July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Familiar faces headed for playoffs
Back in the Saddle
Footballs are flying, but it’s still baseball season at our house.
We went to our final minor league game of the season a couple of weeks ago, watching the Fort Wayne TinCaps chalk up a win on Labor Day. That was our fourth TinCaps game of the summer, and we were able to catch a Pawtucket, R.I., Red Sox game back in the late spring, bringing us to a total of five. That’s about average for us.
The Labor Day game was typically an up-and-down, unpredictable affair. There were 26 hits, but there were also eight errors between the two teams, and the game was decided on an unearned run.
So if the product is that erratic, why go to a minor league game at all?
The answer is both simple and complicated.
Much of the appeal is in baseball itself. Part of it is the fun of sitting in the sunshine on a Sunday afternoon surrounded by strangers. The Labor Day game was a family-friendly promotion, with special prices on concessions.
In the row in front of us, there were two couples with a total of eight kids below the age of 8. In the row behind us, there were three generations, ranging in age from the 70s to the single digits. Sitting between them was like being at a family reunion — for someone else’s family.
And then there’s the fun of watching young players at the very outset of their careers, knowing some of them will make the big leagues and some will end up selling insurance or driving a tractor.
It’s the big leaguers who have our attention now.
At the moment, there are probably a dozen different big league players we watched in the minor leagues in Fort Wayne or Indianapolis or elsewhere.
But six of them are getting special attention this fall.
That’s because six of them are almost assured of being in the Major League Baseball playoffs.
In Detroit, you’ll find Torii Hunter. Nowadays, he’s a veteran. We saw him as a Fort Wayne Wizard.
In Texas, you’ll find A.J. Pierzynski of the Rangers. He is, by all accounts, a bit of a jerk. But he’s put together a credible career as a major leaguer.
In Boston, you’ll find Jake Peavy of the Red Sox. He was with the Chicago White Sox until a few months ago, but now he’s playing for contender.
Closer to home, in Cincinnati, you’ll find Mat Latos pitching for the Reds. He’s another former Fort Wayne player.
The Reds are going back and forth with the St. Louis Cardinals, where former Wizard David Freese now plays.
And in that same tight divisional race, you’ll find former Indianapolis Indians standout Andrew McCutcheon leading the Pittsburgh Pirates.
That boils down to three on contending American League teams and three on contending National League teams.
So we have six teams to root for, even if we’ll often be rooting for both teams in a game.
Now if we could just get two of them to face off in the World Series our season would be complete.[[In-content Ad]]
We went to our final minor league game of the season a couple of weeks ago, watching the Fort Wayne TinCaps chalk up a win on Labor Day. That was our fourth TinCaps game of the summer, and we were able to catch a Pawtucket, R.I., Red Sox game back in the late spring, bringing us to a total of five. That’s about average for us.
The Labor Day game was typically an up-and-down, unpredictable affair. There were 26 hits, but there were also eight errors between the two teams, and the game was decided on an unearned run.
So if the product is that erratic, why go to a minor league game at all?
The answer is both simple and complicated.
Much of the appeal is in baseball itself. Part of it is the fun of sitting in the sunshine on a Sunday afternoon surrounded by strangers. The Labor Day game was a family-friendly promotion, with special prices on concessions.
In the row in front of us, there were two couples with a total of eight kids below the age of 8. In the row behind us, there were three generations, ranging in age from the 70s to the single digits. Sitting between them was like being at a family reunion — for someone else’s family.
And then there’s the fun of watching young players at the very outset of their careers, knowing some of them will make the big leagues and some will end up selling insurance or driving a tractor.
It’s the big leaguers who have our attention now.
At the moment, there are probably a dozen different big league players we watched in the minor leagues in Fort Wayne or Indianapolis or elsewhere.
But six of them are getting special attention this fall.
That’s because six of them are almost assured of being in the Major League Baseball playoffs.
In Detroit, you’ll find Torii Hunter. Nowadays, he’s a veteran. We saw him as a Fort Wayne Wizard.
In Texas, you’ll find A.J. Pierzynski of the Rangers. He is, by all accounts, a bit of a jerk. But he’s put together a credible career as a major leaguer.
In Boston, you’ll find Jake Peavy of the Red Sox. He was with the Chicago White Sox until a few months ago, but now he’s playing for contender.
Closer to home, in Cincinnati, you’ll find Mat Latos pitching for the Reds. He’s another former Fort Wayne player.
The Reds are going back and forth with the St. Louis Cardinals, where former Wizard David Freese now plays.
And in that same tight divisional race, you’ll find former Indianapolis Indians standout Andrew McCutcheon leading the Pittsburgh Pirates.
That boils down to three on contending American League teams and three on contending National League teams.
So we have six teams to root for, even if we’ll often be rooting for both teams in a game.
Now if we could just get two of them to face off in the World Series our season would be complete.[[In-content Ad]]
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