Another Dollar Monday

And here I am, just back from another Dollar Monday at the Cove. The Silverhawks beat my Tigers' single-A West Michigan Whitecaps 4-1, and it just seems like someone doesn't want me to see any team I root for win this year.

Dollar Monday has to be the best bargain around for entertainment. Tickets are $1.00, hot dogs are $1.00, and pop is $1.00, and even with $3.00 parking, I had an enjoyable dinner and evening of baseball for just $9.00.

The Silverhawks are struggling this year, but they have an absolute beast in Sean Coughlin. He hit a bomb of a home run his first time up, and while it was his only hit of the evening, he hit the ball extremely hard every time he was up. Look at this guy's forearms. He looks like Popeye! He's also hitting .352 with 6 home runs and 19 RBI in only 54 at bats. If he keeps this up, he won't be around here much longer. He'll be promoted quickly, because catchers who hit like this are rare, indeed.

Starting pitcher Bryan Augenstein threw a nice game, allowing only four hits and one run over eight complete innings. Evan Scribner picked up the save in relief with a 1-2-3 ninth.

For the second straight Dollar Monday, someone in the stands has gotten absolutely nailed by a foul ball. Last time a guy got pegged in the ribs and had to be helped up the steps by his wife and mother. This time was worse. An elderly man had to be carried out on a stretcher by paramedics with an oxygen mask on. Please, watch for foul balls at baseball games and for goodness sakes, protect your children. Don't let them run around unaware while the game is in progress!

I met my buddy Rob at the game, and we in turn met some pretty cool people as well. There were some local kids sitting behind us, reuniting after a year away at college, and one of the young women asked me what I was writing. I explained to her that I was keeping score, and showed her how it was done. She said that she'd never seen anyone doing that before, and I looked around to see and sure enough, I was the only one doing it. Throughout the game, she asked several questions about the rules and I patiently explained why runners have to tag up on a fly ball, why a runner crossing the plate doesn't score a run before the catch of a fly ball makes the third out in an inning, etc. and one of her male friends and I talked about China, which he has just now returned after four months abroad. We talked about how dirty Beijing was and how amazing the food was, and generally had a nice conversation between pitches. I think that's one of the great things about baseball. There are natural times during which you can strike up a conversation with people around you and there are plenty of things to talk about inside and outside the game.