Sunday, August 24, 2014

2nd Annual Lakewood BlueClaws Outing

2014 Brandt Lakewood
BlueClaws #5
Cardinals 6, Phillies 5 (12 Innings)
Game 129 - Saturday Night, August 23rd in Philadelphia
Record - 57-72, 5th Place, 17 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils fell in extra innings to the Cardinals, 6-5, after Marlon Byrd's big two-run single in the eighth tied up the game.

What It Means:  It means these losses are getting increasingly frustrating, and at least two Phillies (starting pitcher David Buchanan and left fielder Domonic Brown) were critical of manager Ryne Sandberg following the ballgame after both players deemed they were removed from the game prematurely.

What Happened:  Brown botched a couple of balls badly in the sixth, ultimately leading to three runs.  Buchanan was chased after five having thrown 90 pitches and allowed two runs on eight hits.  Daniel Descalso scored the Cardinals winning run in the 12th after Ken Giles began the inning by walking him.  Descalso came in to score on a Matt Carpenter sacrifice fly.

2014 Brandt Lakewood BlueClaws #3, #29, #31 and #4
Featured Cards/Field Report:  We missed the bulk of this game as we were taking in our second ever BlueClaws game in Lakewood, New Jersey.  The BlueClaws are the Phillies Low A team playing in the South Atlantic League.  We were once again able to get first row tickets right behind the BlueClaws bullpen, and my oldest son Doug spent the bulk of the hour leading up to the game tracking down autographs.

He got autographs from BlueClaws home run leader (and Phillies top prospect) Dylan Cozens along with catcher Willians Astudillo.  He also got autographs from former big leaguers Gregg Legg and Les Lancaster, both of whom were ejected in this game for arguing balls and strikes.

Our youngest son Ben was the recipient of a baseball when BlueClaws starting pitcher Ranfi Casimiro finished his pre-game warm-up, walked over to Ben and handed him his ball.  I wanted to include Casimiro's card in this post because his generosity was such an awesome gesture.  There were a ton of kids seeking autographs (and demanding baseballs) in our section and Casimiro made it a point to walk over to the youngest, quietest kid and hand him a ball.  Ben went to bed clutching both the baseball and his new BlueClaws giant foam finger.

It was a great night of baseball along with a fun night for our family, and we'll be back for another game (or two) in 2015.

Memory Lane
2013 BlueClaws Game

4 comments:

Steve F. said...

The minor leagues are the best! I went to see the Reading Phillies, er, Fightin (sic) Phils, with my dad two Sundays ago and it's just such a pleasant evening doing that. Also, the game went 1:57 and Reading won 1-0, so while it seemed we were leaving after just having arrived, we saw a full 9-inning game (well, 8.5) crisply played. The Phanatic was in attendance and after the game kids got to run the bases with him. I love going to minor league games! And it sounds like you had a great night too. I have to get to Lakewood with my kids sometime.

Jim said...

You'll love Lakewood. We were able to get first row tickets 3 weeks before the game. The ballpark was fairly empty, which is most likely due to the BlueClaws' struggles this year.

Anonymous said...

Greg Legg! I remember him from the playing days, I had no idea he was with Lakewood. I love going to minor league games, it looks like I'll have to add Lakewood to my ever-growing list of places to check out.

Jim said...

Greg Legg would definitely be a first or second ballot entry into The Phillies Room Hall of Fame if I ever decided to open it up.