Well woke up in the morning on Monday with snow coming down. It’s April now, and not only is it snowing but there is snow still in the forecast. Made for a cold week. The good news is that it did not lay on the sidewalks so no shoveling was required. Those are the snow storms I like but I did have big plans for the end of the week.
My NCAA bracket actually managed to finish up pretty well. I had 3 of the 4 Final Four and I had Villanova defeating Michigan. You can’t knock me for not having Loyola of Chicago in the Final Four. This is almost the complete opposite of what I used to do, which was nail the first 2 rounds and then get nothing right after that. I find this way much more satisfying.
No baseball games in the early part of the week as the minor league season had not yet started and the Orioles, Nationals and Phillies all on the road. Won’t have this many open dates for quite awhile so I figured I should enjoy them and make sure the cats remember I live there too. With the lousy weather it was probably just as well that they were on the road just so I did not have the temptation to go. I did watch Darkest Hour which my brother purchased. I don’t go to the movies and while I did consider seeing this one I never made it in, even when it went to the cheap theater. It’s cheaper for my brother to buy the movie and for me to preview it before buying it. Thanks bro! I think I will wind up getting this one.
And now for baseball games for this past week:
Game #3 Erie @ Reading, opening day for the minors. Opening day in the minors is nothing like the majors. Large crowds are usually hard to come by but I like AA and there are 5 teams at that level within an easy drive of my house. You know I saw my first no-hitter on opening night at Reading when Portland Sea Dog Henry Owens blanked them in a rained-shortened 6 inning affair in 2014. Beau Burrows started for Erie and Ranger Suarez for Reading. Suarez was sharp in the first inning but the wheels fell off in the second. By the time Suarez was yanked in the fourth Reading was down 7-0. Erie’s starter was not dominant but this was a night that Reading could not hit the broad side of a barn. Maybe he was intimidating wearing just a short sleeve shirt on a 40 degree and windy night. Final was 7-1. Also the paid attendance was 5,800. Yeah right but I did get a T-shirt with some of their alumni on it. That’s either going on eBay or will get me free parking on a Thursday night in Harrisburg.
Game #4 was back to Reading to see Erie on Saturday. I was going to head down to Bowie on Friday but this guy lost his debit card so with only cash on had and several other trips back to Bowie I skipped that one. My new debit card did arrive in the mail on Saturday. In Reading it was a cold night but they gave away a Rhys Hoskins bobblehead so hooray, the first bobblehead of the 2018 baseball season. Before heading there I drove down to Washington to again take in the Cherry Blossoms. I must be crazy or something and with a plethora of time to kill (or something like that) went up to the Pagoda, the signature attraction of Reading. Pictures from that can be seen in the Washington DC page.
Game #5 took me down to watch Harrisburg @ Bowie for an afternoon matinée. There was sun, glorious sun and if it weren’t for the wind this would have been very pleasant. Harrisburg’s starter Luis Reyes was shaky in the second and surrendered 4 runs but he settled down. Bowie added two more runs. Bowie’s starter Christian Binford was good and got a lot of weak contact. He gave up one run but Ryan Meisenger game up 3 though Bowie held on for a 6-4 win. Stopped at Chesapeake Brewing in Annapolis beforehand, it’s hard to believe I’ve never really been in Annapolis before. Drove around the town for a bit before heading over to the Baysox.
On the docket for next week, weather permitting:
Monday: staying home
Tuesday: Portland @ Reading
Wednesday: Toronto @ Baltimore
Thursday: Potomac @ Frederick
Friday: Colorado @ Washington for a Sean Doolittle bobblehead
Saturday: Bowie @ Harrisburg
Sunday: Greensboro @ Hagerstown