The Nashville Sounds are certainly making “sounds” alright in their first two games of the regular season. They continued where they left off from the opener the previous night by belting three home runs and prevailing with a 6-3 win over the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park on Friday night.
There was also an interesting development in the game when Chuck Lofgren made his first start as a Milwaukee Brewer farmhand and he did not fail to impress. Lofgren retired the first 11 batters and I was thinking about a special feat while Chuck was flirting with perfection. In more than 20 years broadcasting baseball, I never received the privilege of calling a perfect game and I thought this night might be my first chance. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, because with two outs in the fourth inning, I-Cubs’ right fielder Micah Hoffpauir belted a long home run over the center field wall. So, on one swing, a no-hitter, perfect game, shutout and the lead went up in smoke as the Cubs tied the game at 1-1. Angel Salome did show why he is an excellent prospect in the Brewers’ system since he went deep for his first homer of the year against Cubs’ righthander Jay Jackson in the second inning. Luis Cruz had the game-winning hit when he hit a two-run shot to left field in the 4th inning and gave the Sounds a 3-1. Sounds’ first baseman Joe Koshansky added good measure with a mammoth two-run homer over the right field wall to give Nashville much needed insurance.
One thing that must not be lost in the game and the series is the success of the Sounds’ bullpen so far. I have seen clutch strikeouts in both games and one basic example was when righthanded reliever Mike McClendon made his first regular season Triple-A appearance and struck out Catcher Wellington Castillo to end the threat. John Axford picked up his first save of the year for the Sounds when he induced pinch batter Bobby Scales to hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play in the ninth. The Sounds’ bullpen has fanned 10 in 6.1 innings this year.
Outside the ballpark, I got to walk around Des Moines for the first time. I was a bit disappointed to see how quiet that downtown was. However, I walked around more and saw there were quite a few things to do. The city boasts a four mile skywalk and you can walk inside and go from building to building and get around without going outside. This would certainly be ideal for the frigid temperatures that Iowans must deal with in the winter.
There are some great venues like the Iowa Events Center, made up of Hy-Vee Hall, Veterans Memorial Auditorium and Wells-Fargo Arena. In Hy-Vee Hall, they feature the Hall of Iowa Pride, which is a museum of the history of Iowa as well as notable Iowans. I didn’t get to see the museum yet, but will plan on doing so tomorrow and will give a report.
The great joy of being a sportscaster and traveling to different cities is getting a chance to tour the cities and venturing out to see what the ambience is like and to visit any special attractions, such as museums. I’ve always like museums since I learn so much from visiting there.
Anyway, I hope you have a nice weekend and are enjoying the webcasts. Saturday night’s game starts at 6:35PM with the Sam’s Sports Bar & Grill Pre-game chat starts at 6:20PM. All the action is at www.nashvillesounds.com Almost sounding like Batman’s narrator when I say “Same Bat Time”, “Same Bat Channel”. Pardon the pun, but I can use the word “bat” since the baseball bat is part of the game!
On a side note, I got the thrill of interviewing I-Cubs skipper and Hall of Fame Second Baseman with the Chicago Cubs, Ryne Sandberg. He mentioned how much he enjoyed playing at Wrigley Field and playing for managers Jim Frey and Don Zimmer. He is planning on going to Cooperstown again this summer, but to see his friend and former teammate, Andre Dawson get inducted and join Ryne Sandberg in the Hall of Fame. Congrats to The Hawk! Well-deserved honor!
- Posted on April 10, 2010 at 12:43 am
No comments:
Post a Comment