Tagged: Toronto Blue Jays
The Gambler
We all know how the song starts….’On a cold winter’s morning..’. And that’s exactly how it felt this morning when my alarm blared in my ear, telling me it was time to get up and get the kids ready for school. Despite being the first day of spring, ‘old man winter’ pounded us with another few inches of snow. Throw the high winds and cold with it, and it’s just another winter storm, complete with low visibility and icy roads. Spring has not sprung, and winter looks as if it wants to stay with us for a little longer. Today was also the day that single game tickets went on sale for the Lansing LugNuts. Here’s where the gambling part comes in.. Despite there being several feet of snow on the ground, and temperatures in the 20’s, I took a gamble and ordered tickets for the Crosstown Showdown on April 11th. I’m sure the grounds crew at Cooley Law School Stadium is working diligently to get the field ready for game action, but there’s still no guarantee what the weather will be like and how cold it will be in just a few short weeks. If it was just me, I wouldn’t care too much, but I’m hoping it’s warm enough for the kids to sit through. I rolled the dice, however, so we’ll see what happens. The Crosstown Showdown is the LugNuts opening day exhibition game against the Michigan State University Spartans, based in East Lansing. According to the LugNuts, this is one of the most attended games every season, so I guess we were lucky to get tickets. Trevor is the one who really wanted to see this game, as he’s a Sparty backer, for some reason. It should be a fun day all around, too, as we plan on visiting the State Capitol building while down there, as well as a couple of museums. If I’m going to pull the kids out of school, I have to justify it somehow, right? It should be a good game to watch, also, as MSU is the defending Big Ten champions, and Lansing had a great season last year. So, in a few weeks we’ll pack up and head downstate…and hope that Mother Nature deals us a favorable hand.
Promotion courtesy of the Lansing LugNuts
Whitecaps hand Lansing first loss
The Lansing Lugnuts are having a great season. No doubt about it, with a current record of 9-1. Their only blemish, however, came at the bats of the West Michigan Whitecaps on Friday night. The hero of the come-from-behind victory, was Danry Vasquez, who went 3-4 with the winning two run homer in the eighth inning. The 18-year-old Vaszuez is also ranked 18th on the Detroit Tigers prospect list by Baseball America. ‘Caps closer Dan Bennett made it interesting, but held on for the save, while relief pitcher Jade Todd earned the win. Also pitching in offensively, was Steven Moya, who was 2-2 on the night with a home run of his own. Eugenio Suarez also went yard to help West Michigan’s 5-4 victory. The team was unable to bottle that late game lighting, however, as they fell to the Lugnuts on Saturday by the same score of 5-4 in 12 innings. Sunday’s game would be another close one, and it was made a little more exciting with a home town boy on the mound for….Lansing. Jesse Hernandez played for Grand Rapids Community College and Central Michigan University before being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. The Lugnuts slugged their way to another 5-4 win, but Hernandez wasn’t involved in the decision. He did seem to appreciate the home town support, though, despite pitching for the visitors.
“It was amazing, and I can’t put it into words how it felt,” Hernandez told the Grand Rapids Press. “It is nice knowing that you have so many people behind you supporting you and I’m just very appreciative of those people. It was great having them their.”
The Whitecaps took a 3-1 lead, but were unable to hold it. They had the scoring chances, but were unable to come up with the big hits to drive home runs. Seven of these first ten game for the Whitecaps have been decided by just one run. It was enough to frustrate manager Ernie Young a bit.
“I look at it as not taking advantage of all the opportunities we had,” Young also told the Press. “We’re not going to take advantage of all of them, but however, when we have an opportunity to get a pitcher out of a game, we have to find a way to do it. I hope that we will grow from this-losing by one run these three games-and get better. Hopefully we can find a way to pull for each other, to get a big hit or big stolen base, or take and extra base, something.”
The 4-6 Whitecaps now travel to Eastlake, Ohio to take on the Lake County Captains for three games before returning home to face the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
Grand Rapids native Jesse Hernandez on the mound for the Lugnuts
Photos courtesy of the Grand Rapids Press
2011 BBT Day 5: Cat Fight in Connecticut
New Britain Rock Cats vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats: New Britain Stadium-New Britain, CT
New Britain Stadium-New Britain, CT
We had a really nice drive from Boston down to Connecticut. The weather was beautiful..until we got to New Britain, and it starting raining and lightning. I’m thinking, ‘Wow..here we go again’. Lucky for us the rain finally stopped, and the game between the Rock Cats and the Fisher Cats would take place. This would be our third Eastern League game on this trip, and our second time watching the Fisher Cats. If you’re planning on attending a game in New Britain, though, I advise you to leave plenty of time before the game starts. It took us almost forty minutes to get off the highway and into the parking lot. They have the most inefficient method of parking cars I’ve ever seen at a ball park. By the time we got into the stadium, the game had already started, which, along with the impending rain, put me in a sour mood. We got our shopping done and found our seats, which were pretty good. The weather again must have scared off a lot of fans, because the crowd wasn’t all that huge, but better than the other games we were at. New Britain Stadium was a nice place to watch a game, and I can’t imagine there is a bad seat in the place. It really didn’t seem as fan friendly as the other parks we’ve been to, either. Being in New England, maybe the fans aren’t too excited about the Rock Cats being a Minnesota Twins affiliate, but it seemed like a dull crown for a Friday night. I go again if I was in the area, but would rather catch a game in Manchester or Portland if given the choice. Final Score: Fisher Cats 6, Rock Cats 2.
