Last night’s game between the Tucson Sidewinders and the Las Vegas 51s featured a battle between pitchers with the second and third worst ERA in all of AAA baseball.  And yet both pitched quite well (neither got a decision), though Vegas came out on top in a very close and low-scoring game played in one of the league’s most infamous hitter’s parks.  Final score:  Tucson 4, Vegas 5.

Evan MacLane started for Tucson and went six complete innings before handing the ball to the bullpen.  Although he gave up three earned runs on eight hits and a walk, while striking out two, E-Mac departed the mound with what could’ve been a win had other factors not come into play later in the game.  Evan wasn’t totally pretty, but he was better than of late…AND I was really impressed when he pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth!  You did well, Evan!  E-Mac was followed by Jailen Peguero who is still trying to get his stride back after his stint with the D-Backs.  Okay, maybe there’s not much work for him to do in that respect:  in his inning of work he gave up no runs, no hits, and a walk.  He still has a team-leading ERA of 1.85!  Then, hold your breath!, Brandon Medders came in to pitch the final inning.  Brandon blew a save and got the loss when he gave up two runs (one earned - more on that in a bit), on two hits and a walk.  He also tossed two Ks.

Brandon was not the sole culprit behind the loss, of course.  It was unfortunate that our defense committed a costly, and incredibly rare, error to assist him in that endeavor.  In the Vegas eighth, Brandon got a K on the first batter, then yielded a single to Delwyn Young, who has just eaten Tucson pitching alive this series!  The man had two doubles last night!  Anyway, back to the eighth…John Lindsey followed Delwyn with a broken bat flair out…Choo Freeman (another great ballplaying name!) took a walk…and pesky Marshall McDougall hit a single that scored Young just under Robby Hammock’s tag on a ball well-tossed by Rich Thompson!  Drat!  The game was tied.  It was with Wilkin Ruan’s at-bat that we saw a rarity.  Brian Barden made a phenomenal play to scoop the ball up, but then made only his ninth error on the year when he overthrew Jamie D’Antona at first.  The winning run for the 51s scored on that error.  Bardo must be kicking himself.  Especially when today’s paper makes it sound like that one error was the entire ballgame.  Gotta tell ya, folks!  A team doesn’t leave 12 men on base, as Tucson did last night, and lose on a single error by a very steady thirdbaseman!

It’s hard to talk about last night’s game as a loss for the Sidewinders.  Yes, the final box shows us that’s true.  But it was a heck of a game.  Well-played by both teams.  Well-pitched by a couple of really scuffling starters.  And there were terrific moments in which the Winders showed so much promise (in spite of the really different lineup that Bill Plummer went with).  In the top of the first, Robby got an RBI double to score Alberto Callaspo who’d led off with a double - always nice to start strong!  Especially when the home club comes up later and puts up a two-spot.  And then, in the top of the second, a made-for-TV-blooper play that cost Jeff Salazar a single!  Jeff hit a come-backer to the pitcher so hard that the ball wedged into the webbing of the mitt and wouldn’t come out…so with great aplomb, Eric Stults tossed the entire glove - with ball - over to his first baseman for the out.  Sorry Jeff, but that’s gotta be one of the funniest moments in the series.  Tucson remained a run behind Vegas until the top of the third when Berto took the first pitch he saw out of the park for a solo homer and to tie the game.  Vegas came back with a run in the third, which Jamie erased with a two-run homer in the fifth, taking the score to Winders 4, Vegas 3.  Jeff Salazar followed with a single and stole two bases before we were knocked out of the frame.  The Winders did all they could after that inning to get runs.  Donnie Sadler followed Jeff’s example and stole two bases in the eighth after getting a walk…and Robby also stole a base after a walk that inning.  But the deal was sealed by the two big whiffs (as in strikeouts) reliever Matt Riley got before those walks, and the ground-out he induced on Chris Carter, afterwards.  Interestingly, Berto struck-out twice last night for the second time in a week.  Very unusual!  All in all, a game worthy of watching - or listening to, as the case may be.

The sad news is that if Tucson had won they would’ve pulled into Sacramento tonight TIED with the River Cats for Division lead, since Fresno (playing a good spoiler) crushed the Cats last night, 13 to 4.  Instead, Tucson remains a whole game back of Sacramento and tied with Fresno for second place.  Obviously these next four games in Sacramento will be HUGE!

People Stuff.  Pitching coach Mike Parrott is apparently well enough to rejoin the Sidewinders in their series against Sacramento beginning tonight.  Glad to hear Bird’s feeling better - and thanks to Doug Jones for pinch-coaching in his absence!  Ryan Radtke also updated the status of Jason Smith during last night’s broadcast.  Jason suffered a hamstring twinge during the Tuesday game and rejoined the Winders yesterday, though he was not available to play.  They expect Jason to become available again on Tues.  Radtke always gets the best info out during his broadcasts - thanks for the update, Ryan!

Meanwhile, in Sacramento…  The Oakland A’s are experiencing a meltdown this season…or something.  They were involved in a number of transactions yesterday and it’s hard for a simple fan like me to guess whether they’re looking to make things better (as a “buyer” in the vernacular), or simply heaving aside some of their payroll (as a “seller”).  What I DO know is that the changes will affect the lineup the Winders see in Sacramento tonight.  I hated to see him leave the Sidewinders - especially to play well for a Division rival - but am pleased to report that the A’s have purchased the contract of OF Dee Brown!!  I’m delighted he’s made it to the Bigs and look for good things from him there in Oakland.

D-Backs Win Even Though Barry Hits 750!

Tonight’s game at Sacramento begins at 7:05pm…Ryan begins his pregame broadcast at 6:50pm.  You can catch it live on the Internet off the Sidewinder’s official website or on COOL 1450AM!  Just make sure you DO catch it!

