Saturday's Hagerstown-Lexington game was "Citicorp Day",unbeknownest to me,which is always one of the largest crowds of the year.
Combined with it being a weekend game and a Little League day to boot,it added up to a not so good signing day or good day to
watch the game.So after the little leaguers were squeezed into the best signing spot to do their on field gig,(Not their fault,I do not want to seem like I am whining about them),we moved to the left field line to attempt to get some Legends guys to sign.
This is the 1st time all year,we moved there and we got a treat beyond belief.
Backstory-Apprently on the night Ryan and I were in Frederick,some of the loudmouth drunken dum dums that the Suns seem to tolerate spent the entire game riding and cursing Koby Clemens.
I cannot verify this because I was not there and even if I was,our seats are far from the lushhead spots.
This guy wearing a Yankee hat (A usual sign of a real schmuck) was standing there and Koby Clemens walked up to him and verbally ripped into this guy beyond belief.
More curse words than I can remember or type here,but my favorite lines were-"I Signed 3 or 4 cards for you before the game and you called me (MANY words deleted)??
You are a (>>>>>>>>>>>>) and people like you are the reason that I do not like to sign".
Followed by more cursing this putz out and ending with "you and those guys with you are what ruins the game!".
If my hands weren't full,I would have clapped like crazy.
I am not in favor of players acting out on fans,but some of these guys deserve it.
I have no problem razzing a guy a bit or booing in any fashion,but there is a line and it seems like more and more fans feel that it is OK to cross the line.
Players are pros,but they are people as well and as much as they can say that they pay no attention to it,it is only human to let it bother you at times.
I would not like a player to speak to me that way,but I would not give a player a reason to talk to me like that.
People like that make fans and collectors look bad and give players reason not to interact with them.
Good for you,Koby-you have a fan here.
Anyway between Citicorp and weather,Ryan,Battling Bob and I said to hell with this and following our signing,went to home and watched John Van Benschoten's
return to Pittsburgh.JVB pitched well,despite getting saddled with the loss to the Chicago White Sox 6-1.
He allowed 2 runs in 5 and two thirds and it should have been just 1.
Alex Cintron was dead to rights at home,but a poor throw by Adam LaRoche allowed him to score the second run,which turned out to be the difference between JVB getting the loss and a no Decision.
When he left the game,it was just 2-1,but the stellar bullpen could not allow the game to stay that close.
John "Lighter Fluid" Grabow gave a two run homer up to Josh Fields,crappy newcomer Dan Kolb allowed a run in his inning as did mop-up man Tony Armas .
Adam LaRoche had 3 hits for the Bucs and Ryan Doumit added two and knocked in the only Pirate run.
The Indians lost their 2nd in a row to the Atlanta Braves 6-2 .
Paul Byrd had his 2nd bad outing in a row,allowing 5 runs in 5 innings to fall to 6-3.
Grady Sizemore had the only Indian RBI.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats won their pre-season opener in Winnipeg 35-23 over the Blue Bombers.
Timmy Chang out-played Shaun King in the battle for the starting QB slot.
Chang was 10 of 17 for 239 yds and 2 TD's,while King was a paltry 4 for 12 ,29 yds and 1 interception.
The other candidate for the job- Jason Maas did not play.
The Cats used a 21 pt 2nd quarter to pace the win.
The two teams will finish the pre-season vs each other in Hamilton next week.
Pitching Matchups
Chicago White Sox-Javier Vasquez 3-5 at Pittsburgh-Zach Duke 3-6-1;35
Atlanta-Kyle Davies 3-5 at Cleveland-Fausto Carmona 7-2-1;05
Bullpen Notes
Is it me or is Vince McMahon starting to look like Norman Fell (Mr.Roper)??
Hated to be harsh on the Frederick Keys yesterday,IMO,they were just under-staffed.
The workers were trying hard,just simply undermanned.
Unlike the Hagerstown Suns,who struggle on nights no matter what.
Justin Maxwell was placed on Potomac's injured list.
Tough break for Maxwell.
When we saw Potomac neither Justin or Chris Marrero were playing.
Which raises the question-Why move them up to sit them on the bench??
Vermont set their initial roster and Stephen King was not on it.
I thought his starting at Hagerstown was rushed and agreed with the call to move him down,but keeping him in GCL is a mistake by the Nationals.
Vermont is the right spot for him right now.
Spent a few minutes talking to Cory Van Allen and Marco Estrada in Frederick.
Marco is working his way back from a DL stint,but he told me that he was going to pitch 2 games in Florida before his return to the Potomac rotation.
The Chicago BlackHawks gambled on left winger Sergei Samsonov as they acquired him from Montreal for Jassen Cullimore and Tony Salmelainen.
I am not sure on what Sergei has left in the tank,but for the price that the Hawks paid,it was well worth the spin of the wheel.
Still hearing the Chris Drury to the Devils rumors.
I am all for it!
Go get him,Lou!!
And finally in another indictment of Captain Dave...
The Bucs pay 1.9 million TOTAL for their rotation of Ian Snell,Tom Gorzelanny,Zach Duke,Paul Maholm and John Van Benschoten.
While for the Arson Squad (Matt Capps excepted and maybe Damaso Marte) makes
15.4 Million to be HORRIBLE!!!
3.8 million to B.P Chacon and 3 million to Tony Armas to suck royally,Gas Can Torres makes another 2.7 million and 1.3 million to Dan Kolb!!
Look at what the Pirates pay to guys that are bad beyond belief.
For the record- Lighter Fluid Grabow only gets 832,000 for his underwhelming work.
Talk about money flushed down the septic tank!!!
Let me know where I can get a job paying that much money and be that terrible doing it.
And finally only 1 more week of Inter-league Baseball!
It cannot go fast enough for me!
Photo Credits
JVB-AP Photo-Keith Srakocic
Koby Clemens-Hawaii Winter Baseball-Jay Metzger
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