When you get to the ballpark early, you hear some great stories, and I
heard a neat one tonight upon arriving at Nat Bailey Stadium.

Seems Christian Vitters, he of the 10th round draft pick, is still
struggling to get back to fighting form after suffering a broken thumb
in college ball. The interesting twist is who threw the pitch that
broke that thumb: one Branden Dewing (pictured), closer for the
Vancouver Canadians.

Apparently Vitters is ‘mostly’ over it, but you have to imagine that the first time the pair locked eyes in the Vancouver Canadians locker room, someone in the room would have been humming the theme from Jaws.

Tonight’s game features a whole bunch of players who’d rather be at
home playing X-Box - they’re called the Everett Aquasox - and they’ll
be playing against a bunch of guys who who would rather be at The Roxy
- we’ll call them the Vancouver Canadians.

Personally, I’d rather be playing X-Box AT The Roxy, but heck, there’s
a ballgame at Nat Bailey Stadium and duty dictates that I be one of the
18 people here watching, so I can tell you all how much fun you’re
missing, despite the dreary weather.

First moment of hilarity on the evening: Team historian and
ever-present fan about town, Bud Kerr, throwing the first pitch
somewhere near the on-deck circle. Talk about wild and outside…

Second moment of hilarity; the singer of the national anthems, Danielle
Foulds, who managed to insert the words "Galliantly screaming" into the
Star Spangled Banner. Heck, at least she looked good doing it.

Let’s have some line-ups.

VANCOUVER CANADIANS:
Larry ‘Corny’ Cobb LF
Mike ‘Fearless Affronti SS
Jermaine ‘J-Train’ Mitchell CF
Jake ‘The Rake’ Smith C
‘The Mighty’ Casey Myers DH
Matt ‘Authentic’ Sulentic RF
Alex ‘Exxon’ Valdez 3B
Greg ‘D-bomb’ Dowling 1B
Mike ‘The Keg’ Klug 2B
Scott ‘Real’ Deal RHP

EVERETT FLIPPERKIDS:
Kuo ‘Halo’ Hui Lo LF
Dean ‘Hard-core’ Zorn 2B
‘Meet’ Joe White 1B
Adam ‘Say No’ Moore C
Chao ‘Can I get a Wu’ Wu DH
Leury ‘Leury-Bo’ Bonilla 3B
Jose ‘Guttural’ Graterol RF
Gavin ‘Too Easy’ Dickey CF
Ogui ‘Dimebag’ Diaz SS
Nativadad ‘Holiday’ Dilone RHP

We’ll live-blog each inning as it happens.

Play ball.


TOP OF THE 1ST: Watching Scott Deal pitch is like being taken back
to season 2005 with Jimmy Shull on the mound. He has the same bulldog
demeanor, he has the same stance, he throws as hard, and he gets
similar results. Though he gave up a base hit to Everett lead-off man
Kuo Hui Lo, he held the runner on first despite attempted bunts and
infield choppers, keeping things tight and htting his spots. He is,
indeed, the ‘Real’ Deal.

BOTTOM OF THE 1ST:
Corny Cobb slapped a fastball right at Everett pitcher Nativadad
Dilone’s head, taking an easy single, but Mike Affronti’s slowdown with
the lumber continued with a grounder off the handle to second that
resulted in a double play. The J-Train was unfortunate not to get a
2-out single when he forced Meet Joe White to deal with a nasty
grounder. Holiday Dilone covered first just a half step too soon for
Mitchell to get to the bag, but it was a darn close call.

TOP OF THE 2ND:
Tacoma boy Scott Deal continues to pitch hard, but the baseball gods
are fighting against him. Chao Wu drove a chopper to second that Mike
Klug had under total control, until of course it hit a divot and
pinballed about five feet over his head. But the kung fu of Deal is
stronger than that of the baseball gods, as Leury-Bo’s hit’n'run liner
at Mike Klug was snagged despite the fielder being on the infield
grass, giving the second baseman an easy double play on Wu at 1st. Just
as well, since Guttural Graterol drilled a long low shot down the first
base line for a double, which would have scored a run if not for the
ill-timed hit’n'run. Inning over, scores still blanked.

