Miami United (17-16, .515, 3rd NL East) @ Seattle Sounders (14-18, .438, 4th Al West)
Upon arriving in Seattle, and after I survived the hullabaloo caused by our travel coordinators shoddy room count that meant some of our players, Cathal included, would have roommates, I retired to my room and listened to an article posted by the Seattle Times. They charge extra for the holographic, newscaster in your living space, talking at you version - so, given that my grasp on employment is tenuous at best, I opted for the read-aloud version and selected the 007, Connery at his most affected, vocal plug-in... the article posited a theory that by the year 3000 we would, finally, colonize Mars and went as far as theorizing that we’d have an MLB baseball team on the planet one day... laughable. It’s 2079 and we haven’t even ventured out of North America. Seattle, it’s media, it’s its cultural impact, and even its tech-biz gentrification of the downtown OGs has always been prone to hyperbole... slick, making you feel like it’s all just an elaborate and sarcastic joke until it’s not. And that, in many ways, is where our hard-scrabble collection of baseball misfits finds itself as we arrive in the emerald city, with our shoddy accommodations and poorly designed uniforms - calling us a baseball club is an exaggeration, surely, they can’t be serious. There is no literal translation for our rouse. And, in Seattle, against its beloved and generally competitive, Sounders we find ourselves not at a crossroads, but already a mile down the wrong path. This then, is an opportunity to build off of our series win in Dallas against a Seattle club that is, outside of Aitor Cubas and maybe Frodo Gonzales, so devoid of talent that they are expected to win only 67 games in 2079... our goal, then, is to make sure that none of them come at our expense.
Oh, and before I forget: Angry Eloy Delando is currently plying his trade in the Bush League with the Decatur Donnybrooks, and, in addition to going 2 for 4 with 2 homers, 3 runs, and a free pass in his clubs 6-5 win over the Coney Island Footlongs, is actually looking pretty happy for once. There is something about the Bush League that reenergizes these old bucks…
34 of 162: Mirko Samsonenko (2-4, 3.97) @ Mark De La Cruz (1-5, 6.83)
Loss, 8-5. Aris Anaconda has been hot – doing his level best to keep our unexceptional ball club afloat in a 4 for 4 performance that saw him add in a double, an RBI, and 2 runs to the permanent record. It, however, was not enough as Aitor Cubas went off. The Cuban national went 2 for 3 with 2 HRs, 2 RBIs, 3 Runs and 2 walks during Seattle’s 8-5 win at home. Samsonenko was trash from his opening pitch until we yanked him 5-innings later, our gloves were leaky throughout (3 errors), and we did nothing of note on the base paths. I want more out of my club, desperately, but, unfortunately, this might be an accurate representation of what they are capable of. Unfortunate… 3-5 so far on our 10-game road trip.
Elsewhere: SP Lenny Rios, of the New York Jets, 1-hit the LA Kings. His Jets won the game, in LA, by a score of 2-0. If I’m not happy, it’s best that no one else is happy either. Rios is alright, nothing special – he has good control, a real nice cutter that he mixes in with his slider and changeup and was the 86th overall pick in 2072. The former Wyoming Cowboy has pitched only one other 3-hitter or better with this effort being his best single-game outing as a professional.
35 of 162: Cathal Magill (2-3, 4.32) @ DJ Carpenter (2-3, 4.82)
Loss, 4-3. Both starters only lasted 6-inning in this one… Cathal was solid, he gave up 2 hits, a run, and registered 12 K’s… I’m sure that will garner enough attention for some club to put forth a good offer for the guy now that we have him listed as ‘on the block’. Anaconda drove one in, Weaver hit a run-scoring double, and OH HONG committed two errors… his short tenure in Miami has not been ideal thus far. Tough loss for us, good team win for the Sounders.
Elsewhere: Angry Eloy was at it again for the Decatur Donnybrooks… the former always-aggro Portland Timber went 3 for 5 with a double, a dinger, SIX RBIs, and a r in Decatur’s… get this… TWENTY to ZERO win over the Coney Island Footlongs… Clubs have folded over less.
36 of 162: Cliff Slavinski (2-3, 5.28) @ Caleb McCormack (1-2, 5.52)
Loss, 5-3. Swept out the door and headed back to Miami on the red-eye flight… wow. Aitor Cubas was at it again – 2 for 3, HR, 2 RBI, 2 runs and a walk. He also keyed in the runs that put Seattle over the top at the bottom of the 8th. Rex went 3 for 3 with an RBI, OH HONG continued to be OH TERRIBLE in an 0 for 4, 3 K performance, and we couldn’t manage to do anything with our three stolen bags. It’s not like we played terribly, we just couldn’t get it done. After committing 6 unforced errors in the 1st two games of the set, we had our chances here but, as is our wont, let it slip from our grasp in a poorly played bottom of the 8th. Ours is a halfway house – we will get you halfway home, just don’t expect us to carry it over the finish line.
So… 17-19 so far in Miami, 4 games off the pace, and looking like a club with no country. Lost, shuffling around, kicking our can in the dirt like some vagrant who is having a hard time remembering where he was headed, why he was headed there, and whether or not he even wanted to go that way in the first place. This Miami thing is going to be a long slog… that much is certain.