Fun In The Sun
So, it was about 9 a.m. today, and I asked myself, "do I have a lot of things to do today?" I answered, "yes," than I asked myself, "is it a beautiful day outside?" And I answered yes again. "Then the hell with the things I have to do," I told myself. "I'm going to the Rivercats game today.
I do love minor league baseball. And here in Sacramento we are very, very lucky. We've got a lovely ballpark, and we've got a Pacific Coast League team that puts a great product on the field year after year since arriving in 2000.
Since it was a midweek afternoon game in April. there were plenty of good tickets available. That's not often the case here; the Rivercats have led the minor leagues in attendance every year since they set up shop. For $13, I found myself sitting in the third row from the field, just past the home dugout. That would be $34 at At&T Park, or whatever the Giants call it now.
And I got to see a pretty good game from that seat. The pitching matchup was a good one, Bobby Livingston for Tacoma against Shane Komine for the Rivercats. Komine is the type that is going to get little respect from scouts, a 5'9" righthander who barely touched 90 with his fastball. But he had everything working for him today, and going into the top of the eighth he had allowed just two hits and no walks, holding a 1-0 lead.
But Tacoma's Adam Jones, a pretty good center field prospect, homered off the left field fair pole to start the eighth, and a double and a single followed, putting Tacoma out in front. The Rivercats scored in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, but a walk, a nicely executed hit-and-run single by Jones, and a sacrifice fly gave Tacoma the winning run in the ninth.
Jones and Livingston were the best prospects that the Raniers put on display; the Rivercats featured the highly-touted Deric Barton and the infamous catcher from Moneyball, Jeremy Brown. Barton looked like exactly the hitter he's made out to be; a nice lefthanded stroke mixed with excellent strike zone judgement. He hit a line single, a triple into the rightfield corner, a lineout to center, and a grounder to second. Brown, who had been on track to prove right the scouts who said he couldn't play, came on with a fine year at AA last year, but didn't show much today. He looks at a lot of pitches, and Livingston took advantage and got ahead of him, forcing him to swing defensively.
And then there was Kevin Appier. Out of baseball entirely last year, Appier is attempting a comeback. It was odd to see him out there, struggling through one inning of relief. He still has the same horrible mechanics, but not the same fastball. It's a real longshot for him.
Besides Appier, there was a throwback to an even earlier era at the ballpark today. There was no obnoxiously loud music blasted over the PA system between innings. What, no Creed? No hip-hop? Nothing to rattle the ears and make conversation impossible? No, just someone playing the organ, as if we were back in the 1970's. Now there's a retro move I approve of. I don't know if this is permanent or just something special for today, but I can dream.
I do love minor league baseball. And here in Sacramento we are very, very lucky. We've got a lovely ballpark, and we've got a Pacific Coast League team that puts a great product on the field year after year since arriving in 2000.
Since it was a midweek afternoon game in April. there were plenty of good tickets available. That's not often the case here; the Rivercats have led the minor leagues in attendance every year since they set up shop. For $13, I found myself sitting in the third row from the field, just past the home dugout. That would be $34 at At&T Park, or whatever the Giants call it now.
And I got to see a pretty good game from that seat. The pitching matchup was a good one, Bobby Livingston for Tacoma against Shane Komine for the Rivercats. Komine is the type that is going to get little respect from scouts, a 5'9" righthander who barely touched 90 with his fastball. But he had everything working for him today, and going into the top of the eighth he had allowed just two hits and no walks, holding a 1-0 lead.
But Tacoma's Adam Jones, a pretty good center field prospect, homered off the left field fair pole to start the eighth, and a double and a single followed, putting Tacoma out in front. The Rivercats scored in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, but a walk, a nicely executed hit-and-run single by Jones, and a sacrifice fly gave Tacoma the winning run in the ninth.
Jones and Livingston were the best prospects that the Raniers put on display; the Rivercats featured the highly-touted Deric Barton and the infamous catcher from Moneyball, Jeremy Brown. Barton looked like exactly the hitter he's made out to be; a nice lefthanded stroke mixed with excellent strike zone judgement. He hit a line single, a triple into the rightfield corner, a lineout to center, and a grounder to second. Brown, who had been on track to prove right the scouts who said he couldn't play, came on with a fine year at AA last year, but didn't show much today. He looks at a lot of pitches, and Livingston took advantage and got ahead of him, forcing him to swing defensively.
And then there was Kevin Appier. Out of baseball entirely last year, Appier is attempting a comeback. It was odd to see him out there, struggling through one inning of relief. He still has the same horrible mechanics, but not the same fastball. It's a real longshot for him.
Besides Appier, there was a throwback to an even earlier era at the ballpark today. There was no obnoxiously loud music blasted over the PA system between innings. What, no Creed? No hip-hop? Nothing to rattle the ears and make conversation impossible? No, just someone playing the organ, as if we were back in the 1970's. Now there's a retro move I approve of. I don't know if this is permanent or just something special for today, but I can dream.
posted by Jim at
10:36 PM
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