A bevy of emotion surrounds you the entire night once the gates are open and a sea of people find there seats and stay in constant motion the entire night. Like most ballparks, the energy is created from the fans but you'd be hard pressed to find more than a handful that remember a single moment of game action. If you ask the majority at the yard that night, "who made the final play?" They'd reply, "The BPO."
Each July 3 the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra provides a rousing tribute to the events that affect (and effect) our lives over the past year and remind us of the events in history that have helped shape our country. While recognizing them is important, the time that is dedicated to honor our service men and women is a moment in every Independence Eve celebration that raises the hair on the back of your neck. This year will be no exception.
Read more about the 2008 tribute here.
This season will also be a landmark of sorts with the overall attendance from this single event surpassing QUARTER OF A MILLION FANS! Remarkable.
A majority of our pre-game coverage will give you a tiny preview of the show ahead and in case you didn't act quickly enough to get tickets, the show will be LIVE on Time Warner Cable SportsNet.
]]>They sat, they cheered, ingested a few dogs then section by section they stood and filed out the gates. Funny watching each color coded section of kids rise and retreat when there chaperone instructed.
The running joke for days like today in the biz... "Thousands saw the game without even knowing the final score." I beg to differ... the masses erupted both times the Bisons drove runs home early in the game. It was clear later when the Bisons turned a few double plays or rallies were snuffed out by the Clippers the majority of the nearly 16,000 watching the game was intent on the outcome.
For the Bisons, the end wasn't as good as the start. But after a day like today when you saw nothing but smiling faces it reminds you how young kids become fans of the game.
Kids do the simple things that make the game the great. They come, they cheer and they go home. That kind of innocent enthusiasm can only be found nowadays in the game of baseball.
Thanks to our young Bisons fans for a fantastic atmosphere. The sun was out and the ballpark was alive again.
]]>After finishing a Pawtucket/Scranton swing 2-5 the Bisons went home, won six of eight and picked up two of the three against Syracuse. I feel the Herd is on the brink of something big.
We've been sensing this team has that ability since the spring training reports. What a difference flipping the calendar can make. Back-to-back starting pitching performances from Sowers and Slocum set the table for wins against the Chiefs after they won the first five head-to-head match ups. Now the Bisons enter a series with Rochester, a team that has dropped their last six.
Make an impromptu decision, get in the car and watch the Herd on the road. Very few fans ever get to see their favorite team play wearing road grays. You do! It's a short drive and you'll get the opportunity to sit close to the Herd's dugout. The players notice and appreciate the support when they glance in the stands and see Buffalo caps, jerseys and jackets.
Bring your radio - Duke is back on the air to open the series that wraps around the weekend. Hope to see you in the Flower City.
]]>The first time, the Buffalo roster was in flux with players in Cleveland coming off the disabled list, going on the disabled list and forcing the first major movement of the year. Over a three day period things were a mess (roster wise) for a club that surged to 15-6 and on the brink of taking over first place.
Pitching is where the Bisons took the biggest hit. Cliff Lee was coming off the DL and Fausto Carmona arrived in Syracuse but never appeared for the Bisons because Jake Westbrook went down and Carmona was called right back to the Big Leagues. Rafael Perez, outfielders Ben Francisco and Franklin Gutierrez were also moved about the same time to the Tribe. All this forced a couple of spot starts and rotation adjustments but Buffalo endured, split the series and kept moving forward and took first place in the division when the dust settled.
Fast forward one year. The Tribe's roster is being shook-up again. Ben Francisco is gone for what appears to be an extended stay if he performs when given the opportunity. And as you heard on your pre-game show, Indians GM Mark Shapiro said he'll have plenty of time on the field. But from what he said yesterday, there have to be more "adjustments" on the way.
The never-ending question of 2008: What to do with Andy Marte? He's out of options and has barely stepped on the field. Add Shin-Soo Choo nearing a rehab assignment with Buffalo and if the Cleveland offense is still M.I.A. why not give a left-handed power bat a shot. One thing is for certain following this first wave of decisions from the deep thinkers, the Indians will make adjustments. Two weeks ago Shipiro said there won't be a panic button until they near 60 games into the season. Also factor in, no single team has started to pull away in the AL Central. This bodes well for Buffalo if no team takes claim to the top spot and Cleveland starts to perform better.
