pitch against the Mets!

No! No! No!

It's bad enough that there are only two home games left. How much worse can it be if we don't see Brad in person again this season?

I mean, I'm really happy he's pitching so well. And I know the Nats drafted him for themselves, not for us, but this is a prime example of the downside of being a fan of Triple A Baseball: you never know what your team is going to look like.

Yes, I have Brad's autograph on my hat. 

Yes, I have this photo of Sandee and me that was taken with him.

But I'd like to see him in a Chiefs uniform for the rest of the season. There's plenty of time left in the MLB season for him to play for Washington. Is it too much for a fan to ask?

Team Photo Night

Bernadina Down

Tonight was Team Photo Night. Sandee & I met in the parking lot and went in together to do our thing. We noticed that there weren't as many players available as there were last year, but figured that was because it was a Tuesday night instead of a Sunday afternoon. (This event was rained out this past weekend). Then we noticed the players available were mostly pitchers . . . which is cool. We like pitchers. They were all very nice young men. One got a little snarky with me . . . "oh, you're the ones," when I mentioned we were the ones cheering. He never let me say "from 207, behind 1st base." Pffft.

I asked players who they were, because we couldn't see their numbers while they were sitting at the tables. Some people said, "Me," another responded in Spanish, and one wise guy said, "Charlie Sheen." Yeah. Right. It was all in great fun, though.


Highlights: 

• Jhonatan Solano signed my hat. The fact that Jhonatan was signing meant that Carlos Maldonado was catching. 
• Adam Fox is back with the Chiefs and I told him how much I enjoyed watching him play ball with his son over in left field after the games. Sandee said Adam's face lit up. I think I mentioned the photos to him. Later, during the game, I asked Tall Mike-the-Assistant GM how I could let Adam know where to find the pix.
• Brad Peacock. I said, "Brad, we have a bone to pick with you. When you're coaching first base, we call out to you and you ignore us!" He laughed and said that he heard us, but didn't know who it was, but now he knows, so he'll wave back.

As we were walking down the concourse, Sandee saw Carlos over by the bullpen, so we hurried down the stairs, calling his name. The poor man kept walking. We stalked him. But he finally stopped, and we chatted. We told him we're the ones in 207 who always call out and wave to him. He signed my hat and my #48 Batting Practice T-shirt. Carlos is a really big man.

Carlos Maldonado and Jhonatan Solano 

Carlos Maldonado signed my BPT

1st Inning Highlights:

• 1st base coach - Jeff Frazier. Came out late, so we couldn't say hi.
• Roger Bernadina hit a 2-run homer.
• Carlos Maldonado looked right at us and waved when he came on deck. We didn't say a word.

2nd Inning Highlights:

• 1st base coach - Adam Fox. Came out late, so we couldn't say hi.
• Carlos Maldonado grinned in our direction when he came to the plate.
• The Famous Eric Cohen predicted that Carlos would get a hit, and sure enough, he hit a double.

3rd Inning Highlights:

• 1st base coach Jeff Frazier waved
• Seth Bynum hit a home run
• Matt Antonelli hit a home run
• Back-to-back home runs! 

4th Inning Highlights:

• 1st base coach Adam Fox came out late so we couldn't say hi.
• It was observed that Gwynett's outfielders all wore their sox inside their pants, while the infielders wore their sox outside their pants. 

5th Inning Highlights:

• Carlos hit another double.

6th Inning Highlights:

• 1st base coach Adam Fox waved.
• The Gwynett coach was tossed from the game. (We don't know why)
• A moment later, Roger Bernadina was hit inside his knee. He was down for a while (see photo at top of page)
• A foul ball bounced off the railing between TV Stevie and XG-Man.
• The bases were loaded when Carlos came to bat. He struck out. :-(
• Some guy went butt over teakettle over seats chasing a foul ball.
• Tommy Milone replaced Adam Fox as the 1st base coach so Adam could pinch hit for the pitcher.
• Adam Fox hit a grand slam!
• That cinched our vote for Adam as player of the game.

