Archive for the 'Baseball' category

A belated post about Fort Wayne

GBJazzMan| August 16, 2009 8:47 pm

Two weeks ago we went to Fort Wayne to see the Tincaps play the Beliot Snappers. It was a lot of fun and Fort Wayne’s park is pretty gorgeous. Parkview Field opened this year, so it still had that new Ballpark smell to it. If anyone’s ever in the Fort Wayne area and is look for something to do, I recommend checking it out. Fort Wayne lost the game, but fun was still had by all.

We’ve got a couple of weeks off and then Columbus, Arkon and finally Detroit. And as always, below ar ethe pictures from the trip. I recently got my hands on a new camera so future games should have much better picture quality.

Dow Diamond is a nice place to see a ballgame

GBJazzMan| July 21, 2009 12:24 am

Well, we saw just our second home team loss of the season up in Midland, with Great Lakes Loons loosing 9-5 to the Cedar Rapids Kernels (insert Linux and/or Corn joke here). But the loss aside, Dow Diamond, the home park of the Great Lakes loons is a beautiful park. It opened in 2007, and it shows. The concourses are spacious and the seats were a bit bigger than some of the parks we’ve been to. Also, from the attendance numbers, it looks like the Loons pull about 5000 fans a game. If you live near Midland, MI, I recommend going and seeing a Loons game, just make sure you get your tickets the night before.

So now the home team is 5-2 on the tour, and this game had the most offense of all the games we’ve been to so far. Even though they got the loss today, this Loons team played a lot better than the same team we saw play way back on May 17 at West Michigan. What killed the Loons was loading the bases twice and then giving up a base clearing double each time. From the ERAs of the relievers we saw indicated that the Loons may have been giving some playing time to some of their relievers. We also saw our 4 homerun of the tour, and the 1st homer by the home team. Still no triples however.

Next week is an off week, and then its to Fort Wayne to see the Silver Hawks play the Beloit Snappers.

Erie’s in the books

GBJazzMan| July 19, 2009 10:11 am

seawolves

Last Sunday we went to Erie, PA, to watch the Erie Seawolves play the Akron Aeros. The Seawolves won the game 3-2. Erie scored three in the bottom of the second. That three run lead held until the top of the eigth when Erie’s starter gave up a 2 run, 1 out homerun. Erie’s closer came in and got a 5 out save. Erie’s a nice town and that’s a beautiful park that the Seawolves play at. It was an extremely long day, however. We left Lansing at 6:30am and didn’t get back until 9:30pm. The drive did seem shorter than that to Indy, but I think that’s because the drive to Erie has some variaty to it. Jerry Uht park was the smallest of the parks we’ve been to so far (6000 capacity, compaired to the 10k we’ve seen so far). The park almost had a rustic feel to it

And now the pictures.

That first picture is of the strange sunburn I got. Apparently I missed that spot with Sunscreen. Today we’re off to Midland to see the Great Lakes Loons play. I’m excited because Dow Diamond is only two years old and is supposed to be really nice.

A real post: The Epic Minor League Baseball tour

GBJazzMan| July 11, 2009 1:38 pm

Back in April, a buddy of mine suggested going to Grand Rapids Griffins playoff game. The problem was that schedule wise it wouldn’t work, we started about seeing other sporting events this summer. And hence the Epic Minor League Baseball tour was born. Two friends of mine, whom are both also named Matt, are travelling around the Mid-West going to Minor League baseball teams. Every Sunday we goto a different park in a different city and its been a lot of fun. The coolest thing is that the tickets at the Minor League parks are much cheaper than their Big League counterparts, we haven’t paid more than $15 for tickets.

So far we’ve been to Single A West Michigan (Grand Rapids), Single A Lansing, Triple A Toledo and Triple A Indianoplis. Barring weather, we will also be going to Double A Erie, Single A Great Lakes (Midland), Single A Fort Wayne, Single A South Bend, Double A Akron and Triple A Columbus. A game at Comerica between the Tigers and the Blue Jays will top of the Tour in September.

Now for those of you who love the baseball stats, so far in the tour we’ve been to 4 parks, saw 5 games (the Lugnuts and the Whitecaps played a double header at Oldsmobile Park). The home team is 4-1 in those games, with the Whitecaps winning game 1 of the double header. We’ve seen 2 homeruns and no triples. The game at Indy is the only extra innings game, with the Indians winning with a walk off basehit in the bottom of the 10th. Ian Snell, the Indians’s pitcher that game, threw 17 strikeouts, a Victory Field Record.

