Results tagged ‘ lakewood blueclaws ’
Get The Brooms, The Hoppers Sweep Lakewood (8/13/2011)
Tonight’s Greensboro Grasshoppers game against the Lakewood Blueclaws put the nails on the coffin of a clean four-game sweep. As always, check the official box score and game recap for the details. Don’t forget to check out Bill Hass’ “Bill On Baseball” blog, where he wrote a great piece about about tonight’s game, including a description of the at bat you’ll see pictures from later in this blog entry: Zawacki wins battle, Hoppers get the sweep.
It was a great day for a game. The overnight and morning rain cooled things down enough to make it comfortable. Season ticket holders were able to get into the park early today. They didn’t have any special programs for us again, but they let us go stand by the outfield wall and try to catch balls that left the park. The wind was blowing in, so most of the balls were staying in, but I managed to get one ball that made it over.
Before the game, I was hanging out by the tunnel and got autographs from Noah Perio and Jacob Realmuto:
By the time the game started, I headed over to my adopted new seats by the visitor’s dugout to enjoy the game with my friend Jonathan. We especially had a great time heckling Jim Murphy, who is sporting an awesome mustache. Before the game today, announcer Jim Scott gave a nod to the mustache by introducing him as “Jim ‘Stache’ Murphy.” Jonathan even brought his fake mustache from home to help with the heckling:
Murphy’s been having a tough time in Greensboro. He hit a double yesterday, but that’s the only hit he had in the entire series. I think he ended up being one for fourteen for the series. The only time he made it on base today was via a walk. Remember earlier when I said that Bill Hass’ blog entry describes some pictures you’ll be seeing here? Well here they are — Jim Murphy’s final swing of the evening, striking out. It’s what Bill described as pitcher Greg Nappo’s crossroads:
When the game started, I was concerned that the Hoppers wouldn’t be able to keep their winning streak up. The first Lakewood batter reached base on a single and the second batter knocked him in on a two-run homer. Fortunately, those were the only runs Lakewood scored. Offensively, the Hoppers went to work chipping away at that lead. Marcell Ozuna scored on some very smart baseball in the first inning. He tripled, and when Christian Yelich was out on a dropped third strike, Ozuna was able to run home quicker then Cameron Rupp and Jim Murphy were able to complete a 2-3-2 volley. The fact that Ozuna even attempted to score on the dropped third strike took Lakewood by surprise. They weren’t particularly hustling to get the out recorded, and I’m not sure they even knew Ozuna was running until their dugout started yelling and pointing. It’s also a testament to the great instincts Ozuna has and the fine third base coaching manager Andy Haines provides. The Hoppers’ second run came in the third when Isaac Galloway scored on an Ozuna single, after having reached base on a single himself and advancing to second via either a wild pitch or passed ball. Galloway played the hero by brining in the final two Hoppers runs on a high-over-center-field homer that also drove in Ryan Fisher. Galloway was on fire tonight: 3 at bats, 3 hits (single, double, home run), 2 runs, and 2 RBIs.
As impressive as our offensive was, once again, the game came down to pitching. Of the 11 strikeouts recorded by Greensboro’s three pitchers (Greg Nappo (W, 4-0), Brett Zawacki (H, 1), and Michael Brady (S, 16)), a full 7 of them were called third strikes looking. Our pitchers simply displayed stuff that was difficult to hit and threw pitches that Lakewood didn’t want to swing at.
Here’s some pictures of tonight’s three pitchers: Nappo, Zawicki, and Brady.
I didn’t sketch out my scorecard in time for the game today, so I kept score in the program. Here’s how I had it:
With tonight’s win, the Hoppers pull themselves even with Lakewood in the 2nd half. We’re chipping away at that playoff spot. Tomorrow starts a four game series against the Augusta GreenJackets. They’re currently doing very well and could present a stumbling block for the Hoppers. But with the momentum the team has established, and the great pitching we’ve been seeing lately, the team’s got a good shot if they can keep doing what they’re doing. We’ll see how it goes.
Remember, you can click on any of the pictures in the post to embiggen them. I’ve been playing with a new camera, so some of them don’t embiggen well since I had bad settings on it. Check out the photo album on Facebook for all the pictures. Join the conversation by leaving a comment — what are you thinking?
