The weather in July was heating up, as were the pennant races in the NBL. In the National Conference(ours), three teams were tied for the precious wild card spot, while three others were within two games! In the Western Conference, four teams were all tied for the WC spot.
John Mizer prepared his advanced scouting report, and the thing that worries about the Raiders is their power. Anastasio Batistia has 20 bombs, Stan Lewis has thirteen, and Jose Garcia has nine in limited action, but two of those in the last three days!
7/16-7/19 - Game 1 - Eisuke Heida gets hammered once again in a 9-1 loss. He goes four innings, ten hits, and five runs. The pen didn't do any better, as Michael Ward, and Pat McCarty each gave up two runs.
Game 2 - Once again the Coatesville fans got treated to some extra inning baseball, and a real slugfest to boot, as the Aces pulled out an 8-7 win. Our catcher, Roberto Colon, doubled home Ryan Dixon to win a thriller!
Fans go nuts over foul balls.
It always amazes me how fans go nuts over foul balls. It's how it's always been and it's how it will always be. Even if you're hanging on the game's every pitch, you can't help but get mesmerized by a foul ball's mystique. With each ball that goes up into the seats, we wonder which fan will defy the 1 in 30,000 odds and win the Foul Ball Sweepstakes. The errant hit has a power over fans, and while we may not know where it's going or who will catch it, we do know that the play will result in at least one of the following: 1) A priceless souvenir... 2) An inconsolable child... 3) A fistfight... 4) A trip to the hospital... or last, and most definitely least: 5) Adults acting like school kids.
Balls hit out of play are a real life piece of the game that suddenly become available to the fans. In the matter of seconds, a baseball went from a Big League pitcher's hand to a Big Leaguer's bat, and now it's finally come to rest, in your hands. You can't help but feel a connection - you were part of a play with major league ballplayers. It actually is pretty cool.
Game 3 -Finally, Denny White breaks his three game losing streak, and now has run his record to 11-7, in a 10-4 win! Greg Griffith stayed hot, going 2 for 2, and for the first time in a long time, Dale Roberson took the collar(0-4).
Game 4 - Saw us win by an identical score of 10-4, as we pounded out
13 hits, and Greg Griffith had three stolen bases. Jesus Aquilar got his 7th win! And yea, were now back to .500 at 50-50!
