Monthly Archives: July 2011

If you wondered what playoff baseball would be like at Coca Cola Park, you got a pretty good idea of what it will be tonight. By a close margin, I am saying that this is thee best game I have seen played there. This game edges out the night Michael Taylor hit for the cycle followed by a walkoff hit by JJ Furmaniak.

I started off the afternoon with a Jesse Barfield sighting at a local store. Cool enough. Got to the park and got a few more bobbleheads passed on to me for charity causes. (EWSL Softball marathon this week and Charity Yardsale at Applebees Cedar Crest on Sunday)

Some folks from Fox Philly stopped by the Noise Nation early on in the game and spoke with us for a few minutes. They told us to watch their morning show sometime next week. When I find out when so shall you.

The Pawsox went up early in the game scoring once in the first and twice in the second off of starter Ryan Feierabend. The Pigs came back in the fourth scoring 4 times adding in one more in the 5th.

Feierabend lasted 6 innings tonight allowing 3 run on 9 hits. Then came Heilman… In one inning the Heilman experiment allowed 3 runs on 4 hits giving Pawtucket a 6 to 5 lead. Joe Savery tossed one uneventful inning and the Pigs scored a run to tie the game in the 8th. Then came Michael “Phear the Phro” Schwimer in the 9th. He got out of the 9th unscathed but the Pigs failed to score in their half of the inning. On the first pitch of the 10th inning, Nate Spears hit a solo home run putting Pawtucket up 7 to 6. Schwimer easily finished the rest of the inning.

Then came the Pigs in the 10th. Pete Orr came up and hit what we thought would be a single but he hustled into second base and set up the inning. Young then hit a ground ball to shortstop Iglesias who chose to go to third after Orr but was late with the throw resulting in a 1st and 3rd with no outs. Brandon Moss Hogg then singled scoring Orr and leaving it at 1st and 2nd with 1 out. (Tagg Bozied strikes out here.. it happens)

And here is the historic IronPig moment, the statement that the Pigs have been shouting from the mountain top since day one of the 2011 season. Josh Barfield singled to left and although a very close play at home plate, pinch runner Frandsen slid under the tag and scored the winning run on a phenominal walk off victory.

I can not overstate the atmosphere at the park tonight. It was playoff baseball. The first and second place teams duking it out late in the season. The fans roared for every positive moment and it felt like The Coke was shaking when Frandsen scored the winning run. Incredible!

Go crazy Pig Fans! Go CRAZY!!!

Close your eyes and imagine 2 teams competing for first place in their division. Late in the season with only 2 games separating them and a huge 4 game series starting tonight. Many things could happen.

The 1st place team could sweep and solidify itself a 6 game lead.

The 2nd place team could sweep and pick up a 2 game lead of its own.

The teams could split with no ground gained or lost.

Yeah, 3-1 or 1-3 could change the top spot as well.

You imagined the IronPigs facing the Pawtucket Red Sox this week right? So did I, until I looked at the International League Standings. Durham currently holds a 2 game lead over the Gwinnett Braves in the IL South division. These teams begin a 4 game series tonight as well.

Durham has been hot, winning 8 of their last 10 games and Gwinnett has only 5 for 5 in their last 10. Both teams are coming off of a loss.

What a week for the International League!

Louisville also has to be smiling at the Lehigh Valley for taking down Columbus for 3 straight games. This cut Columbus’ lead to 9.5 games in the IL West. Louisville, with a 55-49 record is probably looking towards earning that wild card slot having ridden shotgun to the Clippers for most of the season.

If the season ended today:

IL North – Lehigh Valley
IL South – Durham
IL West – Columbus
Wild Card – Pawtucket

Wild Card contenders:
Pawtucket 58-45
Gwinnett 56-46
Louisville 55-49
Indianapolis 54-50

The results of the IronPig/Pawtucket and Durham/Gwinnett series could make a significant change to these standings.

We will see!

OinK!

While the weather improved greatly just before gametime, there was still close to an hour and a half delay to tonight’s game. Glad we were able to get it in.

The Pigs were led by Rich Thompson who went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and an RBI. Also having multi-hit games were Barfield, Kratz and Overbeck.

An incredible play by Brian Bocock tonight who barehanded a ball at shortstop to get the runner at first. When I say barehanded, it wasn’t a dribbler.. it was a hard hit ball that he palmed and sent off to get the out. Insane.

