[2008 Baseball Tour] BONUS: Comerica Park, Detroit (Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers)
Um... let's just skip to the point where I meet up with prototype_axl at the People Mover station by Comerica. This is a happy post, and work-related angst/venting/pent-up anger/etc. are hereby banninated from this post. They'll probably be posted sometime this weekend though. Or Tuesday, when the shit hits the fan. XD;
-Meet with prototype_axl, and by that time it was already 20 minutes before the game, so there was really no point in bringing the Fighters CD (which I forgot in my car anyways).
-Also forgot my memory card at home. XD; Luckily, I still had internal memory to work with. I just had to resize any pictures I had already taken at maximum resolution, delete my Toronto pictures from internal memory, and set my picture-taking resolution to standard quality (generally what I upload at), then I had about 200 pictures at my disposal for the night.
-Took mostly pictures of Hillman-kantoku. Sadly, this gig isn't going as well as it did with the Ham Fighters, but it's the Royals. Since when have they ever thrown their manager a frickin' bone? XD
-After that, the lineup announcements, and the national anthem, it was time for the first pitch. Tonight's pitching matchup: KC's Yuu DarvishKyle Davies vs. the Tigers' Zach Miner.
Top 2nd: Mark Teahen led off the inning... BAM. The moment the ball came off the bat, everyone knew it was gone. Boos towards Miner followed. Then EVEN MOAR boos when 1B Miguel Cabrera misplayed a short-hop on a throw from SS Edgar Renteria (the error was charged to Renteria), allowing Billy Butler to take 1st. But the Royals would get no more. 1-0 Royals
Bottom 3rd: Detroit's 9-hitter, Brandon Inge (a spot-duty player who now has to play full-time because the Tigers traded Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez to the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworthless), broke up the no-hitter with a single, but that's it for the Tigers.
End 3rd: Awesome! Dashin' Donut won the Dunkin' Donuts race! Free Dunkin' for me tomorrow morning! XD
Middle 5th: It's time to give away a free Lady Jane's haircut! (How to describe Lady Jane's? I can sum it up in two words: HOOTERS HAIRCUTS. xP) And naturally, it went to the graying guy with a mullet. XD And JUST as I was starting a "WE WANT MULLETS!" chant! (Can you tell how boring this game was since I'm commenting more on the between-innings entertainment?)
Bottom 5th: Well, the dynamite finally goes boom for the Tigers. Marcus Thames got it started by reaching 1st on an error by SS Mike Aviles (it was another one of those "throwing error, but the 1B really should have gotten it since it was partly in his glove" errors), then Edgar "I don't practice" Santeria Renteria (sorry, couldn't resist one of Chris Berman's better nicknames, especially when I get Santeria in my head whenever I hear Renteria's name) added another single. With 1st/2nd nobody out, Inge tried to bunt them over but failed, so it was up to Curtis Granderson... and he tripled it to the cavern in right center to score two runs! (One case where the big park dimensions worked in the Tigers' favor; it worked against them most of the game.) Placido Polanco then singled Granderson home, two batters later Jeff Larish singled home both Polanco and Magglio Ordonez, and the Tigers were in full crush mode. But they weren't done, as after a wild pitch to make it runner on 2nd/2 out, Garry Sheffield singled in Larish. Out came Davies, in came Kip Wells, and Marcus Thames, the guy who started the inning, ended the inning. 6-1 Tigers
Top 7th: And now it's time to call for the 2nd-worst bullpen in the majors! (The worst would be Milwaukee's.) Up first? Bobby Seay. He gave up a double to Joey Gathright and a single to Aviles to score a run, then a single and an out later, the Tigers went to Gary Glover, who I last remember pitching for the Yomiuri Giants. XD I went to the bathroom (and even saying to prototype_axl, "watch, I'll miss the 7th inning stretch"), and how right I was. 1 pitch, 2 outs to end the inning. 6-2 Tigers
Top 8th: Kyle Farnsworthless came in to a round of boos, and right away he showed why I (and many others, including Cubs fans and Yankees fans) add "less" to the end of his last name, giving up a single. But he did force a double play on the next batter. And heck, he even got out of the inning 1-2-3!
Top 9th: In comes new closer Fernando Rodney (guess they finally got sick of Todd Jones blowing games). IT TOOK HIM 7 PITCHES TO THROW A STRIKE. (Which got the appropriate Bronx Cheer. XD) He got the 2nd guy out, but on 1st/3rd 2 out Alberto Callaspo was at least able to get John Buck home on a fielder's choice. But that's all the Royals would get, as David DeJesus grounded out to end the game. The Tigers are no longer winless in games I go to! FINAL SCORE: Tigers 6, Royals 3
From Hillman-kantoku to bad haircuts to post-game fireworks, here are 88 pictures from the day. Hell, I took more pictures at the post-game fireworks show than I did during the actual game! But that was mostly due to me being in a constant state of seething anger.
EDIT: And since I'm probably done going to baseball games this year, here are the final records of the teams when I saw them this season:
Twins, 3-0
Cubs, 2-0
White Sox, 1-0
Marlins, 1-0
Cardinals, 1-0
Reds, 1-0
Padres, 1-0
Red Sox, 1-1
Brewers, 1-1
Tigers, 1-3
Indians, 0-1
Royals, 0-1
Orioles, 0-1
Blue Jays, 0-1
Nationals, 0-1
Phillies, 0-1
Pirates, 0-2
-Meet with prototype_axl, and by that time it was already 20 minutes before the game, so there was really no point in bringing the Fighters CD (which I forgot in my car anyways).
