May 29-31

Friday night baseball at "The Clip" on North Queen Street, the Barnstormers hosted the Bridgeport Bluefish in the third game of a four-game set. The Stormers had won the first two, on this night they made it three in a row with a 13-5 win. The ballclub took an early 3-0 lead and were never headed. Blake Gailen had the big night with three hits including a home run and five RBI, Lance Zawadzki had two base hits including a bases-loaded double and four ribbies. Dan Coury hit a solo homer in the seventh inning, Brian Cavazos-Galvez had an RBI double, Tyler Bortnick and Keith Castillo added run-scoring hits to the cause. Matt Packer worked into the sixth inning for the decision with relief support from Cody Eppley, former Toronto property Scott Gracey and Pete Andrelczyk. On Saturday Jenny and her mother made their second appearance at the ballpark, the Barnstormers completed the series sweep with a no-doubt-about-it 10-0 victory. The competitive aspect of this game was over early, it was 3-0 after one inning and 5-0 after two. Brian Cavazos-Galvez had two hits and three RBI, former Seattle Mariner prospect Kevin Rivers hit a two-run homer, Juan Apodaca had a solo shot and two RBI, Dan Coury had a run-scoring single and Tyler Bortnick plated a run with a sacrifice fly. Starting pitcher Shunsuke Watanabe worked eight innings, former York Rev Brian Morgado finished it. Both nights featured postgame fireworks shows but you can guess where we were by the time they ever started. This was one of the Atlantic League's oddball weekends where one series ends on Saturday and a new one starts on Sunday, the Camden Riversharks visited on Sunday at 1:00 but I (of course) was not there. As it stands Monday is open for me, I'll probably be there if the weather holds up. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 26-28

Tuesday morning at the mall for lunch, in the evening we started week #6 of street hockey at the rink. This night featured the final four crossover games on the schedule. The Oil Riggers won via shootout over the Misfits, the Steamers defeated the Hammerheads, the Blues beat McCleary's and the UniLords knocked off JBE Auto Transport. The East Division won twenty-seven of the thirty-two crossovers, the Misfits' shootout loss to the Oil Riggers brought the West's cumulative mark to 5-26-1. A lot of people don't particularly like the crossover format, the West teams because they don't win much and the East because they don't consider it a challenge but unfortunately the size of the league makes it a necessary evil. On Wednesday the weather warmed up considerably, at the rink we played two games from each division. MSB beat the Kings and the Killbots prevailed over Brendee's in the West, the East games saw the Steamers over the Oil Riggers and the UniLords over the Blues. The week finished on Thursday with an all-West night. The Killbots vanquished MSB, McCleary's beat the Hammerheads, JBE Auto Transport won over the Kings and the Misfits beat Brendee's. Every team has twelve games played with two to go, the regular season is scheduled to end on June 4 with playoffs starting the following week. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 22-25

Friday night baseball in Wilmington, the Blue Rocks hosted the Carolina Mudcats at Frawley Stadium. This was our second visit to The First State in two weeks, Marty and Dick wanted to go and asked me if I wanted to ride along. Since it was the start of a holiday weekend, I suggested leaving earlier because traffic going east and south had the potential to be messy. My prediction was right on, we left at 4:00 and didn't arrive in Wilmington until almost 6:15 for the 7:00 start. The game itself was over in good order, it took just over two hours for the Rocks to win it 3-1. They had fireworks after the game but needless to say we never saw them. Saturday was uneventful except for lunch with Jenny, on Sunday I made the trip west for another "Sunday at Santander" in York. The Revolution (much like the Barnstormers) has struggled mightily in the early going, they entered this game having lost ten straight at home. The Somerset Patriots were the opponent for the third game of a four-game series, the Revs broke up top 3-0 after two innings but from there it was just about all Patriots. A seven-run Somerset third and two more in the fourth put it away as the Patriots won 9-5. On Monday the teams wrapped up the series with a special 5:00 start for the holiday, the Revs put an end to the home losing streak with a tough 5-4 decision. The game started much like Sunday's did, RBI hits by Bryan Pounds (former Detroit Tiger property) and Andres Perez (LA Dodgers) in the first gave the Revs a 2-0 lead. Former Philadelphia Phillie Wilson Valdez picked up a ribbie on a fielders choice groundout in the second and added another on a fourth-inning hit to up the advantage to 4-0, a run-scoring double in fifth by Luis De La Cruz (from the St. Louis Cardinals organization) rounded out the scoring for the Revolution. Former KC Royal Anthony Lerew worked five innings for the win with relief help from Ian Durham, Leyson Septimo, Stephen Penney and ex-Cleveland Indian Josh Judy. The win allows the Revs to avoid going 0-for-May at home. they hit the road for the last six days of the month. The next Sunday game in York is on June 7 when the Stormers visit. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 19-21

