May 25-30

The holiday weekend started slowly with little going on Friday or Saturday except for a lunch visit with Jenny. On Sunday Marty joined the ladies and me, we went to the ballgame in York. This was the first time Helen was at the ballpark in York, Jenny has been there before but not in recent seasons.The Revolution are the two-time defending Atlantic League champions, they won on this day 3-2 over Southern Maryland. On Monday morning I went shopping for a new laptop, the one I had for close to ten years of good service has been slowly dying. I got the new one set up at home and discovered that it was unsuitable for dial-up internet (I'm a dinosaur who still used it), after some phone calls for advice I arranged to become a wireless internet customer. In the evening I was at the ballpark in Lancaster as the BSers defeated the Somerset Patriots 1-0. On Tuesday the ladies were along for the drive north on 222 as the R-Phils returned home from a 4-4 road trip. The Binghamton Mets were the opponent, around 5:45 or so it got very dark to the west. The tarp was quickly put down, it began to rain hard and by 7:30 the game was called. On Wednesday the equipment for my internet connection arrived, I had a chance to look it over briefly before I went to the ballpark. In Reading the R-Phils won 5-3 over Binghamton as Jiwan James hit a solo home run, Cesar Hernandez had a RBI double and Darin Ruf and Sebastian Valle picked up ribbies on sacrifice flies. Frank Gailey won it in relief of Julio Rodriguez, Justin Friend finished it for the save. The truncated series concludes with a single game on Thursday, the makeup doubleheader will be in August. Upon arrival back home we got the new internet connection up and running. So far, so good-let's keep it that way. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 21-24

The long-range weather forecast called for scattered showers and thunderstorms every day this week, with the ballclub out of town we were running street hockey at the rink. Installed my bedroom air conditioner in anticipation of the warmer temperatures, it came in handy as the week went on. Monday and Tuesday at the rink went off without a hitch, Wednesday and Thursday were a different story. Late on Wednesday afternoon it began to rain, according to the radar it was a small system that figured to move through quickly. It was still raining lightly when we started at 6:15, after the first period we stopped and waited for twenty-five minutes before resuming. By the time that game was over the rain was finally gone, the rest of the night went off in good order. On Thursday another late-afternoon storm rolled through but this one actually moved rapidly, by 5:30 the sky was clear and the sun was out. With this week in the book every team in the league has played fourteen games, the regular season is scheduled to end on the 29th for the Midwest and the 31st for the East and West. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 18-20

Friday afternoon: back on 222 for the opener of the weekend series with the New Britain Rock Cats. The R-Phils' recent struggles at home continued as the Cats built an early 4-0 lead and held on for a 5-2 win. Jiwan James had an RBI hit for the R-Phils, the other run scored when Stephen Susdorf hustled home on a wild pitch. Losing pitcher David Buchanan was victimized by the long ball surrendering three home runs in seven innings of work. Over 9700 in attendance for fireworks after the game as I was in attendance in my car for the drive home. On Saturday we had our usual lunch date in Quarryville, after that Jenny and Helen were along for the evening's ballgame. On this night a ninth-inning fielding error doomed the R-Phils in a tough 3-2 loss. Leandro Castro hit a solo home run and Cesar Hernandez had an RBI double, Michael Cisco took the loss in relief of Julio Rodriguez. Another 9000+ fireworks crowd but no matter for us, we were gone ASAP. On Sunday the ladies were along once again, they don't usually do day games but this was our belated Mother's Day/breast cancer awareness day. The ballclub finally broke through with a 10-4 win as Darin Ruf homered and drove home three runs. Outfielder Brandon Tripp had two hits and two RBI, Cesar Hernandez and catcher Steve Lerud had run-scoring hits, Tug Hulett and Jiwan James each chipped in an RBI sac fly. Jonathan Pettibone won it with relief support from Lisalberto Bonilla, Juan Morillo and Justin Friend. Better than 7000 in the park on a windy 80-degree day as the homestand ended, the R-Phils come back home on Tuesday the 29th. Got back to town shortly after 6:00 and headed for the rink, a full day of street hockey makeups was well underway. Every team in the league had a game on this day, the first game started at 3:00. We wound down after 9:00, I walked in my front door twelve hours after I had left. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 14-17

