Fan Hands

Back in April, the chiefs started selling something called Fan Hands. Sandee bought a pair of black ones, while I opted for red.

The white part is a hard resin of some sort, so when you clap your hands while wearing these gloves, you make lots of noise. YAY!

Pretty clever idea, eh? (And warm during those cool April games!)

Well, it seems the inventor of Fan Hands, Marc Jones, is a native Central New Yorker, and charities are now jumping on board selling these. The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund had pink ones made. The Chiefs were among the first organizations to sell these novelties.

You can learn more about it here (Reith/Marc Jones and Mark Soderstrom).

Go Nats!

Let the Post Season begin!

Okay, not yet. But soon.

The Washington Nationals have clinched a playoff spot in the post season. YAY!

That means that many former Syracuse Chiefs -- our boys of summer -- will be playing baseball in the fall.

Affiliation Changes at the Triple A Level

Holy cow!

Buffalo will no longer be the Triple A affiliate of the NY Mets. Toronto is moving there. The NY Mets Triple A team will be in the Pacific Coast League . . . the Las Vegas 51s.

Here's the link .

Oh. My.

All Corey, All the Time

Corey Brown's hit resulted in a walk-off win earlier this week.

Now this.

In Town With Corey Brown

As predicted -- no, expected -- Cory Brown was called up to Washington on Tuesday.

The Nats played the Cubs this week, and in one game, there were two bench-clearing incidents.

Guess who showed up in one of the photos?

I Love Baseball

Just for fun listen to "I Love Baseball" by Steve Vozzolo and the Rookies.  It's a cute and catchy song that you will probably find yourself singing or humming without realizing it.  The cutest thing is to hear Kendra singing it - talk about singing from your heart.

So today was my last ball game of the season :(  Anthony and I went to Rochester and it was a beautiful day for a ball game.  Sadly, Carlos didn't catch today, seemed the coach was letting some of the guys play that haven't been in the game much lately.  I did get to see Carlos though :)  Chiefs gave it a run, but couldn't pull it out - final score Rochester 6, Syracuse 4.

Molly posted a picture of an avid Rochester fan on the blog wearing happy shorts.  That was three days ago...yesterday he wore flag shorts to Syracuse and when I saw him in Rochester today, he was wearing the flag shorts again.  No further comment.

We had some trouble figuring out if we were in the right section because the signs are a little confusing and the usher was REAL busy talking with someone.  So we went to where we thought we were supposed to be and a woman turned around and told us we were in the wrong section.  She assured us that "everyone does that."  Funny thing, it was happy shorts's daughter - the one that always accompanies him to the Syracuse games and sits one seat away from him to his left (ALWAYS!).
I suspect she knows everyone in her section rather well and we must have stood out like sore thumbs.  I was, however, so grateful for her help.

We find the fans to be quite friendly in Rochester.  Maybe that's because we are not obnoxious Syracuse fans, though I can be quite obnoxious...let's just say we used our "company manners."  I really was quite low key until Corey Brown hit a home run - just couldn't keep quiet anymore.  Then it seems, everyone in our section was interested in talking to us.

The guy behind us on the right asked if we remembered Kenny Robinson who pitched for the Chiefs in 1995 and 1997.  He says Kenny was his roommate in college.  He also said he was a great baseball player and a great guy.

Kenny played for the Kansas City Royals in 1996 and unfortunately only had a three season career.  Sadly, Kenny died in a traffic accident at age 29.  In tribute to Kenny, I would like to share what was written about him...

"A package of inspiration, leadership and dynamite since his outstanding youth days with championship Manchester A's teams,  he was an aggressive player for any spot on the field and eventually excelled as a right handed pitcher and a spark plug catcher.  At Hogan High he became a two-time Beacon Journal Player of the year for great defensive catching, clutch hitting and superb pitching.  After a stint at Cleveland State U, Kenny moved to Florida State primarily as a pitcher where he did very well.  He played for the Tallmadge Stars, C+P Sales and Crockers during early college years and was drafted out of Florida State by Toronto Blue Jays and had brief stints with the Jays and and KC Royals and although only 5'7" (but 185 lbs), put up some fine numbers as a reliever.   In the spring of 1999 Kenny was in Arizona on the Diamondbacks roster when he died in a traffic accident."

Kenny's career statistics:  Record  2-2;  Earned run average  3.91; Stikeouts  40

Behind us on the left were three fans who had a lot of questions for me about the stadium in Syracuse.  It's one of the few they haven't been to (Buffalo too).  I bragged about the turf and the new scoreboard.

Kinda cool:  Wilkin Ramirez was shown on the jumbotron singing a song - I think it was "his" song that he uses when coming up to bat.  He was pretty good too.

Sound effects:  "woo hoo" then pause, "woo hoo" then pause.  It happened about 6 times and during the pause, the audience copied the woo hoo.  It was kinda funny and I might have tried it once or twice myself ;)

Seating arrangements:  Woman #1 (speaking to 2 little girls) "go ahead and sit here girls"  Woman #2 "those seats are taken"  Woman #1 "all of these? is anyone sitting in them?"  Woman #2 "yes, they've gone to get food"  Woman #1 "well we have seats down there, but we usually just sit anywhere in here"  Okay!  We were sitting in the 5th row from the field and woman #1 was referring to seats in the 2nd row...why would you want to seat in the 4th row?  I have a couple other things I could say about that whole sit wherever you want when you go to a ballgame situation,  happens everywhere it seems (except in Louisville!!)

