News Blockout

Toledo Mudhens v Richmond Braves, June 12, 2000

The Diamond, Sec ?

John Rocker was on a rehab assignment, his first appearance after Sports Illustrated published off the record comments by the flamethrower in one of the first violations of press/athletes confidentiality in our time.

The comments were blown out of context as New York City was part of the ribbing.  The media tried their damnedest to railroad Rocker for his politically incorrect comments made off the record.

The stadium was sold out.  Local media was in a frenzy.  Atlanta sent Rocker down to rehab him before calling him up to the parent club.  Plus there was a few hour rain delay.  Yet, no one left the stadium, even knowing that if Rocker pitched, it wouldn't be til the 9th, well after midnight.

I noticed CNN cameras interviewing patrons about Rockers perceived inflammatory comments.  The reporter girl was leading the person being interviewed to badmouth Rocker.  The person being interviewed politely declined to take the bait and said she was excited to see Rocker pitch.  I thought it was funny how a novice fan bitch slapped the big city CNN babe.  So I followed the CNN crew while they attempted to get the money quote from a fan, any fan.  And 100% of them shot her down.

Everyone was there to see a hard throwing major league closer pitch, period.  Unheard of in CNN's eye.
Finally the CNN babe huffed up the equipment and marched on out of the stadium without leading one single fan into saying what she wanted them to say.

So CNN sends an entire crew from Atlanta to Richmond to cover a news story.  And they left before the news developed.  The next day there was zero mention on CNN of Rocker's comeback.

Talk about sensational journalism. 

Rocker did appear late in the evening/early morning to a still packed stadium and a standing ovation.

We Are The Champions.......

St John Flames v Philadelphia Phantoms, June 10, 1998
Spectrum, Sec 21 Row 14


Philadelphia was on a horrible non-championship streak, not having a winner since 1983.  I'll take a minor league title if that is all that is being offered.  The place sold over 17,000 seats for the team's 9th sellout of the year.  Rumor has it the team turned away almost 10,000 at the gates for this potential Calder Cup clinching game.

The boys were there with us.  Not sure if my 1 year old daughter was with us or with a baby sitter.

The Phantoms play a virtually flawless contest as they defeated the Flames, 6–1, behind the stellar goaltending of Neil Little who had allowed just 48 post season goals on his way to a 15–5 play-off record. Winger  Mike Maneluk earned the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the play-off MVP while also being the league's leading post season scorer with 34 points on 13 goals and 21 assists. Team captain  John Stevens (who had also won Calder Cups with Hershey in 1988 and Springfield in 1991) and his teammates paraded the Calder Cup around the same ice as the Flyers had skated their first Stanley Cup twenty-four years earlier.

Fight at the Bat Rack

New York Yankees v Baltimore Orioles, June 9, 1990
Memorial Stadium, Sec 8 Low DD2

One of the biggest plays of the game was a Brad Komminsk double to left in the first.  He also homered in the third.  Komminsk was a Richmond Brave when I worked for the team.  

The Orioles are coming off an terrible season and were currently in 3rd place in the AL East.  The Yanks were pitiful this year, 12 1/2 back in 7th place. And the O's took advantage of this woeful team by driving in 6 runs in the first. 

Cal Ripken went 1 for 3 while brother Billy went 2 for 4. 

The Yanks always seem to draw on the road.  Over 45,000 were on hand on 33rd Street. 

Glacier Bay

Toronto Blue Jays v Baltimore Orioles, June 8, 1991
Memorial Stadium, Sec 10 Row 8
 

Back in the early 90's a Boston buddy turned me onto a Canadian Beer called Glacier Bay. The bottle had a built in bottle opener etched into the bottom of the bottle. It was a cheap beer on the par with more expensive American swill.
Rumor has it the beer company was forced to change their name because there was an ice cream company in Canada called Glacier Bay. These were the days before the internet so information wasn't readily available to research rumors such as this. The beer company changed the label to Arctic Bay.
We were on a bus going to the stadium with a bunch of Jays fans from Toronto. I asked them if they drink Glacier Bay. None of them heard of it. It made me wonder if it really was a Canadian beer or one labels as such like a Fosters.
The Jays were shaping up to be a formatable rival of the O's. To draw 45,569 in that stadium was no easy feat.
The Jays got to Orioles starter Jeff Robinson in the first. Roberto Alomar singled to left then stole 2nd and 3rd. Rance Mulliniks singled to drive in the game's first run.
Toronto continued to add runs in the 3rd when Joe Carter drove in Devon White who singled and stole 2nd. The bottom half of the 3rd brought the O's bats to life. Billy Ripken doubled to left followed by a Mike Devereaux triple. A sacrifice to 2nd scored Devereaux.
The game remained tied 2-2 into the 8th when both teams respective bullpens took over. The Jays piled on 6 in the 8th. The O's made a mini run in the bottom of the 9th with a 2 run Sam Horn home run but fell to Toronto 8-4.

Infield Tailgate

Pontiac 400, May 6, 1998


Richmond International Raceway, Infield Seating

My brother in law had infield passes so we loaded up the truck and pulled into the infield.  My first time seeing a race from this vantage point.  The infield in Richmond sit down below the race surface in the corners as it is a banked track.  You really get an appreciation for how high the bank is when looking at it from the bottom.

Pre race they trot all the drivers around one by one in convertible cars.  A few driver draw loud applause like Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin.  Jeff Gordon was reigned on with boos.  Almost to the point that it was uncomfortable.  Today, Gordon has lost that crybaby label.  Many other new drivers have taken the whiners torch passed on to them .

There was a wood photographer platform constructed at the end of Turn 1.  After being around the fence for hours a photographer asked my son if he wanted to come up on the tower with him.  He did and also go to witness a Jeff Gordon wall rub/crash in that corner.  The same crash photo appeared on the front page of the local Sunday paper the next day.  The photo was taken by the guy who took my son up on the tower.

Results:

Terry Labonte
Dale Jarrett
Rusty Wallace
Ken Schrader
Mark Martin

Wailers No Marley

The Wailers, June 4, 2008

Innsbrook Pavilion, GA

I already seen the Wailers some about 8 years earlier.  It was an OK show.  The year prior I took the family to Jamaica.  The oldest boy got into Bob Marley (and probably some of the habits that go along with liking Bob Marley.  So I offered to take him to see the Wailers.

I guess he was excited.  The band came on.  A few of the songs were old Wailers staples.  It really wasn't a good show but I did not want to disappoint him so pretended to have a good time.

Near the end I asked him how they sounded.  He said they suck.  I asked him if he wanted to leave early before the encore.  He turned and started walking towards the exit without even answering.