See ya at the ballpark!
Email: hoppersfan@gmail.com
Twitter: @HoppersFan
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HoppersFan
Hoppers Hit Two Homers For The Win (8/12/2011)
Last night’s Greensboro Grasshoppers game against the Lakewood Blueclaws was another great success. Although the Blueclaws outhit the Hoppers 6-3, two of those Hoppers hits were solo homers, and the only runs of the game. Final score: 2-0 Hoppers. Check out the official box score and game recap for the official details. We’re still five and a half games out of first, but these wins against Lakewood have closed the gap some. That graphic to the right came from the official Hoppers website and shows exactly what the Hoppers need to overcome in order to get on top. A win against Lakewood tonight (if there’s a game, it’s currently raining pretty steadily) will bring us even with Lakewood, and one step closer to the top.
The day started out pretty slow. I got to BP about the same time my friend Jonathan did, and we noticed that the wind was blowing into the park. We figured that would keep most of the balls inside. A couple of minutes later, Kenyon and Josh joined us and the three of them headed across the street for a game of catch while I watched BP from the fence. Our theory about it being a slow day for BP balls turned out to be right, as only three left the park. We gave two away to a couple of kids who had come to watch through the fence, too, standing on their bikes in order to see over the outfield wall. They were very appreciative and seemed thrilled to be able to go home with a souvenir. Another reason it was a light day for BP balls is that the Blueclaws didn’t even take BP. The Hoppers started later than usual, and I guess there simply wasn’t enough time for Lakewood to have a turn. Or maybe that was the plan from the beginning. With BP over and a few minutes before the gates were going to be open, we all just kinda wandered around doing our own thing.
Shortly before the gates opened up, the sky opened up and it started raining. Hard. Most everyone took shelter under the concourse on Bellemeade street. When the gates opened, it was still raining, and the tarp was on the field:
There was plenty of room to stay dry inside the park and everyone seemed to know that the storm would pass quickly enough and we’d get a game on. In the mean time, pitcher Miguel Mejia was at the autograph table signing autographs. I got his signature on a ball:
Sure enough, the rain soon ended, the tarp was removed, and the field became playable. The game started after about an hour delay, and moved very quickly — total time was 2:11. For the Hoppers, Alex Caldera made the start (and got the win). He pitched 7 innings, gave up 5 hits, and issued 1 walk. He was replaced by Grant Dayton in the 8th, who pitched 2 innings, gave up 1 hit, didn’t issue any walks, and picked up the save. The word of the day for pitching was “strikeout,” as Caldera recorded 9 and Dayton recorded 3. They were about to run out of places in the K-Zone to hang the Ks. Offensively, the Hoppers didn’t look spectacular, but they certainly got the job done. The only Hoppers hits came from Marcell Oznua (who homered in the first), Danny Black (who singled in the fifth), and Jacob Realmuto (who homered in the seventh). If 2/3 of the hits are going to be homers, I’m not going to complain.
Bill Hass has written a great blog entry about Caldera’s start, describing the history of how Caldera came to be pitching for the Hoppers and including some quotes from both Caldera and manager Andy Haines about the seven-inning shutout performance. Be sure to check it out: Caldera makes most of fresh start.
It was a great game, and like I said in my last entry, it’s a great time to be a Hoppers fan.
I took more pictures, but neglected to dump them from the camera before my wife took the camera to a youth retreat this weekend. So the pictures I do have are from my phone. Oops. Poor planning on my part. I should have the rest of the pictures Monday.
Here’s how I had the game. With the threat of rain being what it was, I almost didn’t score it. But it turned out to be a great night for a ballgame and a great night to score it.
Tonight is the last of the season ticket holder Saturday events where they let us into the park an hour early. We’ll see how that works out with the steady rain we’ve been getting so far this morning. It’s still 9 hours until game time, so it can definitely get dry by then.
Remember, you can click on any of the pictures in the post to embiggen them. Check out the photo album on Facebook for all the pictures. Join the conversation by leaving a comment — what are you thinking?
See ya at the ballpark!
