Season: 44-54; Home Stand: 1-1; Bulls v. Iron Pigs: 3-3; Standings
Although a Rays’ blogger might have considered yesterday a “run of the mill day”, for the Bulls and Bulls' fans it was a really big deal to break that awful 7-game losing streak. The Bulls are hanging on by their fingernails at the edge of a statistical abyss, but there’s hope.
The hero was Jesus Feliciano whose 4 RBI from the number 9 spot made all the difference. The oddity was catcher Stephen Vogt batting leadoff. Vogt was 2-4 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored. He made Charlie Montoyo look really smart and it did look like a great move.
Dane De La Rosa came out of the pen and redeemed himself from his awful inning up in Charlotte, although he was still really wild.
Lehigh Valley came to swing for contact last night. They did not draw a single walk the entire game. But they didn’t strike out either. The only freebie came when Jim Paduch hit a batter. Kept the infield and outfield very busy. The Bulls have had a couple of no BB nights this year, but I’m pretty sure it was the first no-K night.
And now for a modest rant.
I mostly like the Bulls new broadcaster Patrick Kinas and I like the depth and humor that John Manuel of Baseball America and Scott Pose bring to the booth. What I don’t like, however, is when they get so deep into story-telling that they get away from what I need as a listener — play-by-play, the basics of what’s happening on the field. All too often the play is over before Kinas even tells us what’s happened. We often don’t know whether the batter (or pitcher) is left or right handed or where the fielders have been positioned, or where the runners ended up after a play. Late in last night’s game both Manual and Kinas were wondering why a Bulls’ batter was walking back to the dugout. Well, he’d struck out, but Kinas and Manuel were so deep into arcane trivia (I think it was the top picks of the 1994 draft) that they didn’t notice. Come on guys. If I’m not at the game and I’m not watching on TV, you’re all I’ve got. You’ve got to draw me a picture and you know how to do that very, very well. But you don’t always do it. This is radio. Especially when the Bulls are on the road, you are all I’ve got (MiLB.TV is mostly terrible and a waste of money). Word pictures first, stories second.
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Thanks for that broadcasting comment. This was a complaint of mine whenever a replacement stepped in the last few years. Earlier this season Patrick was spot on. Of late though, he's wandering off into the woods even when there's no one else in the booth.
ReplyDeleteI realize how spoiled we were with Neil who could somehow even push the charity kids aside for exciting baseball action, but as you said on radio you have to paint the picture.
I'll agree with the broadcasting comment as well. I really like Patrick but they have been far afield at times when I've tuned in. It happens to the various MLB teams (radio and TV) quite often when they have a guest in the booth, but the difference is those bunches have the guest for a half inning and not 18 half innings. :)
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