See what I did there? You won’t get a headline like that in the sports section of your major media outlets.
The lights are off at Nat Bailey Stadium for another week as The Vancouver Canadians Baseball Troupe heads out on the road once again.
It was wet and wild last week in the home series against Spokane, with a couple of rainouts getting in the way of the action and futzing with the schedule. Here’s hoping the C’s find some drier weather down south.
As is my custom, and my want, I have prepared a nifty little series preview for the upcoming homestand against the Eugene Emeralds. Our beloved home team returns to the (sometimes) swampy confines of The Nat next week.
Dates: June 14 - 19
Visiting team: I mean, I kind of gave this part away already with my clever and pithy headline, but the C’s will be playing the Eugene Emeralds. As of writing, they have taken over first place in the standings from Spokane. However, it’s only a 1.5 game lead and those two teams play each other this week, so who knows where they’ll stand when they roll into town?
Major League Team: The Eugene Emeralds are a minor league affiliate for the San Francisco Giants.
What happened last time: The last game we faced Eugene they beat us 10-nothing. I don’t know about you, but a side of Revenge would taste pretty good with my footlong hot dog. Also mustard.
3 Facts: In an effort to better understand our enemies, here are three facts about the city of Eugene and their baseball squad.
- It’s the birthplace of the small, mom & pop running shoe company known as The Nike Corporation. It was in Eugene that founder Bill Bowerman poured melted rubber on his waffle iron (or whatever the story is) forever changing everyone’s sneaker game.
- Eugene is home to the University of Oregon, which uses Donald Duck as its mascot. Truly, Disney’s weirdest, pantlessest, and most unhinged character.
- The Emeralds have worn the ugliest jerseys I’ve ever seen in Minor League Ball. Seriously. Feast your eyes on those tie dyed monstrosities. All I can think about when I look at these jerseys is the lettuce that’s slowly wilting in my fridge. I like tie-dying as a concept, but throw some other colours into the mix, darn it!
Special events: This series will feature a fireworks extravaganza on the 18th, a father’s day hat giveaway on the 19th and one of my favourite days of the entire baseball season: The Annual Dog Day of Summer at the Nat.
If you are unfamiliar with Dog Day, it’s pretty simple: It’s the one day where all dogs (and their owners) are invited to the ballpark. You better believe I’m working on a special feature about this joyous day that’ll be coming out next week.
Opposing player to watch out for: Marco Luciano. He’s rated as San Francisco’s top prospect on MLB.com as well as number 8 in the MLB’s top 100 Prospect rankings. Now, I am #notascout, but, in my uninformed opinion: that makes him a pretty good player.
So that’s that. Another series preview in the books. See you all at the Nat next week. Come and say hi! I’ll be the loudmouth behind home plate making fun of any and all tie-dyed jerseys.
