Clippers 5 Mud Hens 4

Minor League Baseball
Home Team: Columbus Clippers
Visiting Team: Toledo Mud Hens
Venue: Huntington Park (Columbus, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Brandi

Box Score

Cippers 8 Bats 4

Minor League Baseball
Home Team: Columbus Clippers
Visiting Team: Louisville Bats
Venue: Huntington Park (Columbus, Ohio)
Game Time: 6:15 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Brandi

Box Score

Dragons 5 Lugnuts 4

Minor League Baseball
Home Team: Dayton Dragons
Visiting Team: Lansing Lugnuts
Venue: Fifth Third Field (Dayton, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Doug, Deseree

Game Story | Box Score | A Photo

The name of this game was heat. It was hot outside; the pitchers were bringing some heat; their pitches were getting smoked; and some players and coaches got pretty hot about some calls.

One cool thing, though, is that one player for the visiting team, 2B Chris Peters, is a local kid. He had a heck of a night, too, going 3 for 5 with a triple and two runs scored. He looked like a quick, scrappy little player.

This was my first chance to really see the Dragons play this year. I know they aren't having a great season, but I liked what I saw out of them. They were really putting some good wood on the ball, and they were aggressive on the bases. I don't know how many of these guys will ever take the field for the Reds, but it's always fun to go have a look at them.

We ended up leaving after the bottom of the seventh inning. Luckily, that was the inning in which the Dragons took the lead, so we didn't miss any scoring.

Dragons 7 Bees 6

Minor League Baseball
Home Team: Dayton Dragons
Visiting Team: Burlington Bees
Venue: Fifth Third Field (Dayton, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Doug, Shawn, Lyle

Game Story | Box Score

The score was tied at 5 when we left after the bottom of the fifth inning. Leaving a game early is not my modus operandi, but the tickets came from my buddy Doug, so he was calling the shots. And really, I couldn't object--the temperature was well into the 90s with pretty significant humidity, so we were all bathed in sweat the whole time we were there.

And really, the story of this one wasn't so much in the game. The Dragons were celebrating their streak of 815 consecutive sellouts (now at 821, I think), the longest in pro sports history, so there was quite a bit of stuff going on. Before the game, ceremonial first pitches were caught by former Reds players Bill Doran, George Foster, and Eric Davis; plus they had a couple of skydivers land in the stadium during the National Anthem. During the game they had short speeches from Archie Griffin and Magic Johnson, part of the group that owns the team, and a little bit later they did something similar with former Dragons and current Reds Logan Ondrusek, Chris Heisey, and Drew Stubbs, who were helicoptered to Dayton after the Reds' victory over Atlanta. So all of that was pretty cool.

Of course, as cool as all of that was, I was definitely interested in the game as well. One nice thing about going to Dragons games is that there's usually at least one or two Reds prospects I'm looking forward to checking out. On this night it was shortstop Billy Hamilton, who did not disappoint. He had a walk, a stolen base, a triple, and two runs scored while we were there, and also played some nice defense. It'll be pretty awesome to have him manning shortstop in Cincinnati in a few years--dude makes things happen.

Bats 10 Mud Hens 4

Minor League Baseball
Home Team: Toledo Mud Hens (Furbush)
Visiting Team: Louisville Bats (Reineke)
Venue: Fifth Third Field (Toledo, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Rankin

Blade Game Report | Box Score

Getting to go to this game was an pleasant surprise. I was in Toledo for my monthly trip to work in the office for a couple of days. The company I work for has a drawing for tickets to every Mud Hens home game, I think. Our graphics manager won these tickets in that drawing, but she couldn't use them, and since I'm rarely in town and don't get a chance to win, she decided to offer them to me. I'm a huge baseball fan, and any night at the ballpark is a good one, so I was more than happy to take them off her hands. And when I looked at the tickets and realized the Mud Hens were playing the Louisville Bats, the AAA affiliate of my beloved Cincinnati Reds, that was just icing on the cake.

And the Bats did not disappoint, living up to their name with a 17-hit, 10-run outburst that left little doubt about the outcome from pretty early on. Only one of those hits was a home run (third baseman Eric Eymann), but they banged a bunch of hits off the outfield wall. Fifth Third Field in Toledo is a pretty good-sized ballpark, so there's no shame in that. The Reds could use an infusion of offense in a couple of key areas, so it's nice to see that there's some help on the way.

Of course, I was really hoping to see some of the Reds organization's pitching depth on display, particularly in the person of Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban flamethrower they signed in the offseason. Alas, he didn't make it into the game; he'll likely be in Cincinnati before too much longer.