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  Please note this is a special event at the park, so:  1)  All seats will be by reservation only (only the grass will be “general admission”), 2)  It will NOT be a Free Money Wednesday, 3)  Game time is at 6:00pm - gates will open at 4:30.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now:  434-1021!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

The storyline of last night’s Tucson victory over the Las Vegas 51s revolves around Donnie Sadler and Casey Daigle who made big splashes early that set the table for the eventual win.  Final score:  Tucson 10, Vegas 3.

Casey Daigle turned in a gritty performance in his second official start from the rotation.  He got out of the first inning 1-2-3, but that was his only easy inning.  His line score (in five innings, he gave up all three Vegas runs - two earned - on seven hits, and three walks…five strikeouts) doesn’t look real pretty, but what was impressive was the way he minimized the damage in each inning.  Twice he got out of bases-loaded situations without allowing more than a single run to score!  Casey also helped his cause with the bat.  He whacked out his first home run of the season, for two runs, in the second!  Mike Schultz had a successful outing of relief, giving up no runs on one hit and two walks in his two innings of work.  Bill Murphy took the last two innings and was a pitching fool, striking out three and throwing up zeros for the rest of his line!  A masterful performance by Murph!

Donnie Sadler has really struggled this year.  It might just be my imagination, but it seemed that his pitching loss had affected the rest of his game…or maybe it’s just that he doesn’t get many starts and is having difficulty off the bench.  Whatever the cause, Donnie came out of his slump last night - and in a big way.  Before Casey’s first homer of the season, Donnie had smacked out his second homer of the year, also for two runs and also in the second inning.  And, in an exciting sixth inning, following an RBI single by Brian Barden, Donnie let loose with a massive two-RBI triple to take the Winder’s run count to seven.  In his five at-bats, Donnie accumulated three hits, two runs and four RBIs, leading the team in all of those categories (except for the run total, which several other Winders tied).  Way to go, Donnie!  Other Snake Scoring - Jeff Salazar hit an RBI single to score Robby Hammock in the seventh.  Jamie D’Antona pinch-hit an RBI single that scored Donnie after a passed ball had gotten Donnie to 3B in the eighth.  While Alberto Callaspo was at the plate following Jamie, Vegas reliever Casey Hoorelbeke tossed a wild pitch that brought Rich Thompson to home plate for the final Winder run of the game.  Both teams were charged with one error each.  Ours came at second, which seems to be our Bermuda Triangle for errors this year.  BUT, a win is big news - and a solid win like this one has got to make the entire team feel more confident as we near the end of June.

PCL Standings.  When Ryan Radtke ended his broadcast last night, Sacramento and Fresno had tied up and gone into extra innings.  Imagine my delight when looking at the standings today to see that the Grizzlies ended up with the win, beating the River Cats 8 to 7 in 16 innings!  With the Winder win and the River Cats loss, the Sidewinders drew within one game of Sacramento for the Pacific Southern Division lead (Fresno is still a game behind us)!  Today the Winders are 42 and 37 (.531) for the season.  BTW, the Bees beat the Sky Sox last night, so those two teams are knotted at first again in the Pac North.  The only team in the PCL that is “running away” with their Division is the New Orleans Zephyrs, who have a four game lead on the Albuquerque Isotopes in the American Southern Division.  In terms of win-loss record, though, the Nashville Sounds lead the PCL:  47 to 33 (.587).

Transaction Note.  When the D-Backs took Randy Johnson off the DL yesterday they had to make another roster move.  This time they’ve designated Randy Choate for assignment.  Randy didn’t get much of a shot at the Bigs this time around, but we’ll gladly welcome him back if he clears waivers!

MLB Milestones.  Two veteran players reached career milestones in the Bigs yesterday and deserve note.  Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas joined an elite group of 20 other major leaguers when he got his 500th hit in Toronto’s loss at Minnesota yesterday.  It’s also interesting to note that Thomas was ejected from the game in the ninth when he argued balls/strikes.  That may make Frank unique among the other 500-club members!  Craig Biggio was the other milestone-maker yesterday.  Craig hit his 3,000th career hit in the seventh inning last night during Houston’s extra-inning win over the Rockies.  Craig is the 37th major leaguer to reach this milestone.  And, while he got a RBI and the hit, Craig showed he’s still pushing the envelope as he tried to stretch that milestone hit into a double…and was thrown out at second.  The hit counted…and he actually added more to his tally as the game continued.  He had a total of five hits last night!  But what I like most about Craig’s career and this milestone:  all of that production has been for ONE major league team, the Houston Astros.  Today’s paper reminded Tucsonans that Craig was an Astro from the git-go, having done his AAA time here as a Tucson Toro when the Toros were an Astros affiliate back in 1988. 

On Me as a Fan.  I’m big on loyalty, and to see a guy have such a long and successful career with any one team, though an aberration in today’s baseball business, just warms my heart.  I tend to take a decidedly personal approach to baseball and its players.  I grow attached to the players more than to a team or its record.  This may explain why a player like Edgar Gonzalez can make a fan for life with one smile and a wave to this lowly usher!  One of the things that I find hardest about being a minor league baseball fan is that absolutely NONE of the players actually want to be on the team you adore.  I understand that intellectually - of course they want to be promoted to the Bigs! - but it’s difficult to accept being dissed.  I remember last year during the Winders amazing run through the playoffs when my paper quoted one of my favorite all-time Winders, Andy Green, as saying something like “Yeah, the playoffs there are great…but not one of those guys would rather be there than up in Phoenix.”  I was crushed!   A second challenge for a fan like me in the minors is that the team is always in flux.  I admit I love to see last year’s Sidewinders now playing for the D-Backs, but I am less happy when moves are made that take our guys out of the D-Back system.  I still miss Jon Weber, Kenny Perez, Juan Brito, and others from last year’s team that slipped into the trade-winds…  (For a fascinating account of how women fans approach baseball versus their male counterparts, check out this long piece from a recent Washington Post:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/27/AR2007032701838.html?hpid=features1  I so totally GET what she says!)

