5/23/2014 Buffalo Bisons 7, Louisville Bats 5

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY

Game 2 of 4

The weather is warmer, and Munenori Kawasaki is here. Both of these are causes for potential awesomeness.

This is also the first time I've seen the Bisons since Tug Haines was here just over 3 years ago, and the Bisons were still a New York Mets affiliate.

33-year-old right hander Shawn Hill takes the mound for Buffalo, the very same Shawn Hill that has been in and out of the Toronto farm system so many times, it's hard to understand what it is about him that they like, or don't like.

Louisville's Tim Crabbe (who spent time in Pensacola and Louisville last season) was looking pretty good, as good as Hill if you don't count his extra walks, but the Bisons got to him early on, and he was out of gas by the 5th inning.

That's OK, Tim...stuff happens. Have a Pork Chop Sandwich...I promise, you'll feel better.

I usually don't take photos during the National Anthem, but today I made an exception...you'll see Kawasaki standing at the end of the line, on the far right (next to the red-shirted trainer).

Warm weather, at last...Chihiro and I are enjoying the sunshine!

Former Indianapolis Indian (2013) and Columbus Clipper (2010-2012) Jared Geodert faces Crabbe in the 1st inning.

Bats RF Felix Perez faces Shawn Hill.

Tim Crabbe vs. Bisons LF Matt Tuiasosopo. We repeated his name so many times, it's a lot of fun to say two-EE-ah-so-SO-po. Like Goedert, he's been making the rounds in the International League for the past couple of years, playing for Buffalo in 2012, Toledo in 2013, and now back with Buffalo.

Andy LaRoche sighting!! And what a GLORIOUS pr0n-stache he's sporting these days...

Kawasaki faces Crabbe in the 4th. Kawasaki-sama was 0-for-3 with a walk today.

For the Mystery Rookie Card game, I got pwned, again. I picked this great-looking 2008 Topps Heritage Chris Volstad #515. Sure, it looks great, but sometimes less-than-great things come in great pacakages, and Volstad is a reminder of this. 

It was hard for folks like me not to like Volstad out of the gate...he was a top-100 prospect for 3 consecutive years; he not only seemed to be a decent starter for the Marlins for four seasons or so, he actually was. Looking back, I was excited about the possibilities when he came to the Cubs in the Carlos Zambrano deal, but those possibilities packed their bags and went elsewhere, instead of joining Volstad in Chicago. Volstad wasn't much better for the Rockies organization, and started this season in Korea with the Doosan Bears.

Speaking of "not-so-great"...here we go again, only Chihiro picked one in an even greater package. This 2007 Upper Deck Goudey Daisuke Matsuzaka SP is an undersized treat...

...while Matsuzaka's career really hasn't been. But you already know that by now, I'm sure.

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

Official Program (featuring Tucker Barnhart) and Scorecard

Ticket (Felix Perez)

Bat Chat and Gameday Stats

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7/24/12 Buffalo Bisons 1, Louisville Bats 4

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
Game 1 of 4

Dollar Hot Dog night is important stuff.  If I don't get 2 Tuesday night tickets in my annual bundle, I end up having to trade with other members of my season ticket partnership.  Both of my daughters enjoy Dollar Hot Dog night, and hey...I happen to enjoy a few hot dogs from time to time as well.  We were promised less than desirable weather tonight, including but not limited to gallons of rain, but when $1 hot dogs are involved,  a rain delay is just another excuse to sit inside and eat a few more.

I'm not sure how Felix Perez feels about hot dogs, or rain delays for that matter...but Chihiro and I had our share of hot dogs, plus a 1 hour 7 minute rain delay with the most violent rain and wind I've ever seen at Louisville Slugger Field, and Felix Perez went 3-for-4 with an RBI against the visiting Buffalo Bisons.  

Didi Gregorius did his part in the first inning, with a dandy of a line-drive solo HR in deep right field to give the Bats an early lead.  The Bisons responded in the 3rd, when Lucas May led off the inning with a double, was advanced to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt by starting pitcher Chris Schwinden, and eventually scored on a 2-out RBI single by Mike Baxter.

The score was locked at 1-1 and hey, even Chad Reineke was having one of his better evenings...through his 5 innings of work, he had only allowed 1 run (earned), 5 hits, one BB and 5 strikeouts (4 of them swinging).  Schwinden was holding his own well after the Gregorius opening potato, having allowed only that 1 run (earned), 6 hits, no walks, one HB and 5 strikeouts (all of them swinging).  The game was moving along at a brisk pace, when at 8:22pm (only 1:17 into the game), the bottom of the 5th, with 1 on and 2 outs, the rain hit hard, the tarp went on, and stayed on until 9:29pm.  By that time, Schwinden (as well as Reineke)  could not have been expected to continue the game...Schwinden was relieved by Jenrry Mejia, who retired Neftali Soto to end the 5th.

