7/17/2016 Indianapolis Indians 4, Louisville Bats 6

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY

Game 4 of 4

Another Squad effort at LSF today...Kei and I started off in 211

...we were joined by my friends Joel and Sheila, yet moved over to 219 just before being boiled alive by the sun and humidity

#SquadGoals

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

All four of us played the Mystery Rookie Card game; I can't recall who drew this exquisite 2005 Bowman BPP73 Matt Maloney, but it was a close second in the race, for sure.

Matt was one of my favorite Louisville relief pitchers, and is the all-time K leader for the Bats. Matt originally ended up with the Reds when they sent Kyle Lohse to the Phillies at the trade deadline in 2007, but was placed on waivers in 2011 and picked up by the Minnesota Twins. There begins the period of desolation you might expect...he signed as a free agent with Boston the following year, with no sizable benefit for either party. In 2014, he started playing independent ball, signed with the Reds and was released a month later. 2015 found him back in Indie ball again (4 games with the Sugarland Skeeters), and has since disappeared into the ether.

Who's Bill White? He's from Louisville...but not so much as you'd know it. He attended high school in Alabama, and was a 3rd round pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2000.

Well, that didn't work out so great...seven years with the Diamondbacks, no MLB service time. So why is he wearing a Nationals jersey, while the card says he's a Ranger, on this 2008 Upper Deck? Good question. White signed with the Nats in November 2006, and was released by the time Spring Training was done in March 2007...he signed with the Rangers two days later, made his MLB debut with them the same year, and became a free agent at the end of 2008. The Cubs picked him up on January 11, 2009 and let him go just over a month later. He was on the 2010 roster of the Long Island Ducks as a reliever, pitched 19 games and was subsequently ether-bound.

Speaking of ether, this 2007 Topps features another 3rd round pick who was also destined to stay in his org for a number of years (9). Chase Wright did appear in 3 games for the Yankees in 2007, but that's it for MLB.

The Yankees traded Wright to the Brewers for Eric Fryer in 2009, he stayed with the org until his release in 2011. 2012 found him in 44 games for the Somerset Patriots and 6 games for the Dominican Winter League Gigantes del Cibao, before disappearing to wherever washed-up 3rd round pick 29 year old pitchers disappear to.

As I mentioned earlier, my pick won...hands down. All hail THE PRINCE!!

Joel brought me this stunning 1990 Topps Von Hayes...

He also brought me this great Reds team set from a 2009 giveaway at GABP...lots of familiar faces in there...

Official Program (featuring Cody Reed) and Scorecard

BONUS: Fun Time with Buddy Bat!! Valuable Coupons inside!!!

Ticket

Bat Chat and Gameday Stats

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10/16/11 St Louis Cardinals 12, Milwaukee Brewers 6

Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI
NLCS Game 6
STL wins the NLCS 4-2

Welcome to the David Freese Show, starring…David Freese! If NLCS Game 2 was “The Pujols Game,” then NLCS Game 6 has to go down in history as “The Freese Game.” There can be no question that even in the 7th inning, that NLCS MVP trophy was his, hands down. He was the Sultan of Hustle today, only a triple short of the cycle.



It was no small feat to defeat the Brewers at Miller Park for most NL teams this year, but the Cardinals had a winning record there during the regular season, and extended that record during the NLCS. Freese didn’t really come out of nowhere here, he’s been playing well recently, but in Pujolsian fashion he started his rally in the first inning; the table was set with 2 on and 2 outs, 1 run already on the board and Shaun Marcum already sweating like a Derek Lowe. A first pitch 3-run HR
Over the left-center field fence was a formidable statement, to say the least.

I had a hunch this would be a close game, but my hunch was deliberately tossed by Freese, Pujols, Allen Craig, and the rest of the Angry Birds. It wasn’t a collapse by the Brewers, no matter how you look at it…they rallied as hard as the best of us could. But the crowd at Miller Park’s eerie silence just got eerier as the game went on and the crooked numbers kept getting posted.

Of course, with pitching changes galore…there were sprinklings of fantastic pitching moments, but still burned into my brain was Jason Motte’s finish and, of course…the home runs. The most HR in the first 3 innings of a postseason game (3 HR for each team).

Jerry Hairston, Jr’s 15 minutes of baseball fame peaked with this outstanding hook slide in NLCS Game 4, a slide that would have made Wally Yonanime blush. It ended completely during the Brewers’ 3-error inning; Hairston was charged with 2 of the 3 during a single play. Now that’s a little more like the JHJr I recall from recent years.

In other news, Prince Fielder grounds out to Nick Punto in his final at-bat in a Brewers’ uniform. Albert Pujols, in a classy move, calls time when Fielder approaches the box for the crowd’s standing O.

Freese got the trophy, but Nick Punto is awarded with a Golden Sombrero, striking out 4 times in 4 AB. Still a #HappyFlight for the Cardinals, and the end of a great and most admirable run by the Brewers.




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4/9/11 Chicago Cubs 0, Milwaukee Brewers 6

Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI
Game 2 of 3



After striking out 12 batters in his first outing as a Cub, yet giving up a career-high 12 hits, Matt Garza returns to face Chris Narveson in Milwaukee. Being very much under the Cubs microscope (of course, his performance NOW will dictate when we’ll see another World Series), Garza finds himself consistent with his previous outing, where his Ks equal his hits…only this time around he gets to bring something new home with him: his first decision as a Cub, one that starts with the letter “L”…



Yes, Garza is still very forgiving to opposing teams regarding contact. You’re going to hear the “switching from AL to NL dilemma” come up quite a bit, but in my opinion we should have no fears…I expect Garza to, at a minimum, perform just as inconsistently as Carlos Zambrano does today. Maybe a little bit better. In this game, not only is this true, but the following is also true: Chris Narveson needs an ERA, and the 2-3-4 Brewers hitters LOVE Matt Garza.

Prince Fielder has never hit 3 consecutive doubles in a game before in his life. He did today. He also managed to do this every time Ryan Braun, at least, was on base.

It’s also true that the 1-6 hitters in the Cubs lineup managed to get a hit off of Narveson, but those hits were lost like tears in rain.

My oh my, how Sean Green has developed as a relief pitcher. His side-arm delivery is deadly these days, pitching a very solid inning with goose-eggs across the line (2 groundouts and a flyout).

Jeff Samardzija, by comparison, walked in a run after walking 4 of 6 batters in the 8th. He also allowed Garlos Gomez to steal 2 bases in the same at bat. As usual, when the Cubs melt down…they do it LARGE.

Go CUBS