March 27, 2018 – Phillies 5, Pirates 5 – Clearwater FL

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/phillies-jake-arrieta-pleased-with-progress/c-269804712

 

Attendance: 7,958

Game Time: 2:55

Weather: 79 degrees, sunny

Wind: 16 mph, R to L

Umpires: Home Plate – Vic Carapazza, First Base – Mark Wegner, Second Base – James Hoye, Third Base – Javerro January

Seventh-inning stretch song: Bird Dance – The Emeralds

Section 112, Row 13, Seat 9 – just to the left of home plate, and only two seats away from the aisle. Did need the sunscreen and cap for the first three innings or so, at which point we got shade.

 

The Phanatic’s final appearance of Spring Training 2018 came at the end of the 7^th inning, performing atop the home dugout to the strains of Donna Summer’s “Last Dance”. Quite appropriate.

 

The action during the game itself was sporadic. The Bucs scored 4 in the top of the first inning off Jake Arrieta, with the big blow being a 3-run homer to left by Josh Bell. Philadelphia’s offense couldn’t do much against Jameson Taillon in his 3 innings of work, or Pittsburgh closer Felipe Rivero in the fourth, but battered Chad Kuhl in the fifth to tie things up, as Altherr led off with a home run and Zack Coppola got a two-out, two-run single to finish things off.

 

With both lineups consisting mainly of players borrowed from the minor league camps, things remained quiet until the bottom of the 8^th, when Coppola led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a single by Simon Muzziotti. The win was not to be, however, as Adrian Valerio hit a no-doubt-about-it shot to left off Edgar Garcia in the top of the 9^th to produce the final tie.

March 26, 2018 – Phillies 6, Pirates 3 – Bradenton FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/phillies-vs-pirates/2018/03/26/534252#game_state=final,game_tab=,game=534252

 

Attendance: 6,529

Game Time: 3:11

Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 10 mph, In from CF

Umpires: Home Plate – Alex Zeigler, First Base – Sean Barber, Second Base – Javerro January, Third Base – James Hoye

Seventh-inning stretch song: Black Betty – Ram Jam

 

Section IBX3, Row 22, Seat 12 – same section (infield box) as on Thursday, but the very top row this time. This was the breeziest and hottest day so far, so being in the shade again was a definite plus.

 

The traffic down to Bradenton was pretty smooth, and I think I finally figured out how to exit reasonably quickly: park in a $5 lot on the right side of 9^th St W (and before 13^th Ave W) coming in, head west on 13^th a couple blocks to 14^th St W, turn right there and head north to 6^th Ave W (route 64), turn right there, and then left once you get back to 9^th St W.

 

I tried the “First Mate Sandwich” from Duck Deli, which was a prepackaged 6” hoagie roll well-stuffed with roast beef, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar. The $10 price would have been a little steep just for the sandwich, but fortunately it came with a bag of chips that served as my mid-game snack.

 

The game resembled both the Thursday matchup in Bradenton (Phils jumped out to a big lead in the early innings) and Sunday’s home game with the O’s, where things started going off the rails later. Fortunately they hung on to win this one.

 

Philadelphia opened the scoring in the first when J. P. Crawford drew a walk to lead off the game, stole second, and scored on a Nick Williams single. They added two more in the second, both of which scored on a two-out infield single by Crawford, and finished their scoring for the day with 3 in the third, on a leadoff homer by newly-minted millionaire Scott Kingery, a bunt single by Pedro Florimon, and another HR by Andrew Knapp. Kingery got 3 more ABs, beating out an infield single in the 4^th, doubling in the 7^th, and drawing a walk in the 9^th.

 

Vince Velasquez got through his 4 innings of work, giving up 3 hits and one walk, and Victor Arano kept the shutout going in the 5^th. Edubray Ramos came in with one out in the 6^th and left after facing 3 batters in the 7^th. He allowed 3 runs to cross the plate on his watch, the first of which came on a two-out steal of home when he tossed the ball several feet over the catcher’s head. Lefty Jeff Singer (from Holy Cross HS in Delran NJ) came in to put out the fire, retiring all 6 batters he faced in the 7^th and 8^th.

