8.03.2007

Charlotte Knights

In the grand tradition of the Pistons and (formerly) the Lions, The Charlotte Knights play their games in Ft. Mill South Carolina. Fortunately, given our location at the south end of town, Ft. Mill is closer than the downtown location that the Knights will be occupying in two years.

The Knights are the AAA affiliate for the White Sox, which makes them awfully tough to root for. Fortunately, the Mudhens were in town last night. Dru, Kate, Erin, and I sat above the visitor's dugout in the third row.

The game itself was rather exciting...taking a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th, the Mudhens called on the AAA equivalent of Todd Jones. In between the first two outs were a ground rule double, a single, and a walk to load the bases. A 5'2" nobody with zero RBI at the AAA level cleared them with a double that fell about a foot short of HR status. Fortunately, the next batter flew out harmlessly to end the game, and we could leave with a Mudhen victory.

Here are the pics:

Can't argue with this promotion...
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...or the fact that Hooters sponsored it.
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A few pics of the stadium.
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Players stretching pregame.
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Here's a fine action shot (Brent Clevelen)
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Fernando Rodney walking by the dugout. He had pitched the night before, so we didn't get to see him on the mound.
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Their mascot is Homer the Dragon. He rides an ATV. You really can't make this stuff up.
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This is outfield advertising that you can only find at a minor league park in the south.
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Bazardo on the mound last night, gave up 1 run through 6.2 innings.
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Brent Clevelen with an unconventional looking swing, that actually went for a single up the middle.
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Henry Mateo with the weird stance. He got an RBI double though.
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Timo Perez beating out a throw at home.
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Jack Hannahan not so lucky.
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Me and wattse at the end of the game.
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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Pics look awesome. I really hope a pitcher with the last name Bazardo makes it to the big show. I would definitely buy that jersey.

KDM said...

Bazardo had some good stuff. A little shaky in the 1st (gave up a monster homer and couldn't find the strike zone, but he got bailed out by the Knights hitters), but he really settled down. He threw mostly in the low-90's and seemed to have a good off-speed pitch. From where we were sitting, we couldn't see any breaks on the balls, so I have no idea whether he can throw a curve.