Zach Duke

Congrats to Zach Duke, who signed a major league deal with the Nationals.

Call Up

Zach Duke (who was scheduled to pitch in Syracuse yesterday) and Christian Garcia (who did pitch in Syracuse yesterday -- top of the 9th) have both been called to Washington.

The next couple of days are going to be interesting.

Never Dare A Duke

I stole the title of this blog from a novel written by my good friend Gayle Callen.

Why? Because Zach Duke pitched for the Chiefs tonight, and he pitched an awesome game. It looked as if he'd go the full game, but he gave up a two-run home run in the top of the ninth. He left the game to a standing ovation. Sandee and I voted for him as Gold Star Player of the Game. It was a beautiful game.

The Chiefs won 8-4. It had been 8-0 until that 2-run homer. Gotta love comfortable lead like that.

The bottom of the 1st and the bottom of the 8th were the best two innings of the game. It was beautiful to watch.

Lots of people at the stadium. We saw people we know as we approached the gate to enter and the parade never ended. I leaned over to say something to Sandee and saw former co-worker Rich Isome sitting behind me. Always nice to see Rich.

Rich Isome

A little while later, Danny-the-Usher came up to us and asked TV Stevie if he remembered Bob Boone, "19 years a catcher!" Steve definitely remembered Bob from his years with the Phillies. Then Danny told us that Bob Boone is now Nationals Assistant GM/VP of Player Development. And guess where he was tonight?

Section 105, Alliance Bank Stadium, checking out the farm.

Bob Boone

Tough to realize there are only seven more home games.

Independence Day

We were shocked by the number of people at the stadium tonight. TV Stevie thought the heat would keep them away. Wrong. Tonight was probably the largest throng yet this season.

TV Stevie noticed a lot of people wearing fedoras.

There was a kid on a scooter. How did he manage to sneak that into the stadium?

The team wore their "patriotic" jerseys.

Zach Duke takes the mound.

Even Scooch had stars on his shirt tonight.

New between-inning game: assemble the pizza box, sponsored by Peppino's Pizza.

New twist to the Gianelli Sausage Pig Race game: there are now contestants on the field wearing t-shirts the same color as the pigs' tutus. Doesn't the guy in the red t-shirt know he's going to die before the end of the game? Oh. Wait. That's Star Trek . . .

Anyway.

The most patriotic hair style at the game:

Pistachio is still a big guy.

Valentino Pascucci playing 1st Base for Bison

New style in Buffalo?

1st Base Coach has pocket problems

Did Buffalo bring their seamstress to Syracuse?

I love watching the players with their families after the game on the 4th of July.

Players getting ready to watch fireworks with their families.

And best of all?

Carlos Maldonado is back.

Still Winning

The Chiefs are still winning.

Henry Rodgriguez has been sent to Harrisburg.

Tyler Moore hit the longest HR hit by a Nat this season: 462 feet.

Corey Brown and Zach Duke are All-Star game bound.

I heard Jason Michaels was retiring and going into coaching. Kevin Brown mentioned this in a post-game interview the other night. He's now listed as a coach on the Chiefs' website . . . but is on the 7-day DL on the League Transactions page.

Chris Marrero has been optioned to the Chiefs, as has Carlos Maldonado.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx to the Senators (again).

And the Chiefs are still winning.

Friday Night at the Ball Park

The Chiefs should not have lost tonight's game. Mitch Atkins had pitched a good game and left with a three run lead in the 7th. Ryan Perry pitched 1/3 of an inning and left the game with the score 4-4.

Seth Bynum was named player of the game for last night. I don't get it. Yes, he hit a 2-run triple, but every Chief got on base last night and all but two had RBIs. Scoring the runs was a team effort. Zach Duke pitched an awesome game. The final score last night was 10-NOTHING. The problem with the casual fan is they think the 10 is the key, when the NOTHING has more meaning in this case. Maven explained it this way: Seth is a popular guy (I don't know of anyone who doesn't like Seth. I like Seth. That's not the point.) and he probably had family in town. There were only a few people at the stadium last night.

The opening pitch was tossed out by Dave & Diana Johnson & Family, who happen to be friends of my parents, so I made sure I snapped several photos. It was Home Builders & Remodelers of CNY Night; the Johnson family just had a total house makeover.

Dave & Diana Johnson & partial family

The scoreboard was dark green again, which makes the scores easier to read.

TV Stevie bought us beer during Happy House -- and it was served in Dixie Cups!

Beer in Dixie Cups

The Famous Eric Cohen joined us for an inning or two. He told us he went to the Change of Pace after the game last night and ran into Matt Antonelli there.

There were four umps officiating tonight. That's unusual.
Also unusual -- and Maven said he's never seen anything like it:

Pitching Coach Greg Booker -- coaching first base

There is scuttlebutt that the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees may revert to their previous name: the SWB Red Barons.

