I was driving the speed limit on Rt 22 tonight, ready to turn off the Airport road exit to the ballpark when, with Jeff Larish standing on second base, Erik Kratz flied out to end the game with the Pigs falling to Syracuse in the 10th inning.
Yes, you read correctly… I was not in attendance for the first time since April 30th of 2008. As a result of my web poll a few weeks back, I chose to attend the Steelhawks game tonight at Stabler Arena. I don’t regret the decision but I am disappointed in what I missed. Some outstanding pitching on both teams yet 2 unearned runs scoring for the bad guys and the Pig’s lose their first game of 2011. (I am not too disappointed about missing fireworks)
From the multitude of text messages I received throughout the night, the tweets of others and the box score.. I can relatively get a picture of what went on tonight. The Pigs left 13 on base and were a combined 0 for 15 with runners in scoring position. The lone run came on a Barfield home run. I did hear a lot of commotion of an interference call early in the game that negated an Ironpig run and was contested amongst fans. Need thoughts and opinions from those who were there… was it a legit call?
2 unearned runs and 0 for 15 with RISP will lose you a one run ballgame. Tomorrow is another day…
Speaking of tomorrow! Tomorrow is DOG DAY! One of my favorite days of the season! My dog Wally will be in attendance and is very excited to attend his 6th Ironpig’s game! Look for us in the outfield and maybe Wally will give you one of his trademark wet kisses.
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So on to the excitement of the night for me.. the Steelhawks! I arrived early and was greeted by Coach Britt himself! The crowd was thinner than the last home game but still there were seats filled! I got the numbers put on my new Steel Hawk’s jersey, bought a Dance Team calendar and got a few autographs from the lovely Precious Metals squad.
The story of this game was a David vs. Goliath thing where, (like a few of the interns of the past at CCP), David couldn’t get the sling shot to work. The game started off well with a fumbled kickoff and the Hawks getting the ball on the 5 yard line but were held and turned the ball over on downs. This set the tone for the rest of the night. The defense held and the offense handed the ball back to their opponent. They scored, the Steelhawks didn’t. It wasn’t over until about 4 minutes in the fourth quarter when a 4th down pass was dropped and the teams took to a knee to run the clock.
Altogether a fun but disappointing night. At least the Phillies won today!
OinK!
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
I was over getting a gyro during the interference call, but there were a multitude of bad calls against the pigs tonight. Homeplate ump needed a new pair of glasses: the Pigs pitchers were given a very tight strike zone while Chiefs had a more liberal zone from the ump. It was a very good game to watch though.
Another interesting moment occurred in the 5th inning when Chiefs centerfielder Corey Brown dropped a routine flyball with 1 out which allowed Dane Sardinha to reach second base. At the time Garrett Mock was still working on a no-hitter. One out later, Syracuse manager Randy Knorr sent Boomer Whiting out to centerfield to replace Brown. You just don’t see a player get pulled from a game in the middle of an inning like that unless there is an injury involved, there is a double switch, or the manager is Billy Martin and the outfielder is Reggie Jackson.
Dane Sardinha’s passed ball allowed the first Syracuse run to score and he struck out in the 6th inning with the bases loaded and in the 8th inning with 2 men on while 2 time International League allstar catcher Erik Kratz watched from the bench. Sandberg had said previously that both catchers would get equal playing time until he could see how things play out. After this game I think things have played out.
The Reno Aces finally got to play their first game in the Pacific Coast League and lost by an 8-1 score. Cody Ransom started at third base and went 0-3. Andy Tracy did not appear in the game as young 25 year old power hitter Branden Allen played first base and Wily Mo Pena was the DH.
The Clearwater Threshers improved to 3-0 Saturday night with a 4-2 come from behind win over Dunedin. Joe Savery went 4-4 with a homerun. It was his second 4 hit game in 3 starts and he has 10 hits in 12 atbats for an average of .833.
Matt Rizzotti went 3-4 with 3 doubles for Reading in their 13-5 win over Portland. Centerfielder Chris Frey hit leadoff and went 4-6 with 4 RBI. Frey, Hector Garcia and Cody Overbeck all homered.
Like you Dan as you know I was not in attendence at the IronPigs game. That was the 1st game I missed since April of ’09 so your streak was longer than mine. A rare occasion, the 2 most loyal IronPigs fans and CCP fixtures not in attendance! I too felt a little strange not being there either but didn’t regret my choice either. It was great the both of us blowing our horns and ringing our bells trying to cause a comotion. It was disappointng for both our teams but a fun night overall. It’ll be good to come back today doing split time between sec. 108 and hanging out with Noise Nation and seeing Wally!!
OinK OinK!!