6.20.02 ROCHESTER RED WINGS vs COLUMBUS CLIPPERS
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A month since my last Red Wings game, and a few things have changed. Ryan
McGuire got called up a while back, and Jose Leon just recently, and to pick
up the slack Baltimore did the Wings the favor of acquiring one Luis Lopez
from the Milwaukee Brewers, who’d released him after a six-week stint
on the DL. And much like the Durham Bulls’ Andy Sheets, it seems that
Lopez is plenty pissed at being deemed not good enough to play for one of
the worst teams in the majors. The 31-year-old infielder was sparkling at
second base, making several difficult plays look easy and robbing Clippers
DH Jalal Leach of a hit in the third with a diving stop and a perfect, off-balance
throw to first for the third out. On offense he was more arresting still,
knocking in three of the Red Wings’ runs and scoring the fourth. And
he pronounces his name “Louie.” Right on.
So the Wings took this one from the Yankee-affiliate Clippers, despite a
crowd that seemed more interested in cooing and gurgling over every Drew Henson
at-bat than actually taking any interest in its home team. I wish there was
some reason I could point to that would explain why this city is so unswervingly
and pervasively a Yankees town—as opposed to a Mets town, which it might
just as well be, or an Orioles town, given the Red Wings long ties to said
organization—other than that Rochester is just as full of obnoxious bandwagoners
as anyplace else in the country, but, alas, there isn’t.
Steve Bechler turned in a solid 6 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs, one of them a solo homer by Clippers left fielder Billy McMillon. The ball was hit out over the right center field fence, not far from the Red Wings’ promotional hot tub. A couple innings later, a buxom, bikini-and-towel-clad teenaged girl climbed the steps to the press box and presented the ball to a stadium worker, asking if she could get it autographed by the guy who hit it. Sweet sixteen, she added, batting her eyelashes for good measure. A small legion of middle-aged men looked up from their scorebooks, transfixed. Sixteen? Christ.
I don’t know if she got her autograph.
FINAL SCORE: RED WINGS 4, CLIPPERS 2
LIFE DURING WARTIME: Okay, this isn’t just me anymore. “God Bless America” during the seventh inning is feeling more than a little played out these days.