There was a lot to like about this game. First off, I had just finished working on my fence in my back yard, so being able to sit on the sofa after 3.5 hours of manual labor in the back yard was great. Thank god for TiVo, so I could watch the game from the start. :)
I really got a kick out of seeing Buck O’Neil at the game last night. Was really nice to hear a few stories of his, plus it was a blast hearing him go “Come on Arod – Come on Arod”. Al Oliver was before my time, so I didn’t enjoy his speech as much, but it was still nice to see the guys from the past here. Sometimes think I want to go to Kansas City and check out the Negro League baseball museum. Watching Buck O’Neill in the Ken Burns baseball documentary was a lot of fun. Man certainly loves his baseball – and like a lot of old timers, he doesn’t seem to have a distaste for today’s game too – which is nice to see.
Anyway, about this game – Kenny Rogers was pitching again on the day a strike date was announced. The last time he did that, he pitched a perfect game. Not to happen here, as Kenny was nowhere near as sharp as he was last Friday in Cleveland, but was “OK”. He gave up 5 runs over 7 innings – not great, but not totally horrid, either. Danny Kolb, however was great coming out of the pen, pitching the final two innings and giving up a big fat donut.
Our offense was led by Arod (who else) who was 4 for 4 with 3 RBI’s and two runs scored. It was capped off by a game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. I have to say I wish Buck O’Neil was still around then to see the home run – boy does Buck get excited about baseball, that’s for sure. Anyway, the problem here was that we had two players get hit on the hands by pitches. Kevin Mench (who stayed in the game), and Frank Catalanotto, who came out immediately, and has a broken hand, and very well could be done for the year. Not sure who we’re calling up for that, but it’s a bummer that Cat is out again.
However, given the way the season has gone, I can’t say I’m totally surprised, either.
Additional game commentary here.