Email: hoppersfan@gmail.com
Twitter: @HoppersFan
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HoppersFan
Hoppers Are Hot On Tropical Jersey Night (8/11/2011)
Tonight’s Greensboro Grasshoppers game against the Lakewood Blueclaws was the perfect example of what makes baseball exciting. The Hoppers struggled almost all night, falling behind from the very start, and unable to take the lead until the eighth inning. But when they took the lead, they took the lead. Going into the eighth, the Hoppers were behind 2-1. Then they scored 5 runs. The Blueclaws scored a solo home run in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to overpower the successful rally and the Hoppers took the 2nd game in this series, 6-3. Check out the official box score and recap for the details.
The highlight of the night for me was winning the bidding on Kyle Winters‘ game-used tropical jersey!
The Hoppers Fan and Kyle Winters After the Game
Every year, they have “Tropical Jersey” night. The players wear special “tropical” jerseys and the team auctions them off throughout the game. This year, I had decided that I wanted to win Kyle’s jersey if I could. The bidding went right up to my limit, but in the end, I had the highest bid. I was thrilled! After the game, all the winners went on the field and the players came out and gave them the jerseys, literally off their back.
View From The Field, Waiting For The Jerseys
It was great to get to chat with Kyle a little more. I saw him before the game and told him I was bidding on his jersey and he wished me luck. At the end of the night, he seemed happy to see that I had won it and we had a great chat on the field.
Here’s a couple of pictures of him pitching tonight:
Kyle Winters Pitching
Kyle Winters Pitching
Since he’s newly off the DL, they only had him pitch four innings. The first inning was really rough — the first three batters reached base on singles, the first batter eventually making it home. Thankfully, the inning ended with a strikeout then a beautiful unassisted double play by Mark Canha. The first batter Kyle faced in the second inning hit the ball hard over the left field wall. I’m not sure if the ball has landed yet. After that, Kyle kept getting better. Of the remaining 11 batters he faced, he got one more strikeout, didn’t allow any more runs, only one more hit, and issued only one walk. Especially for a rehab start, I’d call it a success. I’m looking forward to seeing how his next several starts go.
After Kyle was done, he was replaced by James Leverton for four innings (who got the win) and Michael Brady for the final inning, in a non-save situation.
The eighth inning was the exciting inning. Jay Johnson was pitching (and got changed with both a blown save and the loss) for the Blueclaws. All nine Hoppers batters got to bat. It started with Noah Perio, who singled. Marcell Ozuna struck out. Christian Yelich walked and Perio went to second. Mark Canha singled and made it to second on the throw as Perio scored and Yelich advanced to third. Wilfredo Giminez pinch hit for Aaron Dudley, singling and driving in both Yelich and Canha. Jacob Realmuto flied out. Danny Black singled and Giminez made it to third. While Ryan Fisher was at bat, Black stole second. Then, both Giminez and Black scored on a throwing error by Blueclaws catcher Cameron Rupp. It was a really funny play — Giminez had a bit of a lead off third and Rupp tried to pick him off. His throw was about three feet over the third baseman’s head and went into left field. Giminez jogged in, apparently not realizing that Black was flying behind him like a freight train. Giminez barely got out of the way for Black to touch home, just before the ball came in to try to tag him out. Fisher went on to single. The Blueclaws finally had enough of Johnson, and they replaced him with Tyler Knigge, who struck out Isaac Galloway to end the inning. The turn around was spectacular. The fans were on their feet. There was energy in the ballpark again. The top of the ninth was quick, the only excitement coming from a great home run from Bill Rice. It wasn’t enough, though, and the game ended with the Hoppers on top, 6-3. Five of those six runs came in the eighth inning. That’s how baseball works, it turns around quickly.
It was a good day for ball snagging and autographs, too. I made it out to the park early again and had a very successful day snagging balls during batting practice, ending up with an even ten. I gave a few away throughout the night. During a bit of a break in BP, I played catch with fellow snaggers Josh and Jonathan. I can’t throw worth a hill of beans, and my catching was pretty off tonight, too, but thy put up with me. We played until I had to quit because of my back pain. That worked out fine, though, ’cause BP was picking back up and there were a few more balls to be snagged.
