April 5, 2013

After a disappointing 2013 season opener on the road against Canton in frigid Svab Memorial Stadium, the Kalamazoo Badgers returned home to a near-sellout crowd at Portage Park to host the Palm Springs Codgers.  The 34,938 hearty souls that braved the numbing 37° temperature were treated to a 15-run, 17-hit offensive barrage that made the anemic efforts of the Badgers first two contests in Canton seem like a distant memory.

The Badgers fell behind 1-0 after the Codgers plated a run in the top half of the second.  This proved to be the only scoring that Palm Springs would do, as Mike Brown settled in for 7 innings for his first start of 2013.

The Badgers’ offensive outburst began when they responded to the Codgers’ run by scoring 11 times in the bottom half of the second frame.  The inning began with one of the newest Badgers, Gerardo Soto, drawing a base on balls.  Soto was followed by back-to-back singles collected by Alfonso Martínez and Álex Martínez, which loaded the bases and set the stage for Henry O’Halloran.  O’Halloran worked the count to 3-and-0 and, with nowhere for Leslie Johnson to put him, sat on a fastball which he promptly deposited over the left field wall for a grand slam.  The early Codgers lead was quickly erased, with the Badgers now sitting on a 4-1 lead and still no outs in the bottom of the second.

Following O’Halloran, Quincy van Tiggelen flied out to fairly deep center field for the first out of the inning.  The offensive barrage continued with Raúl García lining a single to short left and then moving to third on a groundball double down the left field line by Dave Bates.  This set the stage for Joel Swedlove to turn on a 1-0 breaking pitch, sending it 422 feet over the right-center field wall for a three-run round tripper.

With the Badgers now leading 7-1, the Codgers brought Dave King in to replace Johnson and to face John Collins, who he walked on five pitches.  The Collins walk was followed by consecutive singles from Soto and Alfonso Martínez, and an RBI single by Álex Martínez.  The bases were now again loaded for O’Halloran, who was coming up for the second time this inning.  This time, O’Halloran cleared the bases with a line drive triple to center field, giving him 7 RBI, all in the second inning.

Bob Todd was brought in to finally quell the rally.  The inning finally ended with the Badgers scoring eleven runs on ten hits, taking a commanding 11-1 lead after two full innings of play.

Kalamazoo scored two more runs in the third, followed by single runs in the fourth and sixth innings for a total of 15 runs.  O’Halloran picked up another RBI on a ground out, ending the game with eight RBI.  Il-gyung Yi was able to hold the victory for Brown, going an inning, striking out two and giving up one hit.  So even though the temperature here in Kalamazoo was not much warmer than in Canton, the boys from Kzoo  warmed the spirits of the Badger Faithful, notching their first victory of the 2013 campaign in convincing fashion in the friendly confines of Portage.

Attending his first home game as the new owner of the Badgers, Harry Bell was seen giving high fives all around the newly remodeled owner’s box at Portage Park.  When asked how it felt to win the home opener, Bell responded, “It feels good.  I have lofty expectations for this club, so this is really no surprise.  This is simply the first step of our journey to turn this franchise into a winner.”  In an obvious hurry to depart, Bell continued, “The front office team is clearly aware of my expectations.  I will leave it to them to do what it takes to achieve my directive.  You do know it is my birthday tomorrow, don’t you?”  With that, Bell disappeared into the crowd, heading towards the private parking area.

It’s good to get the home opener in, especially on a winning note, but it will be interesting to follow along as the 2013 version of the Kalamazoo Badgers build towards a winning record.  Harry Bell is certainly making his expectations crystal clear, which, no doubt will put unbearable pressure on the front office, as well as Martyn Steger and his coaching staff, to win and win real soon!

That’s it from Portage on this early April day.  Till next time.