The Baseball Enthusiast: 5/16/2016 Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders 1, Louisville Bats 4

Monday, May 16, 2016

5/16/2016 Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders 1, Louisville Bats 4

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY

Game 1 of 4

The inevitability of precipitation occurring at game time forces one to rethink their intentions of participating in the game. Everyone has their own metric by which they evaluate their doubts against the forecast. There comes a time when one has to cast aside these doubts and forge onward.

That time is NOW. And these are the dutes who made it happen. Hey, it can't rain all the time.

I've never held up on going to the game if it might rain...even if it's raining. Some of the best games I've seen here I would have missed if I had wimped out. Tonight was no exception, as RHP Daniel Wright, in his second start for the Bats, went the distance with 3 hits, 1 run (unearned) 8 strikeouts (5 of them swinging), and no walks...all on 101 pitches, and with a light, steady rain that pretty much lasted the entire 2-hour game. His start is the highest Game Score (87) I have ever recorded here at Slugger Field.

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

SCOREKEEPER'S NOTE 1: On my scoresheets, I do provide a space to record Ejections. There were two tonight (and one close call)...see the lower left hand side of each sheet for the detail.

SCOREKEEPER'S NOTE 2: In my years of tracking broken bats (BLS), I've seen a lot of folks break 2 bats in one AB, but I've never seen anyone break 3 in one AB. That happened tonight as Kyle Waldrop broke 3 in an 8-pitch plate appearance, subsequently blowing his bat budget for the week at the hands of Richard Bleier (who was responsible for 4 bats breaking total).

Wright faces SWB 2B Rob Refsnyder (auspicious MLB veteran Nick Swisher is on deck)

Refsnyder's first AB resulted in an lead-off double, and he would eventually cross the plate for the RailRider's only run. His offense was one thing, his defense was another...this guy has unbelievable speed and range

Switch-hitting Swisher (playing 1B tonight) versus Wright

He would single into RF and reach second on an error by LOU RF Kyle Waldrop; that error would allow Refsnyder to score

Wright versus the largest adult male position player I've seen at this field in years, SWB CF Aaron Judge

At 6' 7", 255 lbs, Judge was scary enough to freak us out all the way up here. He's that friggin big and mean lookin'

SWB LHP Richard Bleier faces Waldrop. Bleier was really fantastic tonight, his 2-run 3rd inning notwithstanding

Wright's delivery includes a funky, almost painful-to-watch elbow snap that is so distinct, you can smell future surgery amongst the aroma of grilled onions. Here he faces kVlt baseball phenomena SWB SS Pete Kozma

Swish Nicker plays first, holding LOU SS Hernan Iribarren

Bleier was probably done at the end of the 7th, but just to make sure of it, he was ejected by 3B Umpire J.Bacon (Kozma was also ejected shortly afterwards in the 8th). Bleier's relief was RHP Diego Moreno, a very effective 28-year old with great stuff. Here, Moreno is pitching to recently optioned CF Scott Schebler

I don't consider myself a photographer by any means, but this deep, dark evening blue sky was incredible

In the Mystery Rookie Card game, Sam was the winner by actual value, and by grit value as well.

The actual value is a point of dispute...this 1988 Fleer 101 Matt Williams RC had a $2 price sticker on it, but you can get them from various sources online for as little as $0.18. In terms of grit value, Matt had as much as they usually come equipped with, and is easily the 139th best third baseman who ever lived.

If you disagree, then compare his grit value to that of Felix Pie, as featured on this 2003 Bowman BDP152 RC.