Opening Day: Goldeyes 10, T-Bones 4
May 26: T-Bones 7, JackHammers 4
League Standings Through August 31
Frank Thomas Poster for School
Our Trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame
The Arete of Baseball (volumes 1 and 2)
PLAYOFFS START TOMORROW!
The sparkline on the right shows wins as a colored bar, and losses the absence of a bar.
A sparkline showing the magnitude of the win (loss). The height of the bar represents the margin of victory (defeat). Post all-star game scores show dramatic margins of victory!
Attendance and Time of Game, by Team
Attendance by Team, Regardless of Date
Winnipeg is remarkably consistent, and Kansas City remarkable in drawing large crowds!
The T-Bones lost to Winnipeg tonight, 10-2, in their season-opening game. The T-Bones led 4-0 going in to the 8th inning, but gave up 2 runs in the 8th inning, and 8 more in the 9th inning.
T-Bones starting pitcher Luis Villarreal pitched 5 innings of shutout baseball, and was relieved by Cody McAllister, who also pitched 2 scoreless innings. Catcher Craig Hurba had a solo home-run in the 2nd inning, and left fielder Ryan Fox had a ground rule double in the 5th inning, scoring two runs.
Cody Ehlers, first baseman for the Goldeyes, hit a 3-run homerun in the inning, and finished the game with 4 RBIs. Shortstop Wes Long had 4 hits and catcher Dustin Richardson had 3 hits. Both Long and Richardson had 2 doubles each. We asked Dustin after the game what it was like to stage such a comeback, down first 4-0, and then 4-2 going into the 9th inning: "Baseball's a funny game. You have to take focus, and early in the year, we're just trying to have good at-bats, and look for a good pitch to hit. We did a very good job of that - we played well tonight, overall." Dustin, we found out, was injured last year, having been hit in the head by a shattered bat and was in the hospital for six days, and did not play for 3 and a half months, but came back for the playoffs, hitting 500".
The game started with 4 parachutists parachuting into the stadium, landing around 2nd base, as part of the celebration for the 2008 championship season. The T-Bones finished the regular season in 4th place with a record of 46-50, but won the semi-final post-season series against The Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks 3-0, and then defeated the Gary SouthShore RailCats 3-1 to win the championship.
The game started at 7:34, and lasted 3 hours, 31 minutes. The attendance was 6,009.
Here is a picture of the pre-game ceremonies with the championship trophy. It's a bit blurry because we took this picture through the window of the press box.
We found out many things of how the game is scored. Official scorer Louis Spry helped us understand a scoring method he created and teaches to kids. Also, when the game is over and on the radio they say, "To recap ...", and they read statistics, the statistics (time, attendance, score, winning and losing pitchers, saves, etc.), the data comes from Mr. Spry, who hands a paper to a runner, who dashes in to the radio announcer! We also saw how the scoreboard is operated, as Mr. Daniels operates the scoreboard (balls, strikes, the score, etc.)
We also noticed Mr. Villarreal did a little skip over the first-base line every time he went in to pitch - going from the dugout to the pitcher's mound. We're going to ask him about this next time we're at the stadium!
The original season-opener was cancelled, due to rain. We walked out to the clubhouse and met T-Bones pitcher Peyton Tweddale (left) and Goldeyes catcher Dustin Richardson (right).
T-Bones Defeat Joliet JackHammers 7-4
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The T-Bones beat the Joliet JackHammers 7-4 Tuesday night in front of a paid crowd of 3,009, and pulled to 1/2 game of the league-leading Winnipeg Goldeyes. The T-Bones are now 6-3.
Dustin Bolton pitched 7 and one-third innings, giving up three runs, and got the win. Remarkably, of his 85 pitches thrown, 62 were strikes! Cody McAllister pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, picking up his second save of the season.
T-Bones center-fielder Aharon Eggleston, Northern League Player of the Week, continued his great hitting pace, going 2-5. Second baseman Eric Scriven reached base four times, going 2-2 with 2 walks.
Bolton gave up one run through 6 innings - a third-inning homerun to JackHammer DH Mike Garcia (his first at-bat of the season). However, Bolton ran into trouble in the 7th, surrendering a homerun and a single before being replaced by T-Bones southpaw side-arm pitcher Peyton Treddale. The JackHammers scored two more runs, making the score 7-4, and had a runner on first when JackHammers' first baseman Freddie Thon hit a deep fly ball to right field. T-Bones right fielder Ryan Fox leaped at the fence and came down with the ball, saving two runs!
The game started with dark clouds rolling in, and it looked like rain was coming. With the T-Bones jumping to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning, we hoped the rain would hold off long enough for the game to be an official game. It did, and it turned out being a great night!
Miscellaneous Notes
T-Bones left-fielder John Urick, who went 1-3 and got hit by a pitch, is the grandson of former Royal Coach Whitey Herzog.
JackHammers coach Wally Backman played 14 years in the major leagues. From 1980-1988, he played with the Mets, including hitting .320 with the World Champion Mets in 1986.
