Singing Toward .500

[Coqui]

Singing Toward .500
by Frank Terry, Canton Repository

7/24/2007: Canton, OH - The fans of Canton have finally had a chance to enjoy some weather and, rather surprisingly, some decent baseball. The way the fans have taken this opportunity has been rather unusual. The new trend in Canton seems to have started during the July 17th game against the Omaha Cyclones.

When Canton starter Ricardo Alonso was chased in the 7th inning, Cyclones fans, taking a cue from their classless GM, began to sing "na na na na na hee-eey goodbye." Alonso made a gesture of his appreciation and headed for the showers. In the bottom of the seventh, Canton answered with back to back homeruns from Arron Campbell and Manny Sanchez. Canton fans, caught up in the moment, began screaming the English football anthem "You're Not Singing Anymore".

"I am not sure how it happened, we had some of the English national team in as celebrity guests," said GM Brad Dobney. "They really seemed to enjoy the game and I think they had been enjoying some Great Lakes Ale as well. When Sanchez hit his HR they just jumped up and started singing."



Far from being an isolated incident, the singing in Canton has continued. A weekend sweep of Duluth also featured Longshoremen fans belting out everything from ribald local bar tunes to alma maters from around the area to simply singing whatever seems to come to mind. "I've never really seen anything like this before now," said Canton 3B Luis Hernandez. "After Yawk's [team nickname for New Yorker David Bell] HR on the 21st they were singing 'There's only one David Bell'. It's crazy."
A win over Tempe earlier in the week was also not without its moments of harmony. As the final pitches were thrown Canton fans began a refrain of "You're losing, you're going down and you don't even care", a reference to rumours that Tempe is so bad they will be relegated to AAA next year to make space for a more competitive team. The nearly 30,000 fans on hand seemed to revel in taunting the less fortunate Knights and some stayed after the game to sing Tempe back to the bus.

With the singing has come a surge in play from the Longshoremen. A 6-4 stretch has the organization looking forward with some hope. "Is this year realistic? No," GM Brad Dobney proffered. "Next year is looking decent for us at this point. Eubank will continue to develop, Alonso has been solid and Oscar Holloway may finally have corrected that cranial-anal impaction problem he was having." While GM Dobney was barred from talking to the media shortly after that final comment, it is clear that the Canton Longshoremen finally have reason to whistle a tune.