Category: Sports

Day three – Is this really cricket?

So, today is day three of Friday’s AirHogs – Diablos game, and hopefully, it will get finished this afternoon. Unfortunately, we have the same umpiring crew, so it could be a long afternoon. Friday’s game was under threat of spraying for West Nile virus (actually, against West Nile virus), so there was a hard stop in place – no inning could start after 10:15pm. (The usual curfew for the American Association is midnight, and I think we’ve hit that twice in four years.) As the game went on, I thought “What a stupid announcement. I haven’t seen a game go past 10pm all season and I’ve been to almost all the home games.” Oops. This was not a good thought to have.

AirHogs are leading going into the bottom of the seventh, 9-8. There’s lightning in the sky. We’re about to have chemicals dropped on our heads by our local government. Surely, the umpires will just call the game due to poison. Nope.

AirHogs are leading going into the bottom of the eighth, 9-8. There’s still regular lightning. The poison planes are in the air, according to WFAA’s text message. Surely, the umpires will call the game. It was legal a long time ago, and the home team is winning. Nope.

Top of the ninth. Diablos have men on base, two out, two strikes. Justin Dowdy throws strike three. Game over!! Wait. The umpire says it’s a ball. WTF? Then, it happens AGAIN. Apparently, you need five strikes to get some batters out. The tying run comes in. Dowdy makes a gentle suggestion that the home plate umpire might want to visit PearleVision (I’m assuming.) He’s ejected. Hmm. Maybe he wasn’t talking about glasses.

Then, AirHogs are set down in the bottom of the ninth. Tie game. Still, we have a bit of momentum going. Oh, wait. The 10:15pm rule. Game suspended.

No problem, the Diablos are in town all weekend. So, continue game at 5:00pm Saturday to get it finished before the 7:00pm game is scheduled to start. On the bright side, it should be easy to park, since nobody will know that baseball starts at five and not seven.

Saturday, the heavens over Dallas open. Rain. If it were raining frogs, I would assume the umpires were just the first plague of many, but this is just rain.

The bar does good business. The snack stands do good business. Just after 8pm, everyone is told, “By the way, we’re not playing tonight.” Thank you, Captain Obvious.

The last time this happened, the team got a really nasty letter sent to them, the league and posted on their Facebook page. Apparently, some fans don’t know that baseball is not played in the rain, but they will wait until the absolute last moment to announce this. (The absolute last moment being about an hour to an hour and a half after the scheduled start.) If it is sprinkling, they may play. If it is pouring, have a beer and head for the exits. Trust me.

So, this afternoon at 1pm, the AirHogs and Diablos are finishing Friday’s game. Then, they’re playing Saturday’s game. Then, they’re playing Sunday’s game. Even Ernie Banks would say that’s a bit too much.

Let’s hope they get them in before the spraying (also suspended) starts up again. I would hate to see umpires melting as the pest spray rains down on them. No, wait, I wouldn’t mind that much, at all.

Diablos vs AirHogs, day three. A unique phrase, indeed.

One piece in place

Although some of us have known this for a while, the AirHogs finally announced this week that Skipper Ricky VanAsselberg has signed a two-year deal to continue managing the team. So, the skipper will be back from the championship team. Now, we just have to wonder how much of the crew will return. The transaction log has been relatively silent (for the AirHogs, anyway), but I assume that will be changing as the countdown to the start of the season begins in earnest.

Underwater

Saw a photo of the ballpark underwater this morning – well, the dugout, anyway. Had a flashback to earlier storms during games, watching players head for higher ground. If the bench is under water, it may be a wee bit wet on the field.

Rain delays were always a good time to meet the players – the only dry areas are usually where the crowd would be.

I miss baseball. It’s almost time to start the final countdown to the home opener, May 21st.

World Series Bound

The Texas Rangers are going back to the World Series. Who would have thought anyone would type “The Rangers are back in the World Series” before they typed “The Cowboys are back in the Super Bowl”?

The Rangers declawed the Tigers 15-5 last night to win the AL Championship. The turning point was the 9-run third inning where the Tigers used a good portion of their bullpen and the Rangers hit around the order. Michael Young hit two two-run doubles in the same inning. I’m sure there were people in Detroit thinking, “Maybe baseball should try that “Play for an hour and stop” rule like other sports”, but the Rangers just kept hitting.

It was the first Rangers game I saw in person this year, and I think I picked the right game.

That’s two championships clinched while I was in the stands this year. It’s interesting sharing a ballpark with 51,000 other people instead of 900. The crowd’s emotion level is similar when the final out clinched the victory for the home team, but it’s a different level, partially because of the crowd size and partially because of the relationship of the fans to the players. I know the Rangers – I see them on TV all the time. However, I know the AirHogs – I talk to them, I have dinner with them, we’re connected online. So, as happy as I am for the Rangers (and this team deserved the victory and I think they may be the ones to bring a World Series victory to Texas), it’s different.

