Down On The Farm
This past Sunday I was up in New Britain to watch the AA Twins (New Britain Rock Cats) take on the AA Yankees (Trenton Thunder). It was Wade Boggs bobblehead day at New Britain Stadium (Boggs played in New Britain when it was a Red Sox affiliate), but I ended up not scoring my free schwag. Why you may ask. Because I’m not a complete loser. After asking the ticket taker for my bobblehead I was told that, despite showing up a good half hour before game time, they ran out of their free giveaway because people were waiting in line over two hours before the stadium opened. Now I’ve done a lot of strange things in my life, but if you’re waiting in line for two hours before a baseball game just to score the free giveaway you probably need to get a life.
So I didn’t get the bobblehead, but it was still a great day, around 90 degrees (yes I got a sunburn), and I had seats that were in the first row behind the visitor’s dugout. This meant I was about five to ten feet from the field, which is great because all the players and coaches could hear all my insults. For instance, when one batter swung at a pitch that was high and struck out I said "we know you saw it, it was at your eyes," and the batter on the deck circle started laughing. The guy that struck out, however, is actually a helluva player by the name of Shelley Duncan. Duncan is a top first base prospect who looks to be an Adam Dunn type hitter, big pop but lots of K’s. Including his homer in Sunday’s game he has 28 HR’s, 25 doubles and 74 RBI’s on the year, but he also has 100+ strikeouts. If he works on getting those K’s down to a more reasonable level he’ll see his batting average rise significantly and be one amazing player. The Yankees desperately need a first baseman, so he could end up being rushed to the majors, or traded for some guy over 35 who’s best days are well behind him. As a Mets fan, here’s hoping for the latter. Regardless I’ll put money on me eventually saying "I saw Shelley Duncan way back when he was in AA."
There was another member of the Trenton Thunder roster that also caught my eye, Grant Roberts, yes THE Grant Roberts. Grant Roberts is the former Mets player who was caught smoking weed in the minors a handful of years back and was even photographed doing it. The Mets got rid of him after giving him a cup of coffee in the majors and earlier this year he was suspended for steroid use. I actually named my fantasy baseball league after him: The Grant Roberts Great Big Bong League. The GBBL is now in its fourth year of existence. Before I left the game I waited for a quiet moment and yelled "I want to smoke with Grant Roberts!"
Sunday was also the closest I’ve come to nabbing a foul ball. Thankfully I didn’t, it bounced about five feet in front of me directly on top of the dugout and bounced about ten rows back. Had I reached out for it the ball probably would have ripped my hand off and it would be pretty hard to continue as a writer if I was missing a hand.
All in all it was a great day, just as any day at the ballpark should be.
So I didn’t get the bobblehead, but it was still a great day, around 90 degrees (yes I got a sunburn), and I had seats that were in the first row behind the visitor’s dugout. This meant I was about five to ten feet from the field, which is great because all the players and coaches could hear all my insults. For instance, when one batter swung at a pitch that was high and struck out I said "we know you saw it, it was at your eyes," and the batter on the deck circle started laughing. The guy that struck out, however, is actually a helluva player by the name of Shelley Duncan. Duncan is a top first base prospect who looks to be an Adam Dunn type hitter, big pop but lots of K’s. Including his homer in Sunday’s game he has 28 HR’s, 25 doubles and 74 RBI’s on the year, but he also has 100+ strikeouts. If he works on getting those K’s down to a more reasonable level he’ll see his batting average rise significantly and be one amazing player. The Yankees desperately need a first baseman, so he could end up being rushed to the majors, or traded for some guy over 35 who’s best days are well behind him. As a Mets fan, here’s hoping for the latter. Regardless I’ll put money on me eventually saying "I saw Shelley Duncan way back when he was in AA."
There was another member of the Trenton Thunder roster that also caught my eye, Grant Roberts, yes THE Grant Roberts. Grant Roberts is the former Mets player who was caught smoking weed in the minors a handful of years back and was even photographed doing it. The Mets got rid of him after giving him a cup of coffee in the majors and earlier this year he was suspended for steroid use. I actually named my fantasy baseball league after him: The Grant Roberts Great Big Bong League. The GBBL is now in its fourth year of existence. Before I left the game I waited for a quiet moment and yelled "I want to smoke with Grant Roberts!"
Sunday was also the closest I’ve come to nabbing a foul ball. Thankfully I didn’t, it bounced about five feet in front of me directly on top of the dugout and bounced about ten rows back. Had I reached out for it the ball probably would have ripped my hand off and it would be pretty hard to continue as a writer if I was missing a hand.
All in all it was a great day, just as any day at the ballpark should be.
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