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.

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.

Cheer, Cheer, Cheer for the Chiefs

The Chiefs won! It was a great game, too. Spectacular fifth inning.

TV Stevie and I arrived at the stadium a bit early, not to see the Irish Dancers

(who were a lot of fun to watch), or to see the first pitch (altho' two of the boys throwing out the first pitch are sons of a friend's friend), or even to see Suspect's vacation pictures (which I saw),

but because a former co-worker happens to be in town, calling the Paw-Sox games.



I dare you to guess who!

TV Stevie went up to the broadcast booth with another friend in the business to say hi to former WTVH sports anchor Dan Hoard. TV Stevie took this photo on his iPhone.



Anybody for wings at the Change of Pace?

FIRST BASE COACH WAVE:

• Carlos Maldanado - big wave and big smile
• Tug Hulet - waved and smiled, but didn't seem to be into it (altho' Sandee thought he was watching us as we cheered for Seth Bynum's RBI)
• Jhonatan Solano - big wave and big smile

JERSEY RAFFLE: Pink! Josh Wilkie! Sandee bought tickets but no luck. :-(

INTERESTING OBSERVATION:  Okay, tonight isn't the first time I've noticed this, but it is the first time I actually took a photo.

Spidey!!!!

FUN THING: XG-Man wore seersucker tonight. How awesome is that!

"Everything's for sale. Everything's on sale!"...XG-Man

MOLLY & SANDEE'S PLAYER OF THE GAME: Michael Aubrey. 4 RBIs, including a HR. Yeah.

THE ODDITY OF THE NIGHT: I didn't have my camera ready. Sandee and I saw an unusally dressed woman at the same time and turned to look at each other in complete disbelief. By the time I grabbed my camera, the woman was sitting down. I was ready to snap her photo at the end of the game, but got involved in an intense conversation with another season ticket holder in Section 207 who was upset that people with freebie tix for general admission had come down to sit behind him and were being overly rowdy (unlike Sandee & me with our quiet, lady-like demeanors), and when he complained to the usher, who confirmed the people were using GA tix to sit in a reserved section, the usher let the people sit there anyway. HELLO? Anyway, back to the oddity of the night. I said to Sandee, "That's just what I would wear to a ballgame." Skin-tight blue top, skin-tight gray leggins, and tight black suede boots up to her knees. My description may not sound odd, but trust me (and Sandee), it was odd.