7th Inning Highlights:

• 1st base coach: Brad Peacock -- and he waved to us!
• TV Stevie finally won a jersey in the jersey raffle!

Jess-the-Intern hands TV Stevie his Throwback Thursday Jersey

TV Stevie modeling his jersey.

8th Inning Highlights:

• The Famous Eric Cohen came back to 207 and told us that he'd seen Adam Fox wave to us then hit the grand slam. He believes they are connected events. We won't argue. He also mentioned that (at this point) the Chiefs had 16 hits. Every man in the line-up had gotten a hit -- except Corey Brown.
• Suspect caught a Jeff Frazier foul right in front of us (lots of foul balls in 207 tonight).

9th Inning Highlights:

• Atahualpa Severino managed to load the bases, but struck out the final batter.
• The Chiefs win!

The Ups & Downs of Being A Fan

"What this chick digs is familiar faces, players I know and love. Statistically, women are the most loyal fans of anything." Alyssa Milano, Safe at Home.

Reading the league transactions is disheartening, especially at this point in the season, when we've come to depend on knowing the various line-ups.

Jason Botts is now on Buffalo's 7-day disabled list. Okay, he plays for Buffalo now, not Syracuse, but we still like our J-Botts. I hope he's back by the time Buffalo returns to Syracuse next week.



J Botts playing 1st for the 2010 Chiefs





As previously mentioned, Roger Bernadina has been optioned to Syracuse from Washington (and was activated today), but there have been plenty of other things happening. 

• Yunesky Maya and Brian Bixler have both been recalled to the Nats.
• Michael Aubrey and Tom Milone have both been placed on the 7-day DL
• Brad Meyers has been activated from the 7-day DL
• Evan Bronson (LHP) is coming up from Potomac

The great thing about Triple A Baseball is seeing the Major Leaguers of tomorrow. I was watching the Yankees the other night, when Brandon Laird had his first big league at bat, his first big league hit, his first big league RBI, and scored his first big league run. It was very cool, because we saw him play a few weeks ago when Scranton Wilkes-Barre was in town. And during the same game, I saw Scott Sizemore playing for Oakland. I have a foul ball Scott hit into Section 207 early in the season, when Toledo was in town.

The bad thing is, you never know what your team will look like game-to-game.

Why Is It Called "Common" Courtesy?

The third consecutive night of thrilling baseball was marred by the incredible rudeness of the jerks sitting several rows behind us.

They were banging the seats -- county property -- very loudly. TV Stevie asked them not to do that. The guy was cool, the girl was a foul-mouthed slut. And they were sitting in seats for which we had purchased the tickets. TV Stevie dubbed them the Squatters. Totally obnoxious group of young people who should have been booted from the stadium.  The girl -- I won't dignify her with the term "woman", which would imply a level of maturity she did not possess -- is the type who beats up other girls in the high school bathroom. You know. The one with the tramp stamp prominently on display. The f-bombs were flying. And they had a child with them! It went on all night. I told TV Stevie we should have gotten security and had them ejected from the seats.

Other than this -- which is not insignificant -- tonight was another night of awesome baseball.

Valbuena's pants are still torn

Tom Milone was the starting pitcher.

Valbuena's pants were still torn.

The third inning was quite interesting. The umps called a foul ball a home run. Milone protested. Manager Randy Knorr protested. The whole stadium protested. Knorr was ejected from the game. Now, I didn't see this next part, but Suspect told me Milone was so upset, he threw one ball inside the foul pole and told the ump that was fair, then threw another ball outside the foul pole and told the ump that was foul. The ump told Milone he was done (I saw that.)


K-Daddy with his Eye Chart for the Umps

Jersey Raffle: Throwback Thursday

Quote of the Game:  "They're from Ohio! Come on!"