And now for some pictures.

From the West Michigan Game

White Caps

Eyeball Race

Whitecaps Celerbrating

From the Lansing Game

Lugnuts

From the Toledo Game

Mudhens

From the Indians game

IndiansIndianWalkoff hitCelebration

Next Game is this Sunday where the Arkon Aeros will play at the Erie Seawolves. After the game I’ll make a post with pictures and such.

Is it bad when I can’t think of titles anymore?

GBJazzMan| October 29, 2007 9:03 pm

So at some point last night, I went to bed. I remember going to bed. I just don’t remember when. Which kinda sucks because I was watching Monday Night Football. And after watching highlights on SportsCenter, looks like I missed a helluva game. Denver ties it up with almost no time left on the clock, and then Green Bay wins on the first play in overtime.

Apparently the Tigers got a shortstop lastnight in a trade. I’m

not sure if I like the trade, since we traded Jurrigens, who was a solid talent. Also, the short stop we got, Edgar Renteria, is 32. But hell, Dave Dombrowski has put together a Tigers team, that well, doesn’t suck.

I think TV lied to me. A commercial for Brothers brand printers tells me that following Plan B is wearing ugly pastel shirts.  I guess it might mean plan B. B for “Bad Fashion Sense”.

I am so not ready for Nanowrimo. At all. I mean, I do have part of my story plotted and most of the setting ready. I’m just not ready for it mentally. Last year I went into blissfully unaware of the hell I was getting myself into. This year, I know all too well.

And now for your moment of Zen.

Me: God I hate you Math Nerds.

Eric: That’s okay, we hate us too.

I am such a slacker

GBJazzMan| July 11, 2007 11:05 am

So I started a blog post, like, two weeks ago. HAH!

Work and school have been okay, no real big surprises there.  The Food Library is dicking me out of hours, but then again, that’s pretty par for the course. I had a job interview at last week for a company, but it appears to have fallen through. I mean, the interview was before the Fourth and I haven’t heard anything back from them. Kinda sucks because it would have been a really great opportunity. I need to seriously start buckling down and working on getting certs and such. The problem is just sitting down and doing it instead of kinda vegging out on the internet.

I am, in an always present attempt to become more organized, cleaning up my room and organize everything. I’m continuing to throw stuff out, so if there’s anything I’m going to get rid of, I’ll let you guys know. See if I can’t sell it to someone for a few bucks instead of just pitching it.

Last night was the MLB All-Star game, and it was pretty boring. I’m not even gonna lie. It was a sleeper and so was the Home Run Derby. Best part about it was watching Steve get pissed because Ichiro is in his 30s and doesn’t speak English very well.

I can feel myself falling into some of my old habits. Staying up late, waking up late, getting iratable and the smallest little thing. I’m starting to wonder if I should go see therapy again. I’m really considering it but the problem is finding time to do it. Between two jobs and school, I’ll have to make time for it.

Poker has been really good the last couple of weeks. Last week at the home game, I finished in the money all three games, coming in twice second, and chopping the other two games.  The Boyd’s aren’t here all summer so the home game is a bit more relaxed, and I think that that benefits my play style, actually. Tom and Will tend to be hyperaggressive before the flop, and the relaxed flop play means that I can see more flops with rags.

The most interesting thing to come out of Saturday’s game (besides Josh loosing with the best hand like five times) was Sopha’s play. For no apparent reason, he started to play hyper aggressive, especially if I was in a pot. I must have done something to him to upset him, but I can’t remember me putting a bad beat on him and I’m never openly rude to other players. So either he saw something that wasn’t there or he felt that being super aggressive against me was the only way to counteract that fact that I’m a better player than he is. Regardless his play returned to normal after I trapped him with trip aces.

Also, Dad and I found a new charity room to play in around here. And they do Friday night tourneys. Dad prefers tourneys so he plays in those (and came in 8th this last Friday). Me, however, love the cash games. I also love taking money from players have busted out of the tourney and are on tilt. I’ve made atleast $40 the last two weeks I’ve played there, and two weeks ago I finished up $120 for the night. Not bad for 2-4 limit.