Very sad the Chiefs lost today, even sadder that it's the last game and now we have to wait a LONG, LONG time until baseball season starts up again.  But happy to have had an opportunity to see them one more time.  It was a nice day for a road trip and like I said earlier, a beautiful day for a ball game.

I Love Baseball

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.

Bittersweet

Final home game of the season on a sunny, warm September Sunday. So different from last year's rainy conclusion.

Today was the season ticket holders annual picnic. Things were a bit different this year. Instead of being under the tent outside of the stadium before the game, the concession stand at the far end of the third base side of the stadium provided all-you-could-eat hot dogs, sausage, burgers, fries and peanuts. We had to eat it there, so we arrived before the game. Sandee & Anthony snagged a great table for us. We overlooked the home bull pen and warm up area.

Maldonado warming up the pitcher

Birdseye View from Left Field

The Chiefs warming up

Shortly after we sat to eat, Carlos Maldonado came out to warm up. We called out to him, he saw us, and his smile lit up the stadium. We stayed there until after starting line ups were announced, cheering for Carlos when his name was called. Again, he acknowledged us.

The game didn't start out well. The Redwings scored 6 runs before there was ever an out. The Chiefs responded with two homers in the bottom of the first. They scored another run in the bottom of the second on a Brett Carroll double. Two more runs scored in the bottom of the third before Carlos Maldonado came to bat. (Chris Marrero & Zach Walters with the RBIs). Carlos hit a "seeing eye" base hit, which scored the tying run.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh when the Chiefs scored the go-ahead run and an insurance run. Jesus Valdez and Chris Marrero had the RBIs on those.

In between: Jason Michaels still not around, so the 1B coach was either James Skelton or Manny Mayorson. We finally got James to wave to us, but he seemed baffled, like, "Why are those people calling my name?" Kevin said, "He's probably thinking they must be friends of my mom."

A bunch of kids walked by and wedged a foul ball between the bottom of the rail and the concrete.

Candid Camera?

It stayed there for quite a while. When one kid tried to take it, his mom told him to leave it alone. A little while later another kid unwedged it, the mom started to correct the child, but TV Stevie told her he could have the ball. She thanked us. There are still people with manners in the world.

Play of the game was in the 6th inning. Brett Carroll fielded a ball in right and threw to Carlos, who made a spectacular play at the plate. We're not the only ones who thought it was the play of the game. 

Corey Brown was hit in the knee by a pitch in the 8th inning. It took several minutes for him to walk off the pain enough to take his base. Not good He'll probably be called up to Washington on Tuesday.

Trainer walking Corey Brown to 1B

Rochester hit a HR in the top of the 8th, but that's all folks. The Chiefs win, 8-7.

Carlos turned and waved goodbye to us twice after the team's Walk of Winning. 

A woman sitting behind us noticed and asked how we know Carlos. She thought is was very cool that he has a fan club.

Then the sadness came. The Chiefs home season is over -- one more game tomorrow in Rochester, then that's it. 

Spent a lot of time with Maven after the game, talking about how sad it is. He observed that the next three weeks will be perfect baseball weather, unlike all those early April games we endured. He stays busy in the fall with SU football (which will be shown on the big screen at ABS on select dates), but after the holidays -- it's rough. January and February go on forever. He likes hockey, but it's no substitute for baseball.

Anthony said something about maybe getting Section 207 Row 1 together in the off-season. That's not a bad plan. Not a bad plan at all. 

You what would be really cool? Watching the Nats in the playoffs/World Series on the Big Screen at ABS, weather permitting. Extend our season just a little more.

One More Time

The first of the final two home games of the season . . . bittersweet. Full house -- stadium and Section 207 Row 1.

Eury Perez, John Lannan, and Sandy Leon all called up to the Mothership. The good news in this? Carlos Maldonado is the primary catcher.

 My guess is that Carlos Rivero and Corey Brown will be called up after Monday (the Chiefs' final game).

I don't see Chris Marrero being called up. Last season, when he played 1B for the Chiefs, I thought he was a natural for the Major Leagues, but I have since revised my opinion. He's one of those players who seems injury prone.

Corey Brown was named the Gold Star Player of the Year.

One of the Rochester fans who comes to almost every Rochester game in Syracuse wore some interesting shorts tonight.

Those are smiley faces on the
hem of his shorts

Jason Michaels wasn't coaching 1B tonight. Mostly Manny Mayorson, although Jarrett Hoffpauir put in at least one inning there.

We noticed new grass in spots and wondered what happened while the team was on the road.

Right field new grass

New turf around the pitchers mound

In front of home plate

This season, the interns toss out bags of Cracker Jack after the 7th Inning Stretch. It was a nice touch. Tonight, the intern gave a bag to one of the ushers instead of the fans in the stands. 

Usher stash of Cracker Jack meant for fans