The warmer temperatures we enjoyed over the weekend are gone, it was much cooler on Tuesday. In the evening we were at the rink for week #5 of street hockey. In the night's lone East game the UniLords beat the Blues, the West contests featured the Kings over McCleary's, MSB over the Hammerheads and the Killbots over the Misfits. Jenny and I did lunch together on Wednesday, in the evening at the rink temperatures were in the mid-50s and the wind made it feel chillier than that. The Blues defeated the Oil Riggers in East action, in the West the Misfits beat Brendee's. Two crossover games rounded out the schedule, JBE Auto Transport over the Steamers and the UniLords over the Killbots. Thursday night wrapped up the week's play, two West games and two crossovers. Brendee's won over the Kings, JBE Auto Transport beat MSB, the Oil Riggers defeated the Hammerheads and the Steamers prevailed over McCleary's. Five weeks into the season and we've yet to have a postponement but you know we're going to pay for this eventually, it's just a matter of when. Week #6 begins on Tuesday the 26th with the last of the crossover games, from there forward all play is within divisions. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 15-18

Friday night baseball on North Prince Street as the Barnstormers hosted the Long Island Ducks in the opener of a four-game series. The Stormers have been struggling in the early going but on this night they got back on the plus side with a 6-2 win. Blake Gailen's three-run homer in the first inning gave the club all the runs they would need, two more were added in the third. Former LA Dodger property Brian Cavazos-Galvez doubled and scored on a wild pitch, Lance Zawadzki drew a walk and touched home on a sac fly by Juan Apodaca. The final run was plated in the fifth when Cavazos-Galvez walked and scored on Apodaca's RBI double. Starting pitcher Dan Osterbrock went six innings for the decision, he was followed for an inning each by Scott Patterson, Cody Eppley and Zach Jackson. It was a fireworks night but that (of course) meant nothing to me, I was halfway home before they ever went up. On Saturday Jenny and her mother were in town for the ballgame but Mother Nature had other ideas. There were storms in the forecast for late afternoon, around 5:00 they rolled through and stayed for about an hour-and-a-half. When the rain let up around 6:30 I took the ladies home, we decided to forgo the game since sitting in lawn chairs on wet grass on a damp night would not have been a lot of fun. The game eventually went on as scheduled, it started late and didn't wind down until almost 11:00. On Sunday the sun reappeared and temperatures rose, I elected to stay in and stay cool. On Monday I did my usual lunch at the mall, in the evening the Ducks and Stormers were scheduled to conclude the series but once again the weather got in the way. Unlike Saturday I was actually at the ballpark, at 6:30 the tarp was rolled out in anticipation of an approaching storm system. The rain arrived shortly before the 7:00 game time, I hung out until about 9:00 and decided at that point to call it a night. They actually got the game started around 9:30 or so but by 10:30 it was raining again. By that time I was long since home, showered and watching the big league game on TV. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 11-14

Took my mother to the doctor on Monday morning, she had fallen on Saturday but claimed at the time to be OK. Overnight into Monday her left wrist ballooned to twice its usual size, she had an x-ray in the afternoon. The doctor said there is no fracture, the swelling was probably caused by arthritis. He advised her to buy an inexpensive wrist brace, by Tuesday morning the swelling had gone down. The temperatures were down as well, the daytime high was in the low 60s and the winds were strong from the west. In the evening we convened at Reservoir Park for week #4 of street hockey, there were two crossover games plus one head-to-head each from the East and West divisions. The UniLords beat the ProQuality Group Hammerheads and the Amercan Bar&Grill Killbots defeated the 551 West Blues in crossover play, in the East it was the Oil Riggers over the Steamers and in the West JBE Auto Transport won over the McCleary's Pub Dawgs. On Wednesday night it felt more like February than May with the winds whipping out of the northwest, we had one West game and three crossovers. The Killbots beat the Union Station Kings, the Blues won over the Misfits, the Oil Riggers defeated MSB and the Steamers took down Brendee's Irish Pub. On Thursday I saw Jenny for the first time since Saturday, we had our usual midweek lunch date. In the evening we finished up the week at the rink, it was still chilly but the winds were much lighter. One crossover and three Westies were on the schedule: the UniLords over the Kings, Brendee's over the Hammerheads, MSB over the Pub Dawgs and JBE Auto Transport over the Misfits. Every team has eight games played, so far we've had no postponements. There are unsettled weather conditions in the forecast for the weekend and the early part of the next week, we'll see what actually happens. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 8-10