Don’t miss tonight’s final game between the Sidewinders and the 51s from Cashman Field in Las Vegas. Game time is 7:11 and Ryan Radtke begins his broadcast on the hour.  You can catch it either on the Internet or on local COOL 1450AM.

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now (all seats in the Park will be by reservation only for this one night):  434-1021!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

At Cashman Field in Las Vegas last night, the Sidewinders vented their frustration following a poor homestand by clobbering the 51s (Dodgers) 12 to 7!  It was certainly a fun game to listen to, as Tucson scored all their runs in odd innings, skipping only the fifth in their attack against the Dodgers wannabees.  The win last night returns Tucson to sole control of second place in the Pacific Southern Division, since Sacramento beat Fresno to drop the Grizzlies a whole game behind Tucson.  Our record now stands at 41 and 37 (.526)…two whole games behind the River Cats.

Enrique Gonzalez got a much-needed boost with the win last night (only his fourth of the season).  Enrique pitched six innings and gave up five earned runs on 11 hits and no walks.  He also struck out five batters!  Jailen Peguero returned to the Tucson bullpen last night and pitched the seventh inning, giving up a run on three hits and no walks (no Ks either).  Brandon Medders showed his big-league stuff in the eighth inning when he struck out two, walked two, and surrendered no hits or runs.  Chad Harville took the ninth and gave me a bit of a scare when he gave up a couple of doubles (one for a run) and a walk…Cashman Field is a very hitter-friendly park and Ryan Radtke kept reminding us that no lead is safe until the score goes final.  Fortunately, the one run was all Chad gave up and the game ended as a very solid Winders win.

And gosh!  Wasn’t our offense a thing of beauty!  Every starting player - including Enrique! - had at least one hit in the game, and Rich Thompson led the team with FOUR hits in five at-bats.  Alberto Callaspo started the game with a leadoff double that signaled the Winders intent to do serious damage against Vegas.  Robby Hammock hit an RBI double in his first at-bat (extending his hitting streak to nine games) and then Jeff Salazar blasted a big 2-run homer when he came up in the first.  Vegas wasn’t just sitting around, btw, but Tucson had the good fortune to defend well against their solid hitting, keeping Vegas off the board until the fourth.  By then, Tucson’d raised their run count to eight when the Winders exploded in the third.  Brian Barden hit a two RBI triple (well, a double with a Vegas throwing error) to stretch his hitting streak to 11 games.  Mark Johnson followed with an RBI single…Rich Thompson hit a single…Enrique put down a successful sacrifice bunt…and Alberto blasted a two RBI double which kicked the Vegas starting pitcher out of the game and gave Tucson a solid 8 to 0 lead.  Once Vegas started scoring in the fourth, they continued to nibble away at the Winders, getting runs on wild pitches, SAC flies and some solid hitting and I was growing worried that they might make run for a win because the Winders got real quiet until the seventh.  It was 8 to 5 and Vegas sent Chin-hui Tsao (major-league rehab appearance) in to pitch.  Jeff Salazar whacked a screaming line drive single, then, while Bardo was at the plate, stole second…and then third!  And in their attempt to catch him at third, the 51s committed another throwing error, so Jeff calmly got up and ran home!  That was all the scoring in the seventh, but what a way to manufacture a run!  Peguero gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh so at 9 to 6 the game was still close when we entered the ninth.  MJ led off with a single and Vegas tossed the ball into the dugout to get him to 2B.  Rich hit another solid bunt for a single (he’s very good at that) and Jamie D’Antona returned from his week of recovery from a knee injury to pinch hit for the pitcher’s spot.  A two RBI double showed the time off hadn’t affected Jamie’s swing at all!  Berto then took a walk and Alex Romero got his PCL-leading 100th hit of the season, an RBI single.  Unfortunately, Berto got picked off in the play that followed…and Robby hit into a double-play to end the inning.  BUT, the three runs scored were enough to give the Winders all the lead they needed to beat the 51s (in spite of their doubles, walk, and run scored on Chad in the ninth). 

Fun Stats.  Berto’s batting average is at .500 after last night’s game!  Jeff Salazar has stolen 11 bases and also leads the team with his eight home runs, 45 RBIs, and 35 runs scored!  Alex Romero has 100 hits!  Jailen Peguero leads our pitching staff with an ERA of 1.91!  Enrique Gonzalez has recorded a team-leading 61 strikeouts and also leads the pitching staff with his 85 innings pitched!

Congratulations to Our All Stars!  Mark Johnson, Chad Harville, and Alex Romero will be going to the All Star game next month to represent the Tucson Sidewinders.  Well done!

Sky Sox take Sole Possession of Pacific Northern Divison!  With yesterday’s 6 to 3 win over the Salt Lake Bees, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox took over as the Northern Division leaders, bouncing the Bees out of a slot they’ve held since May 2006.  It seems to me the Sky Sox have just come out of nowhere this year…and I’m slightly worried because we still have to face them later this season.  In fact, we have to play a couple of make-up games with them to compensate for weather-postponements in the first series of the year.  Why oh why couldn’t we have seen the Sox when they were “down?!”

You’ll surely want to catch tonight’s game between the 51s and the Sidewinders from Las Vegas!  First pitch is scheduled for 7:11 (Ryan says he’ll leave it to us to figure out why that’s their rule of thumb) and you can catch the action live on the Sidewinders’ official web site or on local COOL 1450AM radio.

