Wow, our Tides have had some troubled times since my last post, but they did get a big W against the Bats last night. Louisville has a strong team, so this was a fine showing by our guys. There was also some good news this afternoon from Lew Ford. He tweeted this afternoon and said that his surgery went well and that he is not out for the season. “Blowing Out to Left” wishes him the speediest of recoveries. We also learned a few hours ago that Xavier “X-Man” Avery is heading back up to Baltimore. The Tides report that 16 players now have appeared on both teams’ rosters this season. No wonder we had a few rough outings this week with Scranton and Buffalo.

I hope you were lucky enough to catch Trayvon Robinson’s walk-off homer last weekend. That was a fun game to watch. I couldn’t go to the park that night, but happily Sky4 carried the game. I wish they would carry all of the games. It seems like it would be feasible to carry the home games at least.

The lineup for the Tides is looking good this week. Pridie is on a tear, batting .321. Ishikawa is back and batting .319. Wheeler is batting .316, and Navarro is back with .294. Wood continues to impress and is batting .289. I think this means that we are not going to be 3 games behind Durham much longer. We’re about to make a move on the Bulls again.

Oh, I don’t know how I forgot to mention that Jon Rauch has joined the club. He pitched a decent inning two nights ago in Louisville (1 BB and 1 K). Jose Gil was released that day.

Until now, I haven’t given out any homework assignments, but today I am going to do just that. Please go to the norfolktides.com site and vote for our Tides players for the MiLB All Star Game! Just click through the obvious places on the homepage to vote. And, as we say back where I came from, “Vote early, vote often.” (It’s legal in this case though.)

For extra credit, check in on the MLB draft this evening. It’ll be a chance to see some of our future Tides. I expect that the Orioles are going to have a good draft this year.

Stay safe in the storm tomorrow. -RR

I suppose that the fact that our Tides have lost five straight games is not news. However, it does bear some comment. It’s clear that the losses of Ishikawa, Valencia, Navarro, Pridie, and Schoop out of the lineup were too much to absorb. Plus, Canzler’s bat simultaneously has cooled off in the past week or so. All-in-all, this talent drain has left us with only two players in the lineup, Hoes and Wood, batting anywhere near .300 (.296 and .295, respectively). I have to say that I have been very impressed with Wood. I like what I’ve been seeing on defense and at the plate as well. He’s had some clutch hits and will be a versatile infielder for us.

Stinson was lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree yesterday. He only went 3.2 innings, giving up six earned runs before being pulled. This included a five-run second inning in which the RailRiders batted around. Meanwhile, SWB held the Tides to two hits.

Now, because the baseball news today is kind of depressing, I’ll post another food commentary. A couple of posts ago, I said I’d report back about the Hits at the Park restaurant. I have eaten there twice in the last week or two, and I have to say that it is vastly improved over the last few years. They are advertising that they have both a buffet and an a la carte menu available. That’s partly true. While the buffet is being sold, the a la carte menu is not available. Later in the game, the buffet is taken up, and the a la carte menu is offered. The buffet has been decent. The selection always includes ballpark staples such as hot dogs and chicken tenders. The tenders are quite good, and they have all of the fixin’s for a good chili dog. There are three salads, a starch of some kind (often mashed potatoes), some steamed vegetables, and several entrees. The entrees include a vegetarian and/or seafood selection, a chicken dish, and at least one red meat. These are each served with a complementary side dish, in addition to the others mentioned before. I recommend going on a night when you can get Cajun meatloaf.

The dessert offerings were acceptable. Mostly they appeared to be formerly frozen cakes, and the ones I tasted were fine. They are sold in addition to the buffet price.

So, if you’re looking for something a little different, or a nice way to get out of the weather, the restaurant is a good option this year.

Back to baseball…

Tonight, the Tides are at home again, and Jurrjens will get the start. I think we’ll win this one. SWB is sending Brett Marshall to the mound, and he has not had a great year. The Tides website reports that his ERA is currently 6.11. It’ll be a great night to head to Harbor Park! – RR

I mentioned in my last post that Jonathan Schoop was seeing a back specialist at Johns Hopkins. There has been buzz on Twitter this afternoon that he’s going to California for a second opinion. Some reports are saying that he may have a stress fracture of his lower back. This would mean six to eight weeks of rest; in other words, a return in mid-July at best. According to Roch Kubatko on Twitter,  “Buck says he hopes 2nd guy disagrees with 1st one. Wouldn’t elaborate.” 