-Also forgot my memory card at home. XD; Luckily, I still had internal memory to work with. I just had to resize any pictures I had already taken at maximum resolution, delete my Toronto pictures from internal memory, and set my picture-taking resolution to standard quality (generally what I upload at), then I had about 200 pictures at my disposal for the night.
-Took mostly pictures of Hillman-kantoku. Sadly, this gig isn't going as well as it did with the Ham Fighters, but it's the Royals. Since when have they ever thrown their manager a frickin' bone? XD
-After that, the lineup announcements, and the national anthem, it was time for the first pitch. Tonight's pitching matchup: KC's Yuu DarvishKyle Davies vs. the Tigers' Zach Miner.
Top 2nd: Mark Teahen led off the inning... BAM. The moment the ball came off the bat, everyone knew it was gone. Boos towards Miner followed. Then EVEN MOAR boos when 1B Miguel Cabrera misplayed a short-hop on a throw from SS Edgar Renteria (the error was charged to Renteria), allowing Billy Butler to take 1st. But the Royals would get no more. 1-0 Royals
Bottom 3rd: Detroit's 9-hitter, Brandon Inge (a spot-duty player who now has to play full-time because the Tigers traded Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez to the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworthless), broke up the no-hitter with a single, but that's it for the Tigers.
End 3rd: Awesome! Dashin' Donut won the Dunkin' Donuts race! Free Dunkin' for me tomorrow morning! XD
Middle 5th: It's time to give away a free Lady Jane's haircut! (How to describe Lady Jane's? I can sum it up in two words: HOOTERS HAIRCUTS. xP) And naturally, it went to the graying guy with a mullet. XD And JUST as I was starting a "WE WANT MULLETS!" chant! (Can you tell how boring this game was since I'm commenting more on the between-innings entertainment?)
Bottom 5th: Well, the dynamite finally goes boom for the Tigers. Marcus Thames got it started by reaching 1st on an error by SS Mike Aviles (it was another one of those "throwing error, but the 1B really should have gotten it since it was partly in his glove" errors), then Edgar "I don't practice" Santeria Renteria (sorry, couldn't resist one of Chris Berman's better nicknames, especially when I get Santeria in my head whenever I hear Renteria's name) added another single. With 1st/2nd nobody out, Inge tried to bunt them over but failed, so it was up to Curtis Granderson... and he tripled it to the cavern in right center to score two runs! (One case where the big park dimensions worked in the Tigers' favor; it worked against them most of the game.) Placido Polanco then singled Granderson home, two batters later Jeff Larish singled home both Polanco and Magglio Ordonez, and the Tigers were in full crush mode. But they weren't done, as after a wild pitch to make it runner on 2nd/2 out, Garry Sheffield singled in Larish. Out came Davies, in came Kip Wells, and Marcus Thames, the guy who started the inning, ended the inning. 6-1 Tigers
Top 7th: And now it's time to call for the 2nd-worst bullpen in the majors! (The worst would be Milwaukee's.) Up first? Bobby Seay. He gave up a double to Joey Gathright and a single to Aviles to score a run, then a single and an out later, the Tigers went to Gary Glover, who I last remember pitching for the Yomiuri Giants. XD I went to the bathroom (and even saying to prototype_axl, "watch, I'll miss the 7th inning stretch"), and how right I was. 1 pitch, 2 outs to end the inning. 6-2 Tigers
Top 8th: Kyle Farnsworthless came in to a round of boos, and right away he showed why I (and many others, including Cubs fans and Yankees fans) add "less" to the end of his last name, giving up a single. But he did force a double play on the next batter. And heck, he even got out of the inning 1-2-3!
Top 9th: In comes new closer Fernando Rodney (guess they finally got sick of Todd Jones blowing games). IT TOOK HIM 7 PITCHES TO THROW A STRIKE. (Which got the appropriate Bronx Cheer. XD) He got the 2nd guy out, but on 1st/3rd 2 out Alberto Callaspo was at least able to get John Buck home on a fielder's choice. But that's all the Royals would get, as David DeJesus grounded out to end the game. The Tigers are no longer winless in games I go to! FINAL SCORE: Tigers 6, Royals 3
From Hillman-kantoku to bad haircuts to post-game fireworks, here are 88 pictures from the day. Hell, I took more pictures at the post-game fireworks show than I did during the actual game! But that was mostly due to me being in a constant state of seething anger.
EDIT: And since I'm probably done going to baseball games this year, here are the final records of the teams when I saw them this season:
Twins, 3-0
Cubs, 2-0
White Sox, 1-0
Marlins, 1-0
Cardinals, 1-0
Reds, 1-0
Padres, 1-0
Red Sox, 1-1
Brewers, 1-1
Tigers, 1-3
Indians, 0-1
Royals, 0-1
Orioles, 0-1
Blue Jays, 0-1
Nationals, 0-1
Phillies, 0-1
Pirates, 0-2