It might not have had a sell-out crowd, or a Canadians victory, but all-in-all it was a great night for baseball last night, at the Nat.  The one down-side, or questionable thing, from last night, was why there were so many TV crews and camera crews, yet there were absolutely no highlights of the team on any local TV station. 

Yes, I know Perry Solkowski was there as was Shane Foxman of CBC, but don’t know you think that with all the trouble they went through of being there, hooking up the cables etc. they could at least show a hit?  Or a strikeout, or even the first pitch from Jack Poole?

I guess they didn’t realize Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Connor was there, or that Tim Raines will be there tonight.  Honestly, this organization is doing so well at the moment, they’re promoting the hell out of short-season ball, they’ve upgraded the stadium (HUGE props go out to Jake Kerr, Jeff Mooney and Andy Dunn for all of the small additions they’ve made to the ballpark, including the radar gun in left field, the ‘Canadians’ word behind home plate, as well as the A&W Root Beer Mugs out in Left and Right Field), and the guests they have this year is pretty incredible. 

Pat O’Connor did make his first appearance to Vancouver, and from the sounds of it, he loved it.  But still no freaking media outlet in the city, that I can tell, showed one single highlight of the game. 

Sure on Global they showed a quick glimpse of the score and that Ronny Morla picked up the loss, but on CTV, where they had a crew at the stadium, they just said that the C’s lost to Tri-City 5-1, and nothing more. 

The game itself, was awesome.  Inoel Deaza may have gotten pounded in his only inning of work, but at least the fans got to see two home-runs (all-be-it hit by the wrong team).  The Scottish Rugby team was a good source of entertainment for the fans, and Bob Brown Bear made an immediate impact with younger fans.  There was even a lineup to shake his hand in the 8th inning. 

There is now a Canadians player of the game, and it went to Edgar Tejeda, who in his second stint with the C’s, threw three innings of no-hit, 8 strikeout ball.  Now, if only he hadn’t hit Patrick Rose, he would’ve been perfect.

Offensively, there wasn’t much going on.  The Canadians managed 5 hits, one from JD Pruitt, Zo Macias and Walter Correa, as well as a pair of Jareck West, who has already made a name for himself in the lineup. 

However, despite only getting a walk in three at-bats, Dan Wentzell (top left) really deserves huge props in this one.  During his first at-bat, he took 9 pitches, including numerous fouls, before striking out.  I don’t care what the end result of the AB was, that was huge, because the Dust Devils’ starter Juan Nicasio was unhittable.  In 5.2 innings, he gave up just a pair of hits, walked one and struck out 7.  He threw 89 pitches, and had it not have been for Wentzell’s decisions at the plate, he probably could’ve thrown much farther into the ballgame.

For the C’s on the hill, Ronny Morla didn’t have his best stuff the farther he went.  Morla threw 78 pitches, on my count, and I’d say by about the time he got to 60, his stuff started to tail off.  Early in the game, he was consistently throwing around 92, but as the game wore on, he was clocking in the mid-high 80’s.  He however, did much better than Inoel Deaza.

Back for his third year with the C’s, Deaza just didn’t have it on Tuesday.  He gave up two hits, two home-runs (including a three-run shot) and I don’t think he even hit 90 on the gun.  His replacement, Edgar Tejeda, did the opposite.  3 innings, 8 strikeouts, one hit batter.  I can’t see him sticking around too long if he throws like this every night.

The Stadium improvements are amazing.  The TV’s showing live coverage of the game in the concourse, as well as listening to Rob Fai and Chris Pritchett is a fantastic extra-touch.  Oh, and I’m loving the team store.  All three jerseys are on sale for 100 dollars, plus a variety of different kinds of t-shirts, hoodies, hats and team novelties (i.e. bar glasses which I bought and look awesome). 

The best improvement, is by far the Notes From the Nat radar gun.  Now you know what every player is throwing, and if you come to every game, you can tell if a pitcher is having an off-night, if his stuff isn’t where it’s usually at on the gun.

Tonight, Tim Raines night, as well as the Opening of the Bud Kerr Baseball Museum, it should be a blast.

EDIT: As Oz pointed out, we’ll be calling it the NFTN Radar Gun from now on.  Also, 24 hours had a nice write-up of the game, and are now the unofficial Transit newspaper of the Vancouver Canadians, or at least in my books.