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now (all seats in the Park will be by reservation only for this one night):  434-1021!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

To put it simply, something was fundamentally wrong with our Sidewinders in their loss to the Tacoma Rainiers at TEP last night.  You could catch a glimmer of the problems ahead with the first pitch of the game by D.J. Carrasco…batter Nick Green just whacked that ball right out for a homer.  While that was the only run for either team until things went crazy in the fifth, the game still held an “off” feeling.  It was as if cardboard cutout figures were playing in place of our regular Winders.  There were costly errors (one by Brian Barden…and you know that rarely happens), Jeff Salazar was unable to make things happen on the base paths (he was both picked off and caught stealing), and our bullpen totally collapsed after the Winder offense finally put on a rally (assisted by some key errors by Tacoma).  In the final inning, things went from bad to massively ugly.  Here’s the final line score:  Tucson - 5 runs, 10 hits, 3 errors.  Tacoma - 12 runs, 13 hits, 2 errors.  Let us say nothing more about that grisly affair.

The loss takes the Sidewinders to 40 and 37 (.519) for the season.  Thanks to a Salt Lake win over Sacramento last night, we remain only two games back of the River Cats for Division lead…and are neck-and-neck with Fresno.

A light moment…  During off-nights our starting pitchers can be found in the seats behind home plate charting pitches tossed by the in-game hurler.  Last night one spectacular foul ball cleared the net behind home plate and headed directly toward our pitching crew.  In fact, it appeared to be aimed right at Yusmeiro Petit’s noggin!  With a deft maneuver worthy of his defense while on the mound, Yusmeiro shielded himself with the clipboard he’d been using during the game.  The clipboard shattered, but Yusmeiro (and his pitching arm) were saved to pitch another day!

Changes.  After Monday night’s outstanding performance, the D-Backs called up LHP Randy Choate and optioned Jailen Peguero back to Tucson.  Choate pitched in last night’s D-Back loss to the Dodgers:  he pitched to one batter and gave up a hit, but no runs.  His newly-minted major league ERA is thus .000.  Jason Smith left last night’s game at TEP early, causing a massive reshuffling of players on the field.  Joel Youngblood told one Winder Watcher that Jason’d gone out with a hamstring issue.  I have been unable to find any additional information on the injury or Jason’s status with the Winders.  Today’s paper reports that Jamie D’Antona should be well enough to play in the Las Vegas series which begins today.  Jamie has been out for the last five games with a deep knee bruise.  Maybe his return will light a fire under our boys.

The Sidewinders begin a three-game series against the Las Vegas 51s (Dodgers) at Cashman Field in Vegas tonight.  You can catch the action live on the Internet or on COOL 1450AM.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm. 

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now (all seats in the Park will be by reservation only for this one night):  434-1021!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

For the second consecutive night, the Tucson Sidewinders clawed their way into a tie with the Tacoma Rainiers, only to fall to the visitors when the Rainiers whacked out a solo home run the Winders could not match.  Final score in Monday night’s game:  Tucson 4, Tacoma 5 (10 innings). 

Yusmeiro Petit started for Tucson and, though he didn’t pitch that badly, did toss a lot of pitches (he threw a season high 118!) and gave up a couple of key home runs (all Tacoma scoring came on home-run balls).  His line would have given him the loss had Tucson not turned matters over to the bullpen and later tied the game.  Petit threw seven complete innings and gave up four earned runs on eight hits (two were 2-run homers) and two walks.  He also registered six strikeouts.  Randy Choate followed Petit and was marvelous in his two innings of work:  he struck out the side in the eighth then struck out the first batter in the ninth (for a combined total of ten strikeouts for the Winders, which earned the fans coupons for free Circle K Thirst Busters!) and got two ground outs to end his work.  Six up and six down!  Well done, Randy!  Chad Harville was forced to take the 10th…he got two groundouts, then gave up a solo homer to Wladimir Balentien before getting the final out on another ground out.  Chad took the loss, as well.

Not that Tucson didn’t have opportunities to make last night a BIG one!  Our boys were all hitting quite well (in fact, only Jason Smith was hitless in his at-bats) but just couldn’t pull off the magic they needed to draw away from Tacoma.  Our first run came in the third, when Rich Thompson hit a double that scored Mark Johnson (who’d gotten on base with a double).  Unfortunately, Rich (who is a very aggressive runner on the base paths) was thrown out at 3B when he tried to stretch his double into a triple.  Chris Carter hit a lead-off solo home run in the seventh that appeared to get the team rolling a little.  While Jason and Brian Barden were quick outs following the homer, Jeff Salazar and Mark both hit singles…before Rich was called out looking at strike three (lots of Winder distress over strike calls from last night’s home plate ump).  But the eighth inning was both the most exciting and heart-breaking!  Alberto Callaspo lead off with a double, followed by Alex Romero’s RBI triple, Robby Hammock’s RBI broken bat single, and Chris’ double.  Jason K’d, then Bardo was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  One out…bases loaded…and we couldn’t do anything more.  A fielder’s choice erased the guy crossing home plate…and MJ hit a fly ball out to end the inning.  At least they had tied the game!  The ninth also held promise for Tucson.  After Rich grounded out, Alberto hit a double, Tacoma intentionally walked Alex…and both Robby and Chris popped out to end the inning.  After Tacoma scored the go-ahead run in the 10th, the Winders went down quickly and quietly in the 10th, 1-2-3, on three consecutive ground outs.  Shoot!

Other interesting stats.  The intentional walk to Alex was the ONLY walk given up by the Rainiers hurlers.  Neither team committed any errors.  Tucson had 13 hits in the game.

Bird has Pneumonia.  Tucson’s pitching coach, Mike Parrott, has been diagnosed with pneumonia and will be out at least through the next series.  He looked a little ragged on Saturday…now I know why!  Doug Jones will be handling Bird’s duties while he recovers.

