I want credit for having made this prediction first: Chris Roberson will be in Philadelphia before the end of today. And maybe Pedro Swann too.

More later.

*** UPDATE ***

I’m sorry that blogging’s getting later and later in the day, but mornings and noon just don’t seem to work out any more.  For a while, I looked to be pretty good with my Chris Roberson prediction - it had been announced that Chris had been called up with Jesus Merchan and Shaun Boyd (blogger: Shaun Boyd?) being called up from Reading.  That announcement has not yet been confirmed.  I (jokingly) wondered if perhaps Philly was just going to announce call-ups, and then immediately designate the player for assignment.  I’m still looking into this one.

Okay - here it is, mid-blog:

4:00 p.m. The deadline is officially here. Bring on the Chris Roberson in right field era (or at least for a week or two).

3:53 p.m. Jesus Merchan is the player sent to the Mariners for Mateo.

3:45 p.m. Phillies get Julio Mateo (pitcher) from the Seattle Mariners. Mateo has had some “issues”, but has a quality arm.    (scout.com)

Interesting. So, if Merchan was originally headed here, I guess we’re still short a player?  Looking at Reading’s depleted roster, I wonder if Greg Golson (who was just called up from Clearwater) will get jumped again, this time to Ottawa.  For all the complaining I’ve done about Ottawa’s transaction woes, Reading’s been absolutely decimated -

July 31: IF Jesus Merchan and OF Shaun Boyd sent to Ottawa (AAA) … IF Hector Made added fro Clearwater (A) … RHP Gary Knotts signed as a Minor League free agent. 

July 30: RHP Ryan Cameron sent to Ottawa (AAA) … LHP Matt Maloney traded by Philadelphia to Cincinnati for RHP Kyle Lohse.

July 28: RHP Charlie Weatherby placed on the DL with right shoulder inflammation … RHP Bubba Nelson returned from Ottawa (AAA). 

July 27: SS Michael Garciaparra sent to Ottawa (AAA) … Activated Juan Tejeda from the disabled list (strained left oblique, 7/14)

July 26: OF Javon Moran sent to Ottawa (AAA)   (courtesy: rphils.com)

Wow.  Moran, Garciaparra, Maloney, Weatherby (DL), Cameron, Merchan, Boyd - all lost within the last five days.

I’ll keep looking and update later this evening if at all possible.

The usual pundits don’t expect much in the way of movement by the Phillies over the next 24 hrs. - the popular consensus is that either a) the asking price will be too high for what they need or, b) the Phillies don’t have anything of value to offer prospective trading partners.  The name most frequently bandied about is that of Michael Bourn, but he’s lit things up enough recently that many feel it would be tough to get “fair value” for him.  We’ll see.  Personally?  I have no idea.

In case you haven’t heard, fast-becoming-a-blog-favorite Geoff Geary has gone back to Philadelphia to take the place of the injured Ryan Madson.  Considering how well Joe Thurston’s call-up went, this may be a mixed blessing for Geoff  as once again, the parent club appears to be hedging it’s bets; apparently the Phillies are looking at adding Pittsburgh’s Damaso Marte.  Hopefully Geoff’s return to the bigs doesn’t end up in his being “designated for assignment” too.  Ottawa has called up Ryan Cameron from Reading to fill Geoff’s spot in the ‘pen. 

Nice to see the team pick up a win last night in Norfolk - and nicer still to see Gary Burnham get back on track a little with a couple of hits. Oddly enough, tonight’s starter is listed as Ken “Bubba” Nelson (Ken’s been recenty assigned to Reading for those just joining us). Norfolk counters with Doc Gooden. (blogger: I’m kidding. It’s actually Jason Isringhausen.)

Finally, you should read my email sometime. I still find it amusing when people are surprised by my clear bias when it comes to the Lynx. Hey - if you’re looking for objectivity, man have you come to the wrong place! If you want fair, balanced reporting, I suggest you read the Citizen. (blogger: If you don’t want any Lynx reporting at all, I suggest you turn to the other local paper.)

*** UPDATE ***

Just a quick note on Danny Sandoval and Joe Thurston.  As I understand it, if three business days elapse, and no team claims the player who’s been DFA’d, they can then be sent back to the minor league team.  Danny was DFA’d on Friday - which means he won’t clear before Wednesday (presuming Friday counts as a business day).  Joe was DFA’d on Saturday, so we’ll have to hold our breath until Thursday.