All in all, it was a great night. I got to spend a few hours at the ballpark, my friend Mike came along and we talked baseball pretty much the whole time, and there was a pretty cool fireworks show after the game, too. Not bad for what otherwise likely would have been a wasted evening.

Dragons 3 Loons 1

Minor League Baseball
Home Team: Dayton Dragons
Visiting Team: Great Lakes Loons
Venue: Fifth Third Field (Dayton, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Brandi, Jeff, Mindy

DDN Game Tidbit | Box Score

Tickets to Dayton Dragons games are hard to come by, so it's always a treat to go to one when the opportunity arises. This, however, wasn't exactly an optimal situation. Brandi's employer got a block of tickets in the group seating section, which happens to be beyond the outfield wall in left field. This was my first time sitting in the outfield for a game, and I have to say, it was really hard to pay attention. All of the action seemed so far away. On top of that, several of her co-workers had kids that were running around - a couple of them made friends with us and sat in our laps for a fair portion of the evening.

So, needless to say, I don't really have much to say about the game, because I really didn't see all that much of it. We had a good time, though, and that's all that matters. Oh, and I will say that sitting in the outfield gives an awesome perspective on balls hit in the air, particularly when they're hit hard. Other than that, I can't recommend it.

Dragons 5 Wizards 4

Minor League Baseball
Home Team: Dayton Dragons
Visiting Team: Fort Wayne Wizards
Venue: Fifth Third Field (Dayton, Ohio)
Game Time: 7:00 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Brandi



Official box score

What a perfect night for a ballgame. You really couldn't ask for better weather on April 8. It was in the upper 60s, and I was perfectly comfortable in a T-shirt and sandals. I got there plenty early and enjoyed a cold beverage as the grounds crew got the field ready for the game and the crowd filed in. Brandi, who provided the tickets, missed the first part of the game since she was at work, but she joined me just as the third inning ended.

This was my first Dragons game since Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn were patrolling the outfield back in 2000. Due to their reputations, I had heard of both of them despite the fact they were in Single-A, but I arrived at the ballpark tonight not knowing any of the players. It became apparent, though, that shortstop Todd Frazier was a guy to watch, and that turned out to be right on the mark.

It didn't look good early on. Dragons starter Scott Carroll gave up a run in each of the first four innings, but each situation could have been a lot worse as he managed to work his way out of some jams. The Dragons managed to score a couple of runs in those first four innings (including a solo home run by Frazier), and the bullpen held the Wizards scoreless for the rest of the game, providing an opportunity for Dayton to come back. They did so in the seventh inning, when third baseman Brandon Waring homered with Frazier on to tie it up. The score stayed tied at 4 until the bottom of the ninth (aka "peanut butter jelly time"), when Frazier hit his second home run of the night to send the fans home happy.

Dragons tickets are tough to get, but we're fortunate enough to already have tickets for three more games this year, courtesy of Brandi's work (which is where these came from as well). Fortuntely, though, our seats for further games are in a different location. Oh, don't get me wrong, these seats were great--first row, right behind the visitors' dugout. The people around us, though...the girls to our left, I think, were cheering for any player they found attractive, regardless of which team they were on. The family on our right came complete with a couple of fat little girls who ate from the time they sat down to the time the game ended, and who also had no concept of personal space. I would think the parents might have used the outing as an opportunity to teach some lessons on moderation and social skills, but no such luck. Both groups had the air of people who are there often, as well, so that's why I won't be sorry to move further down the first base line when we go back. And all things considered, it was a very small price to pay for a nice evening at the yard.

Mud Hens 14 Clippers 5

Minor League Baseball
Home Team: Toledo Mud Hens
Visiting Team: Columbus Clippers
Venue: Fifth Third Field (Toledo, Ohio)
Game Time: 6:30 p.m.
Fellow Attendees: Brandi

Blade game report | Official box score

Fifth Third Field and the entire Mud Hens organization is one of the few things that the city of Toledo definitely has in its favor. I've been to a handful of games since the stadium (a near replica of the one in Dayton, which was built first) opened, and it's always a good time. Although I care nothing for their parent organization, the Detroit Tigers, the Mud Hens are always fun to watch.

Never has that been more true than for this game. The bats were on fire from the first pitch, and the fifth inning was the first in which they didn't score. CF Ryan Raburn hit for the cycle, something I had never before seen in person, and 3B Mike Hessman was just a single short of doing the same. The Clippers, the Triple-A club of the Washington Nationals, scored enough runs later in the game to keep things interesting, but this one was never really in doubt. It was an entertaining game, a great night for baseball, and it was topped off by a postgame fireworks show. For just eight bucks per ticket, you'd be hard pressed to find a better value.