Now, the wait to see who the opponent will be, just like the end of the AirHogs season. At least the Rangers don’t have to stay in a hotel in Wichita.

The series provided the beauty of baseball for me – you can win in dramatic fashion on offense (a walk-off grand slam) or you can win on defense (a first baseman’s glove cradling a pop-up for the final out.) It doesn’t matter what the score is, the visitor gets their at-bats, and the home team gets their chance to respond. You can’t run out the clock, you have to get the outs.

The Rangers got the hits, then they got the outs. Now, it’s on to the World Series.

An interesting scheduling note – the Cowboys will be playing at home next week while a potential game 4 of the World Series is next door at Rangers Stadium. I hope Jerry Jones won’t gouge the baseball fans that park in his lot when the Ballpark lots fill up. Baseball will never break the stranglehold football has on the Texas psyche, but I think the Rangers may be a slightly better team than the Cowboys.

Mighty Casey

So, for the second year in a row, Mighty Casey has stuck out. Alex Rodriguez, the former Texas Rangers Captain (not the mascot, the guy with the “C” on his uniform), sent the New York Yankees home last night by striking out to end game five of the ALDS. It’s too bad he was the “only man” on the Rangers team back when he was here, because if he were still a Ranger, he’d still be in the post-season.

Of course, Mighty Casey only saw three pitches. A-Rod went down on a 1-2 pitch.

A-Rod also struck out swinging in the seventh on a 2-2 pitch with the bases loaded, which is probably even more painful. From an offensive standpoint, that’s a lot of people to leave stranded in a critical game.

If he gets a tattoo, it should just say “Offer Expires September 30th.”

I usually don’t wish ill on specific players (well, not many players, anyway), but in his case, I make an exception. (The one advantage of his moving to New York is now he can be a putz. Not as many in Texas know the term. Down here, he was just a piss-ant.)

Last night, it wasn’t wishing ill, it was more of a premonition. We weren’t actually watching the game, we were following along sporadically online while cleaning off the DVR, since the Spousal Unit is convinced watching the game on TV may jinx them. After I looked at the box score and saw he had struck out in the seventh, I said, “Well, at least he won’t be up again.” Then, she said, “No, he’s up in the ninth.”, and read me the batting order. I said “Wow. He’s going to be the final out.” Of course, that required two other people to get out ahead of him, but they complied. To their credit, at least they both hit the ball.

It’s interesting how one player can still cause so much angst years after he is gone. Last night, many of the sportswriters in Dallas were not simply tweeting that the Yankees lost (basic news reporting) but rather how they lost (A-Rod struck out. Again.) Apparently, I was not the only one he failed to charm.

So, the Yankees are done for the year which annoys the Spousal Unit no end, but the Rangers are still in, so we have a reason to watch the rest of the playoffs.

Actually, there’s a reason to watch the playoffs even if the Rangers were out – it’s freakin’ baseball.

I miss baseball

I realize that’s a silly thing to say when for most people, the baseball playoffs haven’t started, but AirHogs baseball ended a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still going through withdrawals. Three of our players were traded to the Atlantic League, and are all in the playoffs, so there is a chance I’ll know someone with two rings in a couple of weeks.

After that, I guess it will be time to relearn the Major Leaguers’ names and watch the MLB playoffs. It’s just not the same.

Update: Your Texas Rangers clinched tonight! They’ve won the AL West two years straight. So, there’s a local team in the playoffs. Of course, they have to win the World Series to match the AirHogs’ season.

We Are The Champions

2011 Grand Prairie AirHogsIt seems like a long time since the 2011 season started, but actually it’s only been four months. Four months and 109 games later, the Grand Prairie AirHogs are the 2011 American Association Champions.

After being down 0-2 in the championship series, they won three straight at home to defeat the St Paul Saints and win the championship. They dominated with pitching, they dominated with hitting and then they just dominated.

I told the coaches last night that I never knew a five-game series was two warm-up games and a sweep.

I’ve spent many painful years watching Metroplex teams come close, just to have it slip away (or get thrown away) in the end. Some teams (I’m looking at you, Jerry Jones) can’t even come that close very often any more. I’ve always consoled myself with the thought that even if the team wins, it really doesn’t have an effect on my life – I’m not on the team, after all.

Now that I’ve seen a championship won the hard way, you know what? My life does seem a bit better this morning.

On the way home from QTP last night, I thought “Wow. I’ve been hugged by sweating, champagne-soaked guys trying to move like Berney“, but then I realized that “I’ve actually stood on the field where a championship was won” probably sounds better.

