As of today, the Nashville Sounds are in serious contention in the PCL’s American North Division, being only 1.5 games behind the first place Iowa Cubs in the standings. 

Today is also the seventh straight game that the Sounds are playing the same team, the Albuquerque Isotopes.  Both clubs are almost ending an eight-game “home and home” stretch against each other.  It’s a quirk in the daily baseball schedule that you don’t find very often.

I’ve seen quite a few interesting things…one team scoring six runs in one inning with only ONE HIT?  However, there were five walks involved and then the Sounds come back to score three runs in the bottom of the inning, thanks to three Isotopes’ errors.  Then the next night, Albuquerque belts six home runs, four in one inning! Those are the kind of things that you don’t see very often. 

The Sounds dropped the first three games of this eight-game stretch to the Isotopes, albeit they have come back to win three in a row. Nashville has continued to show that they are a team that can bounce back from adversity.   We’ve seen quite a few transitions made…a promising centerfielder by the name of Lorenzo Cain who went 3 for 6 in one week with the Milwaukee Brewers, only to come back to the Sounds, so he can get daily playing time.  Cain has shown he can swing the bat and play center field.  Norris Hopper has really been hot at the plate lately and continues to show great discipline of a veteran, with him continuing to go the opposite way with pitches and getting key hits.  Adam Stern has been catching fire and having his best stretch at the plate as a Nashville Sound this season. 

What is also good is to see promising young Second Baseman Eric Farris back in the lineup after being sidelined for three months due to a knee injury and he collected a double and triple in last night’s 8-5 Sounds victory at Isotopes Park.  RHP Josh Butler made his first start in Triple-A this season for the Sounds and pitched very well in getting the win last night. 

Sometimes teams may get sick and tired of seeing each other after playing together for so many consecutive days and that is the test of a professional baseball team.  It’s a bigger test to see how a team can react after dropping the first three games of this eight-game stretch, especially against a heavy hitting club like the Albuquerque Isotopes. 

The Sounds have reacted well and have not let a long home and home series and a bad start to it get them down.  It almost feels like the old Beatles’ song, “Eight Days A Week”.  Still, the Sounds know that this is on the 2010 schedule and they still must focus on continuing to play the best baseball they can possibly play and which they are capable of playing. 

It’s nice to also see a tight divisional race with six weeks left to go in the regular season and all four teams in the American North are playing better than .500 ball and all in serious contention. 

After this series with Albuquerque is over, there will be three homestands and three road trips left for the Sounds.  Their next road trip is Nevada, where they go to Reno and Las Vegas.  At this time of the year, Las Vegas is among the hottest places in the country, weather-wise and that will be a big test on how the Sounds can deal with that kind of heat.  However, like the eight straight games against Albuquerque, it is part of the schedule. 

The Sounds return home on Tuesday for the start of an eight game homestand against the Omaha Royals, a team that Nashville had just played during the last homestand at Greer Stadium.  I have noted how the attendance has picked up and interest is really high with the Sounds being in the American North race.  It has really made for interesting and exciting baseball.   However, there are still two games left here in Albuquerque and the Sounds can assure themselves of winning this “home and home” series with two wins in a row.  They play tonight at 7:05PM Central Time and a 1:05PM Central Time (12 noon here in Albuquerque) start tomorrow.  What’s also great is that the Sounds will be travelling home after the game tomorrow night instead of the following morning.  That could be an advantage since they can get a reasonable amount of sleep before the big homestand and series with Omaha starts this week.  It is big since Omaha is an American North Division and this will be the last series of the year between the Sounds and O-Royals.  Let’s take them one game at a time.  Tonight and tomorrow night’s broadcasts can be heard over the internet on nashvillesounds.com.

One side note about Isotopes Park.  You can’t beat the scenery.  There’s a tremendous mountainous scenery beyond the outfield walls and there is an upward slope as you go towards centerfield.  Another “quirky” thing about the PCL.  There are nice bushes beyond the center field wall as well and a huge lawn and inflatable playground beyond the right field wall.  Not to mention that the last two nights, the weather has been perfect.  The temps were in the 70s and a nice cool breeze was a big huge welcome.  Easier to play ball in.  Anyway, have a nice Sunday and a great week and I will see you at Greer Stadium on Tuesday.  I urge all of you to come on out to cheer on the Sounds as they vault towards winning the PCL’s American North Division!

