Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Education Day with Bryce Harper

(All images courtesy of Craig MacHenry/Capitol Baseball 2011)

Yesterday afternoon, I ventured into small, and somewhat backwards, town of Hagerstown to watch a 10:35am ballgame. The day's promotion, Education Day, brought in about a thousand elementary/middle school aged students, to cheer on their beloved Suns; but more importantly, to eat gallons of Dippin' Dots Ice Cream of the Future. It was the earliest game I have seen since little league. And though some of the on-field play was little league-esque, the Suns were able to take advantage of the miscues to pick up a 7-3 win.

Let's take a look at some of the highlights from the day.

- Most importantly - Bryce Harper was able to come back from 2 early strikeouts to finish the day 2 for 5 with an RBI. Here is his At-Bat rundown:
1 - Fly out to CF on the first pitch of the AB.
2 - Strikeout swinging against Luis "Father Christmas" Noel.
3 - Strikeout on a check swing and rung up by the Home Plate ump.
4 - 2-out, RBI single but thrown out going to 2nd base (was sent by his coach).
5 - Single to RF.

- In addition to his day at the plate, Harper had an eventful day in the field. Recording 3 outs - 1) A brilliant catch at the wall for the first out of the game 2) A foul out in the 6th and 3) A great catch in the gap in the 9th.

- The most interesting Harper play of the day was in the 2nd when he tried to throw a runner out at the plate - the throw, from deep right, went well over the catchers head and into the netting. If on target, it would've been a photo finish.

- 2008 18th Round pick LHP Bobby Hansen picked up his 4th win of the season with a quality start, though he seemed to struggle early in his outing. 6 IP. 7 H. 3 R. 2 ER. 3 BB. 3 K.

- The Delmarva Shorebirds (seriously, that's their name) starter, Luis "Father Christmas" Noel, had a very rough outing, lasting just 3 innings. In those three innings he managed to allow 4 runs on just 3 hits, due to the fact that he walked a whopping 7 batters.

- Shane McCatty, son of Nats pitching coach Steve McCatty, threw 2 innings of 1 hit ball in the 7th and 8th.

- Chris Manno, 26th round pick from this past year, closed out the game with his herky-jerky mechanics. It was a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts.

- Other standouts for the Suns were...
Blake Kelso (10th rounder from 2010) - 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI.
Adrian Sanchez (International FA in 2007) - 2 for 5 with a double and 2 runs.
Michael Taylor (6th rounder from 2009) - 1 for 3 with a double, walk, 2 RBI, and a run.

So, if you ever find yourself at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown, MD be sure to pack the sun screen and the ear plugs (the announcer yells everything!). And make sure you don't go on Education Day - cause that was loud.

9 comments:

  1. "Father Christmas," I love it! This whole account makes me want to go back and watch "Bull Durham" again. As if I ever really need an excuse.

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  2. first hand reporting!! dont see that much any more...thanks capball

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  3. You don't get out much, or follow baseball do you? Finally discovering the Shorebirds (O's farm team the last 15 years) are ya? Hate to say but if you are that new to baseball you're observations are nearly useless. Not totally, though. :)

    Getting to your first taste of small town America too? Yes I agree that Hagerstown is backwards but they see you as a city scumbag willing to live near a filthy ghetto, not the lucky chosen few ("oh please enlighten us with your wisdom, Ye City Dweller.") Nnnnno, doesn't work that way. Why do you blog? You're overmatched. Post on a message board instead. WNFF rocks!

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  4. Correction - "Getting your first..."

    Forgive my typos. I still can't get used to my laptop's stupid tiny keyboard. And btw I am also a "city scumbag." Wanted to clear that up. ;-)

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  5. Mac, unless this is a friend of yours playing a joke, you've just gotten your first anonymous flamer. Congratulations, you have officially arrived in the blog world!

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  6. Oh relax, Nick.

    This kid starts a Nats blog, is allegedly so "tuned in" he's willing to share his insight with the public yet, in actual fact, is so unaware he doesn't recognize where Bryce Harper may be June 21 - smalltown Salisbury, MD (home of the Shorebirds) - at the South Atlantic League 2011 All-Star Game. It just struck me as absurd.


    http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/tickets/page.jsp?ymd=20101013&content_id=15611416&vkey=tickets_t548&fext=.jsp&sid=t548

    http://delmarva.shorebirds.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101013&content_id=15616854&vkey=news_t548&fext=.jsp&sid=t548

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  7. Alrighty, now we're rolling! Can we please drag out this exchange for another 10-20 postings, or at least until one of us proves Godwin's Law and compares something in the Nats organization to Hitler?

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  8. Thanks for your comments as always, Nick.

    Also, thanks for your comments "I take everything way too seriously" anonymous guy. We appreciate you reading the blog, anyways. As long as you keep commenting, we'll know we're still relevant.

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  9. Sounds like Anonymous is one of those people obsessed with Cal and the O's. Not everyone in baseball world is so forgive him if he doesn't know every detail of your team. And can you really name every teams farm team?? doubt it. If you don't like his blog, then don't read it. Spend your time doing something you enjoy instead of insulting other people.

    There you go nick, at least I am adding to the convo, though not very much ha! At least it may get him going.

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