I got Robert Morey’s autograph on one one of the BP balls before the game. You might remember Morey from the complete game shut-out he pitched a few weeks ago. I also got his autograph on his baseball card. With his autograph, that leaves me with only 3 more Hoppers players still on the roster that I don’t have autographs for. In addition to Morey’s autograph, I also got Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna on their SAL All-Star cards.
Robert Morey Autograph
Autographs: Robert Morey, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna
The Hoppers need to keep winning like this. We’re still five and a half games out of first for the second half title. It will be hard, but there’s still a shot of making it to the playoffs. Bill Hass describes the scenarios in his blog — go check it out: Hoppers begin crucial home stretch. Oh, look — as I was looking up that blog entry, I noticed that Bill has posted another entry about tonight’s game. Go check it out, too: Hoppers seize the moment and the game. Bill gives his own take on the beautiful eighth inning, peppered with some great insider commentary from the players and managers. If you’re not already following the Bill on Baseball blog, you need to start now.
It’s an exciting time to be a Hoppers fan.
Here’s how I had the game scored. Check out that bottom of the eighth. It’s just beautiful.
Scorecard 8/11/2011: Greensboro (6) v Lakewood (3)
Remember, you can click on any of the pictures in the post to embiggen them. Check out the photo album on Facebook for all the pictures. Join the conversation by leaving a comment — what are you thinking?
See ya at the ballpark!
Email: hoppersfan@gmail.com
Twitter: @HoppersFan
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HoppersFan
Greensboro Takes Lakewood To The Cleaners (8/10/2011)
Today’s Greensboro Grasshoppers game was against the Lakewood Blueclaws. The Hoppers dominated the game, defeating the Blueclaws 8-2. Check out the official box score and game recap for the details.
I was thrilled for the boys to be back in town after a long stretch away. I even made it out to batting practice before they had set the batting cage up.
Batting Practice
Batting practice was great today. I got there a few minutes before my friend Jonathan arrived and snagged 2 balls. The first ball cleared the nets and bounced in the middle of Eugene Street before hitting a truck that was driving down the road. It didn’t appear to do any damage, and rolled down the block to the Greek restaurant. I jogged over to retrieve it, and another ball left the park while I was getting it. It was resting against the fence and I picked it up on the way back. It was a beautiful ball that looked barely used. Once in the park, I got Marcell Ozuna to autograph it.
Marcell Ozuna Autograph
After Jonathan arrived for BP, the balls kept coming out of the park. Between the two of us, we must have gone home with at least a dozen. And we got to watch a tow truck run out of gas. Each of the folks in the tow truck managed to snag a ball while waiting for gas to arrive. Lots of fun.
When I got in the park, I saw all sorts of folks I knew. Several families that I know from church were there. I also saw lots of the regular fans I tend to see at most of the games. It was a great time. I spent the time before the game working on completing my autograph collection. I added Zach Neal and Willie Glen from the Hoppers to my collection. I also got Lakewood’s Domingo Santana’s autograph on the SAL Prospect card. He accidentally signed the Jesse Biddle card I had, too. Pretty funny — so now might the Biddle card be interesting to someone as a “misprint”? Santana was very apologetic about it. I told him not to worry. It really was my fault as much as anything — I didn’t point out the card I wanted signed, and both of the Blueclaws cards I had were right next to each other.
Autographs: Zach Neal, WIllie Glen, Domingo Santana, Domingo Santana on Jesse Biddle Card
I also got a chance to chat with my favorite pitcher, Kyle Winters, who is finally off the DL. He’s scheduled to start tomorrow, so I’m really looking forward to seeing him on the mound again.