For the first time in seven years, I got to go back to Oklahoma City, one of my favorite sports towns! I had gone there in the past when I was broadcasting hockey for the San Antonio Iguanas and the Tulsa Oilers in the Central Hockey League.  At the time, it seemed like a city on the rise, especially after the Morrow Building Tragedy that took place on April 19, 1995 when countless lives were lost in the event.

The Sounds travelled there on the 4th of July and we split up in two groups.  One group left very early in the morning and flew from Nashville to Chicago to make the connecting flight to Oklahoma City.  The other connected in Dallas.  I was among the smaller group that connected in Texas.  We arrived in town, seeing the skies looking very unpromising.  We have experienced so much rain since the floods that took place in Nashville in early May.  It was the start of a nine-game road trip, including a five-game set (not to mention a doubleheader in the mix) with the Memphis Redbirds.

It was also my first broadcast at the beautiful AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in downtown Oklahoma City.  Our hotel was within walking distance, but it was pouring like crazy during the afternoon.  I was hoping that we did not have to play more than one twinbill on the road trip.  A few Sounds players, Pitching Coach Rich Gale and myself decided to take a cab to the park, even though it was only a few blocks away.  I walked around the ballpark and I was so impressed.  A nice two-deck ballpark with the Coach’s Restaurant in the left field corner for those who want a sumptuous meal as well as a great view of the ballgame. 

Even Oklahoma City looked great from outside the park with their Riverwalk as well as many great new restaurants and hotels (including ours, which I recall was not there during my last visit back in 2003).  Anyway, going back to the ballpark, the view from the pressbox looked great.  However, the booth did not provide a complete obstructionless view since the windows have four separate panes and  you had to stick out neck out a bit to see the action.  Otherwise, Bricktown Ballpark is a great place and it is also the sight of the Annual Bricktown Showdown, where the PCL Champions take on the champions of the other Triple-A league, the International League, which consisted of cities in the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast.  A one-game playoff would determine the winner of the overall Triple-A Champions in the land.

A huge crowd assembled at Bricktown ballpark on Sunday for the game and the subsequent 4th of July Fireworks show.  With the noise level being so loud, I felt like I was in a major league park.  It was so nice to see a large assemblage of people at Bricktown and I was excited about being among the festivities.  Unfortunately, the rain continued to pour down, but it eventually stopped.  The tarp had been covered the whole time, though, but when they finally unveiled the infield, the infield dirt looked very damp.  After the umpires as well as the two managers, Don Money of the Sounds and Bobby Jones of the Oklahoma City RedHawks examined the field, I saw that Money and Jones shook hands as well as with the umpires and the umps and the managers went their separate ways.  I knew that it was not a good sign as the game was called on account of wet grounds.  Needless to say, even though the rain had stopped, the crowd was disappointed that the game was postponed and their reaction was of frustration.  However, cheers erupted when it was announced that the club would still have its fireworks show.  Of course, the RedHawks did not want to disappoint their huge crowd.  It was decided for the following night to have a single game and then a doubleheader on Tuesday night. 

The Sounds won the opener of the series, 10-5, as they pounded out a season high 19 hits and Sounds’ First Baseman Joe Koshansky belted a pair of home runs, one to left field and the other to right center.  However, the rains came down again on Tuesday night, so they had to postpone that twinbill.  It was decided to still have a doubleheader on Wednesday night and the other game to be made up as part of a twi-night twinbill on August 31st, when the Sounds would make the second and last visit to Oklahoma City this season.

Well, the Sounds and RedHawks did what they did NOT want to do and that was play a doubleheader on getaway night since both teams would be having overnight bus rides afterwards.  The Sounds would head to Memphis on I-40 while the RedHawks would travel south on I-35 to Round Rock, Texas, where they would play the Express. 