BOTTOM OF THE 2ND:
Jake The Rake Smith has a batting average below the Mendoza Line, but
he’s second in the team for RBI’s. Reason? The 2006 Johnny Bench Award
winner hits well in the clutch, and he’s starting to warm up in
non-scoring situations too. Which explains the lead-off deep center
double he opened his account with in this inning. 2001 Johnny Bench
Award winner Casey Myers grounder moved him along to 3rd, before
Authentic Sulentic was K’ed looking.

Alex Valdez has had trouble with guys in scoring position, guys out of
scoring position… let’s face it, he’s just had trouble in general.
With a .151 average on the year, you’d have to think he’s lucky there
isn’t another third baseman floating around. Every season there’s one
kid who hits an early dinger at this ballpark and decides he’s a
powerlord, and will then spend the rest of the season chasing his
second. That’s Alex Valdez right now. As he swung hard at everything,
he managed to connect with one for a chopper up the middle that Dean
Zorn couldn’t deal with, allowing Jake The Rake to score. Vangroovy
leads 1-0 going into the 3rd.

TOP OF THE 3RD:
Nothing happened. Like, seriously, nothing at all happened. It was like watching Parliament.

BOTTOM OF THE 3RD:
Fearless Affronti managed to draw a 2-out walk to keep a largely
yawnworthy inning alive for the C’s, which gave the J-Train a chance to
run out an infield chopper (seriously, can someone get a hit out of the
infield please?), so with men on 1st and 2nd, Jake The Rake was primed
for another of his patented "you can look at my average while I’m
driving in the run" routines.

With the count at 2-1, C’s manager Rick Magnante decided to make use of
his base-runners’ speed and called a perfect double steal. Full count,
first base open, but the Flipperkids refuse to put Smith on to get a
shot at Casey Myers. Instead, they peppered Smith with strikes that
he’d foul off time and again, nearly hitting a homerun down the left
field line, only to see it go foul.

It’s moments like these that you’re glad you came to the ballpark.
Holiday Dilone just doesn’t have the stuff left (in the 3rd inning) to
beat Smith with fastballs, and with a AA player on deck he refused to
be tempted into a walk, so he tried to blow one by Smith with pure
speed alone.

Then he twisted his neck, watching his pitch driven into left field, socring Affronti. C’s lead 2-0.

Casey Myers at the plate, 2-outs, men on the corners. Myers hasn’t
managed a hit yet, two games into his rehab stint, and as he worked the
count, he finally got a hit next to his name… a ‘hit by pitch’, that
careened off his helmet. The big DH ambled up to first base without
much problem, shaking it off the whole way.

Bases loaded. Authentic Sulentic at the plate, zings one back at the pitcher only to see it snagged in style, inning over.

TOP OF THE 4TH:
Scott Deal spent a long time sitting watching the bottom of the 3rd,
and he showed the effects as he gave up a deep hit to left field to
Everett Catcher Adam Moore. It was a straight-up double from the moment
it left the bat… if Larry Cobb had bothered going through the cut-off
man.

He didn’t. Instead, Cobb drilled his throw to 2nd, allowing Mike Klug
to snare it, turn, dive across the bag and wait for Moore to try - just
TRY - to touch the base. Double becomes an out, and though Deal walked
the next hitter, and Mike Affronti had to fly high to keep Leury-Bo
from scoring the runner with a grounder up the middle, the C’s kept
things under wraps and got out of the inning without losing a runner.

BOTTOM OF THE 4TH:
Alex Valdez - you remember him, the kid who wants to be a home run
king? Well, he opened this inning by hitting just about the highest fly
to left center I’ve ever seen in my life. It came down right at the
wall, and as Guttural Graterol backed up to make the back-to-the-wall
grab, he reached up, the ball bobbled off the wall into his glove, then
out of it, then he dived to bring it down again.

Valdez, to his credit, kept on running as the fielder claimed his out
and the ump called fair ball, stretching out a triple as the ump made
the call that the fielder caught it off the wall. D-Bomb Dowling and
The Keg couldn’t push Valdez home, but Corny Cobb is in grand form,
knocking a liner to right field, pushing the lead out to 3, and seeing
Holiday Dilone off to an early shower. I tell ya, it was Armed Cobbery!