Then it was time to settle in for the game. And what a great game it was. For the Hoppers, there were three home runs, a triple, and a double. Noah Perio hit the triple on his very first at bat and Marcell Ozuna knocked him in on a ground out. The second inning saw two home runs: Aaron Dudley and Ryan Fisher. Danny Black scored on Fisher’s home run, too, after having expertly stole second base while Fisher was batting. The third inning saw a 2-run homer by Jacob Realmuto (which won me a Red Mango gift card). Ryan Fisher scored again in the fourth inning, having reached base on a single. The fifth through seventh innings were quiet for the Hoppers offense. In the eighth, Ryan Fisher put another run on the board after having reached base on a double. With three at bats (on four plate appearances, having been walked in the fifth), Fisher was batting 1.000 — a homer, a single, and a double. He was awarded player of the game at the end of the contest. Defensively, pitcher Rhett Varner had a nice looking no-no through the first three innings, but allowed a single in the fourth to break it up. He kept them to no runs until the sixth inning, where he allowed the only two runs Lakewood scored. He was relieved by Jordan Conley for the final two innings. Conley only allowed one hit, in the ninth. The game moved very quickly (official time was 2:25), and a big part of that was the efficiency both Hoppers pitchers displayed. Conley, especially, kept the game moving at a quick pace as he retired batters and didn’t take much time between pitches.
Mark Canha at bat
The Hoppers are struggling in the second half of the season. It’s still possible for them to make the playoffs, but it’s going to be difficult. If they can keep playing — and winning — like they did tonight, they have a chance at making it. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
Here’s how I had the game:
Scorecard: Greensboro (8) vs Lakewood (2), 8/10/2011
Remember, you can click on any of the pictures in the post to embiggen them. Check out the photo album on Facebook for all the pictures. Join the conversation by leaving a comment — what are you thinking?
See ya at the ballpark!
Email: hoppersfan@gmail.com
Twitter: @HoppersFan
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HoppersFan
GSO v LAK Game 3 (7/6/2010)
Game 3 of the Greensboro Grasshoppers – Lakewood BlueClaws series came Tuesday evening, July 6. The Hoppers fell to the BlueClaws again, on a close 6-7 game. My Rally Cap was out and in force, but must have been just too little, too late. This brings my Rally Cap record to an even 2-2 since I started keeping track. It was an exciting game, though, especially towards the end when the Hoppers were starting to rally.
The Hoppers highlight of the night goes to Chase Austin, who hit two homers. One came in the 3rd inning and the 2nd came in the 9th inning, putting the Hoppers just one run short of tying. Pitching for the Hoopers was Chad James (2.1 innings, 4 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 4 strikeouts), Natividad Dilone (2.2 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 strikeout), and Ramon Benjamin (4 innings, 1 hit, 3 strikeouts). I love watching Benjamin pitch — he’s so efficient.
The highlight of the game for me was off the field, collecting autographs. Before the game started, I was thrilled to find Carlos Paulino (catcher) signing autographs at the table by the playground area. I had a couple of baseballs I’ve been carrying around to get Paulino to sign — the only Hoppers game ball I have is a foul ball Paulino hit that I scrambled to pick up about a month ago when it went into the stands, and the ball I threw when I threw the first pitch last month. Paulino caught my pitch, and I thought it would be cool to have his autograph on the ball I threw. So I took them to the table and he was happy to sign them for me. When I told him where each ball came from, he seemed to get a kick out of it. After getting Carlos’ autograph, I headed over to the Hoppers bullpen area to watch the team warm up in the outfield. There, I got both Michael Pasek (2B) and Erick Carrillo (P) to sign their cards. Later in the game, I spotted Curtis Peterson (P) in the stands and got him to sign his card, too. I’m hoping to get all the cards in the team set autographed before the season’s out.
Promotion Results
Sumo (between 2nd and 3rd): won by Red Sumo.
Sausage Race (between 8th and 9th): won by Hot Sausage. Hot entered from center field instead of by the Hoppers dugout with the other two sausages. It was kinda weird.
The “Fry Guy” Strikeout promotion was in full effect today. Here’s Spaz encouraging the third base side to coax BlueClaws batter Buschini into a strike:
Remember earlier when I said I saw Curtis Peterson in the stands? Guess what he was doing. He was filming Ramon Benjamin pitching. I guess they analyze the tapes to see how they can improve.
Check out the complete recap and box score on the Hoppers site. There’s also a game story over there.
I used iScore to score the game. Here’s how I had it (click each picture of the scoresheet to embiggen):
All of my pictures from the game are on Facebook.