Buffalo opened the roadtrip in Syracuse a man down on the roster but will be full strength when Bronson Sardinah arrives. The Indians signed the outfielder to a minor league contract. Sardinha, a first round pick (34th overall) of the Yankees in 2001, hit .323 (10-31) with a 2B, 3B & 5RBI in 8 games for AAA Tacoma this year after going to big league camp as a non-roster invitee with Seattle. He spent seven seasons in the Yankees system from 2001-07 and appeared in 10 games last year in the Bronx (3-9, .333, 6RS, 2RBI) and owns a minor league career batting average of .267 (839-3146).
Technically it's the second free agent signing of the year, following Jason Stanford's return. Last year Cleveland singed four free agents during the season: Eric Dubose, John Koronka, Scott Elarton and Russell Branyan.
As for our trip back to the Salt City, for the moment it seems as shaky as the one a year ago. But there is one thing that adds certain calmness. The simple addition of natural grass has made a cold and less than friendly structure feel much more hospitable. Now I wish the Chiefs would be as welcoming.
]]>Nope, it's an off day.
This is off day is different than most. Most of the time there isn't much "off" on an off day. The majority of them are spent in a bus or airport moving from one place or the next. This one - smack dab in the middle of a homestand. Brilliant for everyone associated with the Herd.
Without hours of travel bogging you down you can set up a plan and enjoy your day off. Barbecues, a trip to the Falls, pick up the house/apartment, time to run errands and trying to scale the mountain of laundry that's built up the past four weeks is pretty much on the list of things to do around the clubhouse. Once the day is over, then it's back downtown to get things rolling again.
Here are a few Bisons Bits before we get underway tonight... RHP Rick Bauer has pitched scoreless baseball in 10 of his 11 outings. His 5 saves are T4th most in the International League...Jordan Brown leads the International League with 11 doubles...Jason Stanford is 0-1 with a 1.86ERA in his two games since joining the Bisons...Aaron Herr has 14RBI in his last 14 games. He leads the Bisons with 17 runs driven in... Herr and OF Brad Snyder are tied for the team lead with four homeruns.
Oh look, later in the year back-to-back off days... imagine how weird that's going to be for everyone.
]]>We compare notes and vent about our jobs through the ups and downs. We all have days that are routine and days you'd rather mail it in and find a beach with a swim up bar.
Yesterday was a rather chaotic day in the office to say the least. The night before, a tough loss with the walk off home run (read/hear below) but looking back that became to the least of the worries for the "boss," Torey Lovullo.
In the past 72+ hours it all stirred up like this: Jake Westbrook lands on the disabled list with the Indians, Ben Francisco takes his spot in Cleveland, Jeremy Sowers will leave the Bisons and start for the Tribe Saturday against the Yankees on Westbrook's day to throw. Francisco is expected to return to the Herd with Sowers moving up. So far so good until the Indians get rained out in Kansas City and played a double-dip Thursday. Insert a possible move for Aaron Laffey on Monday following a 50 pitch session in his start last night. Then you have to throw this into weekly TPS report: Sean Smith is deemed healthy (after four starts?) and is officially traded to Colorado to complete the deal from December. Then Jason Stanford walks into the Bisons clubhouse.
We've heard the "company line" before, "that's why Big League clubs have their Triple-A teams ready at a moments notice for things like this. Their role is to keep the best possible options to continue the parent club's success." I'll add one more cliché here: That's the nature of this (Triple-A) business.
With Stanford arriving he'll take one of the THREE open slots in a five man rotation and keep the Bisons from holding open tryouts for a starting pitchers. Stanford will start for the Bisons on Friday night and appear for a record eighth consecutive season with Buffalo. His start will provide some stability into a rather jumbled past few days.
One thing is certain. The Bisons will be open for business tonight but be patient for awhile because we'll be a little short staffed.
I have to run and call my pilot friend. He'll be shocked I'm calling to just say "hello" for a change and not asking him to explain why "air congestion" in Boise delays our flight in Boston for half the day.
]]>Those types of endings are exciting for a broadcaster but can wear on a team. Now, for the third time this season we've seen a team celebrate around home plate snatching a late win. The first victory happened in the season's opening series when Mike Constanzo slapped a base hit in Norfolk with the bags packed, the second came on Monday with Jeff Bailey sliding underneath the catcher in Pawtucket and the latest from the bat of Brett Gardner of the SWB Yankees, over the right field wall.
