Baseball is back and so are we! After watching yesterday's Opening Day win by the Red Sox over the Tampa Bay Rays, we'll have our own opening day tonight when we see the New Hampshire Fisher Cats take on the New Britain Rock Cats.
We're headed to Manchester, N.H., for the game at Merchantsauto.com Stadium. It's an evening game in a chilly April in New England, so we're going to be bundling up. As much as we love to proudly display our fan wear, our experience going to many baseball games over the years has taught us that not freezing is worth covering up. (We spent an opening day at the Fisher Cats a few years back looking at the thermometer on the scoreboard read 37 and wishing the numbers were flipped. That game - also against the Rock Cats - was the one where we met Brock Peterson's mom and Trevor Plouffe's girlfriend. We had to convince his girlfriend, who was from California, that wasn't normal weather in April, even in New Hampshire.) So out come the winter coats, the gloves and maybe a scarf or two. After all, three hours or so sitting still in 40-degree weather with a good breeze kicking up from the river is probably a recipe for hypothermia. Tonight at the 'Cats, the first 1,000 people to arrive get the giveaway: fleece blankets. We're going to try to get there early because this will be a night for a fleece blanket.
Despite the weather (which is supposed to be warm and sunny tomorrow - yes, this is New England), we are excited to see some minor league action. Checking out the roster for the Fisher Cats, it appears that a lot of players we saw last year have moved on or up to Triple-A. In the case of Travis Snider, who blew the competition away at last year's home run derby during the Eastern League All-Star festivities, that move up was all the way to the bigs. Snider is now with the Toronto Blue Jays. He and another former Fisher Cat, Adam Lind, both hit home runs on the Jays' Opening Day. Snider, who is barely into his 20s, is no doubt one to watch. Lind, who was the Eastern League's 2006 MVP, is also an exciting young player and we look forward to seeing them both in the majors this season. Unfortunately, all that talent will be aimed at the Sox at times...
And this season, moving on up for former Fisher Cats means going across the country. In previous years, Double-A grads went to the Syracuse Chiefs (aka Sky Chiefs) in upstate New York. But as has been the case with several International League teams in the last few years, Major League affiliations were swapped around in the off-season and the Blue Jays' Triple-A team is now the Las Vegas 51s (formerly the L.A. Dodgers). Talk about a change in the weather!
We're headed to Manchester, N.H., for the game at Merchantsauto.com Stadium. It's an evening game in a chilly April in New England, so we're going to be bundling up. As much as we love to proudly display our fan wear, our experience going to many baseball games over the years has taught us that not freezing is worth covering up. (We spent an opening day at the Fisher Cats a few years back looking at the thermometer on the scoreboard read 37 and wishing the numbers were flipped. That game - also against the Rock Cats - was the one where we met Brock Peterson's mom and Trevor Plouffe's girlfriend. We had to convince his girlfriend, who was from California, that wasn't normal weather in April, even in New Hampshire.) So out come the winter coats, the gloves and maybe a scarf or two. After all, three hours or so sitting still in 40-degree weather with a good breeze kicking up from the river is probably a recipe for hypothermia. Tonight at the 'Cats, the first 1,000 people to arrive get the giveaway: fleece blankets. We're going to try to get there early because this will be a night for a fleece blanket.
Despite the weather (which is supposed to be warm and sunny tomorrow - yes, this is New England), we are excited to see some minor league action. Checking out the roster for the Fisher Cats, it appears that a lot of players we saw last year have moved on or up to Triple-A. In the case of Travis Snider, who blew the competition away at last year's home run derby during the Eastern League All-Star festivities, that move up was all the way to the bigs. Snider is now with the Toronto Blue Jays. He and another former Fisher Cat, Adam Lind, both hit home runs on the Jays' Opening Day. Snider, who is barely into his 20s, is no doubt one to watch. Lind, who was the Eastern League's 2006 MVP, is also an exciting young player and we look forward to seeing them both in the majors this season. Unfortunately, all that talent will be aimed at the Sox at times...
And this season, moving on up for former Fisher Cats means going across the country. In previous years, Double-A grads went to the Syracuse Chiefs (aka Sky Chiefs) in upstate New York. But as has been the case with several International League teams in the last few years, Major League affiliations were swapped around in the off-season and the Blue Jays' Triple-A team is now the Las Vegas 51s (formerly the L.A. Dodgers). Talk about a change in the weather!
Fun: If you check out today's fan poll on http://www.milb.com/, you'll see former Fisher Cat Chip Cannon and current Portland Sea Dog T.J. Large among the choices for wackiest player names.
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