Spring Training II: Revenge of the bat boy.
Our second day in Fort Myers was a good one. We checked out of the days inn with its non-existent cable and Internet and beds that would collapse under normal use (where "normal use" is actually defined as sleeping... I generally prefer my bed failures to come with better stories). We ended up in a smoking room at the Farimont Inn down the road. It may be a smoking room but it still smells better than the room at the days inn. For those keeping track at home that makes 3 hotels in as many days. Its certainly been interesting.
After switching our hotel again we were off to the ball park. Before the game started I managed to work my way down to get a ball signed by Johnny Pesky which was pretty cool. Its rather neat that he is out there signing autographs in the first place. I got a bunch of pictures of the players warming up but didn't get any autographs. I was close to getting one from Beckett but the game was about to start so it didn't work out.
Today's game was against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game was started by Bronson Arroyo who went 1.2 innings and according to the box score gave up 5 hits and 3 earned runs. But im not buying any of that. I was there and both loretta and lowel made errors... one of them was even on the score board before it was changed. They were clear errors especially in the case of lowel, the play was right in front of me and the ball bounced right out of his glove.
I assume that these errors were caused by the gold gloves those two have... they must be heavy and cant make fielding very easy.
Regardless of the errors Bronson wasn't sharp and was hit hard a few times... but its not nearly as bad as the box score makes it sound.
Hanson made a relief appearance in this game as well which I was rather excited about but he too was not sharp at all, walking 2 and giving up a hit, but he did bear down and get out of the inning unscathed. He sure does throw hard, but he was having trouble finding the plate.
The starting lineup today had more of the stars than either of the previous days games. Loretta had a good day with the bat... 2 really good hits (2 at bats)... at least he had a good day at the plate.
Trot looked fairly good today (1-2 with an RBI). We also got to see Alex Gonzales which was a surprise since he was supposed to be in the World Baseball Classic. He looked fairly good in the field but didn't play for very long before being replaced by Machado.
Overall it was a good day at City of Palms park... a beautiful day for baseball and even though the sox lost in the end we had a great time.
Ive had a great time down here despite all the hotel craziness and the fact that this whole area is a complete cultural wasteland (94 cent porn store excepted). Spring training has been quite an experience... I would definitely come here again, though I am certainly looking forward to getting back to Boston where there are far more fun things to do and fun people to do them with (or to as the case may be).
Alright... I'm beat, its off to bed (hopefully one that wont collapse on me). Its an early day tomorrow as we head back to the great white north. I think I am really going to miss this beautiful weather... but its just not worth it.
After switching our hotel again we were off to the ball park. Before the game started I managed to work my way down to get a ball signed by Johnny Pesky which was pretty cool. Its rather neat that he is out there signing autographs in the first place. I got a bunch of pictures of the players warming up but didn't get any autographs. I was close to getting one from Beckett but the game was about to start so it didn't work out.
Today's game was against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game was started by Bronson Arroyo who went 1.2 innings and according to the box score gave up 5 hits and 3 earned runs. But im not buying any of that. I was there and both loretta and lowel made errors... one of them was even on the score board before it was changed. They were clear errors especially in the case of lowel, the play was right in front of me and the ball bounced right out of his glove.
I assume that these errors were caused by the gold gloves those two have... they must be heavy and cant make fielding very easy.
Regardless of the errors Bronson wasn't sharp and was hit hard a few times... but its not nearly as bad as the box score makes it sound.
Hanson made a relief appearance in this game as well which I was rather excited about but he too was not sharp at all, walking 2 and giving up a hit, but he did bear down and get out of the inning unscathed. He sure does throw hard, but he was having trouble finding the plate.
The starting lineup today had more of the stars than either of the previous days games. Loretta had a good day with the bat... 2 really good hits (2 at bats)... at least he had a good day at the plate.
Trot looked fairly good today (1-2 with an RBI). We also got to see Alex Gonzales which was a surprise since he was supposed to be in the World Baseball Classic. He looked fairly good in the field but didn't play for very long before being replaced by Machado.
Overall it was a good day at City of Palms park... a beautiful day for baseball and even though the sox lost in the end we had a great time.
Ive had a great time down here despite all the hotel craziness and the fact that this whole area is a complete cultural wasteland (94 cent porn store excepted). Spring training has been quite an experience... I would definitely come here again, though I am certainly looking forward to getting back to Boston where there are far more fun things to do and fun people to do them with (or to as the case may be).
Alright... I'm beat, its off to bed (hopefully one that wont collapse on me). Its an early day tomorrow as we head back to the great white north. I think I am really going to miss this beautiful weather... but its just not worth it.