new baseball season coming up real soon. plan on spending a lot of time watching this season. figured maybe i'd write about it. maybe someone will read it. here we are.
so i've been a bit slack this week, but only because baseball has taken a spot on the back burner to the stanley cup playoffs. i've been two of the three home games and am going tomorrow for the big series finale.
let's go panthers!
(and i'm going to see the marlins face the d-backs on saturday, so i'll be back with more baseball by then...)
...no, a naked person has not run across the field at marlins park, but the fish have put together a nice little 3-game win streak.
pitching: j.j. is looking better and worked 7, heath bell looked like a closer, mark buehrle worked a solid 8 innings and got some serious run support.
defense: they've turned a bunch of double plays in the last two games, so it seems like they are solidifying in that respect. even donnie murphy, playing for the injured (hopefully not too badly) omar infante worked some magic last night.
offense: speaking of donnie murphy, guess who hit one out last night? yup... oh, and hanley is hot, ta-boot. but apparently giancarlo stanton is not as good a hitter as his alter-ego mike was last year...
ozzie is back on the bench and keeping his mouth in line... its all about the baseball, skipper!
but it wouldn't be miami if there wasn't a little drama. showtime dropped the preview trailer for season 2 of the franchise, first episode airing this saturday at 9 pm on showtime.
wish i could play hooky and head down to the businessman's special today, but unfortunately sometimes life gets in the way of baseball.
sunday matinee at the ballpark to celebrate jackie robinson day!
the fact that everyone was wearing robinson's 42 and no last name made scoring the game a bit more difficult then usual. in fact, on more then one occasion the announcer made mistakes on pinch hitters due to the confusion. but that did not take away from a great game which featured two marlins long balls (psychedelic statue and all!), extra innings and a couple fun double plays.
the crew got together late and stuffed our faces with german breakfast at the nook before heading down to miami. subbed out my dad (april 15 and a hockey game that evening, he spent the day requested extensions from the irs) and invited not-quite-cousin elliot along for his first visit to the ballpark.
traffic started at nearly the same spot as last time, and continued to almost the exact same turn west towards the stadium. pretty sure i got a handle on the approach by now, and as long as you're not trying to get in right as the game starts you should be good to go.
pulled into the garage, had a beer or two and headed in. lost the crew on the way (i'll admit that i was inpatient, but they were still damn slow) so i started trekking up the ramp solo. let me tell you, it is a hike up to the top of the stadium. i think next time i'm going to go find the stairs that we utilized to get out of there.
quick stop in the rest room conveniently located right outside my section before heading up to my seats to fill out my scorebook. i thought it was kind of odd that both starting pitchers were wearing number 42 (i missed the pregame ceremonies and had forget the importance of april 15), and then i looked at the field and noticed that everyone was wearing jackie's number.
a children's choir led the national anthem, which was a straight-forward traditional approach and a rather pretty version. as far as i am concerned the only patriotic song i need to hear during a baseball game is "the star spangled banner", though when they play "god bless america" during the 7th inning stretch i have a chance to grab a beer and a pee before the last few frames. i still only want to "hear take me out to the ballgame" in between the top and the bottom of the 7th.
anyhow, on to the game. anibal came out looking good. infante led off the second by putting one out, becoming the first marlin to hit a regular season home run in marlins park, and as such, the first to set off the sculpture. it was a wonderful spectacle, and though cheesy, it is totally fitting for miami.
its a rainbow full of sound, it's fireworks, calliopes and clowns!
local broward county boy j.d. martinez (note press, he may have been born in miami but he lived in pembroke pines and played high school ball at flanagan high school there) tied it up with a double in the top of the 3rd, and some classic small ball nets them two more in the 4th. a couple of slow innings before hanley sends one out and brings home emilio, evening the game up at four each. it stayed that way until the bottom of the 11th, when brett hayes singled to lead off the inning and was moved over by a chris couglin sacrifice bunt. a few batters later hanley slapped one into right field, and the team, and the stadium, celebrated the first walk-off in the new stadium. no pies in the face, no injuries.
hanley celebrates his walk-off single in the 11th
i guess that i was overly optimistic when i assumed that i would make it home and out to the bank atlantic center by puck drop for game two of the panthers/devils first round playoff, but the 4:08 baseball game time made it impossible. luckily, my pops found someone to go with at the last minute, and the freakin' won to tie the series up. we're in jersey tonight, and i'll be flipping between some hockey and j.j.'s hopeful redemption on the mound against the cubbies.
visiting team (houston astros) scorecard - 4/15/12
home team (miami marlins) scorecard - 4/15/12
my scoring is getting a bit better. i made the decision to swap the pitching so that (for example) the astros pitchers are on the same page as the marlins batters. unfortunately, i think i screwed up by putting the home teams batters on the first page, but as i said earlier, this is a learning exercise and i'm improving all the time.
those who pay attention to baseball news may have heard that vin scully, voice of the brooklyn/l.a. dodgers since 1950, is ill and has not been in the broadcast booth for a home game yet this year. word is that it's "only" a cold, but at 84 years old "only" a cold can be dangerous.