The predicted Sunday storms finally arrived overnight into Monday, in the afternoon I made the trek north for the opener of the series with Portland. For most of the day it looked like there was no chance of playing but amazingly we got the game in. The rain never stopped completely, most of the game was played in a steady light mist. The R-Phils lost to the Sea Dogs 2-1, Cesar Hernandez had an RBI hit for the only run as Jonathan Pettibone took the loss. On Tuesday the weather was much brighter for game #2 as the ballclub lost again 8-5. Infielder Miguel Abreu hit a two-run homer, Sebastian Valle added a solo shot, Stephen Susdorf had an RBI double and Darin Ruf knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly. Drew Naylor started and suffered the loss. When the game ended the tarp was put on the field in anticipation of more rain, I drove through a storm on the way home. On Wednesday morning we were back for an 11:30 school-kids game, the last one of these for the season. The R-Phils got back into the win column with a 7-3 verdict. Miguel Abreu had another big day with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Leandro Castro and Troy Hanzawa had run-scoring hits, two other runs crossed the plate on Portland misplays. Michael Cisco won it in relief of Trevor May, J.C. Ramirez finished it for the save. In the evening I was at the rink for street hockey for the only time this week. On Thursday morning Jenny and I had lunch at a local pizza shop since she was in town on business, in the evening we were back in Baseballtown for the Berks County high school championship game. This game was originally scheduled for Wednesday but the weather forced the semifinals to be postponed on both Monday and Tuesday. The championship game featured Governor Mifflin (a perennial contender) and Fleetwood (a comparative upstart). Fleetwood had not been to the title game since 1974 and had not won it since 1970, on this night they wrote some new history with a 12-6 win. The R-Phils had the night off but the homestand continues on Friday as the New Britain Rock Cats come to town. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 11-13

Friday evening: met up with Dick Myers at the ballpark on North Prince Street for my first Atlantic League game of the season. The Lancaster Barnstormers (or the "BSers" if you will) hosted the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in a three-game weekend series. On Saturday Jenny and I had lunch in Quarryville, in the evening I took in the second game between the Crabs and the BSers. On Sunday Jenny and Helen were going to come into town for the 6:00 game but her niece had a cookout and invited them over. I told Jenny not to worry about it especially since it was Mothers Day. Friday and Saturday were fireworks nights in Lancaster but Sunday was not, with storms in the forecast the crowd was much smaller. It misted lightly during the later innings but the game was not threatened. The BSers won all three games by scores of 9-1 on Friday, 8-2 on Saturday and 3-2 in extra innings on Sunday. The Reading ballclub split a four-game series on the road over the weekend, the boys are at home on Monday against Portland. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 9-10

Wednesday morning: on the road at 8:30 for the ballpark as we wrapped up the series with Trenton. Bright sunshine greeted the school kids in attendance for the 11:35 start, the R-Phils salvaged a split of the series with a 5-1 win. The stars of this game were Darin Ruf and Johnathan Pettibone, Ruf went yard again and had four RBI while Pettibone pitched eight shutout innings for the win. The best part of the day was the fact that the game ended exactly two hours after it began, we'll take that any time. The ballclub hits the road for the weekend, they'll be back at home on Monday the 14th. After supper at home we were at the rink for Wednesday night street hockey. It got cloudy in the late afternoon, by game time at 6:15 I had turned on the rink lights because it didn't look like we were going to see any more sun. It started to rain lightly during the second game, we managed to finish the night without incident. It was chillier on Thursday as Jenny and I had our usual lunch date, in the evening we finished up the week at the rink. This night was Silly Night, between two games requiring overtime shootout and two players being excused early plus a bunch of penalty minutes we weren't done until after 10:00. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 7-8

