Season: 15-7; Home Stand: 7-2
Wrap, Box, Herald-Sun
A grand slam is a big deal, no doubt about it. But a triple play? Well, that’s a reason to keep your scorecard of the game just to look at it from time to time.
Let’s take a look at this before we go on.
This was in the 6th inning. The Bulls were ahead 5-2, but reliever Steve Geltz had just given up a double, so runners were on first and second with none out. An instant later he was out of the inning. These aren't names on a prospect roster: Cole Figueroa to Vince Belnome at second to Chris Gimenez at first. But they are good baseball players and, according to the Herald-Sun's Jimmy DuPree, the idea of a triple play was in Figueroa's head the moment the ball was hit.
But what a night it would have been even without the triple play. Alex Torres was brilliant. Now we can finally see what so many scouts and baseball pundits had been seeing in the past. His ten Ks with only one walk is a striking change from any results we've seen from him in the past. Great to see it.
And then there was the grand slam. Infielder Vince Belnome now leads the Bulls in just about every hitting metric you can think of. This last several games he's been just terrific. And it was his amazingly quick catch and release that made the triple play happen. Great day.
Let's go back and watch that triple play again.
Outside the game —
- I only know of four fan blogs in minor league baseball, and Rays' teams have two of them — WDBB and Claw Digest which keeps an eye on the Charlotte Sand Crabs. From time to time Jim Donten tracks down former Stone Crabs and provides an update to his readers.
- Nuke has been having a tough time in recent races, and last night was no exception. Fans have noted that Annie seems to be exceptionally devious in her approach to the contest, frequently enlisting Crash to sabotage Nuke while she goes on to win the race.
Posts
I'd love to know how many times in MLB or minor-league baseball history one player has ever hit a grand slam and has been part of a triple play. It was an exciting night to be at the DBAP for sure! Looking at the replay, though, the Mud Hens baserunner may have been safe at first.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the ump wanted to call a triple play. :) He goes down in history too. For the record it was Jon Byrne. It was simply a great night. Lots of fun. Weather perfect. Big, noisy crowd. Thrills in the 8th and 9th as Lueke struggled (left that out of the story.
ReplyDeleteWould be an interesting stat. Have no idea how you'd chase that down. Has been 8 years since the Bulls pulled off a triple play, though
Here's the only other triple play in Durham Bulls history at the AAA level:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myspace.com/video/durham-bulls/triple-play/5000722
I was at that one, but not this one unfortunately :)
Very cool! How neat is it that we can exchange this. Delmon Young. Any idea who was catching and at 1B?
DeleteI realize I never replied to this. It was in 2006 I believe, so that means most likely Shawn Riggans or Kevin Cash catching and either Kevin Witt or Wes Bankston at 1B.
DeleteI can't find Bulls roster #s for the year, but I believe it was #26 catching, #30 at 1B
Reverse for me. I was at the one last night and not the earlier one!
ReplyDeleteYeah, when Leuke got behind 3-0 on the lead-off batter in the ninth, that wasn't an ideal start. Luckily, of course, he came back to strike him out.
First time for us, and we've been coming for 12 or 13 years, season tickets for ~10 of those.
ReplyDeleteIt had the same feel as the night when Chris Richard hit his two grand slams in the same game. "I was there."
Dave
I wasn't at the Richard game, but was at the Midre Cummings 2 HRs in 1 inning game, which I don't think happened again until Guyer this year. Lots of repeats :)
ReplyDeleteWhat's amazing about Guyer is that he hit those two home runs in the 10-run inning, but has hit only one other home run all season.
ReplyDelete