March 25, 2018 – Orioles 6, Phillies 5 – Clearwater FL

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/orioles-vs-phillies/2018/03/25/534237#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=534237

 

Attendance: 8,538 (sellout)

Game Time: 2:38

Weather: 78 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 10 mph, Out to LF

Umpires: Home Plate – Brian Peterson, First Base – Phil Cuzzi, Second Base – James Hoye, Third Base – Clay Park

Seventh-inning stretch song: YMCA – The Village People

Section 108, Row 15, Seat 3 -- About 10 feet down the 1^st base line. Not actually close to the aisle, as there’s not one between 108 and 109. Unlike Bradenton and Lakeland, Spectrum (formerly Brighthouse) Field is basically one-level, with all of the non-suite seats below the concourse. Still wound up in the shade, however, which was handy on a warmish afternoon.

 

Despite recent improvements to some of the older Gulf Coast stadiums, Spectrum Field in Clearwater remains the place to beat. That would be the case even if it were not for the Phillie Phanatic, who was in top-notch form Sunday. 2016’s “grouper bites” have been replaced by “grouper nuggets”, but the latter (four good-sized chunks) are still great, if not quite as suitable for others to sample. You can also get a variety of local craft brews for a mere $6.00.

 

The game itself moved quickly through the first 7 innings, as there was relatively little offense on either side. (There was actually more action away from the field, as the team announced the signing of Scott Kingery to a long-term, $24M contract.) Baltimore Rule 5 draft pick Nestor Cortes Jr. kept the Phils pretty well in check for his 3 innings. Rhys Hoskins hit one out to start the second, and they threatened in the third when Roman Quinn led off with a single and got as far as 3B with one out (stole second, got to third on a ball that got a few feet away from the catcher), but they weren’t able to get him in. They were completely helpless during the next 3 innings against Miguel Castro, who fanned 6 while allowing just one man to reach base. The offense finally got untracked after the stretch, when Altherr and Franco started the inning with a single and homer, respectively.

 

Phillies starter Nick Pivetta was impressive in his 3 innings of work, giving up just 2 hits and walking none while striking out 5. Ben Lively pitched the next 4, giving up 2 runs in the top of the fifth.

 

With the Phils leading 3-2 after 7, things got weird, with almost all of the regulars on both sides out of the game, and a lot of their replacements wearing uniforms with no names and numbers in the 90s. Kapler made 3 mid-inning pitching changes in the eighth, apparently in an effort to see both Hoby Milner and Zac Curtis in action as they battle for a spot in the bullpen. Milner came in with no outs and runners on first and third and promptly yielded singles to Baltimore minor-leaguers Jaycob Brugman and Jake Ring. After Pedro Beato got the first out, Curtis came in and got off to a great start by fanning Pedro Alvarez. He followed that success by walking Jomar Reyes to force in one run, and then uncorking a wild pitch to let in another. He did retire Chance Sisco to finally retire the side, as the visitors took a 5-3 lead. Each team scored a single run in the remaining 3 half-innings to account for the final score, with RBI going to Simon Muzziotti, Brugman, and Malquin Canelo. Most of the fans remained until the end, exiting the park to the strains of “Sweet Caroline”.

“Weird Al” Yankovic w/ Emo Phillips – Strathmore, 3/20/2018

“Weird Al” kicked off the local stop of his “ridiculously self-indulgent, ill-advised vanity tour” with a booming “Hello, North Bethesda”. As promised, it featured almost all originals, with no videos or costume changes. Very different from when we saw him at Wolf Trap, but quite enjoyable nonetheless, particularly with the great musicianship of Al and his four bandmates, who rocked the house throughout. “Good Old Days” got things off to a great start, and “I’ll Sue Ya” almost outrocked Rage Against The Machine (its inspiration). “The Night Santa Went Crazy” was a decidedly non-PC take on Christmas, and the guys stretched out on “Jackson Park Express” (which reminded me for some reason of Harry Chapin) and “Albuquerque”. They closed the main set with a medley of some of Al’s best-known parodies, and came back with a great straight-ahead cover of Tom Petty’s “Refugee”, ending the show with “The Saga Begins”, telling much of the Star Wars story to the tune of “American Pie”.

