When I couldn't stand looking at this computer any more on Saturday, I headed over to Cobb Field to watch MSU-Billings in a doubleheader against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. There I ran into Allen Rice, an old Gazette colleague (now retired) who is one of the most knowledgeable baseball people I know.
Otherwise, the crowd was thin. I doubt there were 100 paying customers in the stadium. But a wildly disproportionate number of them appeared to be female college students dressed in their summer shorts. I don't know how well this team gets baseball, but it sure gets the girls.
It was a fine day. The weather was gorgeous. The brats were tasty. The Jackets came from behind to win the first game, then lost a ragged second game. It was fun being able to hear the players talking and cheering each other on.
The quality of play was watchable. In my sports writing days, I covered a lot of college baseball and generally found the level of play comparable to the Mustangs -- the players may have had less talent top to bottom, but they were a little older and a tad more polished. Of course, that was Southwest Conference baseball, which was about as good as college baseball got. A lot of those players had their eyes on the big leagues, and quite a few made it. Saturday's twin bill was a few notches below that, but the Jackets are improving steadily.
The two biggest annoyances from the college game also were present: the seven-inning doubleheader games, which never feel quite finished, and the aluminum bats. Somebody ought to be able to come up with a composite bat of some sort that combines the durability of aluminum with the satisfying thwack of wood. Then we would have something.
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2 comments:
David, how could you misspell the name of an old copy editor? Maybe you should hire Alan Rice to proofread your blog. OK, sorry. No more stones to be hurled from my glass house.
I find it stupid that the "City" is now paying yet another out of state "consultant" $20,000 of our hard earned tax money to try and sell us on a 13-15 million dollar new stadium when those same taxpayers voted "NO" not too many months ago. And, to take on yet one more "Only" Tax. You know, the kind that will "Only" raise your property taxes by $60 a year for the next 20 years! Add up all those "Only" taxes that they and SD2 (who's asking for more "Only" taxes right now) have added on over the last ten years in addition to what they'll want over the next 20 years, and try and figure out how you'll be able to afford to stay in your houses.
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