Which leads me to a hand analysis. I was Under the Gun and I was going to raise with any two cards, for the sole reason that it was, at the time, going to be my last hand for the night. Dad had busted out of the tourney and since we rode together, I didn’t want to keep him waiting any more. I wake up with King Queen of clubs, so I could think of worse hands to raise with. There’s like 5 of use to the flop which is KQ5, rainbow. Probably the best possible flop for me. The Big Blind checks to me and I lead out. The guy to my left raises, which I find interesting. At this point, there are only three hands that I’m worried about kings, queens or fives. This guy had been raising every pot with garbage, so I didn’t think he had kings or queens. He might have 5s, but I’d doubt it. So he’s probably got a king or a queen with a good kicker. Action folds to me so I reraise, confident that I’ve got the best hand now. He calls and we’re heads up, the turn and the river are both blanks, so I continue to beat he calls me. Now I’m positive that he’s got top pair with a good kicker. I show my hand and announce that I had kings up. He mutters something under his breath and shows pocket rockets. The guy smooth called my raise before the flop with aces. If you guys ever learn anything from my blog learn this, Never slow play Aces before the flop in low limit cash games. It worked out for him, because he ended up saving himself 2 dollars, but it was still the incorrect play. You should always raise with Aces in limit because you want to make it as expensive as possible for the limpers.

Well, that’s all I got right now. I’ll try to get these updates on a more regular basis

World Series Post

GBJazzMan| October 26, 2006 10:14 pm

I’m posting this during the World Series because it’s a commercial break. It actually gives me time to put down my Tigers hat, which I’ve been knawning on. Let’s go Tigers.

Pedro finally ponied up on our bet from the Yankees series. He took me to that place on the north end that has the burritos the size of my forearm. It was good. Pedro’s a good guy, it was cool hanging out with him outside of work for once.

Thoughts on the WS: God I hate David Eckstien. Also, Damnit for Granderson tripping in the dirt.

Which brings me to another point, MLB needs to get the season done sooner. I mean, the NBA season start on Tuesday and Hockey’s been going for a week or two. Seriously, have each team play a dozen or so double headers and then the World Series would be over by now.

Also, godfuckingdamnit Fernado Rodney. Godfuckingdamnit.

That’s it for this post, I’m too pissed to post.

Me = noob

GBJazzMan| October 25, 2006 8:53 am

I apologize for not posting in a while. I’d like to have some elaborate excuse as to why I’m not posting. But mostly, its just me being lazy. I apologize and I hope I don’t offend any of my readers.

I’ve been playing internet poker still and I’m starting to feel more confident in my hand reading skills, and I’m thinking I am going to goto the casino next month with my folks. Hopefully this time around is better than the last time around.

I’m not going to talk about the Tigers. Or Kenny Roger’s spot, even though it was responsible for the Great Depression.

I love how people break stereotypes. There’s a guy in my class named Vince who looks like a “wigro” and stuff. He’s actually pretty cool and is an Age of Empires freak.

That’s it for now, but I do have a mission for everyone out there in Hoobaland: get on my ass if I don’t post everyday. kthxbai

Long time no post

GBJazzMan| October 21, 2006 10:22 am

No post in a while, I apologize. And I blame Civ3. I really need to stop playing that game.

The power adapter on my laptop died, so I had to buy a new one. And rather than buy a replacement from Dell, which would take 2 weeks to get here, I bought a universal one at Office Max. It’s working pretty well, I’m pleased. And it’s designed better that the Dell one, so hopefully it doesn’t die like the offical ones did.

During the week I was sicker than a dog. I actually developed a headache after I wrote my last post that lasted for like 2 days before it went away. I did learn something about myself. Acetaminaphin doesn’t do shit for my sinus headaches.

Class is going well, and my dream for a 4 point is still there. I am really glad I’m back in school. I wish I was back at UMF, but that just wasn’t going to work out.

I’ve got to work this afternoon, so I going to end this post here. Too bad I’m going to miss a big chunk of Game 1 of the world series.

lol typo

GBJazzMan| October 16, 2006 11:11 pm

So there was a bad typo at the top of the last post, but apparently nobody caught it. Suckers!

Tigers are going to the World Series. To say that I’m geeked about it is an understatement. I was two when this last happened. I will remember that Magglio homer for a while, probably ever.

Classes are going. Ski, the instructor for my Monday class actually showed some humor today, much to the shock of everyone involved. I still want to pop that one kid in mouth.

Beyond that, nothing much else to say. lulz