Parra Sounds Perfect!  A bit of PCL history went into the books last night, as Manny Parra of the Nashville Sounds pitched a perfect nine innings in Nashville’s 3 to 0 triumph over the Round Rock Express at Dell Diamond in TX.  In only his second start at the AAA level, Manny Parra did what only two PCL pitchers have ever done before:  a complete nine-inning perfecto!  The previous two perfectos were tossed by Tacoma in 2001 and by Nashville in 2003.  I’m sure glad Tucson’s is done with their Nashville series for this season and doesn’t have to see Parra on the mound!  Congratulations to Manny! http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070625&content_id=265085&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Last night’s Mondays with Murph interview featured strength and conditioning coach, Ed Yong, talking about his aspirations to maybe have a shop of his own someday and, of course, his desire to work for an MLB team.  Murph also said he hopes to track down Donnie Sadler for an interview next week.  Stay tuned!

If it’s Tuesday, it must be TWO DOLLAR ADMISSION and TACOS!  And indeed it is!  Come on out to TEP tonight and root for your Tucson Sidewinders as they complete their series with the Rainiers this evening!  We need a win to split the series and the boys need your support to make it happen.  Gates open at 6pm for a 7pm start.  Can we count on YOU to be there?

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now (all seats in the Park will be by reservation only for this one night):  434-1021!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

Last night’s game at Tucson Electric Park started very much like a pitching duel but quickly changed character completely to become a slug-fest in which the Tacoma Rainiers eventually got the win.  Final score Tucson 10, Tacoma 11.

Evan MacLane started for Tucson and was in and out of trouble so many times through his five innings of work that it’s rather incredible he ended up with a no-decision by the end of the evening.  E-Mac gave up seven earned runs on ten hits and three walks and left after five innings with Tacoma on top, 7 to 3.  The Winders hitters then went crazy against Tacoma pitching, scoring six runs on six hits in the bottom of the fifth.  Had Tucson held the lead, E-Mac might actually have gotten a win!  Unfortunately, the Rainiers weren’t done producing yet, and Mike Schultz was roughed up for three earned runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman in his 1/3 of an inning.  Bill Murphy relieved Schultz on the mound and closed out the sixth (he actually gave up a couple of runs that were charged to Mike).  Even that didn’t appear to be the death knell for the Winders:  they came back to tie Tacoma with Brian Barden’s fourth RBI of the night in the bottom of the sixth.  And there both teams settled for awhile.  Murph held Tacoma scoreless in the seventh…Tacoma also held Tucson (great pitching by Rainier’s AAA rookie, Kameron Mickolio) in their part of the seventh.  Brandon Medders pitched the eighth and ninth for Tucson and looked fine in the eighth but gave up a solo homer to Rob Johnson in the ninth to give the Rainiers the lead.  In the Tucson half of the ninth, Rich Thompson got his first hit since June 21st while pinch-hitting for Donnie Sadler, but Alberto Callaspo was unable to move Rich along when he ground out to end the game.  Medders took the loss - his first of the year.

Other game facts of note.  Alberto Callaspo actually struck-out twice in last night’s game!  Because he is one of the toughest players to strike out, that is rather an amazing feat.  In fact, those Ks were his first since joining the Winders earlier this month.  Yesterday’s paper made note of Brian Barden’s new moustache which has apparently been the key behind Brian’s dramatic turn-around at the plate.  Bardo had three hits, four RBIs, and two runs in his four at-bats.  He also made some excellent defensive plays.  Matt Morgan took catching duties last night, but also provided his share of offense:  in four at-bats he had two hits and three RBIs.   Jason Smith got two hits and two RBIs in his four at-bats, too.  In fact, the only starting position player NOT to get a hit, a walk, a run, or an RBI for Tucson last night was Alex Romero.  Unfortunately, he’s really been scuffling since his last hit on June 21st.  Oh, and the team was charged with three errors (one more than charged to Tacoma).  By game’s end, Tacoma had punched out 16 hits to Tucson’s 14.  Definitely a night for hitters!

Standings.  Last night’s loss takes the Sidewinders to two whole games behind Sacramento for Pacific Southern Division lead.  The Winders have a 40 and 35 (.533) record for the season.  Fresno remains a game behind Tucson.  In a major PCL upset, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox have overtaken the Salt Lake Bees for Pacific Northern Division lead.  The Bees have led that division since May 2006 (!), but the Sky Sox are a few percentage points ahead of them as of today.

On Tap Tonight!  What better way to chill out after a hot Monday, than to head to TEP for a two-for-one margaritas and a great night of AAA baseball?  That’s right, Tucson, it’s Margarita Monday at the ol’ ballpark!  Gates open at 6pm for first pitch at 7pm.  If you can’t make it to the game, don’t forget to tune into COOL 1450AM and Ryan Radtke’s outstanding play-by-play broadcast.  If it’s Monday, that means there will also be a “Mondays with Murph” segment before the game begins.  Ryan said he thought Murph might be interviewing Donnie Sadler because they’d received a request from a fan (don’t tell anyone, but it was me!) asking to hear about Donnie’s experiences pitching in Tacoma earlier this month.  No matter the subject, these brief interviews between Bill Murphy and one of his fellow Winders are always entertaining.  You won’t want to miss it!

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now (all seats in the Park will be by reservation only for this one night):  434-1021!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

Casey Daigle was successful in his first official start of the season from the Sidewinder’s rotation, leading Tucson to a 5 to 3 victory over the visiting Tacoma Rainiers.  The win takes the Winders to 40 and 34 (.541) for the season.  Coupled with a Sacramento loss last night, our Snakes are a single game behind the River Cats for division lead.  Fresno remains a game behind us.

In his five innings of work, Casey gave up three earned runs (on two homers), seven hits and no walks.  He struck out four and was charged with Tucson’s only error for the night.  Fortunately, the Winders offense put up a three-spot in the first inning, then added two more runs (one each in the fourth and fifth) to take a lead that held throughout the rest of the game.  So, Casey earned his fifth win of the season and his new ERA is 7.12.  Dustin Glant followed Casey to the mound, pitching 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.  Dustin allowed three hits, but the rest of his line is full of zeros.  Randy Choate followed Glant for 1 1/3 innings of perfect pitching.  Last night was one of those nights when Randy was just awesome - literally unhittable.  The only number other than a zero in his line score reflects the two batters he struck out!  He is so fun to watch when he is “on” like that!  Chad Harville closed the game in the ninth.  He gave up a hit and a walk, but no runs, and earned his 18th save of the season.