The Sounds came back from a 5-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead in the opener, but the RedHawks struck back and won the opener 11-6.  Then the nightcap occurred.  Nashville would take a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but Oklahoma City would rebound again while belting a pair of homers against Sounds starter, Chuck Lofgren in the third.  It would be the 14th and 15th homers off Lofgren, who has given up more gopher balls on the Sounds than any other pitcher on the team.  A solo shot by Craig Gentry would tie it (he would have five hits in the game) and All-Star Bound Chris Davis hit a two-run shot in the same inning.  The Sounds tied the game up when Ben Johnson (who just got off the Disabled list) would belt a game-tying two run homer off reliever Willie Eyre (pronounced “Air”) in the sixth inning with two outs in the sixth.  The Sounds had a chance to take the lead in the seventh when Brendan Katin had an infield hit with one out in the inning.  After Joe Koshansky walked, Sounds First Baseman Erick Almonte singled to center field.  Manager Don Money, who was coaching third, waved Katin home.  However, Center Fielder Craig Gentry nailed Katin at the plate with a strong throw home for the second out of the inning.  Koshansky and Almonte would take an extra base on the throw to the plate.  Unfortunately, the rally was stymied when All-Star Bound Shortstop and new Father Luis Cruz took a called third strike to end the inning.  Oklahoma City had made a bid to win it in the eighth when the game went into extra innings (doubleheaders are seven innings apiece) when former Sounds infielder and RedHawk Second Baseman Hernan Iribarren double to left field.  The following batter, Shortstop Gregorio Petit, smashed a sinking liner towards the right field line, but at that particular moment, Brendan Katin got even with the RedHawks when he made a sprawling and diving catch to thwart that threat.  The Sounds would take the lead in the ninth when Second Baseman Johnny Raburn looped a single to right to score Katin to give Nashville a 4-3 lead.  However, Sounds reliever Mike McClendon (who was the pitcher of record on the winning side at the moment) got into a jam in the bottom of the inning.  He gave up a leadoff single to Craig Gentry.  After Esteban German lined out to second, the following batter, Mitch Moreland, singled to right center as Raburn made a diving attempt after the ball and couldn’t make a play and Gentry raced to third.  Suddenly, the t ying run was 90 feet away from home plate when Manager Don Money summoned reliever Brandon Kintzler from the bullpen.  I felt good about our chances, especially since we had a long bus ride after the game.  Kintzler faced the ever so dangerous Chris Davis and he went after the first pitch and fouled out to the Sounds Third Baseman Mat Gamel.  One more out to go! Left fielder Matt Brown came to the plate and immediately, Kintzler was ahead of him on an 0-2 count.  ONE MORE STRIKE TO GO! Afterwards, Brown fouled off two straight pitches.  While I was broadcasting, I kept saying to myself, “Brandon, don’t try to be so fine, keep throwing your best stuff!”.  Unfortunately, the next pitch was in the dirt and it got away from Catcher Ben Johnson! OH NO! The tying run scored and Moreland went to second base.  Wow, how could this happen?  Brown would eventually bounce back to Kintzler and Brandon threw him out at first.  Inning over, but unfortunately, not the game.  I’m thinking, “this is going to be a long night”.  It would stay tied at 4-4 until the bottom half of the 13th inning when Sounds lefty reliever Mitch Stetter was pitching in the second inning of work.  After having an uneventful 12th inning, the wheels came off in the following inning.  After Ryan Garko grounded out to lead off the bottom of the 13th, Hernan Iribarren would walk.  He went to second when a wild pitch would advance him to second. Stetter got tough and got Petit on a called third strike and then up to the plate stepped the Sounds’ nemesis of the nightcap, Craig Gentry.  Gentry already collected four hits in the game when he looped a single to center.  Sounds Center Fielder Lorenzo Cain raced in vain to go after the ball.  Cain doved for it, but the ball fell in front of him for a base hit and Iribarren would score the winning run.  It was the second straight doubleheader that the Sounds were swept in.  It would turn out to be a long and quiet ride to Memphis.  This was not the prelude the Sounds needed, especially with a big series with the Redbirds coming up, starting tonight at AutoZone Park.  Nashville trails Memphis by 1 1/2 games in the standings in the American North.  The Sounds will need to start being more consistent and they know they need to do well in this series to not only hope to seize First Place away from the Redbirds, but to stay tight in the American North race.  One strike away from gaining a split in the twinbill against Oklahoma City, but it was not meant to be.

Adversity can be a big testing factor for a professional sports team and we will see how the Sounds respond from a disappointing loss and not to mention a long bus ride from Oklahoma City to Memphis.  Tonight’s opener against Memphis starts at 7:05PM with Sounds Left Hander Chase Wright getting the nod against Memphis Left Hander Evan MacLane.  Broadcast will be on nashvillesounds.com so please tune in.  Please feel free to write to me if you were among the faithful that stayed up and listened to the entire 13 inning affair and doubleheader.  Always looking to hear from you.  As always, thanks for tuning in.  Hope you all had a nice 4th of July holiday!

