SummerBall2002

Scoresheet memories from this season's minor league and amateur baseball games:

• 21 June - Reading Phillies 4, Bowie Baysox 2
  • first game of the year, first AA (Eastern League) game ever, and first time at Prince George's Stadium ... Merle and Robin and I get lost on the way to the ballpark and drive almost to Annapolis before turning back, but arrive in ample time
  • several players (e.g., Doug Gredvig, Napoleon Calzado) are now with Bowie whom we saw play at Frederick (single-A Carolina League) last year
  • good game, well-played, a home run by the visitors, a double play by the home team, 14 strikeouts including the final three outs of the game
• 2 July - Frederick Keys 7, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3
  • Merle and I (Paulette is in Maine, Gray in New Hampshire, Robin in Virginia) meet Carl R. and Aaron L., compatriots from work, at the Harry Grove Stadium ... a passing thunderstorm interrupts play for half an hour ca. mid-game ... the ground crew rolls out massive tarps to protect the field ... Attorney General John Ashcroft is there in an orange cap, with Secret Service guards --- he stays until the end
  • peanut shells crunch underfoot ... lime and cherry shave ice are a cool relief in the late innings
  • a child releases a balloon which nods its head and whips its string-tail behind it as, sperm-like, it wriggles up into the sky
  • the Keys score 3 runs in the 6th inning on two singles and a triple, and 3 more in the 7th on a single, walk, and home run
  • we slip away quickly after the final play in order to beat the crowds, and see some of the fireworks from the road as we drive off
• 11 July - Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts 7, Reston Hawks 6
  • first Clark Griffith League amateur game, first time at Blair High School park ... more players in the dugouts than fans in the stands as play begins
  • kids chase foul balls that land on adjacent fields ... they are asked to return the balls, to save the team money
  • good, cheap eats are sold from a folding table behind home plate: peanuts in paper bags, cans of soda from an ice chest, slices of pizza that arrive in the 5th inning and quickly sell out
  • a breathtaking high pop up in the 8th inning is caught, after what seems an infinite flight, by the T-bolt right fielder (Baisley)
  • a see-saw of a game: home team ahead 3-1 in middle innings, visitors score in the 6th and again in the 7th to tie it up, SS-T returns in the 8th to take a 5-3 lead, Reston come back with 3 runs in the top of the 9th, but the T-bolts recover to win on a walk and stolen base (by pitcher Johnson, who is also the DH), a double, and then a final single
• 13 July - Vienna Mustangs 5, Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts 1
  • I sit on the visitor's side of the bleachers behind parents of one of the Vienna pitchers (Morganthaler) ... they cheer lustily for their son as he goes a full 9 innings (alas, without a result)
  • local politician Chris Van Hollen shakes hands and chats with potential voters outside the park, then stays with his family to watch the game
  • two double plays by the home team, one by the visitors
  • a tight contest until the top of the 10th when the Mustangs break out of a 1-1 tie and knock in 4 runs on five singles ... the T-bolts go down on three ground balls in their half
• 17 July - Bethesda Big Train 6, Reston Hawks 5
  • hot and humid evening with Merle at Povich Field ... disappointingly, no peanuts for sale ("to avoid messing up the stands"? --- give me a break!), just overpriced and undercooked pizza plus various sweet munchies and drinks
  • seats beside the home team dugout ... some Big Train players come over to chat with their cute young girlfriends in front of us
  • only one umpire during the first half of the game ... he calls a 15 minute break after the 8th inning to take a rest from the heat
  • nice score card designed by Paul Dickson, local writer (whom I've sporadically met and spoken with in the Wheaton Library basement used-book sale)
  • excellent diving catch by Reston shortstop (Green) to end the 7th inning
  • the game is tied in the bottom of the 9th, when the visiting pitcher loads the bases and then walks in the winning run
• 18 July - Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts 5, Vienna Mustangs 4
