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The Pigs lost.. again.

Cody Ransom’s error led to 3 runs.. again.

Jimmy Rollins injured his calf.. again.

Some drunk girl yakked all over the centerfield wall.. well this was a first but still not the worst thing I’ve seen.

Anyways.. we might not see Valdez like we thought we would depending on how Rollins feels tomorrow. He is listed as day to day.

Thanks to Decal for letting us know about this.

He is not in tonight’s posted roster and no word on who will be bumped from the roster to make room.

Valdez hit .231 in 18 games for Philadelphia filling in for injured Jimmy Rollins and Juan Castro this season. He should have a significant impact to the Pig’s lineup when he gets settled in.

Cincinatti signed former Phillie prospect Mike Costanzo.

The Mets signed Val Pascucci. Look for him at CCP this weekend.

The A’s signed Travis Blackley and placed Michael Taylor on the 7 day DL.

J.J. Furmaniak was reinstated from the DL by the Rays.

From the Morning Call..

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/all-police-bicycle-struck-052010-cn,0,6821673.story

Enjoy!

Well this isn’t really a rumor.. just one that I heard and will now put to rest.

The rumor was purportedly that the Scranton and Lehigh Valley teams were thinking of trading affiliates. That’s right. Could you imaging the Phillies AAA in Scranton again and the marketing dream of an Ironpig gone to the “Yankees” name?

Well today it was announced that the Yankees have agreed to a deal to stay in Scranton until 2014. Rest well tonight Pigfans.. for tomorrow is another day.

..Ty Taubenheim. As soon as he was done pitching last night he jumped on 222 and headed back to Reading. Replacing him on the Ironpigs is John Ennis, who is back from an extended stint on the DL. Ennis actually came in to today’s game and pitched alright.

The Pigs did put on a show for the 10,000 tickets sold this morning. Kids days are always exciting and 3 run homeruns by Cody Ransom and John Suomi led the team to an 8 to 4 victory.

Noticed Ransom playing catch with some children on the field after the game ended. Bonus points here.

Despite giving up 3 runs, another solid outing by Drew Carpenter and Scott Mathieson closed the game hitting 99 on the radar gun a few times. The same radar gun that clocked Chapman at 91 last night.. I wonder if the Bat’s radar clocked Mathieson at 110 today? Makes you wonder…

Getting a nice afternoon nap and we’ll see you tomorrow!

The Pigs lost the 2nd game of this homestand against the Bats tonight by a score of 2 to 4. Aroldis Chapman started the game for the Bats and we didn’t see the 100mph fireballs that we were expecting. I did observe a very nasty curveball and an effective change up though. Chapman left in the 6th inning with a blister on his middle finger and that could have been the cause of the lower velocity.

The Pigs again failed to score until the 9th inning when they scored 2 and threatened more but were quickly shut down.

Savery – what can I say. This guy is just cannonballing. He went 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and earned his 4th loss of the season. You can’t mention tonight’s game without noting that 2 of those runs were unearned as the infield botched a double play to load the bases then John Mayberry showed himself as he dropped a semi-routine fly ball. Chris Duffy saved Savery some more runs making an incredible catch on a line drive that would have cleared the loaded bases and only resulted in one tag up run.

Now the big news. I was at the broadcast table with Matt Provence and Jon Schaffer tonight when they got the news that Brian Schneider will make rehab appearances Friday, Saturday and Sunday with the Ironpigs. The Lehigh Valley native is in good shape and is doing some fine tuning until he is eligible to come off of the DL.

Well we’ve had 2+ years to make a comparison between the two closest baseball organizations in the area and I think I’ve decided which I like best.

Granted, I grew up in Berks county and have some great memories of games in Reading before it took on the moniker “Baseballtown.”

I remember meeting Max Patkin in Reading.

Those humid summer nights tossing peanuts from the bleachers at girls we thought were cute.

The night, many years later, when I was offered free tickets to the game along with a few other Marines in uniform that afternoon. At that time there was a small private box hanging over the left field foul line and someone gave up 4 seats to us. Thanks to that guy.. I don’t recall his name.

The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor, The Tooth Fairy cleaning bases between innings, the pool beyond the right field wall.

The history of a multi-decade stadium. 🙂

When they renamed the stadium for marketing purposes. 😦

The vegetable races.

The train theme.

The “old ballpark” feel of the grandstand and concessions area.

A “real” main gate.

The players entrance widely available to stand near. (not hidden)

A chance to get a foul ball outside the stadium.

Free parking.

Many of things I have mentioned are tried and true practices at most ballparks these days and the connection between Reading and Lehigh Valley is solid.

Lehigh Valley has a brand new fan oriented park.

The Pork Races.

The Piglet races.

Big exploding Coke bottle.

About 100 more concessions options.

Open concourse for a nice walk and a lawn for families who would feel restained by seats. (Also nice for the folks who would be sitting around those families)

****

Now both teams are playing considerably poor this season.. the Lehigh Valley has better food but Reading comes a close second with all you can eat gluttony nights.

I honestly have to say.. Reading is hands down the promotions winner.

A Mr. Belding night (Saved by the Bell fans)
A Ryan Howard Garden nome give away!

Heck next Tuesday a baby T-rex dinosaur will throw out the first pitch! Land of the lost? I think not.

Given my location, I am closer to the Ironpigs by about an hours drive. (5 minutes from CCP) I choose to buy season tickets to Lehigh Valley.. but my heart is in Reading.

Unfortunately, the part of Reading that I prefer will soon be gone. An announcement earlier this year told us that the R-Phils plan to completely remodel the existing grandstand structure extending the locker room facilities into what is now concessions and placing all concessions into the right field courtyard.

I get that same feeling I did when they renamed their stadium away from the dedication to local Veterans and went with money instead.

Oh well.. For Love of the Game.

Again, just my opinions. Feel free to leave yours in the comment section of this post.

DK

In 5.2 innings in 3 games at Reading Taubenheim is 0 and 1 with a 23.82 ERA and 3K’s and 6 BB.

No word on who will be deactivated on the Pig’s roster but it is looking like Andy Tracy might head to the DL.

Stay tuned.

I was really hoping for a rain out today.. it was miserable. Cold with a fine mist most of the game. I was crabby, I was bored. I forgot my radio. Then the game went 16 innings.

Thanks to the friends who stayed for the long haul and hopefully I’ll be able to salvage some sleep tonight.

Thanks to Villareal who came in and promptly gave up a run to lose the game. He also blew a 4 run lead in last night’s 15 inning game. Maybe bring Anderson back and send Villareal back to.. somewhere else. Anderson has apparently been made into a starter again. Makes sense.. the Phillies need relievers and refuse to bring up Scott Mathieson so making a reliever a starter makes a lot of sense. I’m starting to think the Phillies front office is getting too full of themselves. 60+ consecutive sellouts will probably give you that money drunk feeling.

Enough of this for tonight. Good night Chesty Puller.. wherever you are.