DAY EIGHT – WE FOUND PITCHING, FIREWORKS AND A ROCKIN’ BAND – BUT NO BLOODY MARYS
Our baseball adventure continues with a trip to Indianapolis to see the Indianapolis Indians (a Pirates affiliate) take on the Pawtucket Red So. We’ll look at the game later in this post, but first a quick quiz and a few comments on our trip to Indy. For a look at Days One and Two of the tour, click here. Days Three and Four, here. Days Five and Six, here. Day Seven, here. Days Nine & Ten, click here.
Side note: Writing this on a moving bus as my battery winds down. Please excuse any typos.
QUICK QUIZ – WHO/WHAT IS ROWDIE?
Rowdie the Indianapolis Indians’ mascot may very well be having a species-identity crisis. Our group of BPT trekkers made a few guesses with the most common being rat (or rodent of some sort) and possum, What’s your guess? Answer at the end of this post.
We left Louisville at about 11 a.m., after enjoying the (free) breakfast buffet at out Holiday Inn Suites and Express. On the way, we made a stop at the Huber Family Orchard, Vineyard and Winery. A family operation that boasted a winery, distillery, fruits and vegetables, restaurant/bar, ice cream shop and (for Bob) even souvenirs. We enjoyed outdoor dining, wine and spirits tasting, homemade ice cream and freshly picked fruit (“Let’s share a quart” took on a new Ballpark Tours meeting meaning when applied to strawberries.)
GAME TIME … YOU MEAN THE INDIANS HAVE NOTHING TO TO WITH THE INDIAN$?
Next it was on to Indianapolis, where the Indianapolis Indians (a Pirates affiliate) were taking on a familiar group – the Pawtucket Red Sox. On this overcast, slightly drizzly night, we once again had great seats – just beyond third base overlooking the bullpen.
Victory Field has a roomy, walk-around concourse, a view of Lucas Oil Stadium (home of the Indianapolis Colts – oh, those pesky naming rights) beyond right-center field; a very clear, easy-to-read video scoreboard; and banners hanging throughout the concourse area honoring past Indianapolis players (like Harmon Killebrew, Roger Maris and Herb Score).
We did see a more crisply played game, with Pawtucket prevailing 4-2. Indiana scored first, as lead off hitter RF Cole Tucker tripled to left and 2B Jake Elmore immediately followed with a double to center. After two outs, CF Jason Martin, singled to center scoring Elmore, but was retired on a bang-bang play at second base (throw by RF Gorkys Hernandez). Starting pitcher Kyle Hart then settled down and tossed six scoreless frames. The Red Sox were held scoreless by Indians’ starter Eduardo Vera until the fourth, when they manufactured a run on a single by CF Rusney Castillo, a double by 1B Josh Ockimey and a sacrifice fly by LF Cole Sturgeon. It would be the only run given up by Vera in six innings of work. The only other scoring came in the top of the seventh, after Vera had been relieved by Chris Stratton – and the Red Sox put across three runs (one earned) on a walk, a single, a double and an error. A few observations:
- Scouting reports indicated both starters (Hart and Vera) are contact pitchers. They went a combined 13 innings with zero walks and ten strike outs.
- After seeing double-digit walks as commonplace, there were only two walks total in this game.
- We saw, much to BBRT’s pleasure, four double plays – a 2-6 strike ’em out – thrown ’em out; a 4-3 (on a grounder to second); a 5-4-3; and a 6-3 (grounder to shortstop).
- A crowd of 13, 702 was on hand – and into the contest; not to mention the fireworks (lots of kids in the stands).
Friday Night Fireworks contributed to the size of the crowd – and made for nice post-game entertainment.
Refillable popcorn, with vodka lemonade.
The food fell a bit short of Louisville (but, then again, Louisville was exceptional). The breaded pork loin sandwich ($9.50) was well received). I had the foot-long grilled (way better than steam or boiled) hot dog with fried and raw onions and jalapenos ($7). But the real hit may have been the baseball-themed, refillable (no charge) containers of popcorn ($8).
Grilled foot-long, pictured resting upon BBRT’s mandatory scorecard.
If you are waiting for the usual BBRT Bloody Mary review. Bad news! No Bloody Marys at this ball park. Not that they don’t have them, they were totally out of Bloody Mary mix. Since I asked for one pre-game, I assume Bloody Marys are not a priority here. They, however, have all the “fancy” (Tutti-Frutti, anyone) beverages promoted on this sign. What is this world coming to? Next, we’ll have batters waived to first base on an intentional walk. Oh, wait ….
PLAYERS OF THE GAME – GOTTA BE THE STARTING PITCHERS (after what we’ve been seeing)
Kyle Hart, LHP, Pawtucket. Hart went seven strong innings for the win, giving up just five hits and two earned runs, walking none and fanning five. The 26-year-olds ran his record with Pawtucket to 3-1, 3.38 – with just four walks and 19 whiffs in 24 innings. (He was also 3-6, 2.91 with Portland this season.) The 6’5″, 170-pound southpaw was a 19th-round pick (out of Indiana University) in the 2016 draft. In four NCAA seasons (interrupted by Tommy John surgery), he went 27-6, 2.76. In four minor league campaigns, he is 18-23, 2.94.
Eduardo Vera, RHP, Indianapolis. The 24-year-old Vera (6’2″, 195-pounds) pitch six solid innings – six hits, one run, no walks, five strikeouts; but got no decision (he left with a 2-1 lead). Vera signed (out of Mexico) as a 17-year-old in 2012. In seven minor league seasons, he’s gone 28-18, 3.67.
POST GAME … MUSIC AND LIBATIONS
The post-game choice for trekkers was the Slippery Noodle Inn – Indiana’s oldest bar. Good food and drink and, more important, the Big Daddy Caddy Band; which played all kinds of music, tackled pretty much any request and rocked the house.
ROWDIE, THE INDIANS’ MASCOT IS A BEAR. REALLY, I’M NOT KIDDING.
More posts from the road to come.
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