This doesn’t sound good, but I’ll post whatever news becomes available next week after the California specialist weighs in. – RR

Well, last night was a tough loss at home to Durham. The weather miraculously held out for the first game of a two-game micro-homestand. Just a short distance from Harbor Park, my office got shelled with severe thunderstorms right at rush hour, flooding parking lots and causing us to wonder if the Apocalypse had begun. Harbor Park escaped unscathed, though. Considering the two rain-shortened games last weekend, this was atypical. The break in the weather last night at Harbor Park allowed Tsuyoshi Wada to get his second rehab start here in Norfolk after his “Tommy John” surgery. He’s looking pretty good, but he definitely hits a wall at about 80 pitches. I have no doubt that this number will improve over time, though.

I also like what I’m seeing from our newest IF, Brandon Wood. The Tides’ website reports that Wood is hitting .341 with eight ribeye steaks in the nine games he’s played with the Tides. The O’s franchise has made several recent moves that will help the Tides in the short-term. Wood’s arrival in Norfolk was one of them. Also, the “X-Man”, Xavier Avery, is up from Bowie, and IF Ryan Flaherty was optioned from Baltimore. Jair Jurrjens is also back with the Tides after starting Saturday in Baltimore. We did lose Danny Valencia to Baltimore last weekend, though. That’s gonna hurt. Also, the O’s Insider Blog is saying that Jonathan Schoop saw a back specialist at Johns Hopkins yesterday. He’s on the seven-day DL and was scheduled to come off of it tomorrow.

Oh, I don’t want to forget a “shout-out” to Travis Ishikawa, who has hit in 22 of his last 23 games.

I am thinking happy weather thoughts for tonight’s game with Durham. Stinson is supposed to get the start for Norfolk, and he’ll go against Alex Torres. Torres will be tough as usual. However, Norfolk has a lot going on offensively now and a strong bullpen to back up Stinson, so I’m looking for a win out of this one. Hope to see all of you tonight at the game. – RR

The Tides’ front office consistently impresses me with the creativity of the promotional events at Harbor Park. For instance, the World Record BLT event last year was, simply put, inspired. However, on May 31, the BLT event may be outdone by what must be the highlight of the Tidewater spring social season. I am talking about the first-ever Tides Soup Cook-off, featuring none other than the Soup Nazi himself as celebrity judge. I mean, who comes up with this stuff? It’s brilliant! You can see all of the details and get registration information at norfolktides.com on the News tab, or email jmensink@norfolktides.com.

By the way, you can’t just bring any old soup to this contest. It has to be one of the soups featured in the famous “Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld. The website lists the five categories: turkey chili, crab bisque, mulligatawny, gazpacho, and wild mushroom.

(Apologies for devoting the first paragraphs of a baseball blog to soup, but I enjoyed reading about the soup cook-off earlier today.)

Okay, so more importantly, there is also a lot of good baseball going on these days, and we need to talk about that. This blog is privileged to be following one of the best Tides teams in many years at the moment. Our Tides have great pitching, and the great pitching has what, in my opinion, is the strongest run support in minor league baseball this year. As an example, let’s look at last night’s contest with the Iron Pigs. Norfolk trailed for most of the game. However, predictably, the Tides offense “stepped up to the plate” (pun intended) with seven runs in the eighth. This is how you get a record of 12-1 in the last 13 games at Harbor Park. Despite the many roster moves over the past couple of weeks, the team is functioning as a well-oiled machine. Valencia, Canzler, and Ishikawa have hitting streaks going, and the Tides’ team batting average is OVER .300.

Do yourself a favor and get out to the park as soon as you can to see this team. Armed Forces night is Friday, so you military folks will get great prices on game tickets. (I think they’re $7.50 and $8.50, unless I’m mistaken.) Plus, don’t forget the Tides four-pack deal at Subway. This is the best deal going. I have four tickets to tonight’s game thanks to this deal.

And speaking of tonight’s game, we’ll see Stinson pitch against Adam Morgan. I expect Stinson to take this one, but you’ll see some runs on both sides.

Since my last post (which was a long time ago due to some unforeseen and foreseen medical “stuff” – my apologies again!) we have seen a LOT of transactions between Bowie, Norfolk, and Baltimore. There are too many to list here, but the notable ones include the rumored start this Saturday of Jurrjens for the Orioles, the arrival of Buck Britton in Norfolk (which puts him on the team with his younger brother, Zach, who got roughed up a bit in last night’s game), and the recall of Alex Burnett and Yamaico Navarro. Steve Johnson and Mike Belfiore are back with Norfolk now, and Andy Loomis is up from Bowie and pitched a couple of good innings in relief last night.