I’ve actually stood on the field where a championship was won. This is actually the second time this year I can say this, since the fans were invited onto the field when the AirHogs clinched their division.  One of the special joys of watching minor-league baseball is that you can actually interact with the players and staff. They’re approachable. This lets their dedicated fans become involved with the team in ways that are simply not possible with major leagues. I learned a lot of baseball this season, because if I had a question, all I had to do was go ask the manager. He was at the bar after the game was over.

I wish more people would realize this, because it makes following the team much more enjoyable. Sure, it’s even more heart-breaking when someone you know and like gets traded, but that is tempered by the happiness when one of your favorite players gets called up to affiliated ball. Once you’ve met the players, they’re never that far away – most of them are on Facebook, after all.

The AirHogs did everything they could on the field this year. Next year, I’m hoping that being a championship team may bring more fans into the fold. This team deserve to play in front of a full park.

For all the talk of teamwork that floats around sports, from my perspective, the 2011 AirHogs actually were a team. I think even more than a team,  they were a family. They talked to each other. They stuck up for each other. They moved like Berney together (turn speakers off first at the office!) There was even a barber on the team (who apparently only knows how to do Mohawks.)

There was a different hero every night, sometimes multiple. German Duran hit over .500 against St Paul, including a home run last night and he was hurt. David Espinosa hit two 3-run home runs in one game. Stephen Douglas had 3 RBIs last night. In the Wichita series, John Alonso drew a walk to win a game and then hit the single against St Paul that won the first home game – the start of the comeback. Cesar Nicolas hit a 2-run single that drove a stake in the Saints hearts to finish the final game. The starting pitching the last three games (Josh Rainwater, John Brownell with a complete game and Jason Jennings last night) shut down the Saints.

This was the team that finally made me realize an obvious truth – you can’t have RBIs without people in front of you getting on base. They even helped each other’s stats.

I’ve gone to a playoff game before thinking “This one is ours.” (I’m looking at you, Dallas Desperados.) I was trying not to think that last night, just in case. The 2011 AirHogs were the team that didn’t let me down.

I never thought the AirHogs were invincible, it was just that a championship seemed inevitable. It was an interesting feeling.

When they clinched their division two weeks before anyone else, I was actually concerned that they had peaked too early, since everyone else that got into the playoffs had extra time for building momentum.

When they won in four games in Wichita while St Paul needed five games (and extra innings in most) to knock off Winnipeg, I hoped that St Paul would be tired – and I was concerned about the AirHogs having to wait in Wichita to see how far North they would travel for the championship series, instead of coming home. When they dropped the first two in St Paul, it should have been panic time, but I had learned this year that it was one game at a time. One game at a time three times in a row means rings.

So, in a season where manager Ricky VanAsselberg had three weeks to build a team after being transferred over from Shreveport, he can step back and say he’s now won back-to-back championships with two different teams – a multi-city dynasty of sorts. His team just beat the team that beat the Manager of the Year’s team. The Manager of the Year is pretty much Miss Congeniality at this point.

Ricky said he’d rather have a ring that a title. After last night, he’s got another one. Congratulations!

 

Stayin’ Alive

The true measure of a team is how is responds when it has its back against the wall. After dropping the first two games of the five-game championship series against the St Paul Saints, the AirHogs were in a must-win situation last night.

This was the night all the pieces came together at the same time. Josh Rainwater pitched eight great innings – including four three up, three down frames. The defense backed him up (in spite of three errors), and the bats produced just enough for the win.

It took eleven innings and it wasn’t that pretty, but it was very good baseball. In the end, as John Alonso singled and David Espinosa crossed the plate, there was a very important lesson proven – the Saints aren’t invincible.

Go AirHogs!

The Dead Zone

It’s almost time for AirHogs baseball again. Since the AirHogs clinched their division series in four games, they got a day off while St Paul finished off Winnipeg. Then, they had a travel day yesterday. Tonight, they start the finals in St Paul. Two games there, three games at home with another travel day in between. So, we can watch online tonight, but we won’t see the team in person until Saturday.

It’s been a long time since the team has been home. Because of the rather unique way the playoffs were designed (based on geography, rather than seeding, with the wild card playing the winner in its division), the AirHogs started at home (two games), went to Wichita (two games, including the series winner) and then have just stayed there to see how much further north they were headed for the finals. So, this has been the first road trip all year that had travel days built-in, and it’s also the first road trip that had a day off just because the AirHogs clinched before anyone else.

100 games didn’t seem like much at the beginning of the season, but the beginning of the season now seems like it was a long time ago. This is when you realize that those 100 games (104 with the first round playoff series) were only played so the team could get to this point. Quite a prelude.

You can tell it’s almost time for the end of the baseball season in Texas, because the weather is decent. After 100-degree evenings all summer long, we should have (slightly) cooler temperatures for the finals.

So, five games to go in the season. First team to three wins gets the rings. Go AirHogs!