Our 2008 season kicks off

Our 2008 season got underway earlier this month with some fun -- but chilly -- games. The first game was the Pawtucket Red Sox vs. the Indianapolis Indians on Saturday, April 5 (even earlier than the Boston Red Sox home opener) in Pawtucket, R.I. The mercury didn't climb out of the 40s that day. The next day, we headed to Norwich, Conn., for the Connecticut Defenders vs. the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Dodd Stadium. The warmest it got at that game was 40, the temp was hovering around 37 when we left the ballpark.


This weekend, we got a taste of the best of baseball weather. Warm temperatures, climbing into the mid-70s for our day game today (back to Norwich for more Defenders, this time playing the Reading Phillies). Last night, we also did a repeat performance of one of our first stops (PawSox, taking on the Buffalo Bisons at McCoy Stadium). Again, much more pleasant experience -- with temps that started out in the high 60s, it was a lot easier to focus on the game when fighting hypothermia wasn't a consideration.


This Saturday and Sunday was a reminder of how fast the early season changes from cold contests of survival to a warm welcome of what we love about the minor leagues: prime seats and hot baseball. Our seats today at Dodd Stadium had us in the first row, directly behind home plate. Not only could we call pitches and strikes, we were also to throw in our two cents when the umpire was getting an earful from the Reading Phillies' manager over whether a pitch actually hit a Defenders batter (for the record, it did). So it was only the right thing to do to encourage the ump to "Run him!" when P.J. Forbes' tirade was running long (for the record, it worked -- Forbes was ejected and pitching coach Frank Cacciatore took over for the rest of the game).

Scores:

Saturday, April 5: Indians, 5; PawSox, 4 box score

Sunday, April 6: Defenders, 4; Fisher Cats, 2 game recap

Saturday, April 19: Bisons, 7; PawSox, 0 box score

Sunday, April 20: Defenders, 6; R-Phils, 5 game recap