Pawtucket - 100 001 200 - 4 8 2 Buffalo - 200 204 40x - 12 15 1Tim and I see baseball in the "friendliest city" in the United States!
Josh Reddick hit the first pitch of the game for a home run to deep right-center. Unfortunately, that was the high point of the PawSox's night.
Pawtucket starter Kris Johnson allowed two doubles in the bottom of the first and, coupled with an infield error, the Bisons took a 2-1 lead. And they kept hitting, scoring four runs against each of three PawSox pitchers: Johnson, T.J. Large, and Hideki Okajima.
Jeemer came into the game in the seventh. He allowed an infield single that probably should have been scored an error, and then gave up a two-run home run to right-center to Russ Adams (who had hit a two-run dong in the previous inning, as well). After allowing two more singles, Okajima got a groundout to shortstop and was pulled. .1-4-4-0-0, 16.
Reddick hit another solo home run leading off the sixth; he also singled in the ninth. In the seventh, Gustavo Molina crushed a tater to left. The PawSox then loaded the bases on two walks and a single before Jeremy Hermida (who had singled in each of his first three at-bats) drew a walk to force a run.
Tim's shot of Jeremy Hermida, probably in the process of drawing that RBI BB, with Aaron Bates on deck.
Here is a shot of the field in the top of the third. ... My little camera sucks. I will add some more pictures to this post tomorrow (if Tim emails them to me). [Update: He didn't.]The park in Buffalo is quite nice -- our tickets were $7 -- plus they serve Murphy's* (in cans, but still...)!
* Long story, but we fell in love with Murphy's during our 2001 Ireland vacation and it has been next to impossible to find on tap in North America.
The Bisons have a couple of mascots. One is named Buster T. Bison and he is a guy wearing a regular baseball uniform, but he has a huge buffalo head on his head. It looks quite odd.
The other mascot is named "Chip"*. This guy was in a full costume and he climbed on top of the third base dugout (PawSox) in the top of the seventh. Tim and I were in the third row at the end of the dugout closest to the plate.
* A Buffalo chip? Why would a team name a mascot after slang for a piece of dried shit? One kid who got his cap signed said to his mother (something like) "I never saw a chocolate chip be able to write." Chip's costume was brown, but he weren't no chocolate chip.
Chip was the least active mascot I have ever seen. He paced slowly back and forth on the dugout, barely acknowledging the crowd. Tim and I discussed possible theories: he was on Valium, he was a middle-aged hobo simply trying to make $20, he was narcoleptic. His droopy costume eyes made him seem extra lethargic. Adding to the hilarity was the fact that he was holding a capped Sharpie in his right hand as he shuffled back and forth, for the autographs.
Other fun: The Bisons' version of the "pick which one of the three caps/whatevers the ball is under" game on the scoreboard featured a trio of blue recycling bins. They were moving around in circles and I thought they were getting warmed up to race, but it turns out they were just shuffling around to confuse the crowd. It was sponsored by Twin Village Recycling. Bin #3 was the winner.
And: In the eighth inning, some Bisons employees were on the third base dugout tossing rolls of Smarties into the crowd. I like Smarties, but the sight of a 46-year-old balding guy making a scene for 5¢ worth of candy is not the image I try to project, even to strangers on a short trip to a foreign country, so I sat quietly. Towards the end, though, I made some eye contact with the guy and he tossed me his last roll. ... It was not "Smarties". ... It was "Soft Lips" lip protectant/sunscreen. Cherry flavor. I blame the stupid, less-than-ideal PA system.
15 comments:
They serve Murphy's on tap in my home town. I greatly prefer Guinness, but it does in a pinch.
Ah, minor league ball. Buffalo Chip!! That is too much. And the Smarties/sunscreen story is hilarious.
I heart Murphy's. I love Guinness but think Murphy's is even better.
Any trouble at the border?
redsock, I used to love this blog, but now I worship it on the heels of the news that you are a Murphy's lover. Guinness is, indeed, good for you, but Murphy's reaches the spot like nothing else.
Any trouble at the border?
Nothing. Not a peep.
Tim drove, which might have helped since we were not in the wmtcmobile. The booth guy took the passports, asked where we both lived. For the first time (I think), I/we were *not* asked what our citizenship was. After that I was staring at the guy, looking for a sign that he might be seeing something on his screen.
He asked two questions about how often "you" come to the US or when was the last time "you" were in the US. I thought he meant me, but Tim answered right away and so I guess the guard was asking him, as driver/owner of the car.
And that was it. He obviously did not type in my name even after seeing the USA birthplace. He might have even said "enjoy the game".
(There was also a *gorgeous* German Shepherd checking out the car in front of us -- I saw him lick the muffler! -- but he left as we pulled up. :<( )
Nothing. Not a peep.
Well, of course, baseball erases all borders between nations!
Good thing you weren't wearing "Soft Lips" when you crossed into the States; that might have provoked extra scrutiny.
As for favorite stouts, I like Beamish which I first had in England and is really hard to find on tap in the states.
The game was broadcast here in NYC on SNY, the Mets' cable home. Caught parts of it during breaks in the Sox game, and saw Oki get hammered.
...a 46-year-old balding guy...
I have always suspected you were over 40. Christ, that's disgusting.
Christ, that's disgusting.
It is.
It really is.
Sounds like a blast Redsock! Guinness, Murphy's and Beamish are all fine stouts, but I thought that the king of them all was a beer called Gillespies that the Fountain brewery used to brew in Edinburgh, Scotland. Me and my room-mates started drinking it at a pub called the Golf Tavern when it was kinda relaunched in the early 90's. We drank it for about three months then realized one night that we were all getting almost too fat to fit through the door of the pub - it must have had like a thousand freakin calories a pint! We hastily switched back to our regular brew and we graqdually slimmed down to just normal sized beer-bellied students. I don't think they make it any more, sadly - it tasted excellent, kinda sweet and nutty but not quite so heavy as the other stouts.
Good times had at ye old ballpark in the USA!
I would just like to add that there were about a dozen "first" pitches, Allan and I were just waiting for our names to be called since about 50% of the crowd there threw out a first pitch.
Also would like to point out that I, for one, thought that Chip may have been a "professional" (i.e. software engineer or something) whose job was recently outsourced. A much sadder, realistic view of the man behind the surly mask. Such a morose motherfucker that mascot was.
I was extremely confused by this recycling bin event, as I also thought they would be racing. They just sort of circled around the home plate on the videoboard for 20 seconds like a demolition derby sort of thing. But not.
As for that on field stuff that happened, dongs were fun to see. Even if they were lighting up the pawsox. I was thoroughly amused by Blue Jay outcast Russ Adams hitting two. As for Jeemer bombing, not so much. And if you thought the big league bullpen was bad...go out to one of these games. You might be so lucky as to see a few (T.J.) Large dongs.
As for the soft lips, isn't that your favorite flavor, cherry red?
We drank it for about three months then realized one night that we were all getting almost too fat to fit through the door of the pub - it must have had like a thousand freakin calories a pint!
MacLeod, that is hilarious.
Why do people say stouts are heavy? Guinness and Murphy's may look heavy, but they don't taste or feel heavy.
But they will make you heavy. :)
Tim, thanks for the report - love it.
As for the soft lips, isn't that your favorite flavor, cherry red?
One of the few songs from that time period that I really do not like.
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