Ending May with Fireworks

The Sackville family took in our first Goldeyes game of the 2008 season last night. Rain earlier in the day and some ugly clouds kept attendance at the park down but it was still a lively crowd. The game started out a pitcher's contest but some big dude named Diaz for the Joliet JackHammers crushed a 3 run home run that broke the game open. The Goldeyes clawed back but after the final out the score was JackHammers 5 Goldeyes 3.

Here's a little rundown of my game observations.

Fastball away - Ball ONE

I just loved some of the names announced at the game last night. Baseball players, and especially minor league players have some of the best names. Here's a few I enjoyed.

Trino Aguilar

Fehlandt Lentini

Tydus Meadows

Ace Walker

Freddie Thon

Doc Brooks

Wally Backman Jr.

Slider inside - swing and miss - Strike ONE

Just like interesting names, minor league ball has some wild mascots. I think I once read that Goldie was a mix of Goldeye owner Sam Katz's favorite ball mascots especially the Philadelphia Philly. If you ever want to know what a mascot really is just ask a 2 year old. According the my 2 year old, Goldie is a bear. Some Internet research shows the JackHammers have a bear mascot as well.

* Jammer, the JackHammer mascot.

Fastball away - foul out of play - Strike Two

I figure since the Northern League is only a six team league I should really get to know a bit more about each team and the city they are from. The teams that make up the Northern league are: Winnipeg Goldeyes, Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Gary SouthShore RailCats, Kansas City T-Bones, Schaumburg Flyers, and the Joliet JackHammers.

Joliet is in Illinois. A city of 145 000 and considered one of the fastest growing cities in America according to the City of Joliet website. It is located about 1 hour southwest of Chicago and was the home of Joliet Prison, a state prison until 2004. The Joliet Prison is the basis of the fictional prison, Fox River, in the TV series Prison Break. That's all I've got for now. I've got an entire summer for the other teams.

Fastball high - Ball Two

Prior to the game the Goldeyes had a moment of silence for former Manitoba Moose and NHL prospect, Luc Bourdon. Bourdon was killed in a motorcycle accident on Thursday in New Brunswick. A sad loss. I thought it was a classy move for the Goldeyes to honor a fellow local sports star and to remind fans that tragedy hits everyone.

Change-up - swing in front, Strike Three on the Pancake Batter

The game started off with the JackHammer lead off hitter being named the designated Pancake Batter of the night. If the designated Pancake Batter strikes out then everyone in the ball park recieves pancakes (a coupon for the Pancake house). I love this gimmick. It draws major pitch by pitch attention when the designated Pancake Batter is at the plate. Last night the designated Pancake Batter lead the game off with a strike out and the fans went nuts.

To end the game the Goldeyes had a fireworks show that was almost worth the price of the ball ticket alone. Here's the Sackville Slugger watching the final innings and waiting for the fireworks to end the night....