 

Thanks to the courtesy of Strathmore and the person who got us our tickets, we were also treated to a post-show meet-and-greet with Al himself, including a photo, autograph, and a very nice copy of the show’s setlist. It was a perfect, if late, end to a great evening.

 

Highlights:

Hits medley

I’ll Sue Ya

Good Old Days

Refugee

The Saga Begins

You Don’t Love Me Anymore

 

Setlist

 

According to Wikipedia, Emo Phillips’ comedy routines heavily feature “paraprosdokians spoken in a wandering falsetto tone of voice.” While I’ve always had some trouble dealing with the voice, our group agreed that he did come up with some good lines during the course of his half-hour opening set, as he riffed on Ish (“the God of approximation”), his love for geography in school (“Where would we be without it?”), how he was divorced (“but would rather be a widower”), and how he once wanted to play chess with old men in the park but couldn’t find 32 of them.

 

He also added some local touches, wondering why the Washington Monument looked nothing like its honoree and saying his take on Washington is where high school hall monitors go when they grow up. Our favorite story came at the beginning, when Emo talked about how, many years ago, he asked Weird Al whether the two of them might ever go on tour together. According to Emo, Al told him that they could tour together “when Donald Trump is President of the United States.”

March 24, 2018 – Phillies 4, Tigers 1 – Lakeland FL

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/drew-hutchison-making-case-to-be-on-phillies/c-269571198

 

Attendance: 6,922

Game Time: 2:53

Weather: 75 degrees, sunny

Wind: 7 mph, R to L

Umpires: Home Plate – Sean Barber, First Base – Mark Wegner, Third Base – Jeremie Rehak

Seventh-inning stretch song: Thank God I’m A Country Boy – John Denver

Section 207, Row Q, Seat 14 – top row today (not a problem in these small stadiums), almost directly behind home plate, in the shade again (pleasant, since it wasn’t as chilly as yesterday)

 

The ballpark now known as “Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium” has also been greatly improved since my last trip there 3 years ago. As in Bradenton, you can now walk all the way around the outfield, and the concessions have been expanded – a welcome touch, since long lines had always been an unwelcome feature of the park previously. Even the new electronic menu signs are actually readable. They didn’t offer anything particularly exotic or regional, but the cheese dogs weren’t bad.

 

Getting to Lakeland, and in and out of town, wasn’t bad at all, although getting through Tampa on the way back was extremely slow due to an incident on I-275. I heartily concur with the recommendation at http://www.springtrainingconnection.com/lakeland.html to park at Christ Lutheran Church just north of the field. It’s close, cheap ($5.00), paved, and the volunteers are friendly. At some point the lot probably fills up, but there were still some spots available at 11:30.

 

The Phillies pitching staff shut out the Tigers until the bottom of the ninth. Drew Hutchison bolstered his case for making the team by nibbling his way through the first 4 innings, allowing only one hit. He did walk 3 batters, but distinguished himself in the third by fanning Miguel Cabrera with one out and runners on second and third.

 

Former Nat Jordan Zimmermann tuned up for Opening Day by going five innings. He was particularly impressive in the first inning, when he fanned 3 Phils (with a Scott Kingery single thrown in). He did wind up giving up 4 runs on 9 hits, although his stuff generally looked good.

 

The Phillies have 2 openings on their 4-man bench, and the main contenders were all in the lineup. Veteran Pedro Florimon, playing 3B, kicked off the offense with a leadoff triple in the second. Jesse Valentin made a nice quick-reaction play at 1B (his 7^th position of the spring), and added a single and double. CF Roman Quinn did Roman Quinn things: beating out a double play and then stealing second (2^nd inning); singling in Valentin, going to second on the throw and then stealing third (4^th); almost beating out a grounder to second (6^th); hitting a soft grounder to third, getting to second on the ensuing throwing error, and then stealing third (8^th). Quinn seems like the key to the decision. Does the team want to go with Florimon and Valentin for more defensive versatility, while giving Quinn more playing time (and chances to get hurt) in AAA, or keep him in the majors, where he can be a late-inning weapon but would probably get only sporadic at-bats?