See ya at the ballpark!
hoppersfan@gmail.com
twitter.com/HoppersFan
GSO v LAK Game 2 (7/5/2010)
The Lakewood BlueClaws rolled into Greensboro for a four-game series from July 4-7. I was out of town visiting family for the July 4 game (which the Hoppers lost 2-5), but made it to the rest of the games in the series. The July 5 game was another loss (2-7), and it was was another hot day game. I had the day off from work in recognition of the Independence Day holiday and got back into town just in time to make it to the game. It was another hot day — the temperature cooled down while the boys were on the road, but climbed back up once they came back to town.
One of the ceremonial first pitches was thrown by Sweet Lou Whitaker, a second baseman for the Detroit Tiger from 1977 to 1995. Apparently, Sweet Lou lives in a nearby town and is friends with the owner of the Hoppers, so his presence at the ballpark isn’t terribly out of the ordinary. It was definitely pretty cool to see a major leaguer throw a first pitch on the field.
The most interesting part of the game was what I believe was the professional debut of right-handed pitcher Robert Morey. I might have previously seen Morey pitch during this year’s ACC Tournament, which was held in Greensboro. I just don’t remember if I saw a Virginia game where he pitched or not. The Marlins drafted him in the 5th round of this year’s draft and he was assigned to the Jamestown Jammers. I couldn’t find a record of him pitching in Jamestown before getting moved up to Greensboro, so I think his appearance against the BlueClaws was his pro debut. It appears that pitcher Anillins Martinez was released in order to make room for Morey on the roster. Morey pitched two innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 run, and getting 2 strikeouts. In what is called a “piggyback” start (thanks to Bill on Baseball’s recent blog entry for explaining that term), Morey was replaced by Curtis Peterson, who pitched for five innings, allowing 6 hits, 3 runs, and striking out 4. Alejandro (AJ) Ramos closed the final two innings, allowing 3 runs off 2 hits and getting 3 strikeouts.
Here’s a series of pictures of Robert Morey throwing a warm-up pitch:
This game marked the third appearance of my Rally Cap since I started paying attention to its win-loss record. I pulled the Rally Cap in the top of the 8th, when AJ took the mound. The Hoppers were down 4-2, and I thought my Cap might work its magic again when Greensboro turned a nice double play followed by a skillful strikeout. Alas, the magic wasn’t working and my Rally Cap suffered its first loss since I started keeping track, bringing it to a 2-1 record. The Cap would make another appearance in the next game.
Promotion Results
Sausage Race (between 2nd and 3rd): won by Hot Sausage. Country was looking good, but stopped to do a line dance between third and home.
Sumo (middle of 3rd): won by Blue Sumo
The Hoppers have recently reintroduced their “strikeout victim” promotion. They choose a batter on the opposing team, and if that batter strikes out, everyone at the game gets a coupon for a free item from a local business. In years past, it was sponsored by Waffle House and the coupon was for a free waffle. It was hugely popular with the fans. Every time the strikeout victim would appear at the plate, the stadium would erupt with cries of “Waffle! Waffle! Waffle!” With Waffle House’s financial woes this year, I don’t think they could afford to sponsor the promotion again. So, for the first half of the season, there was no strikeout victim. Recently, Sheetz has stepped up to sponsor the promotion and it’s called “Fry Guy” because if the batter strikes out, everyone gets a coupon for free fries. The problem the Hoppers were having is that the fans just couldn’t seem to get into the rhythm of chanting “Fry Guy” like they would “Waffle.” I think the promotions department has come up with a solution — they now put someone on each dugout with a sign. On the third base side, it’s “FRY” and on the first base side, it’s “GUY.” Under their leading, the crowd is much more lively in getting the chanting going. Here’s a picture of Laura on the third base side, holding up the “FRY” sign:
Check out the complete recap and box score on the Hoppers site. There’s also a game story over there.
Somehow, I messed up the batting order on my scoring program, so I only scored a couple of innings of the game. No scoresheets to share this time.
All of my pictures from the game are on Facebook.
See ya at the ballpark!
hoppersfan@gmail.com
twitter.com/HoppersFan
GSO v LAK Game 4 (4/27/2010)
The Greensboro Grasshoppers played their fourth game against the Shorebirds last Tuesday, and it was a day game. Day games are always fun. To make it even more exciting, this game was one of the Guilford County School Days at the ballpark. The stands were filled with about a hundred million second graders. OK, maybe not that many, but it sounded like there were that many once they started screaming and yelling.