The spray can races
Photos property of M.I.B.
2011 BBT Day 2: The Manchester Movie Maniac
New Hampshire Fisher Cats vs. Binghamton Mets: Northern Delta Dental Stadium-Manchester, NH
I was very happy to learn on my arrival to Manchester that tonight’s game was going to be played. This is my first time watching a game from the Eastern League, and I was excited to see actually baseball taking place. Northern Delta Dental Stadium is nothing fancy, but definitely a nice place to watch a ball game. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We had a long chat with the head of the Food Service department, as he worked for the West Michigan Whitecaps for years when he first broke into working in Minor League baseball. He had nothing but good things to say about the ‘Cap organization, but New Hampshire was his home state, so he jumped at the chance to work for the Fisher Cats when the opportunity came. It’s amazing how much my Whitecaps hat is recognized, and the conversations it can start. Our seats were down the third base side, but the visitors dugout, so lots of pics of the visiting Mets. The crowd was pretty thin due to the cold and rainy weather, so it was hard to gauge the real atmosphere. I’m betting this team gets lots of support through the season, though. The highlight of the night was me getting a chance to play movie trivia and be on the big screen in front of dozens and dozens of people. It was Teacher Appreciation Night, but due to the small crowd, they couldn’t find a teacher, so I had to due (my sister is a teacher…so I guess that was close enough). The movie clip they showed me was pretty easy to guess…it was The Incredibles by Disney/Pixar. Having kids is really starting to pay off. I won two free movie tickets to the local theatre, but gave them to some kids because we were heading out of town the next morning. Yeah, I know..awww. In return, the kids gave me a game ball, so it worked out for the best for all of us. If some of the pics look foggy it’s from the, fog, I guess, as well as the constant misting. It really felt good to get the game in though…hoping we luck out in Portland. Our experience in Manchester was definitely a positive one. Final Score: New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7, Binghamton Mets 1.
Northern Delta Dental StadiumThe Starting Lineups
Photos property of M.I.B.
Hurray for Opening Day
Heading downstate, I wasn’t very optimistic about this game actually taking place, as all the weather reports called for thunder storms. The baseball gods must have felt generous, though, and after the first three games of the season were postponed from Lansing, the Whitecaps and Lugnuts were finally able to kick the season off in Comstock Park. The sun was shining as I packed the kids kid in the car. The boys stayed back at my sisters due to illness, so I got to spend the day at the ball park with my favorite girl (my daughter, not Avril Lavigne). The weather was sunny as we played catch in the parking lot before the gates opened at 11:00 a.m. When we were finally let into the ball park our sences were overloaded with the smells of popcorn, hot dogs, and freshly cut grass as we recieved out free hats and found our seats. Lily played at the park for a bit before we got in line for autographs on the field at 12:15 p.m. They only allowed about fifteen minutes on the field, so we had to hustle to get her baseball and cards signed. Lily did get to meet the Tigers number two prospect Nick Castellanos and former Major Leaguers Ben Oglivie and Ernie Young. The rest of the day was perfect for baseball, topping low 80’s (a record high for the ‘Caps openers) with a nice breeze for us to enjoy the action.
The game itself was a real pitchers duel, with the Whitecaps winning 13-12 with a walk-off hit in the ninth. Trailing 12-7, they scored the last six runs of the game for the win. West Michigan battled back with a seventh inning two-run homer by Luis Castillo, and a three-run shot by James Robbins to even the score in inning eight. In the ninth inning, Dixon Machado stole second and scored the winning run on a two-out base hit by Rob Brantly. Machado was 4-5 on the day with a stolen base and three runs scored. Brantley went 2-4 with the home run and a two-run double. Bruce Rondon came on in the ninth to close the door and earn the win.
I simply can’t wait for the next ball game we can make it too. Just another month until our trip in May, which will include a Whitecaps game, too.
Photos property of M.I.B.
Minoring In Baseball 