Mejia stayed in for another inning, while Reineke was relieved by Will Ohman, Nick Christiani, and Donnie Joseph...all 3 of whom pitched 4 scoreless innings, with 3 combined hits and 8 combined strikeouts.  Relieving Mejia for the Bisons was Dylan Owen, who opened the 7th with a leadoff single to Willie Harris.  Harris advanced to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt by Denis Phipps; the next batter was Gregorius, who was intentionally walked on the 3-0 pitch, and Harris crossed the plate on a line drive single over 2nd base by Henry Rodriguez.  Neftali Soto also walks to load the bases for Felix Perez.  Perez is already 3-for-3 tonight with a double and two singles, and would have made an RBI groundout to 1B Adam Loewen, but Loewen bobbles the ball...Loewen is charged with an error.  Perez still gets an RBI, and Rodriguez also scores (no RBI) and the Bats are quickly up 4-1, they maintain this score through the end of the game.

So, finally Felix Perez becomes the story behind the game, for the first time this season...and not because of his side-splitting walkup music.  Not to be confused with the Venezuelan Felix Perez that played in the Cubs organization in 2010-2011, this Felix Perez is the Cuban outfielder who was infamously suspended for a year by MLB in the spring of 2009, after nearly signing a $3-3.5 million deal with the Yankees that fell apart when it was discovered he had lied about his age.  Perez rebounded from this and signed a Minor League contract with the Reds in May of 2010 for just over a half-million dollars.  Following a rapid ascent through the Reds' system through 2010 and most of 2011, Perez arrived in Louisville in August of 2011, playing in 9 games with a disappointing .206/.250/.235 to finish the season.  Perez is one of the more consistent performers on this year's roster, currently rounding out at .272/.319/.362 with 48 strikeouts and 15 walks in 268 AB (by comparison, Bill Rhinehart is .241/.321/.383 with 57 strikeouts and 30 walks in 261 AB).

That being said, my kids and I know when he's up when we hear "Chacarron Mocaron" which is too hilarious not to share.  He's an international man of mystery, for sure...but without a drastic improvement in his offensive numbers, he remains blocked by others at the Major League level and can only hope for inclusion in a trade deal during the offseason to carry his career to the big leagues.

In the Mystery Rookie Card game, Chihiro made a stunning pick...this 1993 Upper Deck Johnny Damon RC, a card with questionable value but still very kool just the same.

My pick was not so exciting, a 2006 Topps 52 Dustin Nippert RC.  Dustin was a 15th round pick in the 2002 amateur draft and was a mainstay in the Diamondbacks organization for 6 seasons from 2002-2007, appearing in 41 games for the club from 2005-2007 with a combined 2-3 record and 6.43 ERA.  Dustin was traded to the Texas Rangers in the spring of 2008 for Jose Marte, and performed somewhat better for the MLB club, with a 12-13 record and 4.91 ERA in 78 games from 2008-2010.  Interesting Dustin Nippert fact is despite his lackluster career performance, he managed to make postseason appearances for both clubs; the Diamondbacks NLCS in 2007 (2 games), and the Rangers ALDS in 2010 (1 game)...with a career postseason ERA of 5.40.  Also interesting, Dustin was sidelined in a scary incident on July 19, 2010 when an Austin Jackson line drive hit him on the side of the head so hard, it ricocheted past 3rd base into left field.  He walked off the field on his own accord (and did so smiling).  Tough kid, granted free agency by the Rangers in December of 2010 and signed a contract with the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) Doosan Bears in March of 2011, and is still on their roster as a starting pitcher.

I attempted, with no success, to trade this card with Chihiro for the Damon RC.  

Official Program #3, featuring Kristopher Negron

Official Scorecard #3, featuring Corky Miller...and autographed by Corky Miller!!

Bat Chat

5/14/11 Buffalo Bisons 3, Louisville Bats 8

Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville, KY
Game 2 of 4

The CASUAL FAN (Tug Haines) meets THE BASEBALL ENTHUSIAST (yours truly)

I’ve been following Tug Haines on Twitter for a few weeks now; I can’t remember who originally tweeted “you need to follow this guy” but I do remember reading “he’s going to X games in Y months” and he was already my hero.

Who is Tug Haines? Keep reading…

As the weeks have progressed, Tug has been tweeting conservatively about his travels, which park he’s at today, the odometer reading and location, etc. We’ve exchanged a few “@ replies” but have never met. I’ve also hit his blog (The Casual Fan, a very nice title) a few times a week, to catch his “photo game recaps” and his ever-popular “walking tour” pictorials of parks he’s been to so far. Tug’s updates are always looked forward to on a semi-daily basis.

