Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Game Report: Long Beach @ Reno (8/20/2007)



Before I begin, I’d like to extend a thank you to Sox Announcer, Ben Deach. I always wondered how the broadcast end of things worked for the team so I asked. Ben decided to put me on the air so I could get the full experience. So for the 4th inning of last night’s game, I got to talk about the team, the blog, and the league. It was an interesting experience; Ben has really come into his own as an announcer so it was a real pleasure to take the booth with him for our favorite team.

The game, unfortunately, didn’t go the way the Sox had hoped. The game drug on through 3-1/2 hours and ended with the Sox committing 3 errors and the team giving up 9 runs on 12 hits. The bull pen was serviceable…the good news is that Shawn Balteff and Matt Paris did their job giving up no hits and no runs. Unfortunately, starter James Johnson gave up six and reliever Josh Evans got pounded giving up 3 runs, 3 hits (including a homerun) and 3 walks in just an inning and a third. The offense was only able to score 4 runs on 9 hits.

Long Beach, or Los Angeles they like to be called on the road, is well on their way to a second half championship. Their magic number is two (they need a win and a Yuma loss to clinch) so we could see it happen tonight. Yuma was beaten by St. George last night…yes, the same St. George that has been in last place all year but now has given that “honor” to the Sox—Reno is now 13.0 games out of first place and a full game behind St. George.

The stadium was pretty empty and at one point I counted 5 people in general admission. The picnic area did have some folks but I am sure there were a lot of folks who bought tickets but didn’t show as paid attendance was 1000. It is sad that the turnout was lacking but with a weekday game and a team completely out of contention, it will be hard to get people to drive all the way to UNR to see them. Still, I would hope folks also would see that pro baseball is about to leave us on Saturday and we won’t see it again until next June. If you don’t see it now, you’re missing a great opportunity.

On a good note, I noticed that box scores have been in the RGJ more regularly this season as well as stories. That is good and hopefully it is a victory that can carry over to next season. Coverage was great this year with soft stories though the box scores and game write-ups were not as frequent.

And finally, the answer to the trivia question I threw out there yesterday was indeed Scott Schneider. So, congratulations to S. Sox for the answer. I don’t have a prize but if look me at the park, I’ll buy you the frosty beverage of your choice!

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