Ottawa goes from a solid 1-2 defensive pairing in Danny Sandoval and Joe Thurston on Thursday to having both guys “designated for assignment” Sunday.  Brilliant.  All’s not lost though; earlier in the season Clay Condrey was DFA’d and managed to hang on to a Lynx uni.  Here’s hoping - I’d hate to lose either Danny or Joe.  Other news I missed: Ken “Bubba” Nelson, was sent to AA Reading to make room for Mike Zagurski.

The upcoming homestand against the Jays AAA franchise, the Syracuse Chiefs, gets interestinger and interestinger - besides the A.J. Burnett rehab assignment, on Friday the Jays optioned Gustavo Chacin to Syracuse.  Maybe, just maybe, it’ll warrant more than a “Sunflash” from a local media outlet.

Sorry.  That was just me being a little bitter on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon.

Here’s a few more from happier times - last week at the exhibition game in advance of the Tribute to the Expos.

Keeping an eye on the ball (Photo credit: Tricia Erickson)

Shadowed by Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd (Photo credit: Tricia Erickson)

Low five for the boy from “Cro”. (Photo credit: Tricia Erickson).

Thanks to Tricia Erickson of Cat’s Pride for emailing the photos to me!

Sorry about the extremely late post today, but the rain this morning has really cut in to blogging time.  Cleaning the bike after a heavy rain takes an hour under the best of circumstances, but this morning’s ride was a complete debacle - as a group we had two flats, two broken spokes, and one serious crash.  Good times.

The late post gives me time for a little “live” blogging though - most significantly, Brian Burres, is pitching the game of a lifetime;  he’s currently up 3-0 over the New York Yankees with 2 hits and 6 Ks.  Oh, and he’s pitching against Roger Clemens.  Way to go Brian!

Neate Sager scoops everyone with this little bit of timely news: There’s a possibility that one A.J. Burnett will pitch in Ottawa on Monday, August 6 for the Chiefs as part of his rehab assignment.  It’s an afternoon start which I figured I’d have to take time off for, but in a nice bit of serendipity, the 6th is the Civic Holiday.  Beautiful.  Fingers crossed once again for the 1.05 start.

The Vermont Lake Monsters continue to fire on all cylinders as they sit just one game back of the Lowell Spinners in the Stedler division of the NY Penn League.  They’re curently tied 1-1 with Brooklyn heading to the bottom of the 10th.  Ottawa on the other hand is struggling terribly, and they’re down three runs to Norfolk in the seventh inning.  So far, Joe Thurston hasn’t figured into the action in Philly.

At least for a call up.

Cheerleading begins for Joe.

*** UPDATE ***

I’m going to have start crossing my fingers more often - Smokin’ Joe Thurston has been called up! Now stuff like this does our heart good, you know? Joe was my immediate thought when I read about the Utley injury this morning. I went over to a few of the Phillies message boards I follow, and the reaction to the injury and the possible roster solutions were swift - and decidedly negative. And that was before it was announced Joe was being called up. It’s even worse now (and no, I’m not posting the link - regular readers will be able to figure out the “source” website). I suppose if I was a die hard Phillies fan, I might empathize more in this situation - many of the “Phans” see the loss of Utley as a death blow for their playoff hopes. But is it any reason to completely eviscerate a guy as decent as Joe? My fingers are crossed once again; I’m hoping Joe metes out an unholy a$$ kicking upon opposing pitchers and pulls a complete “Coste” on the Phans.

Unfortunately, moving Joe up has meant that Danny Sandoval has been taken off of the 40 man roster and designated for assignment. The other move which happened today saw Brett Myers taken off the DL - I thought this would result in Clay Condrey being returned to Ottawa, but they sent down Mike Zagurski instead.

With the loss of Joe and potentially Danny, and the addition of Javon Moran, Mike Zagurski and Michael Garciaparra, this will be a different looking ball club when they return home next week.

“When you’re going through hell, keep going.”

                                            Winston Churchill

I think that’ll just about do it for the double-headers, thanks.  There’s no way to sugar coat last night: That was awful.  But what are you gonna’ do?

In brighter news, Ottawa’s picked up a quick OF from Reading, Javon Moran.  When I “googled” for more information about Javon, up popped ottawalynxblog.com.  Seems I blogged about Javon back in March of this year.

