Tonight’s game, the first of the Everett road series, pitted the Vancouver Canadians‘
Jeff Gray (3-2, 2.70, 4BB, 21k) against the Everett Aquasox’ Jeff
Gilmore (4-1, 4.84, 10BB, 47K) in a match-up that the C’s REALLY needed
to win.
With a strong line-up scheduled to start for the C’s, and a healthy
pitcher out on the mound, this was do or die time for Vancouver. And
here’s a tip: dying wasn’t on the menu.
The
C’s started furiously, getting two men on base but sadly not bringing
them home, and they repeated that dose in the 2nd, leaving another high
and dry on the bags, before the 3rd inning saw Haas Pratt finally break
with tradition and drive an in-form Chad Boyd across the plate for a
1-0 Vancouver lead.
Unfortunately, Luis Valbuena can hit the freakin’ ball, and soon he was
coming home for Everett to level the scores, before ‘Julia’ Prettyman
drove in another to give the one-run lead to the bad guys.
Argh.
But the C’s aren’t league leaders because they crumble at the first
sign of a deficit on the scoreline, and for the following four innings
it turned into a pitcher’s duel, with Gray tightening the screws for
Vancouver, before being relieved by a surprisingly hardcore Stephen
Bryant, who sent down 3 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 5 and
walking none.
Jeff Baisley had been missing from the line-up for a few days, and is
absence was a-hurtin’, but tonight he appeared back in the line-up. How
do I know this? Because in the 8th inning, with his team down a run, he
hit a nice, high, deep flyball that in any other ballpark would have
been a warning track out, but in Everett means you get to touch all the
bases and dance on home plate.
Baisley chose, instead, to high-five some teammates, leaving the
dancing to Rob and Matt in the Canadians webcast booth. Which is
probably for the best.
That was followed by one of the worst umpiring calls seen this year,
and anyone who been paying attention knows that "worst NWL umpire calls
of the year" is an awards category that is 400% more crowded than the
Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
With Zeke Parraz on 1st (another long lost son returns to the
line-up!), Ty Bubalo grounded up the middle, and as Everett nailed
Parraz and tried to turn a double play, Bubalo crossed first base in
ample time.
The problem was, the umpire had already set himself to call the DP and
he wasn’t about to let a little thing like the runner being safe stop
him from being a rock star before the home fans.
Bubalo started yelling about the ridiculous call, naturally enough, and
slammed his helmet to the ground, which gave El Rock Star Umpiro the
greenlight to open act two of his one-man show by tossing Bubalo from
the game.
He must have felt very proud of himself… for about eight seconds,
before Juan Navarrete crossed the infield and began telling him, in
Spanish, that his mother is a whore and his sister makes love to
donkeys. Or at least that’s what he was saying in MY head.
In reality he might have been saying something about that having been a
"really pretty bad call" and that Juan was "seriously disappointed at
the ineptitude displayed", but I kind of prefer the colorful fantasy.
Besides, that umpire’s sister really does like the barnyard animals, or so the Spokane players tell me.
Why is all this important? Because the very next batter, Jose Garcia,
then hit a deep double which WOULD have scored Bubalo, thus giving
Vancouver a one-run lead. If the umpire wasn’t functionally retarded.
I mean, seriously, I know umpiring isn’t easy and all, and it’s a lot
more difficult when there’s only two men in blue and not four like in
the Majors, but the level of umpiring in the Northwest League
is so bad that it’s really hampering the development of the players.
Pitchers through down the pipe because it’s the only place they know
the strikezone will apply, hitters lay off bad pitches and get rung up
with a K, games go to the wrong team, leagues are decided incorrectly,
cats and dogs share living quarters, it’s mayhem, I’m telling ya!
Anthony Recker sure thought so, and as he walked out to the plate,
apparently pissed off that his battery-mate Bubalo was robbed of a base
and his team ripped off for an out, Recker waited for his pitch with a
nice big scowl.
Now you’ve gone and made him angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry.
