Saturday, September 6, 2014

Suns win SAL North on an old time night!

The Hagerstown Suns traveled to Greensboro needing to earn one win on two games to move on and reach the South Atlantic title series for the second season in a row.
Hagerstown did the job in one as the Suns broke a 2-2 tie with one run in the eighth and then three more in the ninth for a 6-2 win.
Reynaldo Lopez struck out ten over six innings to befuddle the Greensboro sticks and left the game with a 2-0 lead,which the Hagerstown bullpen gave back in the seventh,
Hagerstown will move on against either Asheville or Savannah in the next round.
Asheville leads that series one game to none and leads game two 2-1 in the eighth inning in a game suspended from last night.
That game will be completed today at four o'clock.
If Asheville holds on,the series ends there,if Savannah can come back and win that game,a deciding game three will follow tomorrow night...

However,the more interesting thing about last night was a throwback to the past last night.
When you are my age,you tend to look back fondly on the days of untelevised games with a bit of nostalgia and in a day that sees almost everything on television,it was pretty quaint to have to follow a game via the ear.

Don't get me wrong,there are few more enthusiastic fans of the television packages than I,but occasionally it's quite a blast to listen to a game like the old days.
It wasn't that Eli Pearlstein was like listening to Vin Scully or Marty Brennaman or anything and it was not like this game was the shot heard round the world either,but I had forgotten what it was like to listen to a game at home.
Now I enjoy listening to a game in the car and sometimes I listen to a West Coast game at work,but at home there are so many alternatives to pass the time as you listen.
I spent the time working on the Browns preview that I put up earlier tonight,played some baseball on the ps3 and hunted all over the house for a Shawn Armstrong All-Star card (don't ask),but I could have done even more.
I could just see myself practicing a putting stroke,filing some cards away on the floor or even lying on my old bedroom floor tossing a ball into my battered Chris Chambliss first baseman's mitt.

Radio is the true home for baseball fans because the game is made for it.
All the things that the casual or non-fan of the game complain about on television is exactly what makes it a perfect fit on radio or whatever version that you use in this day and age.
Complaints that the game is too slow,takes too long and drags along is exactly what makes it so great to listen to.
Imagine kicking back on a cool summer night on a back porch listening to your game of choice and doing something,anything as you do it?
Now I couldn't enjoy that because of my previously noted nitwit of a neighbor,but I could in the past.
I remember quite a few nights in the past at the old apartment,dragging a sleeping bag out and spreading it out on the back terrace (trust me,it wasn't half as ritzy as that sounded) with a radio set up in Ryan's bedroom window (it was right behind the "terrace") to the Oriole game,so we could root against the evil locals.

Last night was kind of a return to those nights.
Cherie was in and out of the living room,listening here and there and Rachel was listening in her own room (As I saw on Twitter) and that made me feel good knowing she cared enough to listen.
 I must admit I remembered listening to games with two others and it was a nice memory of listening to games growing up with my brother and then later with Ryan as he grew up.
Talking the game,arguing about sports and who was better than who and generally spending time together,getting to know each other better and bonding through a game.
Few things are better than that....

Back tomorrow with the review of the Ohio State game against Virginia Tech....

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