The Ironpigs split their doubleheader yesterday in Rochester.
Game one’s result spoiled a great pitching effort by Vance Worley. The Pigs threatened in the 7th with 1 hit, 2 walks and a hit by pitch but couldn’t capitalize and the Redwings took the game in the bottom of the 7th with a walk off homerun. 1-3 Redwings win.
Game two looked a little better for the Pigs. Rich Thompson hit his first long ball of the season to tie the game at three and the Pigs added two more in the 8th (extra inning for the double header) to win 5 to 3. Stutes got the win and Zagurski the save.
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Yesterday I made the trip out to Reading to check out the results of their renovations. The new gate set up was awesome! No more 1/2 mile long lines slowly moving through the front door. Folks moved in, around and about easily in the new concourse. Food options were boosted as I saw freshly made sushi, racks of ribs amongst the traditional ball park fare. The best part of the transistion was that they kept the historical feel of the park keeping true to the claim of the Best Minor League ballpark in all of baseball.
I did see one unidentified R-Phil player watching the crowd in awe and making the statement, “It’s like a block party with a baseball game next to it.”
Ran into a bunch of our Ironpig Front Office friends at the game as well as owner Stein and Chuck Domino wandering within the excited crowd of fans. Glad to see them out there taking it in.
The pregame started with some great things. We had an introduction of Frank Rickenbach, who at age 94, has attended every home opener since the Park in Reading opened! That’s 1951 for those keeping track and 60 years of Reading baseball in that very park. I’m sure Frank has seen many changes come and go and can appreciate dedication of that level!
The National Anthem was sung by Kane Kalas, son of the late great Harry Kalas. He was tremendous! I cannot say enough of how well, and respectfully, he sang our country’s National Anthem. Almost brought a tear to my eye…
Kane Kalas - Photo courtesy of the Reading Phillies - by Frank Trout
The game started out a pitcher’s duel and continued with a scoreless 7 innings until the top of the 8th when an errant throw over 1st Baseman Matt Rizzotti’s head opened the floodgates for the Akron Aeros who closed the frame plating 5 runs. Final score, Aeros 5 – RPhils 0. Bummer for a great opening day.
As far as food, I wanted to try the popular Churger sandwich… a burger with a slab of chicken included and it was just that. Some folks might like it but I could have done without the chicken… but I did try it so I can say a solid yes or no if I like it and my answer this morning is no. Not a strong no, but just not for me.
Did see some familiar faces on the R-Phil roster. Rizzotti, John Suomi, Tuffy Goeswisch and Mike Spidale were all at the park last night.
Possibly the most exciting moment of the game happened right over my head. A screaming foul ball cleared the backstop with enough backspin to send it in our direction. Luckily it missed the fans but a press box window took the brunt of it.
New stadium, one night to break something...
When the shock of the crash and falling glass passed a roar of applause rolled through the crowd and a slightly dazed Tommy V poked his head out of the press box in amazement. I don’t believe anyone was hurt and the glass was quickly cleaned up and the window removed.
Altogether a great time! I got a new Ryan Howard garden gnome but did not win the 500lbs version. Would like to add that Reading has included about 20 motorcycle sized parking spots within a short distance from the gate and I felt that is a great idea. A lot of bikes are very expensive and very susceptable to damage by larger vehicles. Their own protected parking area greatly decreases this risk. Could Coca Cola Park create something like this? Perhaps a special “Hog” parking area? It sure beats parking in the yellow lines at the end of each lot..
OinK!
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