From scout.com:Javon Moran is venturing into unknown territory, getting his first promotion to AAA ball with the Ottawa Lynx. Moran, who started his career in the Phillies organization and had a two-year stint in the Reds organization before returning to the Phillies this season, received the promotion on Thursday (July 26).
At Reading, Moran was hitting .298 in 67 games this season.Moran’s promotion was expected when Greg Golson was promoted from Clearwater to Reading on Wednesday. Golson will make his R-Phils debut Thursday night against Trenton.and,Moran has blinding speed and the defensive skills to handle center field. His offensive skills are good, but a lot of scouts think they’ll get even better.

Finally, since I opened the door on the drug issue a couple of days ago, I figured I’d add this last little bit and then close it for good (or at least until the Tour is over - or cancelled).

“Vino is a dirty cheat who they ought to suspend for his lifetime,” Boonen told HLN.be. “He is causing immense damage to everyone. There are so many teams in search of a new sponsor. This case will not make it easier.” The Quick.Step rider was lying on the massage table when he got the news about Vinokourov, as a text message on his mobile phone. “We have all worked so hard,” he said, “we have had fantastic successes with this team, and Vinokourov helps throw all of that away.” Boonen further claimed that Vinokourov was indeed one of the so-called ‘Men in Black’ - a term used to describe professional riders training in plain colours to avoid detection. “I saw him myself, wearing black,” said Boonen. “Gert Steegmans saw him, too. I’m not blind. You know who hides themselves, who disappears for three months and all of a sudden can fly. I have always been told that you can’t question the performances of others. But now I am starting to do that. Even if it makes me crazy.”

“I am a victim of people such as Vinokourov, because I am in the same circus they are. I can only hope that I will be believed when I say that I don’t have anything to do with doping. I underwent five controls before the Tour: four unannounced controls and once after the Belgian championship.”

Of the remaining favourites actually left in this year’s race, Boonen picked Australian Cadel Evans as one of the riders he still trusts. “I have given up my belief in most of the rest,” he confessed. “It is possible to ride the Tour without doping. And to ride and win, too. And Cadel Evans proves in my eyes that you could win it without doping.”

“I only know that the UCI has to do its best. Because it goes very far. I have no privacy any more: I have to tell them every day where I am. Go with that to a court and you will always win. But guys like Vinokourov apparently can’t leave it alone. Then there is only one possibility: you test every god-damned one of them.”

Pray that it never gets like this in baseball or hockey - ironically though, I think some cracks are appearing in Major League Baseball, with guys like Curt Schilling now “questioning the performances of others“.

And then there’s this:

“Michael Rasmussen was celebrating his victory in Wednesday’s epic climbing stage that all but secured the yellow jersey, but no one else was.

The Tour de France race leader was repeatedly booed during the 218.5km march across the Pyrénées by angry cycling fans frustrated by a string of credibility-killing doping scandals that threaten to overwhelm the Tour.” (Velonews)

Which is striking in it’s resemblance to this:

“The fans started booing Bonds lustily before he even took the field, hollering in displeasure when his name was announced with the starting lineups. They let him have it again when he emerged from the dugout and stepped into the on-deck circle in the first but didn’t bat.

He was jeered again when he took his spot in left field for the first time, with fans lining the fence to give their voices a better chance of being heard by the slugger.” (Foxnews)

And these:

July 31, 2007
Deadline (4 p.m. EST) for trading players without waivers in effect. MLR 10 (b)(1).End of waiver period (May 1 – July 31). Waivers secured on or after May 1, 2007, expire at 5 p.m. EST. Major League Waivers in effect between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. EST may only be used for optional assignments.

There’s been a growing amount of speculation going on down in Philadelphia with the upcoming trade deadline.  The first issue is whether they’ll be “buyers” or “sellers” - fortunately (or unfortunately perhaps if you’re Pat Gillick) the team is close enough to the division leading Mets and the final Wild Card spot that I think it’s pretty much a given that they’ll be buyers.  Gillick has said as much:

Right now, we’re in it,” Gillick told the Wilmington News Journal by phone from Clearwater, Fla. “It’s really a tribute to Charlie and the coaching staff and the players. We’ve been operating four guys short in the pitching area, and we’ve held in there. Hopefully, within the next week, we can do something to tweak it a little bit.” (courtesy: scout.com)

So who might be dangled as potential trade bait?  Chuck Hixson of scout.com weighs in:

“Not going anywhere: None of these players are touchable. Possibly if the Boston Red Sox were to offer their entire 25 man roster for one or two of these guys, a deal might get done, but it’s simply not going to happen. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers.

