BABY TIME!
NORFOLK - Friday night at Harbor Park was:
- Cold enough for the ragtime band to play “Let it Snow” as fans entered the facility.
- Blustery to the point that the Canadian flag started ripping apart as it whipped in the wind.
- So festive that a tuxedo would not have been out of place, given the pre-game tribute and post-game cocktail party for Norfolk Tides general manager Dave Rosenfield, who is beginning his 50th year in baseball.
While conditions could have been more baseball friendly - these guys are, after all, the boys of summer - the result was fan friendly. The Tides, finally home after opening with eight games on the road, walloped the Indianapolis Indians 11-1.
Brian Daubach hit a towering grand slam in the third inning to welcome relief pitcher Mike Johnston as the Tides (4-5) broke it open.
To say the home run was wind-aided would be an understatement. And Daubach, who added a two-run homer in the eighth, didn’t find fault with those who stayed home.
Attendance was announced at 8,709, but about half that actually showed up .
“There were a lot more people out here than I thought would be, and it’s pretty cold,” said Daubach, who was 3 for 5 with seven runs batted in. Daubach’s RBI tally was one short of Phil Lombardi’s 17-year-old, single-game team record. “It’s so cold that we started to take batting practice on the field, but thought better and took it inside in the batting cages.”
Daubach said Friday’s game was the first he’d played with his 5-month-old son Caden Jack in attendance.
“I guess he brought me some good luck,” Daubach said.
- Cold enough for the ragtime band to play “Let it Snow” as fans entered the facility.
- Blustery to the point that the Canadian flag started ripping apart as it whipped in the wind.
- So festive that a tuxedo would not have been out of place, given the pre-game tribute and post-game cocktail party for Norfolk Tides general manager Dave Rosenfield, who is beginning his 50th year in baseball.
While conditions could have been more baseball friendly - these guys are, after all, the boys of summer - the result was fan friendly. The Tides, finally home after opening with eight games on the road, walloped the Indianapolis Indians 11-1.
Brian Daubach hit a towering grand slam in the third inning to welcome relief pitcher Mike Johnston as the Tides (4-5) broke it open.
To say the home run was wind-aided would be an understatement. And Daubach, who added a two-run homer in the eighth, didn’t find fault with those who stayed home.
Attendance was announced at 8,709, but about half that actually showed up .
“There were a lot more people out here than I thought would be, and it’s pretty cold,” said Daubach, who was 3 for 5 with seven runs batted in. Daubach’s RBI tally was one short of Phil Lombardi’s 17-year-old, single-game team record. “It’s so cold that we started to take batting practice on the field, but thought better and took it inside in the batting cages.”
Daubach said Friday’s game was the first he’d played with his 5-month-old son Caden Jack in attendance.
“I guess he brought me some good luck,” Daubach said.