The heat and humidity is out in force, I installed my AC on Friday afternoon. It may be a bit early in the season but it's simply too uncomfortable on the second floor to be without it. On Saturday Jenny and I had lunch together, later in the afternoon Marty and Dick met me at my place for our first visit of the season to Wilmington, Delaware. The Blue Rocks hosted the Lynchburg Hillcats in a 7:00 game at Frawley Stadium. Wilmington has been in the Carolina League since 1993 and a visit there is always enjoyable. The Rocks won the game 5-3, I'm sure we'll be there again before the year is out. On Sunday we made our first trip west across the river to Santander Stadium in York, the Revolution hosted Southern Maryland at 5:00. This was the Revs' second Sunday home date, we missed the first one in April because the Royals were still active in the ECHL playoffs. The visiting Blue Crabs had won the first two games of this series, on this day they made it three with a 14-5 decision. It was a ugly game for the Revs in more ways than one, by the time it was over four members of the club had been ejected in various altercations with the umpiring crew. The next "Santander Sunday" (as I like to call them) is over Memorial Day weekend when the Revs host Somerset. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 4-7

The warm weather was still around on Monday, I did the usual Monday morning lunch at the mall. On Tuesday Jenny was in town on business, we met for a drink and a snack over the lunch hour. In the evening we were back on East King Street for week #3 of street hockey, there was one crossover and three West games on the schedule. The Oil Riggers beat McCleary's, MSB defeated Brendee's, the Misfits outlasted Union Station and American Bar&Grill won over ProQuality Group. There was some brief light rain over the course of the evening but it was never enough to stop us, just enough to be a nuisance. On Wednesday Jenny and I had our midweek lunch in Quarryville, in the evening we had an East, a West and two crossovers at the rink. The UniLords defeated the Steamers, American Bar&Grill prevailed over MSB, the Oil Riggers beat Brendee's and 551 West won over JBE Auto Transport. On Thursday we wrapped up the week with a West and three more crossovers. Union Station vanquished JBE Auto Transport, 551 West beat ProQuality Group, the UniLords defeated McCleary's and the Steamers knocked off the Misfits. Every team has six games in the books (no makeups yet), week #4 starts on Tuesday the 12th. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 2-3

Had our usual Saturday lunch in Quarryville, in the afternoon Jenny and her mother joined me for their first appearance at the ballpark. The Barnstormers used to play Sunday home games at 6:00 which was a good day and time for Jenny and Helen but since they switched to 1:00 on Sundays it's no longer an option. Saturday nights are always busier because they do post-game fireworks but it matters little to us because we're gone when the game is over. On this night Southern Maryland again took an early lead, it was 2-0 Crabs into the bottom of the third. A solo home run by Lance Zawadzki got the Stormers on the board but another SM marker made it 3-1 in the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth the Barnstormers pulled even on an RBI hit by catcher Dan Coury (one-time Atlanta Braves property) and a Blake Gailen home run. The Blue Crabs took a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth but ex-Toronto Blue Jay David Cooper went yard in the bottom half to tie the game and force extra innings. In the tenth the game unraveled completely, six SM hits and two crucial fielding errors led to six Crab runs and a 10-4 win for the visitors. Former Houston Astro Chuck Fick started and worked the first six innings, reliever Bryan Woodall (from the Arizona Diamondbacks system) suffered the extra-inning loss. The weather turned warmer on Sunday, as is my wont I was absent from the ballpark as the Stormers won 7-0 to take the series two games to one. The ballclub plays at home Tuesday through Thursday but street hockey keeps me away, my next time there should be on the 15th against Long Island. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 1

The fifth month of 2015 began on a Friday and it was a baseball night on North Prince Street. The Barnstormers played their first seven games on the road in Sugar Land and York, the home opener was on April 30th against the Revs (it's become a tradition for the Stormers to play in York ahead of their home opener and for the Revs to make a one-night visit in return). On this night the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs came to town for the start of a weekend set. It was cool and windy, I took a jacket along and it came in handy once the sun went down. The Crabs scored single runs in each of the first two innings, the Stormers evened matters in the third on RBI doubles from Blake Gailen and former Arizona Diamondbacks property Tyler Bortnick. The 2-2 tie was broken in the sixth on a two-run homer by Stormers catcher Keith Castillo, from there the bullpen made it stand up as the Home Team took it 4-2. Matt Packer worked six innings for the win, he was followed for an inning apiece by Pete Andrelczyk, ex-big leaguer Zach Jackson and returning closer Jason Urquidez. the game started shortly after 7:00 and was over in good order right around 9:30 (we'll take that any time). Take care, thanks for reading.