Probably not going anywhere: These guys won’t come easily (or cheaply) for another team, but there is always the chance that someone could be willing to overpay to get them.Shane Victorino, Jamie Moyer.Victorino has developed into a solid everyday player and has also become a fan favorite. He fits in nicely with what the Phillies are trying to do and the odds of him heading anywhere aren’t very good since the Phillies hold him in pretty high regard. Moyer is like having a second pitching coach. He’s got one more season left on his contract and the Phillies want to have him around to help the Kyle Kendricks, J.A. Happs and J.D. Durbins of the world. Keep a bag packed, but you probably won’t need it: The Phillies have a few players that likely won’t be heading out, but it’s possible that they could be thrown into some deal to make it work.Carlos Ruiz, Rod Barajas, Wes Helms, Greg Dobbs, Abraham Nunez, Antonio Alfonseca, Jose Mesa, J.C. Romero, Ryan Madson.

Some teams are looking for catching and Jason Kendall and Jose Molina have already been dealt. The fact that the Phillies weren’t involved in any of those deals seems to point to them keeping both Barajas and Ruiz. Otherwise, the Phillies might have been part of one of those deals and they weren’t anywhere near involved. Helms and Dobbs don’t give a great third base platoon, but they’re all the Phillies have. You could deal one of them, but that would take away some of their effectiveness. Nunez is a nice player and could interest a team looking for infield help. It would be surprising if the Phillies aren’t at least asked about what it would take to get Nunez, which likely wouldn’t be too much.

As for the pitchers, if the Phillies are going to contend at all, they’ll need help from the likes of Alfonseca, Mesa, Romero and Madson. Still, if they give up on making the playoffs, they might be able to get something for them since a lot of contenders are desperate for relief help. Madson is the only one likely to bring anything respectable back in exchange.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. There are other players who have been talked about and could find themselves waking up as a “former Phillie” on August 1st.

Pat Burrell: The rumors have been flying for over a year and they aren’t likely to die down. The Phillies would love to find more of that “financial flexibility” that Pat Gillick loves and sending Burrell elsewhere would achieve just that. The problem is his low production, high contract and that nagging no-trade clause.

With Burrell picking up the pace lately and the Phillies willing to take very little in exchange, it’s not impossible that they could find a trading partner. It would have to be a place that Burrell would agree to go - the Angels and Dodgers come to mind - so they could get past his no-trade clause.

Aaron Rowand: The Phillies have made no attempt to re-sign Rowand, so odds are he’ll hit the free agent market and it will be tough for the Phillies to sign him once that happens. Here’s the thing; if they could pull something together to deal Burrell, some of the savings would go toward Rowand. Since that doesn’t seem likely, Rowand will exit one way or another.

The second part of the equation is whether the Phillies are buyers or sellers. If Gillick decides it’s time to flip the calendar to 2008, Rowand will likely be sent elsewhere. If he’s still taking a shot at this season, the Phillies will have to hang onto Rowand for the rest of the season.

Michael Bourn: Everybody has him taking over in center field next season with Rowand gone. But do the Phillies want Bourn and Shane Victorino to make up two-thirds of their outfield? Not that either is a bad player, but they don’t give a whole lot of power. It’s more likely that the Phillies would look at possibly moving Victorino to center and finding another bat for right field. If Gillick decides to go for it this year, Bourn is an attractive piece of meat to wave in front of potential trade partners.”

—————————————————————————————————————————

Now we know this much: Like most teams in MLB, the Phillies need help in the pitching department.  A deal moving Michael Bourn would most certainly result in Chris Roberson getting back to the OF.  Chris is already on the 40 man roster, so I’d be willing to concede he’s made the Phillies when the roster expands in September.  Here’s where it gets interesting then (blogger: Well, at least for me) - would a trade that sent a pitcher back to Philadelphia in exchange for a position player leave room for a “non 40 man roster” guy like Gary Burnham?  We can certainly hope.  I had a brief discussion with Gary earlier this week and making the roster of an MLB team is still his goal.  He echoed what he told me back on Media Day - “I’ve just gotta keep producing, man”.  I asked him if he was happy with how things had gone so far this year and he first responded that he was generally pretty happy, but he was clearly very aware of where he stood compared to last year in Reading - he recited his HR and RBI stats and seemed a little concerned that they were lower.   Ever the cheerleader, I chimed in that his strike out to walk ratio was good, and he agreed - although he’d be happier if his OBP was a little higher.  But then, what hitter wouldn’t?

I hope to have more speculation ahead of the trade deadline….

First, the good news - Joe Thurston has been named the Phillies Minor League player of the week for the second time this season.  He’s only hitting .341 for July.  Wow.