New Everett pitcher is a 6′3" 170lb beanpole by the name of Jose
Suriel, and I couldn’t tell you much about how he pitches yet, because
he only threw one to end the inning.

TOP OF THE 5TH:
Deal, starting to wear down, gives up a base hit up the middle to Kuo
Hui Lo, but even a tired Scott Deal is a good Scott Deal, so the inning
was not long for this world.

BOTTOM OF THE 5TH:
Highlight of the inning - watching Casey Myers run. Not pretty. 3 up, 3 down.

TOP OF THE 6TH:
Matt ‘Boat Trip’ Manship comes in to relieve Scott Deal. Though he
gives up a hit after watching the D-Bomb clang another grounder with
his doctor-like soft hands, a big K ends the inning clean.

BOTTOM OF THE 6TH:
Rollie Gibson comes in to pitch for the ‘Sox, with an 0-0, 3.38 record
over 2.2 innings pitched. Sulentic leads off, but he doesn’t increase
his .347 average with a weak grounder to short.

Homerun Valdez surprised a few people with the next at bat, swinging
right instead of his usual left…not that it helped as he went down
with a swinging K. Vancouver cruising, but not killing.

TOP OF THE 7TH:
Watching Everett players trying to hit is like watching retarded kids trying to clap. Vancouver leads by 3.

BOTTOM OF THE 7TH:
It’s contagious. 3 up, 3 down.

TOP OF THE 8TH:
Scott ‘Please sir I want some’ Moore comes in to set-up for the closer
as the entire Everett bullpen warms up at the other end of the
ballpark. Moore’s holding a 0-0, 0.00 line after three innings pitched
this season, but opens his account tonight surrendering a base hit to
right by Meet Joe White. Salmonella Sabatella comes in to pinch run as
Adam Moore (no relation) dribbles one to short. Fearless Affronti,
deciding to be a star, decides to flick theball to 2nd rather than
getting the easy out at 1st. Bad call, especially protecting a
three-run lead.

That became even more painful when Chao Wu, complete with a LOUD
cheering section of Taiwanese folk, hit a deep fly to center. The
runner tagged up from 2nd, beating Mitchell’s throw, as Wu decided to
bust out hs single into a double. Valdez hurled a hard throw to Klug at
2nd, who appeared to get the tag on with time to spare, but the ump
called it safe.

Leu-Bo knocked a bouncing grounder to third at the next at bat, and as
Dean Zorn broke from 3rd to head for home, Valdez sent a bullet-time
throw to Smith at home plate, that the catcher snared before diving
into the runner’s path for the out. A swinging K on Guttural Graterol
followed, keeping the lead intact and the home fans in their seats for
another inning.

BOTTOM OF THE 8TH:
The potentially last frame at the plate for the C’s opens with the
J-Train ddrawing a walk from Andrew Fiorenza. A pair of grounders to
The Rake and The Rehab moved Mitchell to 3rd, but Matt Sulentic’s shot
deep into left field couldn’t beat the outstetched glove. Inning done.

TOP OF THE 9TH:
Scott Moore stays in to close, and why the heck not when he’s got the Flipperkids swinging at fresh air?

Gavin Dickey - K swinging. And stumbling. And failing.
Ogui Diaz - pop to short.
Kuo Hui Lo - K looking.

C’s win! C’s win!

GAME NOTES:
* Jake the Rake, Corny Cobb and Exxon Valdez had multi-hit games. Two
of them really needed them, one of them is making a habit of it. You do
the math.

* Scott Deal continues to lead the league in wins, bringing his tally
to 4-0 on the season. He’s nastay. And just lowered his ERA to less
than 2.00

* Scott Moore picks up the save - his second of the season…
apparently he’s splitting closing duties with The Thumbbreaker, Branden
Dewing.

Next game is a Nooner - Friday at 1PM - be there!

Note:

July 6, 2006
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Everett 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 Vancouver 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 X 3 7 2 box | log W: S. Deal (4-0, 1.64); L: N. Dilone (0-2, 4.70); SV: S. Moore (2) HR: None.