let's all keep him in our thoughts, and for a good lock at some of the epic moments in baseball epicness that vin has been a part from, check out this article from a recent gq magazine:
i thought things were gonna go our way, we managed to touch up doc a bit, scoring early (which is an obvious necessity when going against top-notch pitching). infante made a heads up play at second to force a runner's interference. so far, so good.
until the bottom of the third. the phillies must of had some pent-up ya-yas, because they let loose on the marlins' ace. with the help of some questionable defense the score at the end of the inning was 5-1, and doc was given the cushion he needed to put our lights out. which he did. no more offense on our part, another run on theirs.
the best part of the whole broadcast (which i was able to catch at home!) was good-looking marlins' on-field reporter allison williams getting a bit of extra attention from the philly fanatic.
allison williams
j.j. doesn't look good. he didn't look good opening day, and he definitely didn't look good last night. he's not
striking folks out, and he's going deep in counts and giving up base
hits. he's actually given up nearly as many hits in his two starts this
year as he did in his nine-start abbreviated season last year. still, too early to be concerned. san fran's lincecum got rocked by the rockies for six earned runs last night, so at least there is ace that is looking like a dud.
but, as d00kie love said last night:
he needs to find his groove, he hasn't lost it. if we're having this conversation at the end of may, then i'm worried.
fair enough, let's hope we don't get there.
i'm not gonna be watching most of tonight's match-up, but i will spend the final innings with the radio broadcast team i grew so familiar with last year when i listened (no cable) to the radio broadcast nearly every evening.
he put his foot in his mouth. he apologized for it, and i believe it was a sincere apology. the marlins suspended him. let's get over it and get back to baseball.
***
tonight is the a pitcher's duel showcasing the best in the nl east: j.j. vs. doc. every time these two throw down it seems to be a good game, and i hope tonight is no exception.
marlins radio man glenn geffner shares a bit of the history between the two on his blog:
first of all, let me apologize for both the text-heaviness of this post, as well as its delay in being written. i've been having some issues with photos on my iphone/ipad (damn you iphoto!) which caused both of the waits. i'll up the photos as soon as i can figure out how to do so.
***
it was finally here. opening day of the season. opening day of the new park. lots of build-up to get to this point; would the day live up to the lofty expectations?
met up in davie at dad's office. already had a couple beers and had a cooler stocked with a couple more for the walk from the parking garage to the stadium and as we wandered the outskirts.
first hit a bit of traffic as we got on the 836. honestly, it wasn't too bad. from what i observed at that time in the afternoon it didn't seem like the parking situation was too bad, either, though i am sure that got worse as the time got closer to first pitch.
we parked on the forth floor of the garage and headed down to the loud-ass party going on in front of the stadium. every news van satellite truck in town--both local and national--was there. espn had their pre-game stage production set up on the front lawn, and there was band playing on another stage. there were hundreds of people in line to get into the team store, so we opted for a stand outside that was selling opening day merchandise. i grabbed a couple of balls for some buddies who wouldn't be there, and a $20 (!!!) program for myself. didn't want to run the risk of damaging that overpriced crap, so eric and i ran it back to the car and took advantage of the opportunity to load up on a couple more beers.
we walked back to the plaza and met up with the rest of the group to head into the stadium. a quick search through my bag and we were in. it was a pretty exciting moment, though i don't anyone was as excited as this this guy:
(thanks to zoo with roy for starting this epic meme, which has actually turned into a bit of a saga:
we made our way up the ramp (which was lined with members of the fushu daiko japanese drumming group banging away) and stopped at the promenade level, which is situated at the back of the lower bowl of the stadium. headed immediately down the aisle as close as we could get to the field; once at the railing we were situated a bit behind first base. took a couple quick pics and then headed up to the promenade to check out the food and other assorted goings-on.
first of all, as you can expect the place was packed. the lines weren't for food or beer, but for memorabilia. every team store i saw had a line out the door (i didn't even make it into one this go-around), and luckily we purchased out programs before hand, because vendors selling nothing but those overpriced picture books were slammed with customers throughout the night.
pops grabbed a chicken sandwich from burger 305, and we bumped into the rabbi for our temple... at where else but the kosher korner. took a quick detour to check out the bobblehead museum (no gary carter, weak...) before heading up the ramp again to our seats on the 300 level.
we finally made it to our seats about 10 minutes before the pregame festivities were set to begin. i filled out my scorecard and we got friendly with out neighbors. there was definitely a feeling of camaraderie in the air, and i hope that i recognize faces in section 309 as i go to more games this season.
much has been written locally and nationally about the pregame show, so i'm going to give a quick run down:
it was awesome to see the home run sculpture go off, but i wish i would have none about it ahead of time. either that or they should have saved it for the first regular season marlins home run, as they said they would.
the biggest cheers came when the roof started opening. i was surprised at how fast it went.
cabaret dancers in full regalia escorted the marlins out as the rosters were announced. i thought the move to vegas feint was long completed....
the all spanish conversation between the crying kid and his relative in the military was forced and awkward. definitely could have done with out it.