I was away from Twitter for a few days last week, dealing with business at work and being just plain miserable due to the weather here, and also sick from an allergies + head cold = sinus infection that really had me knocked around a bit. Saturday morning, I happened to check Twitter whilst working in the yard and noticed that Tug’s odometer was in Bowling Green and he was making his way to Louisville to see Dontrelle Willis start against the Buffalo Bisons. I thought “wow, it would be GREAT to meet Tug Haines,” so we exchanged tweets…I had ten bucks in my wallet (today wasn’t my day for the season ticket schedule) and I thought ‘hey, there’s a chance this could work out…’

You have to stop right here, for just a moment, and consider the odds before I go any further. Two times this season I’ve had an opportunity to see Dontrelle Willis (who has done very, very well so far) and two times rain has fouled up those opportunities. In fact, the rain has fouled up quite a bit of opportunities this season, not just for the Bats, or for Minor League Baseball, or for Major League Baseball. Not great odds, all the way around.

Anyway, looking at the weather and the radar, I had to let Tug know I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out or not, but I would do my best. My window for yard work closed about 20 minutes after it started to rain again, but having wrapped up the yard work I pressed on with my plans to see the Bats with Tug Haines. By 4:45 my mind was made up, the clouds cleared up a bunch, and I was on my way to Slugger Field for a 6:05 first pitch and $2 craft beers!!



There was a 12-minute delay in getting the tarp rolled back, nevertheless I met Tug in section 110, on the first base side, right underneath my season ticket seats…we enjoyed a tasty adult beverage, some quick baseball trip discussion, and at last, Dontrelle Willis on the mound!!

The rain did hold off for the most part, so maybe the Dontrelle/Rain curse really did continue its reign of terror, even if not so terrible. There was some very very very light sprinkles during the early innings that seemed to pass quickly and did not impact my scoresheets nor my countenance. Towards the end of the game, as darkness fell, the air turned a great deal cooler and a light wall of mist moved continuously across the field, but stayed away from Section 110.

Dontrelle Willis on the mound. Never mind some of his struggles over the past couple of years, he is a very good pitcher.

These pictures are from the top of the 2nd inning, Dontrelle’s only tough inning. That’s Buffalo Bisons RF Valentino Pascucci on third, about ready to cross the plate on a peculiar infield single by 3B Jonathan Malo…


This was really kool, I think that Pascucci has (for now) my favorite Italian baseball name. You really get the full effect when the PA announcer called his name at bat, “the right fiiielder, Valentiiiiinoo PascOOOOOOOOchee…” However, Tug and I both thought Jonathan Malo had the coolest name of the game. Tug said “there’s a guy who could drop his first name, and just go by ‘MALO’…” Yes, that would be awesome!!

Of course, none of my posts about the Bats would be complete without a photo of good ol’ Todd Frazier (playing LF today, as Juan Francisco –on 2B in this shot- is in town on a rehab stint at 3B)…Todd is on first after reaching on a single to left-center field. He was 1-for-4 with two sky-high fly balls and a strike out; he scored a run on an up-against-the-wall double by Danny Dorn 3 batters later…

Nick Evans plays a deep 1B with Jeremy Hermida at bat, Todd on 1st but no threat to steal, Francisco at 2B



Chris Valaika (2-for-4) reaches first in the bottom of the 6th after being hit by Bisons reliever RHP John Lujan


The Bats did very well, with a big inning in the 5th that saw starter Brian Sweeney get the hook in favor of (WOW) Bobby Parnell, who struggled a bit but not like Sweeney did to start the inning. Devin Mesoraco had a great night (as usual), and so did Danny Dorn. Willis was impressive, I’m glad I finally got to see it…5.1IP, 9H, 3R, 2ER, BB, 2K, 25BF, 92 pitches, 60 strikes.

It was a great game to watch, and even better (and more like an honor, if you will) that I got to enjoy it with Tug Haines. You should know more about Tug’s Casual Fan project…that being said, visit his BLOG right now, read more about the project, and see what he’s up to. Follow Tug on Twitter, he’s @TugHaines…as a parting shot here’s Tug and I after the game:


You can check out Tug’s game-related post here and see some of his fantastic photos from the game here, as well as his own personal “Dontrelle connection”…

I have to share this photo; Dontrelle got on base with a nice single, moved up to 2B by Zack Cozart, and was really acting more like a baserunner and less like a ‘pitcher on the basepaths’…Chris Valaika hits a screaming line drive to left-center field, and Dontrelle is sent home on the play. The relay throw is on the mark and on time, and this amazing shot of Dontrelle as he’s caught at the plate is one of the best baseball pics ever…

PHOTO CREDIT: Tug Haines

Thanks again for letting me hang out with you on this very small trip, Tug! I really feel like I made a great new friend tonight, maybe in a year or so, when/if Mark and I head to the east coast for our own BIL Tour, you can meet up with us for a few games on that trip…and hopefully next time you’re in town this season, we can do this again!! Until then keep those updates coming! “If you don’t post something every day, people stop coming!”




Official Scorecard and Bat Chat