Another triple for Joe (photo credit: Zechariah Kiiffner).

The bad news (depending on how you see things of course): Randy Ruiz has been released.  I’ve not posted much about Randy, and I’m going to assume that his release had more to do with his numbers (.219) than anything else.   The silver lining to this story (I hope) is that we may see the return of Joey Hammond who was sent down to make room for Randy.

Neate Sager has posted on Randy’s recent troubles, and Peter Toms over at abaseballgeek has blogged about the drug problem in baseball.  My “knowledge” of drugs in sports is limited to the world of cycling.  Bluntly, professional cycling is a sport rife with drugs.  It is absolutely polluted - weightlifting polluted.  As bad as track, or professional wrestling.  Today’s bombshell news at the Tour de France is a cautionary tale for sports like baseball and hockey, not yet (in my opinion) entirely tainted by drugs.  Alexandre Vinokourov, a rider from Kazakhstan, tested positive for homologous blood doping, a particularly ghoulish practice where an athlete transfuses another person’s blood in exchange for their own.  His entire Astana team was asked to quit the Tour and their hotel was summarily searched by the authorities.  Drugs in cycling are not new - amphetamines arrived in the 1950’s and likely caused the death of Tommy Simpson on a particularly hot mountain stage in 1967.  It also brought about drug testing at the Tour, but athletes with the assistance of doctors and chemists found their way around such tests.  Cortisone based steroids (as opposed to anabolic steroids) and hormones (synthetic and natural) began popping up in the 70’s and 80’s.  In the late 80s and early 90s the drug of choice was erythropoietin, or EPO.  EPO, a drug designed to boost the red blood level was a massive benefit to cyclists; more red blood = more oxygen to the muscles.  Unfortunately, its use was widely believed to have caused no fewer than 20 professional Dutch and Belgian cyclists to die in their sleep.  Its use continued though, with doctors learning to regulate the dosage so as not to turn the cyclists blood to the consistency of molasses.  Turns out that the heart, even one belonging to an incredibly fit athlete, doesn’t pump molasses well.

I had a conversation with an Olympic decathlete shortly after the Ben Johnson debacle in Seoul. Back in 1988 he felt that the only way to stop the problem was to begin testing blood, a measure then considered far too invasive. We’ve moved past testing just blood and urine now, and have moved to DNA profiling. And the cheating still continues. What is most offensive perhaps is that these athletes are being aided and abetted by physicians - I don’t care how much ER you watch, it still takes a doctor to transfuse blood.

My perception of baseball is that it is, for the most part, still a clean game. Still, use of stimulants like caffeine is reportedly widespread - in both hockey and baseball. It may fairly be argued that such consumption isn’t strictly drug use. True enough. But it may be the thin edge of the wedge; when a player believes he has to start drinking Red Bull to stay on an even playing field with the guy on the other bench, I think you start to sow seeds.

My hope is that baseball (and hockey) will stay ahead of the drug issue, before it gets out of hand - as it has in cycling for example.  When athletes believe that if they are to be competitive that they have to do what everyone else is doing, it’s over.  That’s the situation I believe you have in cycling; an athlete who is clean has very little hope.  The suspicion, most acutely found among the cyclists themselves is that everyone is using something - human growth hormone, testosterone, EPO, all of the above.  The result is that the image of a wonderful sport, if not the sport itself has been destroyed.  Perhaps irrevocably.

Happiness is an overflowing trash can.  Exiting the stadium yesterday afternoon, I had to work at cramming an empty water bottle into a trash can on the concourse.  It was pointed out to me (blogger: By a person who would know a thing or two about some of the garbage that goes on in Ottawa) that my struggle was a good thing; it was indicative of the size of the crowd.  Indeed.  I had left for an hour after the exhibition game, and when I came back at 1.20 the lot was full.  The concourse was absolutely jammed with people trying to get an autograph or get a word with the former Expos players Dennis Boyd, Warren Cromartie, Claude Raymond and Rodney Scott.