but that little dog and pony show was nothing compared the absolute travesty that was dragging the diseased body of the greatest boxer who ever lived out in front of a shocked crowd. truly disturbing.
i have never been so happy for entertainment at the ballpark to come to an end, and i've seen pitbull do pregame at the old stadium.
in case you were wondering, there was a ballgame played, though someone may have forgot to tell the marlins. j.j. looked off, and the bats were ineffective at best. i had an awesome, though 14 buck, steak sandwich from a cuban stand in right field. came with plantain chips and a tasty chimmichurri spread.
by the middle of the sixth the place started emptying out, perfect par for the miami crowd course. i expect weeknight games to announce good attendance but actually be much emptier. glad i got weekend tickets, because i still think making it down there in time for the first pitch would be nearly impossible for me.
marlins lost, we got back to the garage pretty quickly, and it took about 20 minutes to get out and on the road. mission accomplished, good times had. i was already looking forward to my next game before i got back to my car.
visiting team (st. louis cardinals) scorecard - 4/4/12
home team (miami marlins) scorecard - 4/4/12
i'm on a mission to make these look better once scanned. anyone with any suggestions, fire away.
Will the Miami Marlins' new state-of-the-art ballpark bring an end to the team's attendance woes?
the answer is similar to what i've been saying in every conversation i've had about how the stadium is going to save the team: attendance will be good this year, but if they don't win it will be back in the cellar in no time...
the grey lady weighs in on our new baseball palace:
Marlins Park, of course, would not work in the Bronx. Yankee Stadium feels stately and imperial, befitting the image of the team that plays there. Retro ballparks, like Camden Yards, draw on deep local traditions. Miami is different, and so is its stadium.
Best-case? Johnson throws 200 innings, Stanton hits 40 homers, Reyes stays mostly healthy and Hanley embraces the move to third base while bouncing back from his down 2011 campaign. If those things happen, the Marlins should challenge the Phillies for the division crown
i find it especially telling that the author talks about how it is a great thing from the perspective of someone who is not an actual miami marlins fan, but a fan of the game in general.
thorough write-up on yesterday's soft opening from some one lucky enough to be there. i'm only a bit upset that i didn't go, but not for the reasons you'd expect. i tried my damnedest to get ticket when they went on-sale. i used my status as a season-ticket holder to attempt to purchase during three separate and distinct purchasing windows, but i get diddly squat each time. suffice-it-to-say, i was a little upset when i got e-mails last week offering me the opportunity to buy tickets. how come you wouldn't let me buy those tickets when i had my credit card in hand? i guess i should say thanks for letting me save a couple bucks and allowing me to have my first marlins park experience for the real deal opening day...
i had heard last week that the wild sculpture in the outfield would be operational for these two exhibition games, so i was pretty damn excited when i watch gaby sanchez launch one out.
gaby blasts it.
unforgettably, david samson must have been lying (wow, never thought that sentence would exist) when he told reporters that the sculpture would be turned on... he ate his crow from the broadcast booth and let everyone know that if a marlin hits it out on wednesday we will be treating to a funky little show.
as promised, here are my scorecards from saturday's spring training game. i'm shaking off my cobwebs and getting back in the swing of actually paying close attention to sporting events rather then using them as an excuse to consume beer.
my system is ever-evolving, and i actually came up with some new ways (to me at least) to indicate substitutions as i take score. i also came to the realization that totaling stats should be done after the game in order to get it right the first time.
visiting team (ny mets) scorecard - 3/31/12
home team (miami marlins) scorecard - 3/31/12
pretty sure nobody (or next to) are reading this, but if anyone is and wants to give me some scorekeeping advice i'd greatly appreciate it. help keep this dying art alive!
next on my agenda, figuring out a way to make these look better once posted here...
even though i live in the home of grapefruit league baseball, i don't often get to spring training games. i don't know why, and i think that come next year that is going to change. i love watching the boys of summer during the early spring, i love watching kids (and kids at heart) waiting next to the bullpens hunting autographs. i even love only (can't believe that i am typing this) having to spend 7 bucks for a cold beer. whether it is or not, i think that spring training baseball is more pure of a game then the regular season, and i really enjoy going to a small park for a game.
marlins vs. mets, last spring training game of the 2012 season. kinda last spring training game, as the marlins vs. yankees exhibitions at marlins park are still considered part of the grapefruit league season. Went with a decent group, the most memorable being little leah ann shapiro, at her first ball game.
the baby and her parents didn't last too long, even though stacy did a great job scoring us seats out of the sun (sec 206 if you want to know). drank a bunch of those 7 buck beers, including one purchased from my regular bank atlantic center beer vendor dude. scored the game using my new scorebook (forthcoming, I have no scanner at home) and had a generally enjoyable time. oh, and the marlins ended the day with a walk off win, which is always nice to see.
only took a couple pics:
i'm writing this as i watch the marlins play the yankees at the new stadium. i can't understand why it was so damn impossible for me to get tickets for this game, especially as they didn't sell the 25,000 they intended to. doesn't really matter, watching on tv is just getting me more pumped up for wednesday...