The SWB Yankees wear their socks out -- no pajama pants. Mark Teahen does, too. I've decided that I like seeing the socks over pajama pants.

Corban Joseph still looks like Ellen DeGeneris in his scoreboard picture.

Corban or Ellen? You decide!

And speaking of scoreboard pictures -- most of the Chiefs have one of three facial expressions: mean, dazed or blase. Not Brett Carroll. He looks delighted!

Brett Carroll: Happy Camper

Matt Antonelli coached 1B from the 6th inning on. He looks good in Yankee pinstripes.

TV Stevie went to sit with a friend in Section 205, where he spoke with K-Daddy as K was hanging a K on the railing.

And finally, an observation. There were two female Yankee fans sitting in the last row of 107. They each wore madras shorts. Madras shorts? I didn't even know you could still buy madras shorts? Are they coming back in style? I sincerely hope not.

10-Nothing: I Like It

The Chiefs won tonight, 10-zip. Zach Duke got the win. I voted for him as Player of the Game, too.

It was a pretty quiet night at the stadium. Not that many fans turned out, which was a shame, because the weather was lovely, there was a cooling breeze, and there was awesome baseball on the diamond.

It was National Kidney Foundation Night, so Sidney the Kidney threw out the first pitch.

Sidney the Kidney

Every time I tried to get a picture of Sidney, someone walked in front of me.

Syracuse is playing the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees this weekend. The New York Yankees will be playing the Washington Nationals this weekend. We think that's kind of cool -- the Majors and the Triple A teams battling it out.

SWB is the home team all weekend, so the Chiefs wore their gray travel jerseys with the teal numbers. I like the black with teal much better.

The Famous Eric Cohen saw me sitting alone, so came down from the broadcast booth to keep me company for an inning or two. He's fascinated with the way I've started scoring the game in a real score book.

Corban Joseph (one of the SWB Yanks) should have his photo on the scoreboard retaken. He looks exactly like Ellen DeGeneris. I pointed it out to Maven, who agreed.

Former Chief Matt Antonelli is with the SWB Yankees now, altho' he's on the DL. He did coach first base from the 6th inning on.

Former Chief Matt Antonelli flipping his
helmet during a pitching change.

I called out and waved to him several times, but he ignored me.

Tanner Roark (usually a starting pitcher) pitched one relief inning tonight. Maven and I speculated what this means: was it just his turn to throw in the bull pen so they decided to use him, or has he lost his spot in the rotation. If the latter is the case, could it be Eric Arneson will be getting a shot at being a starter?

It's very weird being the visiting team in our own stadium. We're so used to not having to play the bottom of the ninth when we're ahead, that it's discombobulating when we have to play it as visitors. 

So why weren't you at the ball park tonight?

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.

Scoreboard Debuts

It rained all day, clearing up just before game time. I took my baseball clothes to the DayJob with me and changed there, as tonight's double-header started at 5pm.

I missed the debut ceremony of the new scoreboard. I missed starting line ups. I missed 1 and half-innings of the first game.

I was drying off my seat when Carlos Maldonado was announced as the next batter.

Carlos Maldonado on the big screen

I cheered like crazy, Carlos hit a double with an RBI. A sacrifice bunt by Seth Bynum took Carlos to third and a single by JJ Johnson brought him home. 

The Chiefs won the first game 4-2. Zach Duke, the Chiefs' pitcher, had a fine outing.

Comments about the new scoreboard:

• Maven finds the numbers difficult to read. They're smaller and white against gray, so the contrast isn't as sharp as it could be. 
• During the first game, when Carlos came up to bat in the 4th inning, K-Daddy wondered about his batting average. No stats were posted during the first game. No history, either -- tonight this batter did this type of info. This was corrected during the second game.
• The Alliance Bank Stadium sign over the scoreboard now looks old and tired. 

I finally broke down a couple of weeks ago and bought a real scorebook. I broke it out tonight for the second game. Learning all the symbols etc. is a challenge for me. 

I lost the jersey raffle (Craig Stammen Throwback Thursday) by 1 ticket. 

Things didn't go as well for the Chiefs in the second game, but the Chiefs still had a chance in the bottom of the seventh. Jason Michaels was walked with two outs. The manager then subbed Negrych for Bynum. Carlos Maldonado was in the on-deck circle, so apparently he was going to sub for the "new" catcher, Jeff Howell. Carlos is hitting .250, whereas Howell's batting average is .053.

The new scoreboard is going to be fun with Sandee and my new project. I can't wait until we're at games together again!

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!

Oh What a Night!

Cold cold cold.

But worth it. Definitely worth it.

TV Stevie and I arrived in the bottom of the first. I was scoring the game in the car from the radio. Quite a challenge, let me tell you.

The jersey was #41, Matt Chico's Throwback Thursday from last year.
Eric Arneson was yesterday's player of the game.