Baseball clubhouses should be more fun following games not desolate with the only sounds from bags being packed, Baseball Tonight blaring out of a TV and the clubbie running a vacuum. There should be laughter, the music genre of the day from a stereo and an overall light mood from the elite within those walls.
It will be fun again, in fact as early as the next day. That's baseball. Men conditioned to step out the stadium door forget the troubles from the field of play and return the next day with a new focus of success.
Kudos to the fans that didn't press the panic button on Friday night and bail because of the "weather" and welcomed back the Herd, only one shower limited your comfort level, but you were thirsty anyway.
After spending the first eight days on the road I've realized how much I enjoy calling a game in Buffalo. The reasons are vast and I'm even more excited about the season ahead than I was for my first (2007).
It's late and we arrive to the park early Monday... Cheers.
]]>Over the first six games of the 58 hits surrendered only 11 have been extra base hits. The good news is the team is not beating itself. The pitching staff has issued the second fewest walks in the league, but yes, errors have hurt. Now, the most in the league at 11 but I shift blame to the misery Mother Nature has moved south. But there's hope, the Bisons will welcome temperatures near 80 on Thursday making for a 40 degree rise in mercury from the time the Bisons arrived in Virginia.
And with the warmer weather approaching you can expect the club to heat up as well. Outfielder Brad Snyder told us in the post game Tuesday, "We're going to win a lot of games this year... we're going to get it going, our bats are going to take over, the pitching is solid and I'm sure it's not long before were running on all cylinders."
]]>The bad news just keeps compounding itself for a once proud park. Last night they announced a little over 1,400 tickets sold and followed it up with actual attendance: fewer than 300. Yes it was a wet, cold and desolate place to play and we can't expect any changes in the coming games over the series.
No stadium upgrades (Rochester lost a game Sunday because there were holes in tarp and the water ran through), improvements that need to be made are just kept operational - including a pipe above the visiting radio booth that saturates the floor putting our equipment at risk and by the summer will have a putrid stench that is already starting to linger.
Bisons skipper, Torey Lovullo, Bob Black (my broadcast partner for the series and Richmond resident) and I talked Monday before the game that this park and Columbus once served as the flagships for the league and now both will now be gone by 2009. The sheen of the new parks has made older facilities obsolete and its start can be traced all back to the incredible development that went into the big ballpark in downtown Buffalo.
In fact, Dunn Tire Park (1988) is the only facility newer than The Diamond (1985) to host more than10 million fans and over all, only eight hold the honor in all Minor League Baseball.
Each Sunday on the network listeners will be the first to hear a new feature that is available at Bisons.com. The weekly podcast is one of the many features added this season to the Bisons Baseball Network and Bisons.com and I think it worth its while for every Bisons fan.
You'll hear comments from the coaches and players with a mix of highlights from our broadcasts. The cool part, you don't have to download it every time to your player. Play it online or subscribe to our podcast, then let the machine do the work for you.
Now, if I can just figure out how to take advantage of my own creation...
]]>Don't expect UCLA alum's Torey Lovullo and Ben Francisco to sulk over the loss but you can expect plenty of ribbing from others around them after they cheered their team's run over the past few weeks.
It's a night off before two Sunday. We'll visit then.
]]>Following a Ben Francisco leadoff single in the ninth, Jordan Brown and Ryan Mulhern work walks to load the bags and the pressure was on Norfolk. Brad Snyder came to the plate with one down and lined a sac fly to center to easily score Francisco from third. Edward Mujica came out of the pen - easy as 1,2,3 in home half of the ninth. Buffalo win.
Here are some interesting numbers over the first two games that illustrate how strong the Buffalo lineup has been so far.
Game 3 of the series is tonight in Norfolk. Pregame at 6:55, first pitch at 7:15 and it looks like we'll have to battle showers (100% chance) but hopefully we can avoid a getaway day twin bill tomorrow.
]]>Nothing out of the ordinary from the ballgame last night, although it was surprising the Tides out hit the Bisons, but you would have never guessed it watching the game. Be sure to hear Aaron Laffey and Torey Lovullo's comments following the game on the righthand side of the game story page.
]]>"Inside the Herd" was there for the team's first workout and caught up with Lovullo and a few players to talk about the upcoming year. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FEATURE.
Remember, "Inside the Herd" will feature several video features throughout the season, giving Bisons fans an inside look at their favorite players. There have already been several features this year. CLICK HERE to view all the "Inside the Herd" features.
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