First Base Coach Wave:

• Chris Marrero nodded and seemed surprised (it's the first time he's coached first that I've seen, as he's usually playing first.)
• Seth Bynum pointed to us to acknowledge us.
• Brad Peacock ignored us. Maybe he's hanging out with Lombardozzi & Brown too much. Brad, I blogged nice things about you last night!

Warm & Fuzzy Moment: When Carlos came out at the bottom of the 1st to help warm up Milone, he waved to us. He knows we're his fans.

Moment of Zen: Clippers pitcher was Zach; Chiefs pitcher was Zech.

Cool New Thing: When Steve Lombardozzi came to bat in a critical situation, the scoreboard lit up with a new chant: LOM-BO, LOM-BO (like TA-CO).

Spent time with Eric Cohen (WAER) and Bill DeLapp (SNT).

Eric Cohen, WAER-FM88



Bill DeLapp, Syracuse New Times












The ballpark is our community. When I missed the starting line-ups tonight, the Usher went to K-Daddy and asked if he'd share with me. And K-Daddy shared. He does exactly what I do: writes the starting line-ups in a note book.

The Chiefs were down 5-2. They scored a run in the seventh. Then they pulled ahead by a run in the 8th inning. Very thrilling. Lots of opportunities for the Squatters to be jerks. Then the Squatters were incredibly rude to Atahualpa Severino in the 9th. Okay, he walked three batters and filled the bases, but hey, he got out of it just fine when the next batter grounded out for the third out. It was tense, but there was no need for some of the filth flying out of some of the mouths.

It bothers me when people come in and think they can say anything they want because "you're at a baseball game, old man, so just f*****g chill and f*****g enjoy it."

Like the Squatters. They were rude to the other team, too. There's a difference between heckling and being a jerk. Suspect is an excellent heckler. He heckles, he doesn't get mean, or personal, or nasty, or vicious, or vulgar, or foul-mouthed. The things coming out of the Squatters' mouths were appalling. "How'd you get such a f-bombing fat @$$?" they called to a Clipper who was at bat. It was a constant stream of insults. Someone should have taken out the trash tonight.

Busy Night of Baseball



Jimmy Key signing autographs

 Former Syracuse Chief, Toronto Blue Jay, and NY Yankee Jimmy Key was at the stadium signing autographs today. TV Stevie thanked him for 1996.

Key also threw out the first pitch.

Jimmy Key throwing out first pitch











It was a very busy night at the ballpark, in front of a very scant crowd.  Besides Jimmy Key, the staff is busy promoting the upcoming breast cancer awareness night, part of which is sponsored by the Carol Baldwin Foundation. Carol's son Billy will be at the stadium that night. The Chiefs have very nice jerseys, too, even better than last years's pink one. I can't wait to start bidding on these.


   

         DA modeling Billy Baldwin's Jersey

 
And we ran into an old friend, Rob Edelman, who was at the game with his wife, Audrey Kupferberg. Rob & Audrey are

Rob Edelman

passionate about baseball. Rob told TV Stevie again tonight that if he lived closer to Syracuse, he'd be at every game. Rob has written several books about baseball. It's always a pleasure to see him at the stadium.


First Base Coach Waves:

• Tug Hulett tipped his helmet
• Michael Aubrey tipped his helmet
• Gregor Blanco waved
• Brad Peacock -- our bad! We didn't realize he was out there in the top of the ninth. Next time, Brad!

Jersey Raffle: Colin Ballester's Throwback Thursday Jersey from last season.

Intern modeling the Throwback Thursday Jersey from last season

Fun Thing of the Game: Tom Milone going three for three (okay, the last one was ruled an error, but still--) We have a sinking feeling Milone won't be pitching for Syracuse for much longer.

Tom Milone at bat

Milone and Lombardozzi scoring on Lombardozzi's home run

And we got to see CNY native Jason Grilli pitch.

Jason Grilli in action

Tomorrow night begins a 4-game homestand against the Buffalo Bison, which means we'll be able to see former Chief and one of our favorites, Jason Botts. And rumor has it that another favorite is coming back to Syracuse: Brian Bixler.  It's going to be a fabulous week.

