The Eastern League is the Double-A league that includes our favorite of the minor league teams, the Portland Sea Dogs. In our years going to see the Sea Dogs, we've seen all of the Eastern League teams in action on the road, and many of them at home.
One of our goals is to visit all of the Eastern League parks, and we're making good progress. So far, in addition to the Sea Dogs' Hadlock Field and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats' Merchantsauto.com Stadium, we've been in the stands at the Connecticut Defenders' Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn.; the Rock Cats' New Britain Stadium, also in Connecticut; the Altoona Curve's Blair County Stadium and the Erie Sea Wolves' Jerry Uht Stadium in Pennsylvania; and most recently, the Binghamton Mets in Binghamton, N.Y. To make the sweep, we need to visit the home fields of the the Bowie BaySox in Maryland, the Akron Aeros in Ohio, the Reading Phillies and Harrisburg Senators in Pennsylvania, and the Trenton Thunder in New Jersey.
During our trip to Binghamton the week before the All-Star Game, we not only got to see the team in action (including a few All-Stars), we met up with Buddy the Bee, as we mentioned in an earlier post. At the All-Star Game, we made sure to say hi, since we'd promised Buddy we'd catch up with each other in Manchester. We also shared some stories from the 2007 All-Star Game, which was fogged out only a few pitches into the game.
But this year, the weather couldn't have been nicer. The sky was clear and the temperatures pleasant. The ballpark was full (the line for player autographs started more than three hours before gametime and ran the almost the entire length of the concourse) and the baseball was high-quality.
Before the game, a select group of players from the Northern and Southern Division teams squared off in a home run derby. Coming on the heels of Josh Hamilton's amazing run in the Major League All-Star derby, fans were poised for a show. And we weren't disappointed -- eventual winner Travis Snider put on quite a show, sending home runs smashing off the scoreboard, hitting light poles and rocketing over the right field wall, so far that they reached a train on the tracks outside the park. And Snider (seen at left), a Fisher Cat, did it all in front of a hometown crowd. Read all about it here.
Luke Hughes, one of our New Britain Rock Cat faves and a repeat All-Star, was in the home run derby, but not nearly as successful as Snider. Hughes, who usually wields a serious bat, was stymied in his attempts to hit one out of the park. In the end, he didn't hit a single home run in the contest.
But Hughes saved his homer for when it counted: the game. Hughes crushed a three-run homer in the sixth inning off Altoona's Pat Bresnahan, lifting the Northern Division over the Southern Division team 5-3. For a full account of the game, check this out.
At right, the starting battery for the Southern All-Stars, pitcher Brad Bergesen (Bowie Baysox) and catcher Lou Marson (Reading Phillies) go over their strategy before the game.
Needless to say, going to the All-Star Game was super-exciting. Interestingly, some of the players we thought we'd see there were promoted just before the game and a few have been called up since.
Needless to say, going to the All-Star Game was super-exciting. Interestingly, some of the players we thought we'd see there were promoted just before the game and a few have been called up since.
Sea Dogs Michael Bowden and Jeff Corsaletti had just been called up to Triple-A Pawtucket, but were on hand for the festivities and will report to the Paw Sox after the break. Bowden didn't pitch but Corsaletti started in the outfield.
And we were all set to root for Binghamton Mets slugger Nick Evans in the home run derby, but he was called up to the New York Mets just after we had visited Binghamton. No doubt Nick didn't mind missing the All-Star game for a chance to play with the big league club.
Let's hope these other future stars also get that chance someday!
No comments:
Post a Comment