Going to the beginning to the minor leagues

July 26 2013-- Well went to check out some NY Penn League short season class A baseball. Saw the Hudson Valley Renegades (affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays) vs the Aberdeen Iron Birds (affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles) Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls NY was the site of this game. Opened in 1994, a nice little ballpark. It holds a little under 5,000. Its interesting that pitching is usually that dominates the NY Penn League. This game was no exception. For Hudson Valley lefty Ben Griset. He was dealing. Going 6 innings 4 hits 0 runs 0 walks and 7 strikeouts. You can really see the Tampa Bay Rays doing a great job in the scouting department. Hudson Valley scored 2 runs in the second inning on back to back hits from Darryl George and John Alexander. Interesting note for the Aberdeen Iron Pigs their rightfielder was Mike Yastrzemski grandson of Red Sox hall of famer Carl Yastrzemski. It was interesting by far he was the most polished position player on the field. He made a spectacular grab in right againsed the wall to take extra bases away. He also did it with the bat. In the 1st he was hit by a pitch, he then singled to right. In the 5th he struck out. But in the 9th with Aberdeen losing 3-0 he hit a line drive solo homer over the fence in right. So very impressive game for M Yaz. So fun night at the ballpark. It is always interesting to see the different levels of baseball. You definetly see the mistakes that is made in the lower levels of the minor leagues. But was really impressed with the Hudson Valley starting pitcher. Really knew what he was doing. Pitching inside, out, up, and down. Give credit to Tampa Bay and their scouting. So we'll see if in a few years if any of these guys advance. Who know mabey I'll see him again vs the Sea Dogs at Hadlock soon. Next Up: July 27 Sea Dogs vs Harrisburg at Fenway Park!

Round 2 in New Britain

July 24, 2013-- Round 2 in New Britain, CT. Also the last game of the series for the Sea Dogs. A beautiful day at the ballpark. Got there a little early. Strange that the gates don't open until an hour before the game. Figure it would be one and a half hour. Oh well. So I decided to go over next door and check out old Beehive Field. Now Beehive Field was the home of the old New Britain Red Sox. (before the Red Sox eastern league affiliate was in Portland then before Trenton NJ) Many past Red Sox and Major League stars played there. Roger Clemens, Mike Greenwell, Curt Schilling, Jeff Bagwell and so on. Compared to most the minor league parks I've been to it was kind of old and falling apart. Part of it was closed off to the public. But I believe it is used as a high school field today. As far as high school fields go its pretty sweet.

So on to new modern New Britain Stadium. Anthony Ranaudo was the starter for Portland. A tough year last season. He has bounced back to re-claim himself as a top pitching prospect for the Red Sox. Pitching for the Rock Cats was righty Virgil Vazquez who I saw a few weeks earlier pitch a 4 hit complete game vs Portland. Once again the Rock Cats answered first scoring in the 1st. Danny Santana led off the game with a single then stole second. After 2 outs Josmil Pinto doubled to score Santana. Luckly that is all New Britain would score for this game. In the second inning Dogs first baseman hit a long fly to center, it hit off the top of the wall and bounced away the center and right fielder. He was jugging around the bases he got to third Sea Dogs manager/3rd base coach was waving him in. Everyone was yelling "go!, go!, go!" But he just didn't quite have enough speed to make it all the way around. He got thrown out at the plate. So there goes my chance to see an inside-the-park homer. Wasn't ment to be. The Sea Dogs did manage to get 3 runs in the game. But Virgil Vazquez still managed to throw another complete game vs Portland. He threw strikes. Walking only 1 while striking out 8. No home runs for the game but a good game. Also great series sweep for the Sea Dogs to put the back into playoff contention. Also great back to back days in New Britain. Will try to get to more games down there in the future. Also will look into seeing the Dogs in Manchester, NH at some point. (Most likely next season). Next up: Going to see the Hudson Valley Renegades vs Aberdeen Iron Birds on Friday the 26th. Then back at Fenway the next day for Sea Dogs vs Harrisburg for the "Futures at Fenway".

