So it was a very cold Opening Day. It was nonetheless beautiful by simple virtue of the fact that there was baseball! I headed down to Alliance Bank Park with my binder of Red Wings cards. (I am a pessimist, so I'm not guessing I'll get anywhere near Bryce Harper and I'm thinking the crowd would make it hard for me to get other folks on the home team.)
Aside from rooting for the Mud Hens because of the Tiger connection, I find it hard to get extremely partisan at Chiefs games. I just want to see good baseball. And it was a good game. There was a little bit of sloppy baseball; the Red Wings drew first blood on catcher Solano's errant throw to second base. There were many errors in the game; I'm guessing they're shaking off some rust. The Red Wings jumped out to a big lead with a five-run seventh. Drew Butera hit a two-run homer and Brian Dinkleman hit a 2-run triple. Some particularly boisterous/drunk fans made fun of Jeff Manship for his name, but Manship pitched capably in relief. The Chiefs challenged in a 4-run seventh, but former Tiger Casey Fien nailed down the save.
Want to know how Harper did? Let's look at the scorecard. (Am I the only one who scores the game anymore?) Harper had his regular swag and the infield was playing him deep. He showed bunt a few times, but didn't look very expert to my inexpert eye. He went 2-4 with a double and a single. He struck out in the sixth, and I thought he was reaching for a pitch...the kind of thing he'll iron out as he goes.
Want to read the Syracuse newspaper's account of Harpermania : Game One? Here. I heard through the grapevine that the Nationals have told the Chiefs to keep players away from fans as much as possible. I'm guessing that applies doubly to Harper.
A couple of the guys signed before the game, but it was just too darn cold and they came out too late. (Not that I blame them.)
After the game was a lot better. Most guys were friendly and seemed willing to sign. The gold star goes to J.R. Towles, who signed a whole bunch of cards for me. I got the following:
2011 Joe Benson Bowman Chrome Bowman's Best Prospects BBP72 IP Auto 4/5/2012 - sig a TINY bit smudged Twins
2011 Drew Butera Topps Update US311 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2011 Drew Butera Topps Update US311 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2009 Drew Butera Topps 471 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2010 Matt Carson Topps 261 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Athletics
2010 Matt Carson Topps 261 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Athletics
2010 Anthony Slama Topps Update US-41 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2010 Anthony Slama Bowman Draft Picks Gold BDP62 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2008 J.R. Towles Topps 321 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
2008 J.R. Towles Topps Heritage Rookie Stars 144 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
2008 J.R. Towles Upper Deck 1995 SP Top Prospects 370 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
2008 J.R. Towles Upper Deck Timeline SP 320 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
2008 J.R. Towles Upper Deck Timeline Timeless Teams 251 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
I really have to add: I got another look at the 2008 Topps Towles and his signature is amazing. They all look ridiculously alike and they all look precisely like the facsimile signature on the 2008 Topps. I guess he has a lot of practice.
Aside from rooting for the Mud Hens because of the Tiger connection, I find it hard to get extremely partisan at Chiefs games. I just want to see good baseball. And it was a good game. There was a little bit of sloppy baseball; the Red Wings drew first blood on catcher Solano's errant throw to second base. There were many errors in the game; I'm guessing they're shaking off some rust. The Red Wings jumped out to a big lead with a five-run seventh. Drew Butera hit a two-run homer and Brian Dinkleman hit a 2-run triple. Some particularly boisterous/drunk fans made fun of Jeff Manship for his name, but Manship pitched capably in relief. The Chiefs challenged in a 4-run seventh, but former Tiger Casey Fien nailed down the save.
Want to know how Harper did? Let's look at the scorecard. (Am I the only one who scores the game anymore?) Harper had his regular swag and the infield was playing him deep. He showed bunt a few times, but didn't look very expert to my inexpert eye. He went 2-4 with a double and a single. He struck out in the sixth, and I thought he was reaching for a pitch...the kind of thing he'll iron out as he goes.
Want to read the Syracuse newspaper's account of Harpermania : Game One? Here. I heard through the grapevine that the Nationals have told the Chiefs to keep players away from fans as much as possible. I'm guessing that applies doubly to Harper.
A couple of the guys signed before the game, but it was just too darn cold and they came out too late. (Not that I blame them.)
After the game was a lot better. Most guys were friendly and seemed willing to sign. The gold star goes to J.R. Towles, who signed a whole bunch of cards for me. I got the following:
2011 Joe Benson Bowman Chrome Bowman's Best Prospects BBP72 IP Auto 4/5/2012 - sig a TINY bit smudged Twins
2011 Drew Butera Topps Update US311 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2011 Drew Butera Topps Update US311 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2009 Drew Butera Topps 471 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2010 Matt Carson Topps 261 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Athletics
2010 Matt Carson Topps 261 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Athletics
2010 Anthony Slama Topps Update US-41 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2010 Anthony Slama Bowman Draft Picks Gold BDP62 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Twins
2008 J.R. Towles Topps 321 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
2008 J.R. Towles Topps Heritage Rookie Stars 144 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
2008 J.R. Towles Upper Deck 1995 SP Top Prospects 370 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
2008 J.R. Towles Upper Deck Timeline SP 320 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
2008 J.R. Towles Upper Deck Timeline Timeless Teams 251 IP Auto 4/5/2012 Astros
I really have to add: I got another look at the 2008 Topps Towles and his signature is amazing. They all look ridiculously alike and they all look precisely like the facsimile signature on the 2008 Topps. I guess he has a lot of practice.
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