I’m looking backward. I’m looking forward. My head’s on a swivel and here’s what I’ve got for this June Tuesday:
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IronRail Update:
The IronPigs prevailed in the first series versus our upstate rivals taking 3 of 4 games this past weekend. We now lead the Rail Porcupines 3-1, with 12 games yet to play. First one to 9 gets the IronRail trophy for the year–and if it’s a tie it’ll all come down to the August 31 matchup at Coca Cola Park. I’m really into this trophy thing, and here’s why:
- We’ve taken it pretty hard from them over the years. It’s time for a changing of the guard.
- It gives a “College Football” -type feel to the rivalry.
- Any kind of hardware is good. I’m assuming Kurt will let the season ticket holders barrow the trophy for 24hrs each. Right? (probably not…)
- It adds a layer of competition beyond the league standings. Even a last-place team can win a trophy. That’s cool, right?
- It’ll be nice for the Yankees’ fans to NOT get to win all the time. There were plenty of them at Coca Cola Park this past weekend, all decked out in their Yankees attire and not at all quiet about their support for the Shoulda-Been-Trolley-Frogs. Not one of them had RailRiders gear. It’s not the real Yankees. If I see a true RailRiders fan from the Wyoming Valley visiting in their RailRiders jersey, I will be sure to welcome them to Coca Cola Park as a good host should. God Bless. Cheer for your team as loudly as you like. But if you’re a local Yankees fan just showing up to be obnoxious? Forget it. We want the trophy. I hope they make T-Shirts for us to sport. (We usually get some of this from the local Red Sox faithful, as well.)
What I don’t care about:
- Cross-dressing General Managers who may or may not be able to sing. Although, now that I think about it, if (Rail-Yankee GM) Rob Crain has to sing “Swing it Like an Iron Pig” that might be OK. Let him wear regular clothes, though. Or, maybe an IronPigs jersey and a pig nose. Let him hold an Aw-Shucks corn in one hand and a pork sandwich in the other. I could be OK with that.
Other stuff from the weekend:
We did film the first episode of “NoiseNationTV’s Wide World of Pigs.” The video is in the editing room right now. We’ll get it out as soon as we can. The players were great. The host, maybe not so much.
I visited the Tiki for the post-game party on Saturday night. I admit, I wasn’t in the best mood after the beating we took, but it was a nice time. Players and their guests were around. It is very casual. It’s too bad there aren’t any bathrooms in the vicinity.
A fellow fan (Ed) Saturday night said, “Once we get behind, it’s like the team gives up.” But, on Sunday the team did rally for a walk-off win to take the series. It was good to see. It was also a lot of fun to throw the ball on the field with the kiddos after the game; that’s got to be one of my favorite things about the past two seasons. It’s too bad there aren’t any bathrooms out on the field (kidding!).
I sampled a couple of the sandwiches this past home-stand at the Pig Stop. All good. Kudos to the new chef.
About Last Night:
The ‘Pigs took the lead in Toledo last night 4-1 on a monster home run by Leandro Castro. It didn’t hold up as Tyler Cloyd re-adjusts to AAA hitters following his outstanding turn with the Phillies. I think he’ll be back up there soon enough, as I’ll chalk the 8 runs up to adjustment. Jermaine Mitchell (the “J-Train”) added a homer late, but seven straight K’s by the good guys and we couldn’t complete the comeback. The final was 8-6. Greg Smith and JC Ramirez combined for 3 2/3 scoreless to give the ‘Pigs a chance. Overbeck and Mitchell had good games at the plate. Old buddy Mike Cervenak came up a triple short of the cycle to do his old club some damage.
Tonight:
Carlos Zambrano gets another AAA start as he tries to make his case for a return to the Majors–for the Phillies or elsewhere. He’ll face another old friend of ours, veteran lefty Pat Misch. He’s 2-3 on the year sporting a 5.36 ERA. We’ve hit leftys reasonably well this season I think, so I’m hopeful for a win this evening. (note: I looked it up, and we’ve a losing record against lefty starters. But, it’s been my observation that we’ve hit them reasonably well, and we can stack the lineup with big right-handed bats. We’ll see. Misch used to destroy us when he was with Buffalo, though. Hmmff.)
Looking further ahead:
As far as I can tell, Professional FastPitch Softball is still “on” for Wednesday and Thursday at Coca Cola Park. There hasn’t been a lot of coverage of it so far, so perhaps we can get you some more information. I know many from the ‘Nation are going to be there to support the teams and see the park transformation for softball. More news to come.
See you at the (softball) park,
@Kram209
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
That’s exactly right. The IronPigs have a real chance to win a real trophy that can be displayed in a real trophy case for all to see each and every year. And that is a FANtastic thing.
There is a reason why all European professional soccer teams play for a league championship trophy and, additionally, in a separate knock-out tournament (known as the “Cup” in every language) for another.
The IronPigs (and RailRiders) get an 11 out of ten on this one.
Well, they’ve got a REAL CHANCE, but I’m not sure how real the trophy is. They say it’s been ordered. I want to get a look at that puppy!
Plus, whenever SWB is involved, there’s always the potential for “broke in and stole/smashed the trophy.” Just that potential adds excitement! 😉
Whether or not the IronPigs actually ever produce a physical trophy to ponder is surplus to requirements, if only in my mind.
In the world of literature, the protagonist MUST have an antagonist because those are the rules. In the world of sports, any given team must have an ‘arch-rival’ as evidenced by all including non-professional scholastic programs.The IronPigs have (finally?) formally acknowledged this and it is this concept, itself (as compared to any ‘real’ trophy), that sparkles brightest.
If my memory serves me correct, the IronPigs went 1-15 against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in 2008 although J.A. HAPP did toss seven innings of no-hit ball to finish off a suspended game for the only IronPigs victory over the intra-state arch-rivals that year … it would be most appropriate for the IronPigs to inaugurate this trophy (real or permanently on order) by winning this season’s series in similar landslide fashion.
PS — the University of Alabama conspired to break their prized crystal football symbolizing the national championship … the players of Real Madrid (Spain) were riding on top of a double-decker bus parading the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) a few years back — somebody dropped it and, sure enough, the bus ran it right over
I don’t care if the IronPigs break the trophy or somebody steals it, just so long as the IronPigs can say they won it first!
🙂
I don’t know man, I want a tangible trophy to look at, take pictures of, and celebrate with. I also want T-shirts with pictures of the trophy and “replica trophy night” in 2014. I want a day when I can shop up early at the park and take pictures of my kids standing next to the trophy. The actual trophy is important to me to assure that the whole challenge thing never dies away. Oh, and to the IronPigs promotional staff, for the above ideas, You’re Welcome.