Catching some Sea Dogs action on the road

July 23 2013--Well on vacation this week so lots of more baseball planned after the rainy night at Coney Island from the day before. So saw on the Sea DOgs schedule that they were in New Britain this week. After a doubleheader sweep from the night before the Dogs looked to add to there winning streak. Another win would get them closer to a wild card possibility. But back in New Britain for the first time since 2011. I like New Britain Stadium, kind of small like Hadlock. Interesting that there were quite a few Red Sox fans here. Turns out many were routing for the Sea Dogs. So on to the game. Pitching for the Sea Dogs for the 3rd straight game that I have attended is Terry Doyle. Even more interesting pitching for the Rock Cats is former ML pitcher Kyle Davies. The former Brave and Royal has not pitched in the Majors since 2011, but while in there compiled a 43-65 record with a 5.53 era. It was looking like it was going to be a one sided game early on. Jasmil Pinto hit a 2 run homer in the first. Rock Cats had an early 3-0 lead after one. In the second second baseman Nate Hanson tripled in 2 runs. So after 2 innings Rock Cats led 5-0. It was looking like an early shower for Terry Doyle. Meanwhile on the other side Kyle Davies was dealing! He was showing that he had plunty left in the tank to get back to the big leagues. He retired 8 of the first 9 he faced. In the 4th inning he ran into trouble though. Peter Hissey singled, Garin Cecchini singled, Michael Almanzar singled. Tony Thomas next it a long fly ball to center it hit off the top of the wall to score 2. So the Sea Dogs cut the lead 5-2. So with 2 on Ronald Bermudez hit it over the left field fence to tie the game 5-5. After two more singles by Vasquez and Dent Derek Gibson struck out for the 1st out of the inning. Hieker Menesses singled to load the bases. That would be the night for Kyle Davies. Blake Martin would come in and record the final two outs.

The score stood tied until Christian Vazquez hit a solo homer into the black night to give the Sea Dogs a 6-5 lead. They would tack on another one in the 8th to add to the lead 7-5. The Rock Cats got one back in the 8th when Miguel Sano brought the Rock Cats within one. However Portland got a big insurance run in the 9th when Garin Cecchini singled in Heiker Meneses. With the score 8-6 in the bottom of the 9th New Britain got one more but that would be it. The Sea Dogs would win 8-7. Next up: The very next day in New Britain!

Rain, Rain and more Rain

July 22 2013-- Well went to Coney Island to see the Brooklyn Cyclones take on the Batavia MuckDogs. It was a slightly showery drive to Coney Island but nothing too bad. But of corse once we got there the sky opened up and came the rain. boo! Well we waited a while but it just wasn't going to happen. The game did go on much later that night but givin the 2 hour drive we had back to Connecticutt it was just too long of a wait. But that's alright though. Ate at the famous Coney Island Nathans Hot Dog stand. (My favorite type of dog) We did get into MCU Park. Interesting that it is a artificial turf park. According to the research I did. The turf was put in before this season. I suppose there are a number of events there (concerts and such) so turf was the way to go. But despite the rain it was a neat day going into the city and seeing Coney Island for the first time. Its definetly a trip I'll have make again sometime. Next Up: Headed to New Britain to see the Sea Dogs take on the Rock Cats!

Tough breaks for the Sea Dogs

July 18 2013 Off to Portland again for the Sea Dogs vs Reading "Fighting Phil's" formally known as the Reading Phillies. (I like that name better) A lovely cloudy day. It was so hot lately I was worried about the heat during the game. (Temps in the 90's here on the coast of Maine.) Portland had been struggling with the bats. While the pitching has been pretty good the offense has been struggling, scoring only 3 runs in their last 55 innings! Thats just not going to do it. Pitching for the Sea Dogs was right hander Terry Doyle. Doyle pitched the last game I went down. He pitched very well. So I was expecting another good outing.

He started off well retiring the first two batters. Then gave up 2 hits. However Reading made a base running mistake on trying to advance on a wild pitch. The ball however bounced off the brick came right back to catcher Christen Vazquez and he threw him out at third. Reading would get on the scoreboard in the second inning on a 3 run homer by catcher Sebastian Valle. He would have a big game by driving in 5 on two homers. Portland scored in the 4th inning. Garin Cecchini tripled to right center but he ended up scoring on a throwing error by the shortstop. After a strikeout Michael Almanzar singled. He was stranded at first however.