March 23, 2018 – Phillies 8, Pirates 2 – Bradenton FL

https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/maikel-franco-hits-grand-slam-in-2-homer-game/c-269477106

 

Attendance: 5,794

Game Time: 3:34

Weather: 70 degrees, sunny

Wind: 10 mph, in from CF

Umpires: Home Plate – Chad Whitson, First Base – Bill Welke, Third Base – Sean Barber

Seventh-inning stretch song: YMCA – The Village People

Section IBX3, Row 21, Seat 5 – just on the 3^rd base side of home plate, one row from the top (but still plenty close), totally in the shade, so I was glad I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt

 

LECOM Park (formerly McKechnie Field) was a lot nicer than I remembered it from past visits. You can now walk completely around the park, with some recently-added concessions stands beyond the outfield. (I can now stay I’ve tried Gator Bites, which are relatively mild and taste at least a little like chicken.) There’s also plenty of space behind the stands down the first base line. The downside to Bradenton has always been the traffic. This year I was pleasantly surprised with my trip down; I think that Google Navigation helped me get a route through the town to the ballpark with relatively light traffic. Even when much of the crowd left the game before the end, however, getting out of the town after the game was still a painfully slow process.

 

This turned out to be a great game for the Phils, as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the 5^th and never looked back. Maikel Franco was the #1 star, with a 2-run homer in the 4^th and a grand slam an inning later. Jorge Alfaro doubled in the first two runs in the 2^nd. Hernandez, Santana, Hoskins, and Altherr also had two hits each.

 

Aaron Nola blanked the Bucs over his 4 innings, giving up just 4 hits and 1 walk while fanning 5. (Batting 8^th, he also beat out an infield grounder in the second inning to get one of the team’s 15 hits for the day.) After Nola’s departure, the Phils seemingly staged a competition between Hoby Milner and Zac Curtis for the lefty-specialist role in the bullpen, having them pitch in the 5^th and the 7^th innings respectively to the same Pirates batters. Each fanned lefty-hitting prospect Kevin Kramer and veteran Cody Dickerson, around hits by the righty-swinging Kevin Newman, who doubled against Milner and singled off Curtis. Milner finished his outing by retiring Starling Marte; Curtis gave up a single to Marte before getting a popup from Gregory Polanco.

 

New Phillies manager Gabe Kapler has made news this spring by occasionally flip-flopping his left and right fielders in the middle of an inning, to protect novice left-fielder Rhys Hoskins when a batter comes up with a pronounced tendency to hit many more balls to left than right. I did get to see the switch in action, as Hoskins moved to right and Altherr took over LF whenever Pittsburgh first-baseman Josh Bell came to the plate. Oddly, Bell was hitting left-handed, and the infield was in a standard shift for left-handed hitters, meaning the Phils data showed that Bell would hit grounders to the right side and fly balls to the left. He singled to right in the 1^st, walked in the 4^th, and fanned in the 6^th.

 

The Phillies brought along several young guys from their minor-league camp as late-inning replacements. (They made 4 defensive substitions during the seventh-inning stretch, which both MLB At Bat and the stadium scoreboard got in the wrong positions in the batting order.) If you’ve ever heard of Luke Williams, Jiandido Tromp, or Jesus Alastre, you either work for the team or need to find some other activities to occupy your time. The Pirates, on the other hand, kept their starting nine (except for pitchers) in for the entire game. This yielded a great if largely unseen bottom of the ninth, when the Phils brought in 26-year-old, 5-10 lefty Joey DeNato to finish the game. According to baseball-reference.com, DeNato pitched in AA and AAA for the Phillies last year and was “drafted by the Phillies in the 19th round of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft from Indiana University-Bloomington.” At any rate, the unsung DeNato worked a 1-2-3 final frame, retiring in order each member of Pittsburgh’s regular starting outfield (Dickerson, Marte, Polanco).