Since there were kids all over the place in the main section of the ball park, including where my season ticket is, the Hoppers had all the season ticket holders that attended the game sit up in the Yes! Party Deck. That was really cool. I’d never been to the 2nd level, and it’s a whole different experience checking out the game from up there. I liked it, and I hope that when they have school days again, they put the season ticket holders in the Party Deck. It was lots of fun. I even made a new friend who won tickets to the game from his employer. We ended up sitting next to each other for the last couple of innings and really enjoyed chatting as the game wound down. That made the loss easier to bear.
It was a tough loss, 2-3. The Hoppers got on the board with a run pretty quickly in the 1st inning. No more runs were scored until the 4th, when the BlueClaws scored a run. The Hoppers didn’t respond with a run of their own until the 7th, but the BlueClaws tied it in the 8th with a run and scored another run in the 9th to secure the win. The bottom of the 9th was particularly disheartening: Kyle Jensen walked. Kyle Skipworth walked (then Michael Pasek replaced him as a pinch runner). With Chase Austin at bat, the BlueClaws had a pitcher substitution, who allowed both Jensen and Pasek to advance on a wild pitch. Then the pitcher intentionally walked Austin, loading the bases. It was exciting. I was hopeful that we’d at least tie, if not secure the win. How could we not? Bases loaded, no outs! Then Carols Paulino flies out. Then Jose Torres strikes out. Then Terrence Dayleg strikes out. It was a rough inning.
Promotion Results
Sumo (between 1st and 2nd): won by Red Sumo
Sausage Race (between 4th and 5th): won by Hot Sausage
A note about parking. Since it was a day game, the lot across the street where I normally park for free was not available. Nor was street parking, since the meters were all in effect. All of the lots near the stadium were also full. It was difficult to navigate the streets due to the large number of busses. I finally gave up and parked in a city lot a few blocks away from the stadium. Much to my surprise, when I got out of the deck after the game, the parking was less than $2. Next time there’s a day game, I might just skip hunting for a spot and head straight for the parking deck. It was only a couple blocks away from the stadium. Nice and easy.
Once again, I used iScore to score the game. Here’s how I had it (click each picture of the scoresheet to embiggen):
Check out the complete recap and box score on the Hoppers site.
All of my pictures from the game are on Facebook.
See ya at the ballpark!
hoppersfan@gmail.com
twitter.com/HoppersFan
GSO v LAK Game 3 (4/26/2010)
The Greensboro Grasshoppers played their third game against the Blueclaws last Monday, and I was back in my seat to enjoy it. Sadly, the Hoppers lost 8-6, but as long as I don’t think about the grand slam that Adam Buschini of the Blueclaws hit in the 5th, I’ll remember the game fondly. As is my usual custom, I got to the ballpark as soon as the gates were scheduled to open — an hour before the game starts. I like being able to settle into the stadium with plenty of time before the first pitch. It lets me write down the starting line up for scoring. It lets me get any snacks I want to get. It lets me get an autograph from the player at the autograph booth — I got Kyle Jensen’s autograph before this game. I was even more excited to get to the ballpark early this time — I found two baseballs before going inside! They were in the street near the Eugene Street entrance. One of them was actually in the middle of the Eugene/Lindsay intersection, and the other was in the gutter nearby. I parked in one of the parallel parking spots right by the gate and booked over to the balls and snatched them up.
Promotion Results
Sumo (between 2nd and 3rd): won by Red Sumo
Sausage Race (between 8th and 9th): won by Country Sausage
I used my buddy’s telephoto lens to grab a few photos. I think a couple of the mound conferences I captured came out pretty cool:
Once again, I used iScore to score the game. Here’s how I had it (click each picture of the scoresheet to enbiggen):
All of my pictures from the game are on Facebook.
Check out the box score and full recap at the Hoppers website.
See ya at the ballpark!
hoppersfan@gmail.com
twitter.com/HoppersFan
GSO v LAK Game 2 (4/25/2010)
Game 2 of the 8 day home stand did not disappoint. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The Hoppers started out slow, but came out ahead with a 8-7 win. Miss Babe Ruth peed on the field. Great way to end the weekend.
