Author: Dugout Tales

NorCal ⚾ lover covering the Pacific Coast League. Freelance by way of Sacramento. Sarcasm & unapologetic honest opinions. First book, "Let's Get it All" available now!

Darth Dinger

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May the fourth be with you… and also with you. Wait, are we in a galaxy far, far away or at church? Nevermind that, Happy Star Wars day everyone!! Who else agrees with me that Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker, was the best film of them all? Pew! Pew! I’m glad your shooting is as good as a stormtroopers, that was close. Really though, I love Episode IX.

One month of what would be 2020 baseball season is in the books, and virtual baseball games just don’t cut it for me. This week I decided to turn back time to what was April 2019 for the Sacramento River Cats.

Opening night 2019 would start the season with a wild extra inning game. It would be the first time in River Cats history that the home opener would go into extra innings, and ended with catcher Aramis Garcia sliding head first into home to just beat the tag and walk-off the game! Little did we know that this would be the making of an amazing season, especially as the Las Vegas Aviators would dominate the entire Pacific Coast League in April.

The first homerun of 2019 would come the next day off the bat of Stephen Vogt, and Carmichael native Zach Green, who came in to replace an injured Ryder Jones on opening night, would get off to a blazing start by hitting .500 with two home runs in the first four games. April would also start to put the name of some guy named Yas… Ya… Yaz… Uh… Yastrzemski in the minds of River Cats fans, and although many could say it, not a whole lot could spell it… for now.

Despite the hot offensive start in all of baseball, River Cats pitching was ice cold. Six of the first seven starting pitchers would fail to pitch more than four innings. Then there was Tyler Beede whose dominance was overshadowed by a bullpen that couldn’t hold a lead, and players who couldn’t field or throw a ball.

Halfway through the month of the River Cats were a dismal 6-7, and four of those losses were to the Aviators who were an amazing 10-2 at this point of the season. April would also mark the return of Mac Williamson to the River Cats lineup after being sent down early by the Giants to make room for Kevin Pillar. Williamson was a favorite of manager Bruce Bochy and barely made the Giants roster out of Spring Training. Although the writing was on the wall that the front office no longer wanted Williamson, Mac would go on a tear that would force the Giants’ hand to bring him back to the big leagues.

Saturday April 20, 2019 was one of the most memorable nights of the young season. The River Cats celebrates 20 years of baseball with throwback jerseys which featured the classic pinstripes they wore from 2000-2002. This was also the first locally televised game of 2019 and the fans in the stands and at home were treated with a total of eight home runs between the two teams which included six River Cats home runs between five different players. This would be the most homeruns the River Cats had hit in a game since June 17, 2009 when they hit eight! The best catch I’ve ever seen at Raley Field happened that night as Mike Yastrzemski climbed the wall in right centerfield on the run and extended his body halfway over the fence to rob Salt Lake’s Matt Thaise of his second home run of the night. It was a catch that should have been on sports center. The fans also got their first look at Sam Selman who worked two innings and struck out four. 2019 would become a dream season for Sam that would include a Triple-A all star game appearance and his Major League debut later that summer.

There were some promising moments in April, but there was also a lot of bad. How bad you might ask? On April 27, 2019 the River Cats FINALLY ended a 10-game streak in which they committed at least one error, which included a game with three errors, and a league leading 30 errors. The game on the 27th was only the fifth time that season in which the River Cats had not committed an error. To make matters worse, the River Cats were 4-1 in those games.
The River Cats ended April 2019 atop the Pacific Coast League Pacific Northern Division, two games ahead of the Fresno Grizzlies, with a record of 13-12. Tyler Beede was without a doubt the team’s best pitcher as he was 7th in the league in both ERA with 1.99, and WHIP with 1.06. Mac Williamson was the team’s hottest hitter and ranking 10th in the league with a .373 average, and leading the team in both home runs and RBI.

