October Baseball

 Just for the record. Playing baseball at the end of October does not make sense!

9th Inning Heroics; Durham Bulls Are National Champions

 

Durham Bulls 10; Reno Aces 6; Box

If you did not get a chance to watch last night's game, you missed a thriller. At first, it looked like the Bulls were going to run away with the game the way they did on Saturday night. But the Aces caught up. After masterful middle innings by both relievers, the Aces got a home run in the bottom of the 8th and it looked like the end. 

But ... top of the 9th ... Aces reliever goes off-script and walks two batters. Double brings in a run, single brings in a run, homer brings in three runs. Bulls reliever slams the door. The Bulls are the national champions!

Very, very pleased to be able to listen to Patrick Kinas & Scott Pose broadcast the final game. They did a spectacular job of creating the illusion that they were at the game. I turned off the MiLB sound, fiddled with the timing to get them in synch with the feed, and thoroughly enjoyed their insights and commentary. They have done a really, really good job this year. We are fortunate to have them in the booth. Note: is it a rumor that Brady Williams won't be back?

This was a good team this year. In particular, was how they stayed with every game, and behaved as a team (at least as far as I could see). This was a group of young men who obviously like playing baseball. And I certainly enjoyed watching them play.

More game stories here and here.

Matchup: Durham Bulls v Reno Aces; Triple-A National Championship

I would have thought that the Bulls might have trouble adjusting to a desert climate. After last night, I guess not. Here we go against the best team in the Pacific Coast League (with all the caveats I've previously mentioned). 

Keeping in mind all the differences in PCL vs IL, these two teams are very close in performance. There is a big difference in managerial experience, though. Gil Velazquez is in his first year managing at AAA level and only his second year managing at any level. But he did lead his team to the championship. 

TV coverage? We were not happy listening to the Nashville Sounds broadcaster last night and we could not find Kinas on-air anywhere. He did say he was going out to Las Vegas with the team, but 99.9 was more interested in Duke football. Maybe tonight. 

Game time 7:05 according the Bulls website.

Durham Bulls Win International League Championship

 

Durham Bulls 13; Nashville Sounds 0; Box

The Durham Bulls scored a run in the top of the 2nd inning and never looked back. And they never let the Sounds pitchers get on track. The Sounds went through 9 pitchers. Only a few of them did not let runs in.

Meanwhile, Vidal Brujan had an exceptional night, winning MVP honors for his 4 hits, a walk, 3 RBI, and 3 runs scored.

I guessed so very wrong on who might be pitching. And that's certainly OK. Cooper Criswell, Calvin Faucher, Angel Perdomo, and Jimmy Yacabonis did not let a run score, struck out 12 batters, and got out of any number of difficult situations (the Sounds left 7 on base and were 0 for 9 RISP).

Game stories (with video) here, here, and here.

Now for the Reno Aces.