Los Angeles Lakers (18-9, .667) @ Philadelphia 76ers (21-4, .840)
The team boarded a bus, an upscale bus, immediately following our last win over Brooklyn. Their day off would be spent in Philadelphia where the tricentennial festivity planning was in full swing – this is not unlike a Superbowl preparation… there’d be construction, closed streets, an entire downtown getting a facelift to make sure it looks acceptable on the 16K stream. In short – getting around would be difficult. I traveled alone, in a rental, and took my day off in Trenton, NJ. By choice, which, I know, is odd. It was an opportunity to see an old friend from university whom I haven’t seen, in person, since our graduation. A nice respite from the grind – a stop at the Pretty Bird Café to catch up and to make baseball secondary… if only for a couple of hours. I had the Monte Cristo (with some of the best house-made raspberry jam available for purchase in the continental United States (and probably the rest of it too)) and a Piccolo latte. Good food, good coffee, great conversation. A critically timed renewal of spirit before arriving in Philly to face the best team in Baseball in front of the rogue’s gallery that makes up the worst fans in Pro sports. The 76ers are 21-4 – an unstoppable force that is in top form (6-game winning streak). Their recipe seems simple – they score a lot (140 runs so far, ranked #1 in the universe) and they don’t let you score that often (85 runs against – 3rd in the league). CF Norris Flaherty may have eclipsed Otto as the best Centerfielder in the league – he certainly is miles ahead of him this year – and Palmer Parker, the at times flashy and always debonair Leftfielder, is widely considered the best player so far in 2076. They lead an offense that is built to smash – an old-school stick-up crew who have no time for the long con. On the other side of the diamond they have the GOAT Josiah Weber, who has recaptured his form after a subpar 2075, and Paul Yeager, who prefers the change-up as a closeout pitch and who works well within the sound barrier, leading a staff that is ranked #3 in all of baseball. They have Philadelphia in the palm of their hand right now – the fanbase believes – and after three straight losing seasons anything less than a deep run in the playoffs will undoubtedly result in a riot. The mayor has made it clear that his tricentennial celebration must include a winning brand of baseball and, so far, the 76ers have delivered.
28 of 162: Michael Brisk (3-1, 2.17) @ Josiah Weber (3-0, 1.01)
We’d get a stay of execution when this one gets canceled due to weather (it is, in fact, not always sunny in Philadelphia)…. But now face the possibility of being executed twice on the same day as it has been rescheduled for tomorrow.
Elsewhere: LF Hudson Collier, of the Buffalo Bills (Toronto Reds BC affiliate), tied the RL record for HR’s in a game with 3 and also tied the RL regular-season record for RBI’s with 7 in the Bills’ 13-12 win over the Salt Lake City Alpines. The Dayton Beach, FL native and former Holy Cross Crusader is the #47 ranked prospect in baseball and looks to be very close to earning significant time on the big club. He’s currently trending to hit 46 home runs for Buffalo this season.
Hey! Let’s try this again…
28 of 162: Michael Brisk (3-1, 2.17) @ Josiah Weber (3-0, 1.01)
Loss, 5-3. Josiah earned his 40th K of the season against Zarate in the top of the first and then earned his 41st K of the season when the hapless Otto Isaac whiffed on a Slurve. Or was it a curve? Change-up? Slider? Do we care? Can Otto even baseball anymore? By the time the Philadelphia fans treat us to a spectacularly profane version of ‘take me out to the ball game’ during the stretch, the score is 4-3 Philly – Brisk and Josiah are going at it, nether has their otherworldly stuff but both are dealing here. In the end, like so many who’ve come before, we’d not have enough to secure the win. Palmer Parker hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 3rd, it’s his 9th so far this season, the Jenkins brothers finish 3 for 7 with a run, Otto strikes out twice against Josiah, and Marshburn & Ethan both hit homers. We also got 2 DP’s… but, Philly was just too good, Josiah was crisp, their offense delivered when they had too, and we looked listless. Just going through the motions, nothing to see here…
29 of 162: Case Tunnell (4-0, 4.14) @ Troy Helm (1-1, 3.44)
Win, 5-4… It took an extra inning, but we got it done – Dontrell Gay made our fans watching back home happy – leading the offensive attack with a 2 for 4 performance and 2 runs & 3 RBI’s, Otto went 2 for 4 with a 2-run jack – he also hit the top of the 10th sac fly that put us up for good, and Barbaccia picks up save number 13. It’s always a good day when you can make the unhappy citizenry of Philadelphia even more unhappy. Also – file under crappy news – my training staff informs me that Pepper’s back is still all spasmy and that the hitch in his giddyup will require a few more days of rest. So, you take the good, you take the bad, you take them all, and then you have the facts of life…. Or something like that.
30 of 162: Phillip King (3-1, 2.27) @ Vin Uhlman (2-1, 5.22)
Loss, 3-2… An ex of mine, from the salad days, as they were, once told me – in her yelly voice – that baseball is dumb. I didn’t believe her. Or maybe, I just wasn’t listening as she was throwing my stuff off the 2nd-floor balcony of our apartment while she delivered her thesis much to the chagrin of our neighbors who had gracefully stopped what they were doing to enjoy the show. Her thesis, if I recall correctly, was that baseball is dumb, boring, and well just really, really dumb. I’ll give credit where credit is due – she was right when she said baseball is dumb. Really, really dumb. Getting walked off on the road is a special kind of suffering. Getting walked off on the road in Philadelphia? That’s the kind of thing a man will carry with him – like a parasite that gnaws at your stomach, except forever. Otto only struck out once today – so, we have that going for us.
Enough about suffering, can we talk about Adrian Bae? Bae made his second Bush League start – in front of his home crowd – against the visiting Columbia Blowfish. He didn’t get the win, his offense couldn’t be bothered to start playing until the bottom of the 9th when James Anderson hit a 3-run homer to send the Blowfish to the showers with their heads hung in shame. Bae was good – he turned a few heads in this one I think – 6 innings, 3 hits, 2 earned and 6 K’s. He gave up two HR’s though – you can’t do that if you want a big-league club to take a flier out on you. Note: Bae told reporters after the game that the Good Time
Guava Boys are planning to release their 3rd album in October.
Hey! At least we didn’t get swept, right? Taking a long flight home to meet the Vancouver Whitecaps in LA for a 3-game set… looking forward to a long shower (Philly seeps into your pores) and sleeping in my own bed.