Late Fireworks at the Cove

Today I was in South Bend to see the Lansing Lugnuts and the South Bend Silverhawks play a Midwest League game. Except for A.J. Jiminez hitting a solo home run in the 4th inning it was a quiet game. A.J. is shown above fouling off the pitch before the home run. The score was 2-0 Lansing, and it looked like both pitchers were in control. That is until the bottom of the eighth. The Silverhawks scored once to cut the score to 2-1. Randy Rodriguez came in the game to pitch the top of the ninth for the Silverhawks, and started getting hit hard right away. Jimenez smoked the first ball to centerfield, and would have had extra bases if not for Keon Broxton. That kid can cover some ground out in center. The next batter Brad Glenn took a ball out of the stadium in left for a home run. Another long out was recorded before the ninth hitter in the lineup, Oliver Dominguez, hit another shot. Rodriguez finally got out of the inning, but the Hawks were down 4-1 by the time he was done. David Nick closed out the scoring by hitting a two run shot for the Hawks in the bottom of the ninth. His two out home run that hit the church in left brought the Hawks to within one, but they could not pull the game out. They fall to 23-27 on the season.

Okay, Where is the Real Carlos Silva…and Who is This Guy?

Today Carlos Silva pitched another great game for the Cubs to go 7-0 on the season. Who would have thought this was possible when he was swapped for Milton Bradley in the off season. Silva struck out 11 in seven innings of work for the win. He only gave up two hits (both of which were to Matt Holliday). I keep waiting for the real Carlos Silva to show up, but maybe he has found something and this is the real Carlos Silva. The bullpen came in and kept the Cardinals in check for the next two innings to preserve the shutout. Sean Marshall had a rocky 1/3 of an inning, but another Carlos, Carlos Zambrano, came in to bail him out. Jeff Stevens pitched well in the ninth to close out the game.

Top Cubs – Cardinals Games

Tomorrow I will be lucky enough to be in the bleachers for my fifth Cubs-Cardinals game. I have seen some great games in the series. I thought that I would look back and see which one stands out as the best so far.

1. 9/2/2003 – This was game one of a day-night doubleheader between the two teams. We had already seen 4 1/2 innings of a previous Cubs/Cardinals game with the ticket before a rainout. That game will be later on the countdown. We traded that ticket in for this afternoon game in the bleachers at Wrigley. Both teams ended regulation tied at two thanks to a Jim Edmonds home run off of Carlos Zambrano, and an error by Albert Pujols. In the bottom of the 15th Sammy Sosa hit two run shot to end the game after 4 hours and 47 minutes. His two run blast was career number #531, and landed in the left field bleachers. So for our $30 investment we were able to see 19 1/2 innings of baseball. How can you possibly top that? The game ended 11 minutes before the gates were supposed to open for game two. Obviously they had to clear the park quickly, and let the fans back in. The key to the 4-2 win for the Cubs was an error in the fifth inning by Albert Pujols that allowed the Cubs to score their two runs.

One For the Rohde

Today I attended my second Railcats game in as many days. I don’t know if I would have gone, but a free ticket said that I would. I had a seat behind the Railcats bench, but once again the kids were all over the place so I moved to the top of the section. By the middle of the second inning I had seen enough kids walk in front of me for an entire game so I walked out to the outfield terrace. I was going for one of the picnic benches, but the wind was howling out to left so I just hung out on the fence getting cooled off by the wind. The third batter that inning Tanner Townsend pounded a liner that I knew right away had a chance. It came off the screen, and I had my first home run ball! I have been to many games, but never caught a home run ball. Technically I did not catch this one on the fly, but a ball is a ball. This was also the first ball that I have gotten that was in play. I have gotten a couple foul balls this season, but never a fair ball.

Famous Lineage: Brian Bannister

This is the second post in the famous lineage series. The first was on Valparaiso pitcher/outfielder Kyle Gaedele and his link to Eddie Gaedel. One thing that I like when I go to a sporting event is to trace players back to their famous relatives. It is even cooler when I saw their relative play. This is especially true in the case of Brian Bannister. His father Floyd pitched for the White Sox and Royals among other team. Floyd pitched the first three White Sox games that I attended. The first two as a member of the White Sox, and the third as a member of the Kansas City Royals. Floyd was a overall #1 pick in the MLB draft in 1976 a year before future teammate Harold Baines would take that honor. He would not come onto my radar unto he signed a free agent contract with the White Sox in 1983. He would help that team to the Western Division title in 1983, and give them solid starts through 1987. In 1988 he signed with the Royals and pitched well again. He hurt his arm in 1989, and was never the same pitcher again.

Simon Says No To Gary

Today I had the day off so I decided to attend the Gary Railcats morning game at the Steel Yard. It was an 11:00 start, and local schools from all around were in attendance. I usually work so I can never attend these types of games. I decided to take advantage of a rare summer (it was as hot as summer) day off and take the short drive to Gary. One word of caution though. If you want to make it around the stadium or watch the game in peace this is not the kind of day for you. The concourse was the meeting place, and even the Gary police were having a tough time keeping it opened.