Tucson’s offense struggled a bit against the Tacoma pitchers, but showed the 5,086 fans in attendance how much they wanted to win by doing all the little things right.  There were a couple of occasions where our batters reached first solely as a result of their running hard out of the batter’s box to the first base bag.  In a number of cases, their enthusiasm was well rewarded when a ball thrown to first went slightly awry…it rocks when a team shows the heart and determination to manufacture hits, rather than lope to first assuming they’ll be out.  Our guys have displayed a lot of that gutsiness…I love it!  Both Brian Barden and Jason Smith (still with Tucson on a rehab assignment…and no word on when that assignment will end) accounted for most of last night’s production.  They each had two hits and two RBIs in their four at-bats.  And Jason’s RBI triple in the fifth was a thing of beauty!

These guys are so worth watching!  If you’re a baseball fan and you haven’t been to TEP to watch this wealth of talent play, you need to make a trip out there.  In fact, why not go to the game tonight?  Tucson faces Tacoma for the second game in the series and it’s Dollar Dog Sunday!  All hot dogs are just a buck through the entire game.  Gates open at 5pm for a 6pm start.  Check it out!

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now (all seats in the Park will be by reservation only for this one night):  434-1021!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

Although I am, of course, a die-hard fan of the Sidewinders and love to see them win, there are occasions where an evening of well-played ball and fun events can transcend a home team loss.  That was definitely the case last night!  Although the game ended with a whimper (a bunt ground out…fans were looking at each other and asking “Is that it?”) and the Winders fell to the Bees, 6 to 4, the 8,514 fans in attendance had plenty of opportunities to cheer and enjoy themselves with a series of special events.  Perhaps I shouldn’t be speaking for all the fans…I can say without question I had a wonderful time at last night’s game (even though the crowd was large enough that I kept busy all evening):   chatting with Channel 13’s Scott Kilbury before the game, watering the 3B umpire, Peter Durfee, trying to get Jeff Salazar to smile, and working second base for Run the Bases after the game/fireworks…definitely a fun evening!

Enrique Gonzalez may beg to differ with me, though.  He took the loss in last night’s game after giving up four earned runs in his five innings of work.  Bill Murphy probably didn’t feel great about the evening either:  he gave up two additional runs in his 1 2/3 innings.  Mike Schultz closed the game for the Winders and looked very good - he was perfect through 2 1/3 innings.

And, although the team was charged with another couple of errors, our defenders made some excellent plays (Jeff Salazar tossed an incredible ball from CF to Brian Barden at 3B to catch Casey Smith as he tried to stretch a double into a triple), and Tucson’s bats gave the crowd several home run hits to ooh and ahh over.  In fact, all of Tucson’s runs were scored off homers last night!  The fourth inning was a veritable Home Run Frenzy as Robby Hammock hit a solo homer (his first) and Bardo followed with a 2-run homer (his second) in the same inning, which tied the game to that point.  Unfortunately, the Bees also put up a solo homer in the fifth to pull ahead of the Winders and then succeeded in plating another two runs in the top of the seventh to give them a lead the Winders couldn’t overcome.  Even Jason Smith’s second homer of the season (a solo shot) in the bottom of the seventh wasn’t enough to get the lead or ignite another burst of offense that would give the Sidewinders a win.  Oh they gave it a shot, though!  Jeff Salazar led off the ninth with a double, but was followed by a swinging strikeout by Jason Smith, a ground-out by Matt Morgan, and then the bunt ground-out by Rich Thompson to end the game.  Offense worthy of note:  the Winders held Curtis Pride to his .000 batting average;  Brian Barden got two hits and two RBIs in his three at-bats; and Robby Hammock had three hits and an RBI in his four at-bats.

The loss last night takes Tucson to 39 and 34 (.534) which, while still better than the Bees’ overall record, takes them to two whole games behind division-leading Sacramento (who beat the Rainiers yesterday).  Fresno remains a whole game behind Tucson.

Barry hit 749.  ‘Nuff said.

Nip and Peguero look good in D-Back loss.  “Our” own Dustin Nippert and Jailen Peguero both pitched in relief of Brandon Webb in the D-Back’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles yesterday.  Neither former Winder gave up any runs to the Os.  In fact, NONE of the relievers (which also included last year’s Winder, Edgar Gonzalez) gave up a single run. 

Embarrassing Moments in Ushering.  When Matt Erickson, currently on the DL with a broken finger, plopped down in my section for an inning last night and we joked about whether he had a ticket, I couldn’t help but recall a few of my less-than-stellar moments as an usher.  But first some background.  When someone pays me to do a job, I go at it to the best of my abilities.  Because one of the usher’s tasks is to check tickets to ensure those who sit in reserved seats have paid for reserved seats, I check tickets.  The fact that I do check tickets has become so well known that I have had Sidewinder fans approach me at non-Winder venues and jokingly ask to see my ticket!  It has also resulted in my having earned the sobriquet of “ticket Nazi.”  Even the County Sheriff Deputies know me by that title.  Well, here’s secret for you:  I hate checking tickets!  Seriously.  I don’t like confronting fans and moving them from their chosen seats and I especially dislike it when they are “unhappy” (to put it politely) at me for moving them.  But I digress!  In my rookie season as an usher I was once working the Sidewinders’ dugout section when I noticed someone I didn’t recognize sitting in Jay Zucker’s front row seats.  With all the zeal of a new convert to the world of ushering, I approached the man and his son and requested to see their tickets…and was told, “Hi, I’m Alan Zinter and Jay said my son and I could sit here.”  Oops!  Alan was a Winder on the DL at the time, following some shoulder surgery.  What I don’t think I said (but can’t be sure, because I know I THOUGHT it at the time) was, “Oh, sorry.  I didn’t recognize you with clothes on.”  (I MEANT, of course, that he wasn’t in uniform!  I’ve always been grateful to Alan for his kindness when I approached him that day.  He’s bounced around the minors a bit since that year and I keep hoping that in his retirement he might end up as a coach for our team.)  But perhaps my worst-ever ticket-checking debacle came last year.  Usually we’ll be informed in our pre-work meeting whether we should expect “baseball dignataries” in the Park that evening, but on this particular night I was caught unaware when a young-looking gentleman approached my sections behind the home-plate area.  I did my ticket-checking thing, only to hear:  “I’m Josh Byrnes and I’m General Manager of the Diamondbacks…”  As Homer Simpson might say, “DOH!”  (I was so relieved that Mr. Byrnes graciously let me off the hook by acknowledging that I had a job to do and that he wasn’t put out in the least by my doing the job.  Whew!)