Monday was another cloudy day, in the afternoon we had some rain showers. The forecast called for more in the evening but we managed to get the street hockey games played with nary a drop. Tuesday was more of the same as the rain started early in the afternoon. At 2:30 I headed to the ballpark as the rain continued, the tarp was on the field and it stayed there until one hour before game time. The rain never completely stopped all night but the game started right on time and proceeded without interruption. The R-Phils hosted the Trenton Thunder in the opener of a two-game series, the Thunder won it 5-3. Darin Ruf hit a solo home run for the R-Phils, Troy Hanzawa had an RBI single and Leandro Castro picked up a ribbie on an infield groundout. Frank Gailey was the losing pitcher in relief of Julio Rodriguez. The rain continued on the drive home but by the time I arrived it was all but over. Got word that the evening's street hockey was postponed and rescheduled for May 20. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 6

On the road at 10:30 for the ballpark as we wrapped up the series with Erie. For the first time this season the R-Phils lost a series as the 'Wolves took two of three on the weekend, winning on this day 9-4. Darin Ruf had a home run and two RBI, Cesar Hernandez had a run-scoring triple and Sebastian Valle hit an RBI double. David Buchanan struggled through five innings and took the loss. The game started at 1:35 and wound down shortly before 4:30, I high-balled it down 222 for the evening's street hockey games at Reservoir Park. Ronnie was already there when I arrived (I had let him know that I might run a little late), we got going right on time at 6:15. These were the makeups for the April 23 postponements, with these in the book every team has now played eight games. We'll be back at the rink on Monday as the ballclub takes a off-day, the Trenton Thunder comes to town on Tuesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 5

Visited with Jenny in the morning and had lunch at the shopping plaza, in the afternoon it was back to Baseballtown for game #2 with Erie. After scoring nine runs on Friday the bats were largely silent on this night as the SeaWolves scored early and often to win it 6-2. The R-Phils got RBI hits from Tyson Gillies and Darin Ruf but it wasn't enough to save Trevor May from the loss. There has been a good bit of roster movement lately between Reading, Lehigh Valley and Class A Clearwater, relief pitchers Frank Gailey, Jordan Whatcott and Lisalberto Bonilla all made their first appearances in Reading working out of the bullpen. 6600 in attendance for another fireworks show which of course I never saw the start of because I am out of there forthwith and posthaste. Sunday should be a busy day with the ballgame at 1:30 and street hockey makeups at 6:15. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 4

Had a haircut appointment in the afternoon, in the evening Jenny and Helen were along for the opener of the homestand in Reading. The Erie SeaWolves were the opponent, game time temperature was 80 degrees with a threat of rain. After a 5-2 road trip the R-Phils got the weekend started at home with a wild 9-8 win. Cesar Hernandez had four hits and three RBI, Jiwan James hit a three-run homer, the club also got RBI hits from Darin Ruf, Sebastian Valle and Leandro Castro, Starting pitcher Drew Naylor made his first appearance in better than a year and picked up the win, he missed all of 2011 with an arm injury. Micheal Cisco, Juan Morillo and J.C. Ramirez worked in relief with Ramirez recording the save. We had better than 9000 in the park but it thinned out in the middle innings when the rain arrived, most of the last five innings were played in at least a steady mist. This was the first post-game fireworks night of the season, the show went on as scheduled as the ladies and I got into my car and left as scheduled ASAP and PDQ. The series continues on Saturday night and wraps up on Sunday afternoon. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 30-May 3

The weather around here recently has been nothing short of bizarre. It's either been cloudy, chilly and windy or sunny, warm and sticky. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights we had overnight thunderstorms but despite the forecast for daytime storms the daylight hours were dry. On Thursday evening we wrapped up the fourth week of street hockey at the rink, the Midwest teams have played eight games (no postponements) while the East and West have seven games each in the book. All of the East/West crossover games have been completed, from here on out all play will be strictly within the divisions. The East and West have makeup games on Sunday the 6th, they are the games postponed from April 23. The R-Phils finished their road trip on Thursday, the boys are at home on Friday against Erie. Take care, thanks for reading.