  • the lady running the concession table apologizes for being out of peanuts; when more arrive from the storeroom an inning later she sends her tiny daughter into the stands to deliver a bag to me as I sit keeping score --- how sweet!
  • fine game: a 4-4 tie from innings 5 through 9, broken in the bottom of the 10th as the T-bolts hit a single, a sacrifice grounder, another single, and then score on an error by the visitors' pitcher
• 12 August - Staten Island Yankees 4, Aberdeen Ironbirds 0
  • first short-season single-A game (New York Penn League), and first expedition to Cal Ripkin's new ballpark in northern Maryland ... thanks to Ken S. and his daughter Hillary, who drive Robin and me there and back
  • game is almost a sell-out, but we arrive early and get seats in the last row along the third base line ... good food and drinks, reasonably priced
  • first Staten Island batter (center fielder Thompson) gets a home run on the third pitch ... a single plus another homer (by designated hitter Santos) soon follow to give the visitors a 3-run lead, which they supplement in the last inning when four singles in a row drive in another run
• 20 August - Frederick Keys 15, Lynchburg Hillcats 2
  • Merle and I ride with Ken S. to the game, to help him use up some of his excess tickets
  • behind the scoreboard in right field a nearly-full moon rises, torn ragged-edged by clouds, first on top, then bottom
  • Hillcat shortstop Castillo is hit in the head by a pitch in the 4th inning, and goes down for many minutes ... much applause for him when, after medical attention, he walks off under his own power ... substitute goes on to score a run for him
  • in the 7th inning two outstanding plays in a row: Keys' shortshop Pete Shier leaps and catches hard-hit grounders with his bare hand, then pegs to first for the outs
  • the Keys bat completely around their order twice, in the 4th and 7th innings, scoring respectively 6 runs (on a walk, three singles, three doubles) and 7 runs (on four walks, four singles, and one double)
• 26 August - Kannapolis Intimidators 9, Hagerstown Suns 1
  • first venture to Hagerstown Municipal Stadium, first South Atlantic League (Low-A) game ... an hour drive, alone, and the car radio fails on the '72 Dodge Dart near Frederick, leaving me (horrors!) with only my thoughts for company on the rest of the journey there and back
  • Bald is Beautiful night --- the young man at the admissions desk refuses to accept my money and insists "You get in free, Sir!", even though I argue that I still have some hair on top ... candy, peanuts, and ice cream are on sale for $1 ... friendly, intimate ballpark ... attendance is only 991 (not counting bald men who entered without paying?) ... plenty of room to stretch out ... cicadas chirp loudly in the foliage behind the stands
  • the game is close until the 6th inning when Kannapolis bats completely around the order and scores 5 runs on four singles and a homer
  • many hard-hit balls throughout ... excellent catches by Hagerstown left fielder (Florence) and center fielder (Carter)
  • late in the game I spot comrade Chuck E. (umpire and orchestra conductor) ... we chat and arrange to meet the next night in Bowie
  • 9th inning embarrassment: a fly ball (by Intimidator DH Reyes) to shallow left is surrounded by the third baseman, shortstop, and left fielder as it falls to earth between them, in a "Bermuda Triangle" formation --- it is scored as a double since nobody touches it to be charged with the error
• 27 August - Bowie Baysox 4, Reading Phillies 3
  • "Dog Days of Summer" night ... many canines in the stands, one of which does tricks on the field during a break in the game ... slight drizzle early, but not enough to affect play
  • Robin and Merle and I rendezvous with umpire/conductor Chuck E. during the first inning, and he provides fascinating commentary on subtle aspects of the game ... including a last-inning situation where the umpire throws out one player (likely for cursing him) and then apparently relents
  • a balanced competition: the first batter for Reading (center fielder Sitzman) knocks a home run ... Bowie replies by scoring 1 on a sequence of four singles in the bottom of the 1st inning to tie ... each side again gets a run in the 5th ... the visitors bring 1 more home in the 8th, but the Baysox get 2 in their half and take the win

(see also KeysToTheKingdom (1 July 2001), TboltMonkeysOnMyBack (19 Jul 2002), ...)

TopicPersonalHistory - Datetag20020903

(correlates: QuiescentThunderbolts, MoreTboltSnapshots, TboltMonkeysOnMyBack, ...)