Baseball Game or the Circus?



Michael Aubrey's Overstuffed Pockets

 Congrats to Tom Milone and Matt Antonelli for making the International League All-Star Team.

Tonight was the first home game since the All-Star break, and it was great to be back at the stadium. And it was a good game, in spite of the Chiefs losing it 8-6. The new pitcher, Brad Peacock, pitched his first Triple A game tonight. It was a rough outing for him, especially the top of the first. The Chiefs never caught up from the 5-0 deficit. But the fans gave Brad a nice round of applause when he left the game.

ODDITY OF THE NIGHT #1: There seemed to be an awful lot of women with an awful lot of tattoos in attendance at tonight's game. Am I the only one who remembers a time when tattood ladies were found only in the circus?

ODDITY OF THE NIGHT #2: Hitters being hit by pitches. There were at least three. Seemed high to me.

ODDITY OF THE NIGHT #3: Michael Aubrey's overstuff pockets while he coached first base. See the photo if you don't believe me.

JERSEY RAFFLE: Pete Orr's "Throw Back Thursday" replica 1961 Twins jersey from last season. I forgot to take a picture of it. But then, the interns selling the raffle tickets never made it to 207 until the bottom of the 6th.


FIRST BASE COACH WAVE:

• Tug Hulett waved
• Michael Aubrey tipped his helmet
• Corey Brown sort of waved. Did it hurt?

LINE OF THE NIGHT: "Balk on!"

Two Sons, Red Jerseys, and Fireworks

After all the rain the first three months of the season, July is finally baseball weather. Hallelujah!

It was a quiet night at the ballpark, at least during the game. The in-house announcer read the starting line-ups so fast, I missed several Iron Pigs. Doesn't he realize people are writing the info on their score sheets? It always seems like when the line-ups are announced too fast, the national anthem is sung too slowly, which was definitely the case tonight. The woman who sang was fine; she was simply too slow. The National Anthem isn't a dirge, it's a celebration. Be happy!

XG-Man's guest asked me if Iron Pig 2nd baseman Josh Barfield was any relation to former NY Yankee outfielder Jesse Barfield. I was delighted to tell him yes.

And speaking of the Yankees, how about that Derek Jeter and his 2999-3003 career hits today?

But I digress.

QUESTION OF THE NIGHT: What's wrong with this picture?

Both teams in red jerseys is very confusing.

JERSEY RAFFLE: Cam-meow. I teased last night's intern about it. She assured me that tomorrow night's jersey will be pink. Too bad I won't be at the game.

ONE GOOD THING: Carlos Maldonado played tonight! We just love Carlos.

SIGHTING: Jason Grilli, who grew up locally, plays for the Irons Pigs. Altho' he didn't pitch tonight, we did see him several times. We also got to say hi to his dad, Steve Grilli, who is not only a former big league pitcher himself, but also owns the Change of Pace, home of the best wings in town. Steve also does color commentary for the local cable broadcasts of Chiefs games.

FIRST BASE COACH WAVE:

• Tug Hulett grinned and waved
• Michael Aubrey touched the brim of his helmet and smiled
• Jesus Valdez (as Sandee predicted last night) gave us a HUGE smile and a big wave.

(After last night's 1st base coaches dissed us, Sandee and I discussed the players who never seem to coach first base -- Jesus Valdez and Chris Marrero specifically -- and wondered how they would react to our greetings. Sandee said they'd probably do exactly what Jesus Valdez did.)

CURIOSITY OF THE GAME: When starting pitcher Yuneski Maya left the game, the pinch hitter was Tom Milone, another starting pitcher! Milone was in the game only to pinch hit for Maya. 

SCARY MOMENT OF THE GAME: Seth Bynum, back from a heel injury, limping and hopping out in shallow left center. Eventually a trainer came out to talk to him. Seth stayed in the game.

The post-game fireworks were fantastic -- even better than they were on the Fourth.