That’s right, I said Miss Babe Ruth peed on the field. Check it out:
She didn’t get ejected like Master Yogi Berra’s famous ejection last year. Most fans probably didn’t even notice, although the bat boy seems to think it’s funny and the ump seems to be contemplating an ejection. You can click the picture to see a larger version.
In other news, the Hoppers continued to taunt Sebastian Valle by putting up pictures of Sebastian The Crab from The Little Mermaid when he was up to bat:
Promotion Results
Sausage Race (between 2nd and 3rd): won by Country Sausage
Sumo (middle of 3rd): won by Blue Sumo
Poor Sage never wins, but it looks like she’s having fun. Here’s the whole group of sausages rounding third base:
The game itself was a little worrisome at first. The Hoppers didn’t score until the fifth inning, but they got three runs then. Another two runs in the seventh gave them a comfortable 5-2 lead. The eighth, however, was quite troublesome, as the Blueclaws reassumed the lead (5-6) with four runs scored. The Hoppers responded with three runs of their own, giving them a two run lead. In the ninth, the Blueclaws managed to get a run, but it wasn’t enough and the Hoppers didn’t even have to take the field in the ninth.
Once again, I used iScore to score the game. Here’s how I had it (click each picture of the scoresheet to enbiggen):
Check out the complete recap and box score on the Hoppers site.
All of my pictures from the game are on Facebook. Big thanks go out to my buddy Chris who lent me his telephoto camera lens. I had all sorts of fun taking close up pictures from my seat. You can tell, there are 100 photos of the game that I posted.
See ya at the ballpark!
hoppersfan@gmail.com
twitter.com/HoppersFan
More To Come….
It’s been a week since I’ve updated this blog, and for that I apologize. My intent has always been to keep it updated soon (within a day or two) after attending each home game. Hopefully, I’ll do much better for the next homestand. I’ve had fun going to baseball games every day for the past 8 days, and look forward to writing about the games.
I’ll write up detailed blog entries for each game, but here’s a quick summary of the week:
The Hoppers are looking OK, and I’ve got hope for the rest of the season. They split the series in the first part of the week against the Lakewood Blueclaws, 2 games apiece. Wednesday’s game against the Rome Braves was a quick (less than two hour!) 5-0 shut-out. Another shut-out (3-0) on Thursday was making me feel confident about this series. They went on to split the series, however, by losing both Friday and Saturday nights. The Hoppers are currently at the bottom of the Northern Division of the South Atlantic League.
Thursday night, I finally tried the Taylor Made Kettle Corn that is prominently advertised on the scoreboard every time a Hoppers player catches an easy pop-up or fly ball. This was the first time I’ve ever had kettle corn, and it is now my favorite ballpark food. It doesn’t hurt that the folks behind the booth obviously love baseball, and the Hoppers, and are fun to chat with. I highly recommend it. I ended up getting a bag Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and expect to be a regular at the booth throughout the season.
Like I said, more details on the games are coming. Until then, enjoy the pictures that I’ve taken at each game. I posted them on my Facebook account:
- GSO v LAK Game 2 (04/25/2010)
- GSO v LAK Game 3 (04/26/2010)
- GSO v LAK Game 4 (04/27/2010)
- GSO v ROM Game 1 (04/28/2010)
- GSO v ROM Game 2 (04/29/2010)
- GSO v ROM Game 3 (04/30/2010)
- GSO v ROM Game 4 (05/01/2010)
I’ll be working to get all these games written about over the next few days. Stay tuned….
Oh, yeah — one more thing. I recently received an email from a fan with a couple of questions that I don’t know the answer to. Anyone out there able to help?
Hey random question, do you know the name of michael pasek’s walkup song? and by any chance do you know the name of that lil wayne song they play at the top of the order?
I haven’t been paying that much attention to the walk-up music, so I’m not sure. If anyone knows what that walk-up music is, please leave a comment here or drop me an email. Thanks!
See ya at the ballpark!
hoppersfan@gmail.com
twitter.com/HoppersFan
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