7/18/09                             Grizzlies vs Sky Sox Game 3

Krista and I don’t get to Colorado Springs nearly enough so it doesn’t take a whole lot to convince us to take the 2 1/2 hour drive. The reason for today’s trek south was the the used car giveaway at Security Service Field where the Colorado Springs Sky Sox call home.

  Names are randomly drawn at the end of each inning and there were nine cars in all. 

I noticed a Jeep Cherokee, a Mercedes, an older Nissan 280 Z which was in nice shape and some other “Repos” not worth mentioning but worth keeping if you happen to win one of them.

 We showed up early enough for batting practice but you’re not allowed inside the stadum until one hour before the game starts. So snagging baseballs consists of standing outside the stadium in the outfield and trying to snag them as they fly over the fence.

It’s harder than it sounds because although you can hear the crack of a ball being hit you don’t know where the hell the ball is going to land. If you want to catch a ball you have to stand within twenty feet of the outfield wall.

While doing so you can only see directly above you and you wind up standing there playing the odds. If by chance a ball does clear the fence right where you’re standing you only have a fraction of a second to react.

Possible, but probably not going to happen today. Besides, I was saving my luck for the cars.

I opted to stand back about a hundred feet so I could see in advance when a ball was going clear the fence and so I could have some space to react to the ball’s bounce. It worked, I managed to snag one of maybe five baseballs I saw just sneak over the outfield wall.

I later took my Pacific Coast League baseball up to Sox the Fox and asked him to autograph it for me.

The line to get inside Security Service Field was at least two-hundred people deep when we walked up to the gate. I couldn’t believe it. As we went through the gates we were given a piece of paper to fill out with our personal information.

 The personal information was for the used car drawing or so they told us (I hate junk mail).

 Krista and I filled out our entries, turned them in and headed off the grass berm to snag a spot and unload our stuff so I could head over to try and get my Big Stick bat signed.

 I slid into a good spot within fifteen feet of the Sky Sox dugout and waited. The first person on the field to warm-up was my favorite Sky Sox player Sal Fasano.

I guess the Sky Sox loosened up on their “No facial hair” policy because Sal was sporting his tradmark “Stache”.

                    Of all the autographs I was able to get today I did not get Sal’s.

Next person out to warm-up was Eric Young Jr. He’s always attentive to his fans and signs for everyone.

He was the first autograph on my bat today.

I congratulated EY Jr. on making the Futures team.

 

 

 

Next to sign was David Ortmeier.

If you remember I caught David’s first home run ball as a Rockie during spring training this year.

David hasn’t really said much the few times I’ve been around him. He’s signed when I’ve asked, but he seems uncomfortable doing it. 

I could be wrong, in any case David is a helluva first baseman and I appreciate that he took the time to sign for me.

 

 

 

 

Chris Frey was happy to sign for the group and added his mark to my bat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             

                          Here are the rest of the Sky Sox who signed the “Big Stick”.

                                                      Infielder Mike McCoy

                       You might remember catcher Paul Phillips, a really nice guy.

      Infielder/Outfielder Christian Colonel. He signed for me and played third base today.
                  Sky Sox Manager Stu Cole took some time to sign for the group.
                                              Here is pitcher Esmil Rogers.
 Guess you never know who you’ll see in Colorado Springs. Here’s Matt Herges. He’s so fresh he’s not even on the Sky Sox roster yet.

                                                   Welcome back Matt !!
                                                          Jonathan Herrera
                                       Ryan Speier pitched the 8th inning.

                                                    
Pretty cool huh?

                                      All this and the game hasn’t even started.



Today’s game was against the Fresno Grizzlies who have won the first two of this four game Sky Sox homestand. By the end of the game they had made it three.

                                      Here are some game pictures: 

                                               Chris Frey after a base hit.

                                               Matt Miller doing the same.
                                                David Ortmeier gets a hit.
                                                     Makes it to first base.
                                                     and scores Miller.
                                            Here’s Christian Colonel at bat.
                                                             and a swing
                                                Sox the Fox showing off.
                                                    A shot of the bullpen.
                                                             Big Sal at bat.
                                                                 EY Jr.
                                            Short stop today Jonathan Herrera.
                                Here is one of the cars they were giving away.  
                                                       A shot of the sky.
                                                             The dugout.
                                                Sal’s so damn photogenic.
Here’s a shot of the Hot tub area as we were leaving after the Sky Sox fell to the Fresno Grizzlies 6-4.
                                       Posing with Erik Young Jr. Hummer
I love Colorado Springs. I’ve spent a lot of my years here and I always enjoyed this special city. A good chunk of my friends still habitate there. Security Service Field is a great place to watch a baseball game and you never know who you might see play. 

Next year for my birthday I want to rent the Sky Sox hot tub. I’ll be holding interviews for the seven other ladies that get to join me in the tub. What, you don’t think I’m going to soak in there with a bunch of dudes do you?

                     Remember ladies…less is more…I’m kidding, seriously I am

One of my goals in life it to catch a ball while soaking my bones in that hot tub. There’s probably as much chance of that happening as me taking batting practice with the Rockies.

But just like a sign above a urnial that I once saw while taking a leak on the Air Force Academy, you’ve got to ”Aim High”.

The Rockies are back in Denver playing the D-Backs tomorrow. I’ll be at the game on Tuesday and look for me on TV during the Wednesday afternoon game. I’ll be in the outfield with Hunter and my friend from work who hooked Hunter up with the prize package to meet Carmelo Anthony earlier this year.

Just as I was about to publish this entry the rain stopped and a rainbow appeared off the front deck.

            Go Rockies, them Giants ain’t so big and the pot of gold is in sight…D