Tonight Tucson opens up a four-game series with the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners), a team that has recently given the Winders fits.  The games should be well-fought and I hope you’ll come see them.  One Rainier we won’t be seeing (thankfully) will be LHP reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith, who has been called up by the Mariners.  AND tonight will feature Casey Daigle’s 2007 debut as a starting pitcher for the Sidewinders.  It’s also CARLOS QUENTIN FIGURINE giveaway night!  The first 2,000 fans with paid admission will receive one of these collectible figurines commemorating one of our favorite “old sons.”  We’ll also feature our “Wine, Women and Baseball” event in the Sam Levitz Ballpark Patio before the first pitch.  The Patio is a lovely, shady place to sip a bit of wine and listen to a baseball celebrity talk the sport.  All that…and baseball too!  Goodness gracious.  HOW CAN YOU MISS IT?  Gates open at 6pm for a 7pm start.  I’ll be looking for you!

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now (all seats in the Park will be by reservation only for this one night):  434-1021!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

A crowd of over 5,400 Thirsty fans were treated to an exciting game of baseball last night, as our Tucson Sidewinders beat the Salt Lake Bees, 6 to 2.  The win takes the Winders to 39 and 33 (.542) for the season.  In a welcome change of pace, the only Pacific Southern Division team to lose last night was Sacramento, so the Winders drew within a single game of the Division leaders (thank you Tacoma!).

D.J. Carrasco was masterful on the mound for Tucson last night.  In his six innings of work he gave up only two unearned runs (though he was responsible for one of the team’s errors last night) on four hits and two walks.  All pitchers worked briskly, and the game was finished 2.5 hours after first pitch!  D.J. was followed by new Winder Dustin Glant.  In his Tucson debut, Glant looked fabulous, pitching a scoreless inning and giving up only one hit and no walks.  Brandon Medders took the last two innings of work and also looked terrific, giving up one hit, no walks, and no runs for his first save of the season.  D.J. got the win - his first since mid-May.

I admit to having been worried about the outcome of the game in the early innings.  By the third inning, the scoreboard showed Tucson as having three runs AND three errors.  Sometimes an error total like that indicates the team is “off” and they’ll continue to play that way through the entire evening.  But thankfully, last night wasn’t like that at all.  Both Brian Barden and Jason Smith hit their first home runs last night and Alex Romero had a field day at the plate, getting three hits in four at-bats.  Alex also got his tenth stolen base of the year.  Jeff Salazar registered the team’s most RBIs last night with two…an incredible feat for a guy who didn’t get a hit in his at-bats and who didn’t take a walk! 

I am a sucker for an underdog, so I want to spend a moment talking about the Bees’ rightfielder, Curtis Pride.  In the last two games, Curtis has just hammered the ball.  Gorgeous hits…that are always long fly balls to our outfielders.  As a result his ERA has not moved from .000.  You gotta feel for the guy!  And Curtis’ baseball story has always fascinated me because he is deaf.  As his bio states,  Curtis “was born 95 percent deaf due to a rubella infection suffered by his mother during pregnancy, making him the fifth deaf player in Major League history and first since 1945…can read lips but does not use sign language…created the foundation “Together With Pride” (www.togetherwithpride.org).” 

Watering the Umpire.  During last night’s seventh-inning stretch I had the opportunity to take a cup of water to 1B ump, Jon Merry, whom I’d watered the night before from the 3B side of the Park.  First thing he said (which made me and my boss smile) when I got there was “I’m sure starting to like this.”  Because it was Thirsty Thursday, Jon was actually THE “Jeff” to the Hey Jeff crowd last night and I think they went pretty easy on him.  They had provided the officiating crew with their signature purple tee shirts and I asked Jon if he was wearing his.  He wasn’t…but the home plate ump was!  Jon said the Hey Jeff hecklers never bother him as they are typically much tamer than the average drunk (my words, certainly not his).  Not sure I agreed with all of Jon’s calls at first last night, but I sure like his attitude about the Jeffs and I’ve enjoyed chatting with him.

Look Who’s Starting Now!  Today’s paper reports that Casey Daigle will be re-converted to a starter, taking Dustin Nippert’s place in the rotation beginning with Saturday night’s game.  The paper also said that Jamie D’Antona will be taking a couple of days off while he recovers from a knee injury.  The fate of rehabber Jason Smith is still up in the air.  D-Backs player development boss, A.J. Hinch, has not determined whether last night’s successful outing for Jason will be his final rehab appearance with the Winders.