A quick word about the exhibition game in addition to Zak’s fine blogging yesterday.  Dennis still looks like he could play ball, and the competitive fire is still there.  I mentioned to Neate Sager that the man exudes “cool” - he showed up in the dugout with an unlit cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth, and no one thought to mention anything of it.  I expect that Ottawa’s chief medical officer himself would have looked the other way given Oil Can’s presence (blogger: Don’t miss Neate’s interview with Dennis from yesterday’s Out of Left Field).  Warren Cromartie was everything you expected and not surprisingly, quite a showman.  It would have been fun to have him mic’d for the entire game.  Claude Raymond at 70 was the best hitter on the field and a true gentleman off of it - from his quotes in the papers today, he seemed truly touched by the experience of being back on the diamond.  Rodney was a little quieter, but as Zak reported yesterday, had a playful side.  In the meeting after the game he was very gracious, kneeling down for photos with the kids even though it caused him considerable physical pain.  All in all, just about what you’d expect from a bunch of professional baseball players: A nice bunch of guys and decent people.

Finally, I refuse to stop cheerleading for the Lynx as an organization.  Sorry.  Yesterday was the culmination of many long days of hard work and it deserves more recognition than the blog can provide.   Thankfully the media was there and, from what I saw, gave a very positive and accurate picture of what went on.  What most people didn’t know was that part of pulling yesterday off meant a Lynx employee had to drive down to Syracuse on Saturday and again today.  Police services were paid for, extra parking arranged, more concession staff brought in.  You may well argue that this is all part of doing business - and you’d be right.  The problem is that the downside risk for the Lynx is HUGE.  Had the game been rained out, the hard work, let alone the expense would go down the drain as well.  But here’s why I continue to have enormous respect for these people: They keep coming back.  They’re willing to take these financial risks and invest the time of their people.  The list of reasons why they shouldn’t have been painfully enumerated by me before, and I won’t go through them again.  Indeed, I would be the first person to forgive them if they did “mail it in”.  To their great credit, they continue to compete.

At the risk of speaking for others, I believe it is this resilience and perseverance that have caught the respect of many people and fellow bloggers.  Neate could just as easily invest some of his blog time on other sports but he continues to follow and report on the Lynx as thoroughly or better than any media outlet in this country (blogger:  Yes.  Country.) Erin Nicks wears her heart on her sleeve and has publicly stated her allegiance.  Patrick shows up, cheers, blogs and takes more pictures than anyone except John Bradley. It’s more than just baseball for many of us and we know that yesterday didn’t have to happen.

Lynx staff, thanks for yesterday - it was a lot of fun, and filled with many special memories.  More importantly, thanks for still caring enough to fight.  We are enormously appreciative of your time, risk, effort and TENACITY.

I had to wake up early and get ready to get to the game. I found out that I was the only kid there because my dad bid on it, won and let me play. The game was at 10:45 and batting practise was at 10:15. When I got to the stadium, they gave me my jersey. It was black with a Lynx patch, my last name on the back and a number 1. I hit a couple grounders and some liners into left in BP pitched by Oil Can Boyd.

Dennis Boyd, throwin’ BP

It felt cool to hit a ball off Oil Can Boyd. I was the second last to take batting practise. I played in centrefield but no action. When we were at bat, I was leadoff. I walked. It actually would of been a strikeout but Warren Cromartie kept on saying stuff like “that was foul” or that was a “ball”. He kept on doing that until I walked. When I got down to first, Oil Can knocked me on the helmet with his glove. 

That’s interference on the base runner! (And a semi-missed photo op…)

When I scored that inning, people gave me a standing ovation. It felt great. In the field, I played in the outfield again but still no action. After that half-inning, the game was tied at 2. I got up to bat and walked on 4 pitches, and wound up being stranded at first. I played the pitcher spot (we were hitting against a pitching machine), and for the first time got some action. I fielded a weak grounder, threw to first and the first baseman missed the ball, and after that, Rodney Scott kicked the ball unpurpose and got to second. 

Zechariah and Rodney Scott.

He scored. I also got some more action at first base. I caught a throw from the pitcher to throw out Oil Can Boyd. The score was 3-3. I was batting. I walked again, this time on a 3-1 count. When I got down to first, Warren Cromartie said “good eye”.

Shadowed by Warren Cromartie (Photo credit: Patrick Shanks)

I got to third on a flyball that got over Claude Remond’s head. I would score on a grounder. We finished the game and lost 5-3. During the game, I got interviewed by A-channel news. They talked to me about the game and stuff.

Claude Raymond and the boy.

After the game, I got to hang out in this lounge and I exchanged autographs (I even got to sign some lineup cards). It was fun.

Zakky and Mr. Boyd.

When we watched the Lynx game, they won in 10 innings on an RBI single by Brennan King.

The men in black.  We can’t tell if they were having a great time!

I want to thank Andrea from the Marketing Department, Mr. Bostwick and the rest of the Lynx for organizing it and the Expos for coming out. I had a great time.