4/18/11 Indianapolis Indians 10, Louisville Bats 4

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
Game 3 of 3



Holy Foul Balls, Batman! The rain threatened late in the game and did approach lightly at the start of the 9th inning…not enough to permit your friendly neighborhood scorekeeper to leave the game, but a brief retreat to drier quarters resulted in a “right place at the right time” situation where yours truly managed to catch a ‘roof ball’ fouled away by none other than Corky Miller!



The weather was gorgeous starting out, as my buddy Marty joined me for my second game of the season…and with Scott Carroll on the mound again!


Thanks again for coming, Marty!

Scott’s line looked great tonight, a much better outing than Opening Day on 4/7/11…7IP, 7H 3R (0ER), 2BB, 4K, 86 pitches (55 strikes). Scott left with the game tied, Matt Klinker in relief, after a few hairy innings where the Indians’ scoring was due to the unusually slipshod defense provided by the Bats. Klinker gave up the inning rather quickly; with 1 run already in on a groundout to 1B by Jason Jaramillo, Indians SS Pedro Ciriaco (3-for-4) belted a 3-run HR to deep left field to give the Indians the lead at 7-4. The Bats responded with a no-out RBI single by Danny Dorn in the bottom of the 8th, but that was the end of the offense for the Bats. Klinker (2IP, 5H, 7ER, 2BB, K, 49 pitches) allowed 3 more runs in the ninth, just as the rain began its light entrance into the game.

Corky stepped up to the plate to lead-off the bottom of the 9th. Marty and I moved a few rows back to avoid the meek onslaught of precipitation as thousands of fans decided it would be better for them to vacate the park. Our first move put us in a slightly better place, Jim the usher called to us and said “hey, come on back here” and we stepped up to the entrance to the club seats, just under Slugger Field’s famous aluminum roof.

Roof balls are about as regular as foul balls in the stands. After several games, you can almost tell by where the ball bounces on the roof (and the sound it makes) whether or not the ball will roll back down to the seats or if it will bounce over the brick partition and never return. Corky saw two balls and swung at two pitches before fouling back his 5th pitch of the at-bat, a screaming backwards line pop up that nailed the roof right over our heads. I dashed out from the tunnel just in time to see the ball bounce back on the concrete walkway and again in the row of seats below me…the prize was mine!! My very first Bats game ball, courtesy of Corky Miller.



Thanks for the ball, Corky!


Sean Gallagher enjoyed a very sound outing for the Indians (6IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, 2BB, 7K, 85 pitches, 58 strikes)…but the Indians offense and just plain ‘getting on base’ made the difference, especially when faced by Matt Klinker.

Overall, the Bats are still doing well (9-3), and still doing much better than the Indians (3-9).

Corky Miller at bat (2-for-3, HBP, R)




Corky swings and misses!


Corky singles to LC against Sean Gallagher in the 5th inning.


Corky at 1B


Indians 1B Matt Hague runs towards the bunt, 2B Chase d'Arnaud not holding Corky Miller


A team meeting on the mound with Sean Gallagher dissolves…on how to pitch to Scott Carroll with 1 on, 0 out! COME ON!!!


Chris Leroux (2IP, 2H ER, BB, K) pitches to PH Todd Frazier, who was walked.


My rain-stressed scoresheets



Official Scorecard and Bat Chat (with season stats)