An Afternoon in New Orleans
Daily Log of a Fresh-faced Graduate
April 16, 2013
Long story short: No Mezzy, Don-o dancing, a hella fall off my one-night wagon, hook up with a gaggle of girls, a wild decision to get our palms read, and I wake up a gazillion days later in the heart of the French Quarter with a mind-wracking headache and a hazy memory of a very bumpy ride in the back of a chicken truck.
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To sit in New Frontier Park feels like being on a hillside. The seats rise up from field level in a slow roll, making everything feel flat and open and the sky so huge. Every fly ball seems to be destined to leave Earth’s orb it, and despite being nestled in the center of the business district, the breeze blows the exotic aura of magic. It’s a rare businessman’s special, this Tuesday afternoon game, though the threat of rain and a team that’s 4-9 holds attendance down a bit. According to their program, NFP sits something around 46,000 folks, but barely half that make it here, giving the place an even bigger feel than it should. The park has played to the homer for most of its career, but last season it dipped precipitously. One reason may be that 410-fence to the gap in left-center. Did they move it last year, or did their players just start to suck? I asked Don-o, but he don’t know either.
As luck would have it, the New Orleans Trendsetters are hosting – you got it – Kentucky. The Gods have a freaking wicked sense of humor. My heart dies a little when the stadium announcer says Travis Cruz will be hitting 9th and playing short for the Thoroughbreds. It’s even worse as the dude goes 2-2 with a pair of walks. It’s like he’s everywhere all game long, his QPR serving as my own little annoying reminder of The Girl. Tabito Matsushima grounds out to him twice, once on a remarkable play deep in the hole. Guess there’s a reason the kid won that All-Leather Award a couple seasons back.
True to last year’s form, the game begins as a pitching battle. Chet King drops the Thoroughbreds with a ground ball out, a fly ball and another grounder. Brad Bland returns the favor by getting Fernando Rivera to pop up, Otis Watts to wave at a 2-2 pitch that was probably wide, and José Montaño to pop up on a 3-1 count. King is a second-year guy still adjusting to the league, it appears, but may be getting there. The guy beside us says he’s got control problems, something his 67 walks in 78 IP last year stand testament to. He runs out of gas in the sixth today, being saved from giving up a run only by a kill at the plate. He loads the bases then gives way to Danny Williams, who gets a fly ball to end the inning.
Williams is an interesting looking pitcher. I think he ought to be starting, but Dan-o’s not so sure. His 7th inning proves both points. He throws three straight balls to Rod Young, then three straight called strikes to set him down. Then he fills the count against Cruz before walking him.
All I see for a moment is the image of Mezzy in her jersey. In the meantime, Ernesto Salazar fails to bunt Cruz over, and Williams goes wild in the strike zone and gives him a single to left-center. José Morán grounds into a fielder’s choice, but Williams, probably lacking confidence in his control, groves a first-pitch fastball to Jamie Boyd that he manages to drive into right field for a run-scoring base hit. Williams then bears down and Ks Carlos Féliz on three pitches.
Williams, as I said, is kinda psychotic.
He’s the beneficiary of Roberto Holguín‘s three-run blast to right in the bottom of the inning, and when lefty King King and Miguel Lozano combine to keep Kentucky off the board, Williams is a 5-1 winner. Lozano’s save is his 4th of the year and is a sign of good things for the Trendies. Last season, the team went with a bullpen-by-committee approach. Lozano was signed in the off-season, I assume to hold down the closer role.
I’ll say I come away from a day with the Trendsetters thinking I need to pay more attention. These guys were good until the bottom dropped out the last two seasons, and they have some pretty nice players. Catcher John Ray can’t hit a lick, but his arm is so good that the only time you get to see it in action is when he throws the warm-up toss down to second. I love watching Alexandre Poirier‘s total approach to a plate appearance. The team should assign him to help third-sacker José Montaño because if that guy ever learns to take a walk, he could become a superstar.
The rotation is a question mark, but an interesting one. I’ve always liked Frank Helms, and Chet King and Jesús Costa are an intriguing pair of kids, but I think Ed Mitchell is making a living on the fumes of his 15-9 season a few years back. The bullpen, though, would seem to be a trouble spot. Maybe this is why Williams is there. I guess if I were their manager, I would consider getting him into as many games as possible, too.
Towards the end of the game, I find myself scanning the crowd and wondering beyond hope if Mezzy was a travelling fan, but there was no sign of her.
“Good game, eh?” said my traveling Zen-master compatriot as Trendsetter shortstop Leonard Martin threw out Carlos Féliz to end the game. It was, I realized, time to move on once again.