I hope you enjoyed our little trip down memory lane. It was a tough start to 2019 but in the end it was a dream season. On a side note I attended the May 4, 2019 game as both a journalist, and a fan. My Aunt Francis, and cousins Florence and John came out to enjoy the game with me as the River Cats took a no hitter into the fifth inning. It was an interesting insight to view a game from both perspectives in the same night. Look for my book in the fall to see how it all played out.

Pigskins + Cowhides: A Tale of Two Drafts

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I don’t care much for football, I never really have. If you were to ask me who my favorite football team was though, I would quickly tell you it was the Denver Broncos. The reason for this is simple; my oldest brother attended Cal during the years John Elway played for Stanford and the rebellious five year old in me became a lifelong fan of the Cardinal. I would later find out that Elway spent a summer with the Oneonta Yankees so in a way my fandom still was rooted in baseball.

We are now in early May and there is still no sign of baseball, and out of desperation I decided to tune into the NFL’s “virtual draft” last week. There was Roger Goodell live from his basement, virtual boos and all, announcing the picks. I tuned in mainly to see who would go #1, and also to see who the Raiders, and 49ers would select. The lowly Cincinnati Bengals, who at 2-14 the previous season, had the first pick and selected LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow was considered a no brainer after the amazing season he had in 2019. Prior to the season, Burrow was considered a fringe player and Mel Kuiper had slotted him as a potential 6th round pick after a very pedestrian 2018 campaign.

Now a senior, at age 23, he became the fifth oldest player ever selected #1 overall. Burrow’s story is one that dreams are made of: but what about the nightmares? Although still going in the first round, and still a very respectable #5 overall, Alabama’s quarterback Tua Tagovailoa who was the long time favorite to go #1 slipped to the Miami Dolphins. Injuries over the past year gave teams something to worry about but the Dolphins gambled at #5 based on what he could do when he is healthy. To be clear he has been medically cleared to play football now. It will be interesting to see how both of these players’ careers unfold. Honestly I’m more intrigued with the #2 overall pick, Ohio State defensive end Chris Young. The commentators couldn’t say enough about Young and labeled him a “generational player” who can change the Redskins defense. It was also fun to see his teammate Jeff Okudah go #3 to the Detroit Lions. This pick made it the first time in history that the top 3 picks had all been teammates as Burrow played for Ohio State prior to transferring to LSU. I’m still not a football fan, but as a sociology major these stories fascinate me and the draft kept our mind off of the real world for a few hours, and although it didn’t cure the suffering, it allowed us to feel normal.

The Major League Draft is scheduled to start on June 10th, just a little over a month away. I don’t know if the world will be back to “normal” by then, but I hope that Major League baseball takes a page from the NFL Virtual Draft. I found it much more exciting and natural to see the player’s reactions when their names were called and the real emotions they shared with their families. Yes, you see that during the MLB draft, I vividly remember watching Tyler Beede, Kyle Tucker, and Brady Aiken celebrate their selections with friends and family but those moments are spoiled a little for me by those who attend in studio. An exception goes to the 2009 draft when Mike Trout was the only player to attend the in-studio draft in which was also the first year of MLB network. Honorable mention should go to Courtney Hawkins and his backflip in 2013.

The draft is the realization of one dream, and the beginning of another. One thing that this NFL draft has over the MLB draft is that due to the pandemic, the 2020 amateur baseball season has come to a grinding halt. Where as in college football Joe Burrow went from a potential 6th round pick tp #1 overall in his senior year is remarkable, but baseball players, especially college seniors didn’t get that opportunity. These”fringe” players may have had their careers come to an abrupt end, especially as Major League Baseball is considering reducing this year’s draft to only five rounds.

So what about Spencer Torkelson? Going back to before last years draft, the Arizona State outfielder was considered the hands down #1 overall pick for 2020. During the MLB season I even saw fans of losing teams hope that their teams would “tank for Torkelson”. Will Torkelson still go #1? Who could have stepped up in 2020 and changed their destiny? No matter who goes #1, I’m excited to hear Rob Manfred say… “with the first pick of the 2020 Major League draft. The Detroit Tigers select…”