Long post today…thanks for sticking with it. I will be at Harbor Park tonight. Unfortunately, I may have more food-related information in my next blog post as well, since I will be visiting Hits at the Park tonight for the first time this season. The new buffet and a la carte menus look terrific. I’ll give you a brief critique in my next post. – RR

First, let me get this non-Tides comment out of my system.

CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Okay, that feels much better. What a wild game last night between the Reds and Braves though! I had cut out the light for the night thinking that the game was pretty much over, with the Reds taking a tough loss. But Devin Mesoraco and Shin-Soo Choo, to my great happiness and joy, had other ideas. Awesome ending to a well-played game.

Now, back to the reason we’re here. Our beloved Tides had a bit of a rough outing at Buffalo last night, but taken together with all of the good news since my last post, there is not much about which we need to be upset. Ishikawa has had a couple of memorable nights, to say the least. His walk-off RBI single Sunday afternoon wrapped up the homestand in style. Then, there were those two homers up in Buffalo Monday (where, as an aside, the weather has far exceeded what we’ve been having back here in Tidewater). And then, despite last night’s loss, he had three hits, including a two-run HR. I think that makes about 10 or 12 games in which he’s had a hit.

So, now we have five players in the starting lineup who are flat out getting the job done on offense. Navarro, Pridie, Valencia, Ishikawa, and Hoes are looking fine and all batting over .280, and Canzler is not far behind at .268. Therefore, we aren’t surprised to see our Tides at the top of the IL South with a fine 21-11 record. Before last night’s loss, the Tides had the fifth-best record in Minor League ball.

Since my last post, some roster moves have occurred that are worth mentioning. Luis Exposito was optioned back to us, and Zach Clark was outrighted to Double-A Bowie. Luis Martinez was transferred to Bowie as well. And, as expected, Garcia went to Baltimore and had an excellent outing Saturday. He pitched 6.2, gave up only three hits and two runs, and he walked one batter. His ERA is therefore 2.70. So, whaddyaknow, he remains on the active roster for the O’s.

Well, it’s time to get your tickets for “Roll Back the Clock” night at Harbor Park. You’ll want to get tickets early for this promotion since it tends to be popular. Fifty-cent food tends to draw a crowd. This will be going on Tuesday, May 14 so you have a few days left to stop by the box office.

That’s all from here. I need to get ready to go to my Day Job. We have a 7:05 start tonight in Buffalo, but if you are baseball-deprived today, the Keys have a day game in Winston-Salem. It starts 11-ish, and you can listen online. – RR

I’m taking a bit of a lunch break now, and thought I’d put up a long-overdue post. My apologies for being so delinquent in writing any posts this week. As I mentioned earlier, I went to Washington last weekend for the Nats/Reds series, which was, in a word, awesome. What a wonderful ballpark! On Sunday, I had field-level seats behind home plate, complete with full service (they bring free beer and food to your seat!) and access to the PNC Lounge with its free beer and free beautiful buffet lunch. This was an amazing experience, to say the least.

While I was enjoying the view in Nats Park, though, my spouse ended up taking a rescue squad ride to a hospital up in Fredericksburg. We just returned home yesterday from that adventure. Ergo, the absence this week. Things are returning to normal, though, so it’s time to turn my attention back to baseball, at least a little bit.

Okay, so, about those Tides: what a team! What a week to be missing in action! Or perhaps the superstitious among you would prefer that I go back into seclusion from where I came. We are looking at a seven-game winning streak, most recently with an 8-2 win over Syracuse last night. And, our Tides are tied with Durham for first place in the IL South. Valencia, Pridie, and Navarro continue to roll, and Trayvon Robinson hit two homers last night.

While I was off-line, I saw a rumor that Freddy Garcia was going to be called up to the Orioles for a Saturday start against the Angels. He’s still on the Tides’ roster, however, as of about five minutes ago. Zach Clark got the call on May 1 and had a bit of a rough outing against Seattle. He pitched a little over an inning and gave up three earned runs.

Tonight will be a chilly night up in Section 309. Jurrjens will face Rosenbaum. Look for a well-pitched battle between the two teams. Don’t bother taking a blanket tonight, despite the cold weather. The Tides are having a free blanket promotion. They look nice! Tomorrow is another fireworks night at Harbor Park, so there is another reason to head out for a game, as if you needed one.

That’s all for today. Again, my apologies for my delinquency here. – RR