In honor of official scorer Louis Spry, who does not like ketchup, we ate our hotdogs with nothing on them!
A Note from Home Plate Umpire Kurt Branin
We interviewed Umpire Kurt Branin before the game, asking him about umpiring in the Northern League. Northern League games are umpired by three umpires, two that travel together, and the third is local, though sometimes four are used (and two are local). This is his third year umpiring for the Northern League.
Asked what the hardest base is to umpire, he said, "They're all different, but probably first base because at the first base position, you have a lot of close plays, bang-bang plays. You're also responsible for fair/foul from the bag down the line and covering the plate on a rotation play when the third base umpire has to rotate and the home-plate umpire has to rotate to third."
During the game, we watched how the umpiring is different when there are three umpires versus four. The normal set-up is:
However, if there's a man on first, the first-base umpire has to move up - to be ready to make a call during a pick-off attempt. But if the first-baseman is not holding the runner, then the umpire retreats to his normal position.
What's the 3rd base umpire doing, if there's a man on first? There's no imminent play at third, so he is concerned about second about a play at second. Where does he stand? It looked like it depended on the batter. If the batter is left-handed, the umpire expects the ball to be pulled ot the right side. Therefore, the umpire - not wanting to be in the way of the play - stands on the left-side of second base - and vice-versa for a right-handed batter.
And if there's a play at third? The home-plate umpire must run down there to be ready to make the call! And who's covering home? The first-base umpire must make a dash to the plate in the event there is "a play at the plate" - this is the situation Umpire Branin was talking about!
Isaac's Scorecard from the Game
T-Bones Fall to Fargo-Moorhead 9-8
Thursday, July 9, 2009
The T-Bones lost a heart-breaker 9-8 to the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Thursday, surrendering 4 runs in the ninth inning. Paid attendance was 5,372 and the game lasted 3:17.
The T-Bones took a quick 4-0 1st inning lead after Damian Rolls, Greg Jacobs, and Craig Hurba all walked, and Jim Fasano followed with a grand-slam. The RedHawks countered with three runs in the fourth, but the T-Bones took an 8-5 lead into the ninth, with closer Nate Cotton replacing starter Ryan Knippschild. However, four hits, one walk, and two wild pitches later, the RedHawks had plated four runners, and taken a 9-8 lead.
Jim Fasona ended the night 3 for 5, with a single, double, and grand-slam, driving in 5 runs.
Pre-game ceremonies included seeing friend Cooper Sears throwing out a first pitch, as well as seeing Mavs 12-1 volleyball coach Kathy Bates and crew, with excited girls ready for a fun evening!
NOTES OF INTEREST
Item 1: Top of the eighth, runners on 1st and 3rd, one out. RedHawks third-baseman Jeremiah Piepkorn strikes out swinging, the ball in the dirt. Batter's automatically out, as first base was occupied with less than two outs. I can count with the fingers on one hand the number of times I've seen this rule apply in professional baseball in my life.
Item 2: Bottom of the fourth, T-Bones with runners on 1st and 2nd, one out. T-Bones left-fielder Damian Rolls hits a fly ball to short right field. Being in the center-field grass, I can't hear if the umpire has called "infield-fly" or not. While watching the umpires, I'm also watching the runners, who are hugging the bases, knowing the ball would be caught. The infield-fly rule, contrary to common perception and the name of the rule itself, doesn't require an infielder to catch the ball, nor must the ball be caught in the infield. Instead, the requirement is the ball could be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort.
But had the right-fielder let the ball drop here, it would have been an easy double-play.
Item 3: A third observation deals with the save rule. T-Bones are leading 8-5 going into the ninth. This is technically a "save" opportunity. The requirements for a save: A pitcher must meet each of the following first three criteria and one of the criteria of No. 4.
1. Must be the last pitcher used in a game won by his team;
2. Cannot be the the game's winning pitcher;
3. Must pitch at least 1/3 of an inning.
4. Must satisfy at least one of the following conditions:
A. Enter the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning;
B. Enter the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck;
C. Pitch for at least three innings.
Clearly, this was a blown save, but as RedHawks came back, I thought of the ridiculous nature of the rule. Suppose the game had ended 8-7 with the bases loaded. Cotton still would have been credited with a save!
I think, at one
time, the official scorer employed judgment in viewing the situation, to
determine if the closer actually "earned" a save. Not any more. The
rulebook states the official scorer "shall" award a save, given the above
criteria. No judgment at all is exercised.
Isaac, viewing the game from ground-level behind the center-field wall, glove in hand (of course)!
A benefit to our center-field grass seats was this view of the scoreboard, and the knowledge we know the man (Jack Daniels) who operates the scoreboard!
With the press box full, we had to find unoccupied stadium seats. However, when we first started looking, it was about 40 minutes prior to the start of the game, so many seats were empty. This whole section below was empty, so we chose two seats. The usher came then told us these two people had tickets for those seats! What are the odds we'd pick two seats at random, and then have the next two people to come to the area have tickets for those exact two seats?
This is a great idea --- a scoreboard with updated standings written in, visible as one is walking around behind homeplate.