The pitch came in, and suddenly something began to happen in Recker’s
body. Nerve endings sprang to life, sending electronic pessages to all
areas. To the torso, the message was "turn hard on it." To the biceps,
the message was "crank it." To the feet, the message was "plant
yourselves." and to the legs, the message was "drive through this mofo
until it be gone."
The ball, from that moment on, was no longer the property of Everett
Aquasox Professional Baseball Club, as it took off on a 440 foot
journey out of the ballpark. On its way, the ball would sit next to an
insurance salesman from Dubuque, and choose the vegetarian meal, before
being marginally entertained by the in-flight movie, "Deuce Bigelow 2:
European Gigolo", which would indicate to some that baseballs aren’t
very clever.
If you saw Recker’s rocket shot last night in Vancouver, picture the
same blast again, only, as webcaster Rob McGowan explained it, "twenty
feet higher." Two runs score, the crowd goes silent, and hours later,
when contacted by Notes From The Nat, the ball would complain loudly
about the lack of leg-room on Air Recker flights, swearing blind he’ll
never travel that way again. Though he did admit the food was good.
Bottom of the 8th and we’re back to reality, as Killer Kilby gives up a
pair of unlucky hits and a shaky walk to load the bases with no outs.
The situation was grim for The Killer as Craig Lefferts came out for
the Magic Bum-Tap routine. Kilby listened, Lefferts talked, and then
dished out his trademarked tap to the derriere, before Kilby started
throwing fire once more.
Though Jeff Flaig sac’ed home a run at the next at-bat, as a warming-up
Danielin Acevedo looked on, Kilby ripped through the next two hitters
and got out of the inning with a one-run lead intact, before burning
through the 9th with 2 K’s and a fly-out.
Game V-Town, by a score of 4-3, and though Salem-Kaizer destroyed the
woeful Eugene Emeralds by a score of 16-3, Vancouver’s 2-game lead over
the Volc’s remains intact, with the Aquasox now 3 games behind the
Canadians in 3rd place.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m making a prediction: This is the turning
point for Vancouver. Now, everyone, please knock on wood. Thank you.
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GAME NOTES:
* Chad Boyd, 2-4 with a double and a run scored is the pick for player
of the game tonight. As the C’s new lead-off man, he remains in-form
and a constant threat to the opposition whenever up to bat. Justin
Sellers, though he only went 1-5 tonight in the #2 spot, also gives
pitchers the heeby jeebies.
* Jeff Baisley, back at last, went 1-2 on the night with a walk and a
sac. I guess any time you can be productive on 3 out of 4 plate
appearances, it’s a good day. Welcome back to the meat of the order,
Buttah.
* Give some props to Haas Pratt, for though his figures aren’t
blow-your-mind great (his 2-4 with a RBI tonight was very much needed),
he’s shown a great tendency to be the clutch hitter the C’s sometimes
need. I wouldn’t say he’d make my NWL all-star team right now, but I’m
damn sure I would find a place for him in the line-up in every game
between now and the end of the season, if it were my choice.
* Tonight’s line-up was, by and large, one of the better line-ups we’ve seen from Vancouver since the promotion of Travis Buck:
Boyd LF
Sellers SS
Baisley 3B
Pratt 1B
Bubalo DH
Garcia RF
Recker C
Perez 2B
Massaro CF
That’s a pretty decent side right there, and in all truth, if Juan
Navarrete wants to win this season, he needs to maintain that line-up
from here on in. It’s nice and quick at the top and bottom of the order
(the first two and last two players in the order are all
base-stealers), it has great power potential from Baisley, who gets
protection from Pratt and Bubalo, while Garcia and Recker are more than
capable of sparking something in the 6/7 slots, be that a double
(Garcia) or a 440 foot long bomb (Recker).
I like this line-up a lot. I would like to see it stay. Please.
Pitching probables for this week:
Wednesday: Mike Madsen
Thursday: Jimmy Shull
Friday: Trey Shields
Saturday: Joseph Newby
Webcast quote of the game:
"To be the man, you’ve gotta BEAT the man!"
- Rob "Honky Tonk Man" McGowan
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