6/22/10 Toledo Mud Hens 2, Louisville Bats 3

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
(Game 2 of 4)





Official Scorecard and Bat Chat

6/17/10 Durham Bulls 0, Louisville Bats 2

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
(Game 1 of 4)

DUR 0 5 0
LOU 2 6 2





Official Scorecard and Bat Chat

6/15/10 Norfolk Tides 0, Columbus Clippers 11

Huntington Park, Columbus, OH

The Clippers finish their 5th shut-out game of the season strongly, well on their way to their eventual AAA Championship. Clippers RHP Jeanmar Gomez had been consistent at being inconsistent until he pitched this gem; 7 innings, 3 hits, 6 strikeouts, and no runs.

NOR 0 4 1
COL 11 18 0

The Clippers backed Gomez up with a premium offense, highlighted by 3 HR (Goedert, Rodriguez, and Gimenez) all with at least one man on base.

Notice Donachie's GIDP during the top of the 8th inning, it's a truly rare 5-6-4-3 DP that occurred by the deflection of the ball, accurately, from Goedert (3B) to Bixler (SS). Even Clippers TV color commentator and 9-season MiLB veteran Wayne Harer was alarmed by this occurence.




I scored this game 3/19/11.

BIL Tour 2010: Itinerary!!

At last, I'm proud to announce the OFFICIAL dates of this year's Brother-In-Law Baseball Tour!!

Monday 8/23/10
OFFICIAL START OF THE TOUR

Tuesday 8/24/10
Game: Mobile Baybears @ Chattanooga Lookouts
Game time: 7:15PM EST
(AA Diamondbacks @ AA Dodgers)
AT&T Field
Chattanooga, TN

Wednesday 8/25/10
Game: New Orleans Zephyrs @ Nashville Sounds
Game time: 7:05PM EST
(AAA Marlins @ AAA Brewers)
Greer Stadium
Nashville, TN

Thursday 8/26/10
Game: Birmingham Barons @ Tennessee Smokies
Game time: 7:15PM EST
(AA White Sox @ AA Cubs)
Smokies Park
Kodak, TN

Friday 8/27/10
Game: Florida Marlins @ Atlanta Braves
Game time: 7:35PM EST
Turner Field
Atlanta, GA

Saturday 8/28/10
Game: Toledo Mud Hens @ Louisville Bats
Game time: 6:05PM EST
(AAA Tigers @ AAA Reds)
Louisville Slugger Field
Louisville, KY

Sunday 8/29/10
Game: Chicago Cubs @ Cincinnati Reds
Game time: 1:10PM EST
Great American Ball Park
Cincinnati, OH

Monday 8/30/10
THE TOUR ENDS

Reasons why Baseball is BETTER without ESPN

I've ranted several times over the past couple of years about my continuing lack of willingness to subject myself to professional insult by watching MLB on ESPN anymore.

I've tweeted my Coonditional Boycott of MLB on ESPN a few times this season, and realized that I never formally announced it on this blog, so I'm doing so now.

As of the close of Opening Month, I am NOT watching baseball on ESPN anymore. There you go.

OK, I already goofed and watched Rangers @ Twins a week or so ago, but for the most part I will *NOT* go there, period.

I don't need to list the reasons why, but here are a few of them:

• MLB Network has proved, since day one, that "everybody else" (especially ESPN) is completely out of touch with today's game - I don't need to present the evidence, but watch "MLB Tonight" and then "Baseball Tonight" and anybody can tell the difference.


• ESPN analysts are screwy, period...starting with Joe Morgan, fill in the rest of the names, and end with Joe Morgan. He's so screwy he counts TWICE for this exercise.


• As Baseball Enthusiasts, we should be concerned with a 'general sporing guild' that considers other sports (such as SOCCER) as equally important to baseball. Now that 'specialists' are here (MLB Network), then to heck with the rest of the bozos that treat NCAA Lacrosse the same as Major League Baseball. How can you enjoy Mexican food from McDonald's?!?


• MLB Gameday/At Bat and/or MLB.TV allows us to not have to say "YES" to crappy ESPN broadcasts; we can watch/listen/ENJOY the games we choose to and not be stuck with ESPN's 'preferred matchups' on particular days of the week.

So, since I have begun to willfully not consider ESPN broadcasts, here is what I have noted:

• Even better than 'turning the sound down,' baseball games on the radio are GREAT. Renew your admiration for your local broadcast team by hearing the game from their perspective and visualizing the action from their calls. With At Bat you can even see highlights.


• Watch or listen anytime without clogging up the DVR. Everything gets archived, no matter what you have going on you can still enjoy any game end-to-end, anywhere you can place your PC.


• When MLB Network does a simulcast, you get the local TV broadcast team for one of the teams *or* the fantastic MLB Network analysts...either way, light years ahead of the ESPN superdorks.


