RMJ 190 August 24

SUNDAY, AUGUST 24 ● Houston, vs Colorado

Today was Family Day at the Dome. I made a major mistake by telling the event organizer, Gene Pemberton, that my family would not participate.

When Judy found out, she was hurt. I told her that it wasn’t Gene’s fault — that I had opted out of the affair. Then she was upset with me.

We got it all straightened out, and she came down on the field with Ryan. He got the “Baseball is Life” T-shirt from Big Ball Sports with DIERKER and 49 on the back, and everyone had a good time.

This was a lesson for me. I thought Ryan was too old to play in the kiddie game, and as it turned out, he didn’t play. But he did get to pitch, take ground balls and fly balls, and get some autographs before the family-game festivities started.  

Judy’s main concern is that she and Ryan be included. This made perfect sense to me, when I saw it through her eyes.

When the kids’ game started, Judy, Ryan, and I stood on the side and watched, getting a few laughs as the little ones hit the ball off the tee and took off running in all directions. Some of the children ran their own routes, looping and spinning like little dervishes.

One child, Cavan Biggio, hit the ball and immediately, and for no apparent reason, started bawling. He didn’t hit it very well, so perhaps it is simply an example of “like father, like son.”

 

When I got back to my office, Gerry was there. He wanted to review all of our options regarding the setting of the playoff roster. It seems he is still in favor of putting Tony Eusebio on the disabled list and bringing up Richard Hidalgo. This makes sense, if we get Dave Clark. If not, I might prefer the lefthanded bat of Bobby Abreu. We won’t know about the trade until Wednesday, so I have a few days to mull it over.

The Rockies were my immediate concern. They have as powerful a combination of right-handed hitters as any team in our league. I have a lot of confidence in Mike Hampton now, but this figured to be a difficult assignment.

 

At first, it looked like we might blow them out; their starter, Jamie Wright, was extremely wild. We threatened in almost every inning, but we came away with only three runs.

The third run scored because Hampton beat out a sacrifice bunt and later came home on a double-play grounder. Curt Leskanic came out of their bullpen, and he was really sharp, so Hampton had to make the three runs stand for the last five innings.

He was able to do this, in part by making great pitches and in part by making two great fielding plays. He also got a lift from Tim Bogar, who made two exceptional double plays.  

Bogey was playing with a heavy heart, because his mother-in-law passed away last night. After the game, he was heading to Illinois for the funeral. His performance in the wake of personal loss was inspiring.