8.4.02 BATAVIA MUCKDOGS vs AUBURN DOUBLEDAYS
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Tonight was a calculated risk. The Red Wings were at home, on the cusp of
losing their twelfth straight game, tying a franchise record that hadn’t been
matched since 1920. It’s become quite a story. Rochester G.M. Dan Mason, who’s
been known to do things like shave his head on a bet, has pledged to sleep
in the Red Wings’ bullpen for the duration of the streak. He’s been out there
for almost a week now, joined at various points by manager Andy Etchebarren,
second baseman Brian Roberts and a gaggle of fans who came out when the Wings
opened the field for a night. I hadn’t been to Batavia in a couple weeks,
though, so I gambled that the Wings would lose their final game tonight against
the division-leading Red Barons, and I could then go two nights from now to
see history made as the Red Wings lose an unprecedented thirteenth consecutive
game.
The gamble worked—the first part of it, anyway—as the Red Wings
did indeed lose tonight, setting up a date with destiny at Frontier this Tuesday.
As for the Muckdogs, who’ve been playing near-.500 ball for most of the
season despite a roster that hasn’t quite captured my imagination the
way last year’s did, well, they lost too. Whit Bryant turned in a shaky
two and a third innings, loading the bases each time out and surrendering
three runs in the second and another in the third before Zach Minor came in
and bailed him out with an inning-ending double-play on his first pitch.
The Doubledays, who have turned out to be the unlikely class of the league,
capitalized on a wild pitch and errors by Muckdogs shortstop Carlos Rodriguez
and first baseman Eric Winegarden in the fifth, running the score to 7–0
before the Muckdogs could respond with a single run in the bottom of the sixth.
It was the only one Auburn starter Brandon League would surrender in an impressive
seven inning performance.
As the game wore on, I moved down to the front row just off to the third base side of the plate, where a restless little kid—four, maybe five years old—tested his mother’s patience, venturing throughout the infield stands, climbing over whoever was in his way, occasionally climbing over me. “Say excuse me,” she instructed him, somewhat hopelessly. “Sorry!” he’d say, looking back ever so briefly, with the haughty disregard of someone three, four times his age. It was hilarious. When the game ended, after a potential Muckdogs rally was quickly squelched and the final three outs recorded in order, the kid hung on the dugout railing, waiting for his dad, one of the Batavia coaches. Mom thanked me for my patience, and when I assured her it was nothing, she apologized further, having taken note of my cap: “We’re Giants fans, too.” Now you tell me! Jeez.
FINAL SCORE: DOUBLEDAYS 9, MUCKDOGS 2
LIFE DURING WARTIME: Of course, now that I’m all excited about the strike, the news is full of encouraging reports about non-contentious negotiations and movement on this issue and that. Fuck that shit—strike!