• ESPN's 'network crush' with the Yankees is no longer a part of my life.


• I am not missing the 'tiny' revised ESPN info box, give me the band at the top back...or better yet, why bother, I'm done with you ESPN!!


• Baseball is way better without dorks like this:

The guy on the right, OK, he's history. The guy in the middle, hey...give it up. The guy on the left, kiss my butt. He really threw his pencil into his mouth the other night; I was NOT watching but I heard he named Carlos Marmol the 'player of the game' instead of Ted Lilly (no-no going into 8 plus against the White Sox on 6/13/10). Joe Morgan, you are so darn worthless. I hoped that with his new job in the front office of the Reds, he would vanish from this venue but he hasn't and he's as much of a moron now than he has ever been.

Number One Reason Baseball is BETTER without ESPN, I have a choice and I don't have to choose an idiot like Joe Morgan to call games I watch. Turning down the sound and turning on the radio isn't good enough, just seeing his blank stare bereft of reason and abundant with egomania is not a good reason any of us should subject ourselves to this abuse.

/rant over!

6/7/10 Pawtucket Red Sox 7, Louisville Bats 2

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
(Game 4 of 4)

The Bats try to close the 4-game series with the Paw Sox with a Win, but that just didn't happen. Still, a wonderful evening for baseball, augmented by our unseasonal heat wave; tonight I was joined by my youngest daughter Chihiro. Our first Bats game together (as a family) ended too soon for her when she fell in the bathroom between innings and had to get stitches. This meant she missed the fireworks; the Bats were generous enough to reward us with tickets to another game, but the Bats lost and no fireworks. Many years later, she returns - no Win, but no trip to the hospital this time!

PAW 7 9 0
LOU 2 9 0

Unlike the first Chapman outing I witnessed...his performance tonight was a complete and concise study in uncontrol; 7 earned runs in 2 innings and I felt like Rick Sweet waited far too long to give him the hook.

Led by the effective delivery of Felix Doubront, the Bats were cold tonight - Castillo managed to drive in a run with a bases-loaded single; Alonso responded in the 6th with a solo HR to center field. The Paw Sox had the Bats' number with 3 consecutive innings (1-2-3) that consisted their runs scored for the evening...every single run was charged to Chapman. That pretty much means the number they had was 1-800-AROLDIS.

Chapman delivers!


Reviewing Bat Chat before the game, to my surprise I found that former Cubs hitting coach Gerald Perry has found a place on the Paw Sox staff. Better than that, former Royal Tug Hulett was in the lineup as DH. A couple of old farts sat down behind us, one with a Royals shirt, and with glee I honored the presence of a fellow Royals admirer. Unfortunately, he wasn't as thrilled as I was...I thought I could at least get a 'hey now' when I excitedly informed him that Tug Hulett would be playing in the game, and again, all I received was a complacent shrug. This yahoo and his companion proceeded to watch a Jonas Brothers concert they had recorded on their cellphone during the middle innings. I guess a Royals shirt doesn't automatically guarantee class!

Tug Hulett's 2-run HR pitch...


Yonder Alonso AB, Doubront fires


Alonso at 1B, holding Lars Anderson


Tonight's promo was Baseball Bingo...lotsa fun, Chihiro was only one number away from winning (I didn't do so well). I'm sure lots of parks do this, but this was my first time at LSF or anywhere else.



Just for yucks, I picked up an extra scorecard for Chihiro, a rather inexpensive memento of our visit (besides the obligatory souvenir soda purchase)...in a flattering moment of pleasing her crazy dad, she decided to score the game along with me...I can't express how proud I was of her, especially hearing how much fun she had scoring when the game ended!

Chihiro is scoring the game!!!


We balanced our scoresheets together upon returning home; and her scorecard is displayed proudly in our family room today.




Chihiro's completed Scorecard:



Official Scorecard and Bat Chat

Baseball's only 26-out-plus-1 Perfect Game

Rather than gesticulate on the events that transpired last week and comment on history and un-history, as it were, I thought instead I would share a few comments posted by writers and/or baseball analysts with better qualifications than I and let them stand as: "I feel the same way these folks do."

Joe Posnanski - The Lesson Of Jim Joyce .."Galarraga Smiled" will always be a thought in the back of my mind after reading this.

Fay Vincent - We Must Accept Mistakes...And Move On ...Jim Leyland knows the game, knows how to 'call this play' where actions always speak louder than words.

Last but not least...

George F. WIll - Baseball should not Overrule Umpire's Wrong Call ...long after most of us are dead, Will stands to go down in history as one of the most fluent voices of how "most of us" feel about baseball, mostly because he knows what he wants to say and he knows how to say it briefly and concisely. He summarizes Posnanski's and Vincent's comments in a few basic sentences in this clip.