Well, I know it’s been quite a few weeks since I have written a piece.  I was just so wrapped up in the daily duties of being in the Sounds Office and Broadcast Duties.  Despite the fact that the Sounds have been up and down, they are still in first place in the PCL’s American Conference Northern Division as of this writing.  It is so nice to see Brendan Katin and Joe Koshansky hitting home runs and the Sounds continuing to be in just about every ballgame. 

During the last road trip, I had the chance to visit Memphis again and saw a lot while I was downtown.  Across the street from the hotel is a nice court square park, where folks can lounge around and see the sites of downtown.  Like Sacramento, Memphis offers a couple of street-level trolleys to get around and man, on those hot days, it’s better to go on one instead of walking around the heat.  I had a chance to see a few museums, including the National Civil Rights Museums.  At the museum, the Lorraine Motel is there for tourists to see.  The reason why I mention this is because, sadly, on April 4, 1968, this is where the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.  He was only 39 years old.  King was in town at the time to support the striking Memphis Sanitation Workers, who were being treated poorly and wanted a chance for a better life and money.  King was caught up in a constant struggle with politics, racial issues and other problems that affected mankind.  They have a ribbon placed at the balcony at where King was shot and the replica of the pair of cars that were parked at the motel at the time of the shooting.  It really brought me back in time where I knew of innocence as a kid, but in reality, it was a harsh time for the country with the Vietnam War raging on and so forth.  King was a symbol as how our country struggled in the 1960s for equal rights.  I don’t want to get involved into too much politics, but this was such an important part of our country’s history and it was a period that could not be ignored.

Onto other things, I saw Beale Street, with many barbecue places and music venues.  It reminded me of Broadway in downtown Nashville.   It was a lively ambience walking down the street.

For the ballpark?  AutoZone blew me away.  One of the best parks around.  It had everything and it is within walking distance of the hotel.  Apartment houses have been built beyond the right field walls and it is convenient for the Memphis ballplayers who live there.

Now that the club is back in Nashville, the Sounds have been happy for many reasons.  After a devastating loss in Memphis the previous Friday, the Sounds came back to win three of four from Round Rock and now the New Orleans Zephyrs come into town.  Besides the Zephyrs, Sounds fans can be happy to see exciting events to kick off July and the summer.  Tonight, the Famous Chicken is in town.  To think it all started for a former student from San Diego State who was walking around San Diego one day and apparently, a General Manager from a struggling radio station needed a gimmick and came up with a Chicken Costume.  Not too many people seemed interested but a man by the name of Ted Giannoulas got the nod to put on the costume to represent the station and thus, a STAR WAS BORN! Since the late 70s, the Famous San Diego Chicken as appeared in major and minor league ballparks and on television shows and has entertained fans of all ages.  I have seen him tease umpires, distract ballplayers and do just about everything to evoke a few laughs! I’ve had a chance to interview Ted and he is thoughtful, gracious and enthusiastic with his time.  He may travel thousands of miles over the years, but never ceases to entertain the people at the max!

If you don’t have plans tonight, come on out to Greer Stadium and you will have a FOWL BALL!  The Famous Chicken is always entertaining fans, players, managers, coaches and umpires!

WIth the Independence Holiday coming up, don’t forget that there will be fireworks shows tomorrow night, Friday, July 2nd (courtesy of Firestone) at 7:05PM and a big July 3rd Fireshows show on Saturday at 6:35PM.  With the Sounds being out of town on July 4th, this is your chance to celebrate the 4th of July Holiday weekend.  Where else is better than the old ballpark?

As a youngster growing up in New York City, I remember doubleheaders at both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium with concerts between and after twinbills.  There is also Fireworks shows everywhere in New York and those are some of my memories of past 4th of Julys!

Anyway, if you can’t make it out to the ballpark, join me and 104.5 The Zone’s Kevin Ingram for tonight’s broadcast of the Sounds & the New Orleans Zephyrs from Greer Stadium.  Airtime is at 7:00PM.  Bring your radio to the ballpark and formulate your plans on seeing the Famous Chicken tonight and to enjoy exciting Sounds Baseball!