Make Plans Now!  I hope you’re planning to come to tonight’s final game in the Salt Lake series.  The Winders have a chance to split the series…and it’s Fireworks Friday, followed by an opportunity for kids to run the bases.  How can you miss it?  On Saturday, the Tacoma Rainiers return to Tucson for a four-game series.  Saturday is a BIG night that you won’t want to miss.  First of all, you can see Casey Daigle tackle the starting role again.  Okay, maybe I should’ve lead off with this:  Saturday is CARLOS QUENTIN FIGURINE giveaway night!  The first 2,000 fans with paid admission will receive one of these collectible figurines commemorating one of our favorite “old sons.”  Saturday will also feature our “Wine, Women and Baseball” event in the Sam Levitz Ballpark Patio before the first pitch.  The Patio is a lovely, shady place to sip a bit of wine and listen to a baseball celebrity talk the sport.  All that…and baseball too!  Goodness gracious.  I say it again: HOW CAN YOU MISS IT?  Gates open at 6pm on both Friday and Saturday for a 7pm start.  I’ll be looking for you!

STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR!  The Fourth of July is right around the corner and with it comes this annual blow-out event at TEP.  You won’t want to miss this exciting evening of baseball (we’ll be seeing the Las Vegas 51s and Lo Bundy again) followed by patriotic fireworks with music.  This event is always a sell-out so you should call and reserve your tickets now (all seats in the Park will be by reservation only for this one night):  434-1021! 

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)

The Sidewinders fell to the visiting Salt Lake Bees, 9 to 8, last night in a roller-coaster affair that featured several long balls for both teams.  The loss takes Tucson to a 38 and 33 (.535) record and two games behind Sacramento for the Division lead.  Fresno remains a whole game behind Tucson. 

Last night’s game had a familiar feel to it for fans of last year’s Sidewinders as Alberto Callaspo turned on the full force of his batting prowess for five hits in his six at-bats.  One of those was a three-run homer in the fourth inning that put Tucson into a lead that we hoped might be insurmountable.  Unfortunately, the Bees were able to match that performance in the eighth when Jeff Mathis also hit a three-run homer off Chad Harville.

Yusmeiro Petit started the game for the Winders and looked decent in his six innings of work, though he did give up five runs to the opposition, on five hits and two walks.  Mike Schultz made his post-waiver return to the Tucson mound and pitched a perfect seventh inning before Randy Choate came in for the eighth.  Randy struggled through 2/3 of an inning, giving up two earned runs on a hit and a walk.  Our reliable closer, Chad Harville then took the mound, and unfortunately experienced an unsuccessful outing:  he gave up two earned runs on two hits and was charged with the loss (his fourth) and a blown save (his third).

On a hot and dry day in Tucson (game time temp was 104 degrees), balls were flying deep and there were a ton of outstanding defensive plays of deeply hit balls that didn’t clear the fence.  There were also a pair of interesting double-plays in the second inning.  I really liked the first one:  Jason Smith caught a line drive and then tossed the Salt Lake base-runner out at 2B.  In the bottom of the inning, the Bees did the same thing to Tucson, only it looked much worse because it appeared so slow to develop.  Alex Romero hit a fly out to CF and all our guys on base were moving (first two guys got on with walks, and the inning looked so promising!).  It looked like they should’ve had time to return to their bases successfully, but for some reason (several Winder Watchers wondered if Bill Plummer forgot to give them the signs) they didn’t catch the urgency of the situation and were slowly turning around towards their bases when Jamie D’Antona was forced out at third (he’d been half way to home).  Tucson had hits a’plenty last night (17 total) and two home runs (Alberto’s and one by Jeff Salazar), but left 12 men on base throughout the game.  The guys simply need to take better advantage of all those opportunities (as IF it were so simple).

Batting Practice Can Be Fun!  Even in 104 degree heat, it appeared the Salt Lake Bees were having way too much fun during batting practice, hooting and hollering for each solid hit in a way that drew my attention, and that of the two Pit Crew (interns) dudes who were waiting to clear the field of the batting practice equipment.  Balls were scattered all over the field since no Bee was out catching/shagging the hit balls and my Pit Crew friends were despondent thinking of picking all those up.  But wait!  A home run swing from one Bee and the object of their amusement became clear: the hit made one half of the team “losers” who had to clear the field of all balls!  It was refreshing to see these young pros playing at batting like young kids on a lark.  And the Pit Crew definitely appreciated that they cleared the field!

Up Close With Jeff and Donnie.  Although game-day staff aren’t supposed to be fans while working, ushers can pick up on conversations regular fans are having with members of the team as they move about the field.  One regular Winder Watcher was laughingly bugging Jeff Salazar for a ball.  He had promised that he would give her the next fly ball he caught.  Well, Robby Hammock was playing LF last night and caught a fly ball to end an inning.  As he and Jeff jogged to the dugout, they tossed the ball between them until they neared the stands when Robby tossed the ball into the seats.  My fan friend went into a pretend huff and Jeff said, “But I didn’t catch it!”  Clearly Jeff delights in the game and his fans.  Later this Winder Watcher asked Donnie Sadler what kind of speed he got on his Tacoma pitches.  Donnie grumbled “87.”  Pretty darned good for a position player!

 Summertime and the living is…  HOT!  Today is the first day of summer and we’re expecting a temp of around 108 degrees this afternoon.  After living in Tucson a few years I can tell you that I honestly enjoy the first day of summer.  Because it means that starting tomorrow the days will begin getting shorter.  Fewer minutes of sunlight sounds like bliss!

Another Transaction.  Enrique Gonzalez was optioned back to Tucson and the D-Backs called Dustin Nippert back up to the Bigs. Thirsty Thursday!  What could be better on a hot day than $1 beverages at the ol’ ballpark?  Come on down to TEP tonight to catch the third game of this series and enjoy dollar beverages for 2 hours after first pitch.  And don’t forget to plan to bring the family and all your neighbors to the Fireworks Friday series conclusion tomorrow night.  First pitch tonight and tomorrow will be at 7pm…Gates open at 6.  If you’re a baseball fan, TEP is the place to be!

(Disclaimer - this posting not reviewed/approved by the Sidewinders, Diamondbacks, PCL, MiLB, MLB, National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, SK Baseball LLC, or any other baseball official and represents the views and biases of the author alone)