The Sounds are on their 2008 West Coast swing and pennant fever is in the air. Not for us, we couldn’t see first place with the Hubble telescope, but Sacramento is preparing for their obligatory place in the post-season. They win so much it makes me want to puke and I would if I weren’t writing this on a bus full of players who would strap me to the roof if I did. Sacramento may have a sense of entitlement to the playoffs, much like the Yankees do, and for the last three years prior to this one, so did the Sounds, but its hard to not enjoy yourself there. We stay in a pretty nice Holiday Inn Express (same as visiting teams do in Nashville) that is attached to a nice mall and the park is within walking distance and the park is great! Sacramento leads all minor league baseball in attendance as they have pretty much since they opened the gates in 2001. The fans are pretty nice (at least to me they were, they booed the brass buttons off of Danny Shafer when he walked in a run) the weather is always 88 degrees with no humidity and nary a cloud in the sky, The Sounds, by the way, split with the Rivercats, no small feat. The only real complaint I have about the Rivercats is the name, the Rivercats. It seems the Sacramento ownership group drew the name out of the hat. One hat has a geographical feature, a lake, a river, a swamp or a hill. The other hat has a creature such as dog, cat, dragon, porcupine, etc. Draw a name from each hat and you have a team name. I pretty certain they don’t always keep the first ones drawn or we might wind up with the Sacramento PuddlePoodles or the Savannah CliffLemmings. Lets face it, another name for a RiverCat is “Drowned Kitten” since cats are not known for their swimming ability. It’s really nitpicking. I really couldn’t care less what they call themselves. They could call themselves the Sacramento Hell’s Angels Chapter for all I care. Its still a great park and a great place to stay and the fans turn out in droves.
I should be happy but an impending sense of dread hangs over me and I don’t know why.
Yes, I do. I am on a bus heading to Fresno, a prospect I look forward to as much as a prostate exam. The difference being that a prostate exam doesn’t last four days, like the Fresno trip does. The park is nice. It has a new name, named after an Indian Reservation Casino. I can’t quite remember the name, but if you backed up about 20 feet and got a running start and leaped on your keyboard, you’d probably type out something pretty close. The hotel is not bad, but it reminds me of the Ambassador Hotel in Beirut, Lebanon; nice enough as long as your room is not on the north side because that is where all the artillery shells land.
The fans are another matter. Trying to figure out people in Fresno is like trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube, but a Rubik’s Cube that is always asking you for change and some of the squares are broken off. There are some nice people there, but they just seem to be fewer and farther between. I kid you not; I walked out of my hotel room and was greeted by an Imperial Storm Trooper and the Joker from the “Dark Knight” movie. There were adults in the lobby swinging fake swords and shooting each other with laser guns. Half the people in there were off their nut.***Just as I wrote this, one of these Obi Wan Idiots set off the fire alarm. The Fresno Fire Department responded and were NOT amused***.
There are some encouraging signs for this club. Luis Pena is normally lights out in a save situation. Unfortunately when he appears in a non-save situation you have a strong desire to turn out the lights so you don’t have to watch. In Sacramento, though, something clicked. He had two solid outings without a save on the line and that is big since he very likely will get a call up this year and when he does make it to Milwaukee, it won’t be a s a closer, it will be as a back of the bullpen guy to start. Two other relievers deserve mention; Tim Dillard and Joe Bateman. Both have good arms and both have two pitches. On Bateman’s case, he throws 91-93 and can either run the ball in on the hands of righties or away. With Bateman, the result is usually not known until the last few feet. Dillard has consistently touched 93-94 mph and is much more polished than he was during the ’07 season. Three guys you might see in a Brewers uniform someday.
That’s all for now
