8.17.00
ROCHESTER RED WINGS vs
SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRES RED BARONS
Tonight I was joined at the game by my new friend Scott, a Rochester native now living in Tampa who had the pleasure of attending the same corporate-speak seminars that had occasioned my visit. Scott's enthusiasm for baseball outstrips even mine, so we had much to talk about over our 32-ounce Genny Lights, comparing baseball experiences on our respective coasts. This, combined with the fact that both scoreboards stopped working about an inning into the game, meant there would be very little for me to report about tonight's actual game.
This does, however, give me a chance to mention a few things I glossed over yesterday. First among them, the serious heat being thrown by the Pawsox' starter, Sun Kim. Over 6 2/3 innings he gave up three runs on ten hits—a decent, if not particularly memorable performance—but watching him on the mound was something else altogether. I wouldn't be surprised if Boston brings him up when the rosters expand in September. He's that good.
Some familiar faces: Pawsox shortstop Andy Sheets, a couple years removed from the Padres' 1998 World Series team; Red Wings right fielder Karim Garcia, last seen (by me, anyway) a couple years ago in a Dodgers uniform; and Billy Ashley, once the Dodgers' hottest prospect, the victim of inflated statistics at mile-high Triple-A Albuquerque, and now, at thirty, a journeyman scrub.
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barres Red Barons, who, were it up to me, would be more mellifluously called the Lackawanna Red Barons for the Pennsylvania county they represent (a city-slash-city name? when one of the cities is already a hyphenated compound? c'mon!), are affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies, and as such, might be expected to have some interesting young players knocking about down on the farm. Sadly, due to the aforementioned scoreboard difficulties, I'd be hard-pressed to name any of them.
I did have dinner at Nick Tahou's before the game, though. As Scott, who, like any native Rochesterian, in his youth spent many a debauched hour with his elbows propped over a garbage plate, eloquently put it: “It's not really the kind of place you go; it's the kind of place you end up.” Perhaps the same could be said of Rochester?
FINAL SCORE: RED BARONS 9, RED WINGS 5
MEMORABLE HECKLE: None.
