We’ve moved past all the cautious weather warnings and are looking for a warm week of afternoon ball downtown. Yes, it’s been a little chilly the past few days at the yard but nothing major has blown through and halted the action on the field.

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.

Sometimes the little things hurt the worst, swinging bunts, dribblers up the line and consecutive slap shots that fall for base hits. How’s it go? Oh yeah, “Hit it where they ain’t.” That seems to be the best way teams have found to defeat the Bisons this season.

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.”

There’s not really much shine left in ‘The Diamond’ these days serving as the home of the Richmond Braves and it’s really too bad for an extremely proud city that has heralded its long affiliation (since 1966) with the Atlanta Braves. The Braves welcomed their 10 millionth fan to The Diamond in 2007, took home a Governor’s Cup Championship and then learned the Boys of Summer would not return in 2009. So far, there has been no farewell tour.

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.

• Cooper Stadium, Columbus (1932)
• McCoy Stadium, Pawtucket (1946)
• PGE Park, Portland (1956)
• Cheney Stadium, Tacoma (1960)
• Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha (1969)
• Herschel Greer Stadium, Nashville (1978)
• Dunn Tire Park, Buffalo (1988)
• FirstEnergy Stadium, Reading (1952)

To sum it up, be thankful Bisons fans and embrace the team and the fact you have a true diamond in your backyard.

We have a podcast. Although I have yet to actually download one in my life, I produced one for ye Bisons fan.

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…

Every now and then rainouts are ok over the course of a long season but going into game three, not so much. Then again, of all the nights to have free, the ability to watch the Final Four was welcomed by the Bisons clubhouse when they learned the rain had bumped us to a twin-bill on Sunday.

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.