The biggest story of the night was Nate Bump’s 7 inning performance. Bump went 7 innings allowing only 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 6. The only Clipper run cam in the 8th with Beau Mills’ first AAA homerun off of Mike Zagurski. In fact, yours truly grabbed that ball and returned it to Mills by way of 2nd baseman Barfield. (Not as lean or mean, but I still have some arm left:-)

Taking this series 3-1 against the first place Clippers is a great way to roll into the upcoming series with 2nd place Pawtucket tomorrow. Pawtucket will be fresh off a loss to Buffalo and this series could be the series of all series for this season. The Pawsox are currently 2 games behind Lehigh Valley and could possibly take the top spot from the Pigs. Will be fun to watch as the Pigs will have Roy Oswalt on the mound Wednesday and probably Polanco in the infield for Thursday and Friday.

Oink on Pig Fans!!!

I’ve been watching it rain all day. The color of my lawn has gone from a sad yellow to a vibrant green.

As likely as my grass will grow 3 inches overnight, the gates will open at Coca Cola Park tonight.

Being the Clippers only visit to the Lehigh Valley season, and the last game of the series, they will either have to cancel the game or have a scheduling nightmare to make it up if the game would impact final playoff standings. (Never thought we’d worry about that did you?)

For more info on WHY the gates will open, read this.

Looking at weather.com I see this:

6:00pm – 70 % Chance of rain
7:00pm – 95 % Chance of rain
8:00pm – 100 % Chance of rain
9:00pm – 100 % Chance of rain
10:00pm – 60 % Chance of rain
11:00pm – 60 % Chance of rain
12:00am – 40 % Chance of rain

I doubt there will be a game. There isn’t a give away, but there are picnic and patio buffets waiting to be served. The IronPigs official website reports that the game is still on as scheduled.

So the Game Show night we were all looking forward to could easily become a game night at home or in my case.. grocery shopping.

OinK!

The IronPigs made a bold statement today. “We are in first place and we’re fighting to stay there!” Not an actual statement but it showed through on the field in their 4 to 0 win over the Columbus Clippers today.

Brian Bass had a great day going 5.2 innings and allowing only 2 hits striking out 3. He did, however, walk 5 and got some help from outfielder Brandon Moss Hogg who made a spectacular catch saving a clear double with a run.

Les Walrond earned his 4th hold going 2.1 innings and DeFratus came on to close out the game. Both walked one and allowed no hits.

The Pigs scored 1 run in the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th innings. Barfield and Moss Hogg both had solo homeruns and Dane Sardinha raised his .111 average 27 points by going 3 for 3 today.

The Clippers didn’t hit the ball, but their middle infield looked poor these past two games. Both 2nd baseman Phelps and shortstop Valbuena had an error today to go along with 2 costly errors yesterday. (Valbuena and Smith)

Perhaps the heat got to them too.

With the win today the Pigs earned at least a series split and are gunning for a series win in tomorrow’s game. If you asked me before this series started I would have been excited for a split and now I can say I am really hungry for a series win. With Pawtucket winning late in Buffalo today (Scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to win 7-6) they Pigs maintain their 1 game lead in the IL North.

Oink on little piggies!

Per Matt Gelb on Twitter (@magelb), Roy Oswalt will make a rehab start for the IronPigs Wednesday at Coca Cola Park.

This could be some much needed pitching help against the second place PawSox.

It’s funny, last night we were talking about the time Pedro Martinez made a rehab start for the Pigs. The media frenzy, the packed ballpark, people pushing and shoving to get autographs (classy as always) and Martinez’s first pitch landing in someone’s beer behind the right field wall.

Oh the memories…

OinK!

The Pigs pitching kept the game close and the Clipper’s infielders committed two errors in the bottom of the 10th inning allowing the Pigs to win by a final score of 4 to 3.

Scott Mathieson made it to the 5th but was pulled immediately after surrendering a solo HR to Chad Huffman. Joe Savery then took the mound for an inning allowing 2 more runs. In his first IronPig appearance Heilman also earned his first blown save. (Per the boxscore) Zagurski pitched another 1.1 innings and Schwimer pitched 2.1 innings earning the win and improving his record to 6 wins, 1 loss.

Combined, the Pig Pitchers struck out 17 tonight.

Rich Thompson got the Pigs on the board early sending the 2nd pitch of the game out of CCP for a HR.

This was a key win for the Pigs as Pawtucket also won tonight. Maintaining a lead over Pawtucket is key before facing them in 3 days. The next 7 games will most likely decide if the Pigs make the playoffs this season.

They are fighting and hopefully Ryne Sandberg will return from Cooperstown to a 1st place team.

OinK!

Hot was the weather and the Columbus Clippers bats.

