4/29/2016 St John's University 5, University Of Louisville 6

Jim Patterson Stadium, Louisville, KY

Game 2 of 3

Doubleheader Game 2

There was only supposed to be one game today, the opener of a 3-game set against the visiting St. John's University Red Storm, but with nasty weather moving through the area this weekend, games were moved up accordingly. I joined Kei and Sam about halfway through the first game, but didn't keep score until Game 2.

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

Louisville won Game 1 cleanly, this game started a bit rough for LHP Drew Harrington, who was not his usual stud-like self...Drew allowed 3ER in the first, but the Cardinals came back in the 4th and 5th and looked like they had regained the upper hand. The Red Storm had other ideas, and came close to running the Cards out of options...the nether regions of Louisville's batting order kept runs on the board, and fireballer Zack Burdi brought the gas for a 4-out save.

SJU RHP Ryan McAuliffe faces UofL SS Devin Hairston 

Drew Harrington vs. SJU DH John Valente

Under the lights, RHP Zack Burdi singes his way to close the game...wasn't the best I've seen him, as he stumbles a bit and allows a hit, hits a batter, and allows one run (unearned), but he hit triple digits and did so effectively.

Gameday Stats

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4/21/2016 Indianapolis Indians 5, Louisville Bats 6

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY

Game 1 of 3

After raining on and off all day, prospects of a game tonight were looking pretty grim...my date "bailed" out on me, but I decided to head out solo and caught Homer Bailey for a rehab start...this turned out to be one of the best games I've ever seen here...extra innings, bonus baseball, and a walk-off to boot. 

Moral of the Story: To Hell with the Rain, let's PLAY BALL.

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

The final play of the game was a doozy...I did not get a photo of it, so here's a drawing for ya...dots on one side, numbers on the other:

I haven't seen a corner fence like this in a long time (if at all), defense set up along the infield lines for lefty Kyle Waldrop, with Jermaine Curtis standing on third...if Waldrop had hit a ground ball, this would have worked. What's the only way to beat this? Hit a fly ball just deep enough for Curtis to tag and score, and that's exactly what happened. #weirdbaseball indeed.

A thrilling finish to an exciting game...and the best part is, as I'm leaving the stadium, I look up at the TV and see that Jake Arrieta and the Cubs had just no-hit the Reds.

RHP Homer Bailey, his first pro start since Tommy John surgery last May

...here, he's facing IND OF Aaron Frazier, who grounds out, Jose Peraza to Brandon Allen

IND RHP Tyler Glasnow faces LOU CF Bryson Smith

IND LHP Cory Luebke faces Brandon Allen

No Mystery Rookie Cards today, as the booth was unmanned...there were no program/scorecard vendors either. The groundscrew, fortunately, made it to the game and had the field in amazing shape.

Official Program and Scorecard

Ticket

No Bat Chat and Gameday Stats available for this game, the box score can be found here.

If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter 

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4/21/2016 Chicago Cubs 16, Cincinnati Reds 0

Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH

Game 1 of 4

Project: BADASS continues into the 2016 campaign. 

Look into his eyes and DIE.

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter 

(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!

4/16/2016 Toledo Mud Hens 8, Louisville Bats 6

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY

Game 3 of 4

My friends Joel and Sheila in town to celebrate Joel's birthday...the most late-June weather day we've had in mid-April for quite some time, perfect to beers and based ball! 

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

Toledo start Lucas Harrell was cited in the roster as wearing number 34...however, he was wearing number 18...I thought I had taken a photo of this, but apparently I didn't.

LOU LHP John Lamb, on rehab assignment, faces former Met of infamy, Jordany Valdespin

Valedspin grounds out, LOU 3B Jermaine Curtis to 1B Steve Selsky

LOU RHP Layne Somsen pitches to TOL C Drew Longley

It's always GREAT to see some of my Australian Baseball League favorites pitching here...tonight I saw RHP Warwick Saupold!

We played the Mystery Rookie Card game, but because I was so caught up in the night's festivities, I forgot about the cards until after I got home. It's such a drag getting old. 

I picked the infamous bat-licking Jose Constanza. I love telling the story, but the odd thing is the past few times I've seen him play here, I didn't catch him doing it...the first few times he was here, he was certainly doing it. ICYMI, Jose has the curious distinction of having been known to lick his bat after fouling off a pitch. I've seen it with my own eyes, here at LSF and on TV as well...I wrote about this a couple of years ago. Jose hasn't been a Brave for a couple of years, fact of the matter is he played for Louisville and Durham in the IL last season (with a brief stint for the independent league York Revolution in between), and is currently an unsigned free agent, playing for the Mexican League Leones de Yucatan.

Joel and I were talking about Travis Wood today; figures that he'd pick this (without really knowing it).

Official Program and Scorecard

Ticket #ClubLevelAccess

Bat Chat and Gameday Stats

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4/14/2016 Toledo Mud Hens 2, Louisville Bats 0

Louisville Slugger Field
Game 1 of 4

Baseball is back in Louisville, and the Bats are sporting a really catchy new colors and logo designs...which naturally means new unis as well. I don't tend to care too much for change, but I'm loving this.

My scoresheets, using my pitch-counting method! Read about it HERE, download the scoresheets for free HERE!

SCOREKEEPER'S NOTE: LOU 1B Brandon Allen gets on base in the 7th due to a play that TOL 2B Field definitely could have made. I ruled it an Error, the OS here ruled it a hit. My wife agrees with me, so that's that.

Tools of the Trade: Scoresheet, clipboard, pencil, eraser, Popcorn Helmet

RHP Robert Stephenson, recalled after a single start in CIN, pitches to Cubs and Giants legend Nate Schierholtz. Stephenson still has great stuff, he's hitting his spots a lot better, striking out 7 in 4 innings, but ended up a little flat after about 60 pitches.

LHP Layne Somsen pitches to TOL C Miguel Gonzalez...my heart is filled with Somsen's "pick up that dollar" mechanics, a la Tim Lincecum.

My wife doesn't play the Mystery Rookie Card game, so I debuted the season here as a solo artist. Every now and then, I draw a guy who is completely unknown to me. Kevin Howard was also unknown (or at least forgotten) amongst Reds fans close to me, so I had to do some research.

Turns out Howard hails from Hinsdale, IL (20 plus years ago, it was home of the greatest record show on the planet, eternally recognized for the Hinsdale Oasis...if you don't travel in the Chicago area, this reference was totally missed on you). Of course, I could learn this from the back of the card; I could also find that Howard appeared in 134 games with Class-A Dayton in 2003...he was signed by the Reds in 2002 after being selected in the 5th round of the Draft out of the University of Miami. Howard never played a game for the Reds at the Major League level, nor did he play in MLB for any of the other clubs he bounced around amongst through 2012 (Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies, Mariners, Blue Jays, Padres and even the Cardinals). Howard ended up in the Atlantic League, playing 84 games of indy ball with the Lancaster Barnstormers in 2013 (he had appeared in 34 games with them in 2011 as well), and his last season of professional ball on record was a full one with the Lincoln (NE) Saltdogs of the American Association. If you wanted to build a template for a career minor leaguer with no fluff or sparkle whatsoever, Kevin Howard seems to be as good a place as any to start.

Official Program and Scorecard (with detail)

Ticket (Opening Night!!)

Bat Chat and Gameday Stats

If you enjoy my work, I encourage you to spread the word via Twitter

(I am @yoshiki89), and also please leave a comment!