Terry Doyle settled in a pitched 6 solid innings. The third inning was his only rough inning. The Sea Dogs scored 3 runs in the 8th inning. Stephen Drew who was in Portland rehabbing a sore hamstring doubled in two runs. Gibson pinch ran for him. He ended up scoring on a Almanzar single. The play of the game however came in the top of the inning when Sea Dogs shortstop made a costly 2 out error the scored a run for Reading. The next batter Valle hit is second homer of the game. Reading would go on to score another run in the top of the ninth. And that's how the game would end. Another tough loss for the Sea Dogs. Next up: Headed to Cony Island to see the Brooklyn Cyclones at MCU Park.

Pitching Duel in Portland

July 8 2013 Well last game before the all star break. The Sea Dogs taking on the New Britain Rock Cats in the final game of a 5 game series. A nice cloudy and cool 68 degree day at Hadlock. It has been in the 80's and 90's recently so it was quite refreshing. Since last I was in Portland, 2 of the starters had been recalled to Pawtucket (Brandon Workman and Drake Britton) Also Xandier Boegarts was called up to Pawtucket. But Garin Cecchini was called up from Salem to take over at third base. He's only hitting .400 since his call up.

While Britton was suppose to be the starting pitcher today. He was called up to Pawtucket. So pitching for the Sea Dogs was right hander Terry Doyle. This was his 1st start with the Sea Dogs. He spent all last season Pawtucket. Pitching for the Rock Cats was Virgil Vazquez. Vazquez previously spent Major League time with the Tiger and Pirates in 2007 and 2008. Signed as a minor league free agent looks like it was going a tough day for the Sea Dogs. It was going to be a interesting day when the 3rd batter of the game the Manager for New Britain got thrown out for arguing on a check swing.

Both pitchers matched zeros until the top of the 4th inning when Daniel Ortiz launched a long homer in the right field pavillion seats. While Doyle was pitching well in his Sea Dogs debut Vazquez was fantastic. It wasn't until with 1 out in the 6th that the Sea Dogs got their 1st hit. A little bloop single of the bat from Derrik Gibson. It was in the 5th inning when Jordan Parraz hit a long home run over the Maine Monster in left field. That gave the Cats a 2-0 lead. With the way Vazquez was dealing 2-0 felt like a 12-0 game. But Terry Doyle didn't make a fool of himself. He was dealing pitching 8 innings allowing 7 hits on 2 runs. Any other day problem in line for a win. But not this day.

When the 9th inning rolled around, the Sea Dogs down by 2. Derrek Gibson with the only hit for Portland singled. After a fly out from Shannon Wilerson Peter Hissey lined a single. Then Garin Cecchini got a single of his own that brought in a run to make to 2-1. The Rock Cats stayed with Vazquez. It felt like a rally was happening. The Sea Dogs just needed a extra base hit to win it. Tony Thomas struck out. Then Micheal Almanzar lined a fly ball to right. Looked good off the bat. But was not ment to be. It was caught and the game was over. So after 2 hours and 5 mins Virgil Vazquez pitched and complete game 4 hitter. Quite a performance. But Doyle pitched real good too. If he continues to pitch like that, he will be a big asset in the rotation in the 2nd half of the season.

Sox beat Halo's

June 9 2013 Beautiful day at the old ballpark. The LA Angels came into town to play the Sox.

On the hill for the Sox was right hander Ryan Dempster. Dempster has pitched well this season but not much run support. It was looking like it was going to be one of those days when Albert Pujols launched a solo homer into the Red Sox bullpen.

Dempster would settle down. He went on to pitch 6 innings 6 hits 3 runs 6 K's. Sox did however did bring the lumber With three on base in the third inning David Ortiz hit a 3 run homer. Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a day going 2-4 with 2 homeruns with 4 rbi's. Interesting note in the game. The next at bat after Pujols hit his homer Dempter hit him with a fastball in the elbow. Not sure if he ment to but Albert did stare out a Dempster for a little while. Nothing happend after that. Mike Carp a late spring training addition having quite a season for the Sox added a homerun of his own.

Additional note this was the first game at Fenway for my buddy DJ. He had a good time! I think we got a new Red Sox fan on our hands!