Cold was the IronPigs bats. That’s not all there was to the game tonight. The Pigs hit the ball hard and often but as Hall of Famer Wee Willy Keeler (Any relation Tim/Ron?) would say, “Hit ’em where they ain’t” and the Pigs didn’t. Many good hit balls came in the form of outs to great defense from the Clippers.

Pigs lose to Columbus by a final of 3 to 6.

It was hot out there today. Many thanks to the IronPigs for allowing water bottles to come into the park today. I honestly feel this should be standard all season long, but who am I and what do my opinions matter. They run a business and if they want to sell a basic human need, more power to them. Maybe they could market an IronPig’s water bottle, refillable at no charge at the Park? I always wondered why coin operated toilets haven’t been installed yet. (Not joking around, I remember seeing these at the Jersey shore as a kid)

Anyways, fun time had by most. Tomorrow will be another hot one so be prepared!

OinK!

It’s record hot out there today. No joke and nothing to joke about. It’s reportedly 102 degrees with a very, very high heat index. I’ve been in weather like this before and I want to share this with you.

From Web MD’s website:

Symptoms of heat stroke can sometimes mimic those of heart attack or other conditions. Sometimes a person experiences symptoms of heat exhaustion before progressing to heat strokes. Symptoms of heat exhaustion may include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness, headache, muscle cramps and aches, and dizziness. However some individuals can develop symptoms of heat stroke suddenly and rapidly without warning.

Different people may have different symptoms and signs of heat stroke. But common symptoms and signs of heat stroke include:
high body temperature
the absence of sweating, with hot red or flushed dry skin
rapid pulse
difficulty breathing
strange behavior
hallucinations
confusion
agitation
disorientation
seizure
coma

I’ve seen the most fit and healthy people go down hard due to heat stroke. Don’t hurt yourself over a ballgame.

To help out, the IronPigs have allowed “Sealed Water Bottles” in the park for this weekend’s games. There are also EMT personel at every game located behind home plate.

Now I’m no medical expert, don’t count on me for advice but keep an eye on yourself and your neighbor. There’s no shame in asking for help if you need it and by all means, drink water.

***

Some transactions today. Brad Lidge was activated and Danys Baez was designated for assignment. He might end up here with us. No solid word yet. Also, the Phillies signed and assigned pitcher Aaron Heilman to the Pigs. I asked about Posednik a couple days ago and the word is that there is no word. Rumor of a setback in his rehab and no scheduled or anticipated return date.

Stay cool little Piggies!

Tonight myself and Noise Nation faithful Jimmy T headed out to Reading to catch an R-Phils game. They faced the AA affiliate of the Mets led by Wally Backman. It was cool to see Backman, about as exciting as seeing Buffalo manager Tim Teufel but those memories of the 86 season still linger in me.

Something else was unique for me tonight. The R-Phils held their 2011 inductions into the Reading Baseball Hall of Fame. Among the inductees was former major league pitcher Wade Miller.

I have to laugh every time I watch the movie The Sandlot. At the end of the movie it reveals that one of the young friends who played baseball together ended up playing in the Major Leagues. I can relate to that as Wade Miller and I played little league together many years ago in Topton, PA. As we got older we played middle school and high school ball together. While I was not very good, he was simply put, thee best player our area had ever seen. The rest is history. Wade went on to play 9 seasons with the Astros, Red Sox and Cubs. I didn’t get to say hi to him but saw a few former coaches and high school friends around the park and it was a great night.

Oh, The R-Phils got absolutely stomped. Losing 1-11 to the Binghamton Mets. Many thanks to our old friend Tommy Viola for inviting us out to a game and we had a great time. Also want to make mention of the new friends sitting next to us the whole game. Nice meeting you!

***

Now onto our Piggies. They won! Yes! They WON! I have to admit I checked my iPhone more often than the away scoreboard posted tonight. (I might add, Reading’s away scoreboard is bigger, more visible to the crowd and is a dedicated away scoreboard vs the small sign inside the bullpens at CCP. If I had a suggestion to the Morning Call’s Bill White’s recent inquiry to fans about improvements to CCP, I would say a better away scoreboard.)

I will save you the details but the Pigs won by a final score of 5-4 and saved the embarrassment of being swept by the 2nd place Pawtucket Red Sox, giving them instead a 2 game lead in the IL North rather than a tie.

Pigs come home tomorrow beginning a monster 10 game home stand and it will be hot. Be prepared. Stay hydrated and I hope the IronPigs will allow water bottles in the park.

Stay cool and to quote the Most Interesting Man in Baseball… “Oink Responsibly little Piggies”