My Trip To The Minors

While the rest of you were watching Aaron Judge, and who ever those other guys are, beat the Rays, I was up in Wappingers Falls watching the Hudson Valley Renegades.

I saw several at bats by the Martian and my overall thinking could be summed up by a phrase I never thought I’d utter, “Where is Bill Bixby when you need him?”

But more on Jasson later.

First off…

Nice park. Nice people.  

Sat four rows back of home. The “rich people seats” well, padded seats anyway.  Two tickets (I went with my best friend from Jr. High) plus parking. $50.   

The best deal was two hot dogs and a drink for $11. Due to some health issues I had to pass. Good thing I brought a bag of Hickory Smoked Mushroom Jerky. 

You can take the boy out of California, but you can’t take the California out of the boy. No, they weren’t psilocybin. Yes, they were fucking horrible.

At least they tried. Maybe I should have stuck with the “Original”

It was Fan Appreciation Day, but I didn’t really feel that appreciated. I mean sure, they played “Thank You for Being My Friend” a couple of times but I would have preferred a free Renegades beer cozy, or a hat sponsored by an antacid. Or just the antacid.

They had several mascot races my favorite was Buzz Lightyear vs. The Gingerbread Man from Shrek (Who had miraculously grown his leg back!) I would have taken a picture but it all went by so quickly. 

They had nine races in all – in the summer – on a VERY humid day. And, since we could see their legs, I quickly figured out that it was the same two people switching costumes during the innings.

I suspect that the final race was an ambulance race to the local emergency room to be treated for heat prostration.

But, and I‘m speaking for the fans here… we felt appreciated and that’s all that counts.

But what about Jasson?

Almost there.

There was one thing that bummed me out. They have banners with the pictures of recent players who made it to the Yankees. They included these two…

Both gone. Waldichuck averaged 18Ks per nine when he was here. 

Now he’s in Oakland.

Well at least we still have this guy.

Special Guests! 

Did I mention that the Renegades had three special guests throw out the first pitch? Well, they did…

Mookie Wilson!  (A Met BTW)

Doc Gooden 

And better than both of them (For a month at least...)… Shane Spencer!

Now that’s what I call showing the fans some love! They were even signing autographs on the main concourse.

Well, for $20 an autograph. $60 for all three (plus a ball purchase). So, not quite love but not abuse either. Somewhere in-between. The lines were long, and people seemed happy for the opportunity. I’ll call it a wash.

OK – Let's Talk JASSON!

He’s not a big guy. 5’ 10”.  Stocky. Built a little like Altuve.

The Good 

He crushed a ball.  I mean out of the park crushed. Into the tree line behind the stadium. 480 at least. The ball made a “sound” off the bat, and I think I heard it scream “Help!”. Serious Power.

The Bad

The ball was foul. He went 0 for 4.  He didn’t strike out though so there’s that. He left so many men on base I thought I was watching the parent club. Hudson Valley lost 6-1.

The Ugly

A couple of times, on balls hit to right center, he gave way to the right fielder. I asked the couple behind us, who were season ticket holders, “What’s up with that?”

They said that he is still learning to play center. Apparently, he takes horrible routes. The ball goes over his head a lot and given that the Renegades were fighting for the pennant it was better to let the Right Fielder take the ball.

Oh.

Sigh.

He’s going to end up in a corner.  You read it here first. I see why he was offered for Castillo. That said, he looked pretty good with the bat. I didn’t see him on the bases or throw.

I’ll leave you with these…

 

 

I hope Doc explained the tax implications to the other two.