The Bryce Harper Report:
1st - singled
2nd - out at first
4th - walked
7th - grounded to SS to 1st

The Corey Brown Report:
1st - walked
2nd - triple (and scored on a passed ball)
3rd - walked
5th - struck out
8th - grounded to first

It was a heck of a night.

Carlos Rivero suffers mightily from Lambinitis.

Carlos Rivero at the plate

Tyler Moore hit his first home run ever  in the second inning. I'd just finished telling someone to keep an eye on him because he's supposed to be an up-and-comer, and bam, right over the left field fence. Sandee was en route when it happened and texted me that the radio announcers said it was one of the deepest home runs to left field the announcer has ever seen.

The scariest moment of the game came in the third inning when Dickerson broke his bat and it went flying into the stands and hit a little girl. Three or four years old. WHAT WAS HER FATHER THINKING SITTING ONLY A COUPLE OF ROWS BEHIND THE DUGOUT WITH CHILDREN THAT YOUNG? Of course, everyone converged to make sure she was all right. "Medical" didn't show up right away, and I heard someone ask, "Where's medical? Buffalo?"  The girl and her dad eventually left for a bit. She came back wearing a batting helmet. TV Stevie looks a me and says: "Oh my God! They've killed Kenny!"

I nearly lost it. I couldn't stop laughing.

During the T-Shirt Toss, the interns kept trying to get t-shirts up to our section, but fell just short. One guy made off with two of them, just swooping in. Anthony eventually ended up with one. This year's shirt is very different.

Sandee shows off Anthony's T-Shirt

Then, at the bottom of the fourth, something truly cool happened. The Yankees changed pitchers, bringing in a guy named Pat Venditte. What's so cool about that? Well Venditte happens to be an ambidextrous pitcher. It was the first time an ambidextrous pitcher pitched in Chiefs history. Venditte is the only active professional pitcher who can pitch proficiently with either arm. It was . . . amazing. He has a custom made glove with two thumbs that he flips when he changes side. 

Unfortunately, either my camera is going bad or I was shivering so hard the photos blurred, but here's what I have:

Venditte Right

Venditte Left

Apparently he must declare which way he is going to pitch to the first batter. After that, I guess he can pitch however, but he cannot change arms on a batter, just like a switch hitter not changing sides during an at-bat.

Carlos Maldonado waved to us between the 4th and 5th innings. He's such a great guy. 

TV Stevie and I went to find something to eat at the top of the fifth inning, but TV kept wandering off to watch Venditte pitch. We eventually found hotdogs that had allegedly been grilled, but just like the allegedly steamed hotdogs, they weren't cooked. The concessions people insist the dogs are cooked, but really? No. They are only warmed. 

Crazy Fan Man showed up around the sixth inning. He was on fire. He had all of our row laughing, including Maven and our friend Kevin who was sitting right behind me.

"Put your foot on the rubber, baby!"
"Why don't you call me Cecile?"
"Rice-A-Roni call 'em back."

Atahualpa Severino came in in the seventh. He did not have a good outing tonight. Maven came over to me and Sandee to confide: "I would rather be at the dentist without Novocaine than watch this guy pitch." Tell us how you really feel, Maven!

It was an ugly inning, including one play that Kevin told me would be scored 7-2-6-3-4-3-4. (LF to catcher to shortstop to first to second to first to second). Plus there were two fielding errors in the top of the seventh. Bryce Harper, who played CF tonight, drifted too far right to catch a fly ball, so he and Xavier Paul sort of ran into each other and neither one of them made the catch.

Maven explained Harper's actions like this: last year, in double A, Harper spent most of his time in RF. He was taught that CF is to catch anything he can and that as a RF he must yield to CF. I guess it was a tough lesson for him, based on the way Maven explained it to me. So now, Harper in CF goes for whatever he can, because LF and RF are to yield to him. He just didn't realize that the fly ball had drifted so far right that it was clearly the RFer's catch.

There's a new Pops this year, and can that person dance. It is a joy to watch. As Maven said, "Keep Michael Jackson's doctor away from the guy and we'll be all right."

The last two innings of the game were tense. Josh Wilkie loaded the bases with the score 6-4 Syracuse, but managed to get out of it. Ryan Perry came in to pitch the 9th. 

Someone down front wanted to know why Maldonado wasn't catching the game. Don't we all wonder that all the time? 

Scranton scored a fifth run.  Pearce fell running to first, yet made it to second safely anyway, because of a fielding error by Corey Brown.  I was ready to pull on my wind-pants and find my blanket, expecting extra innings, but Perry managed to pull it out.

My vote for player of the game: Zach Duke (starting pitcher)

Sandee's vote: Tyler Moore (of the 2-run homer)

Maven tells us there is snow in the forecast for tomorrow night's game.