Friday Observations

The Scorpions continue to struggle as they remain winless at home in July. Of course the team has had only two home games so far this July, but two straight losses at home to start the month - compared to a sizzling 6-0 home start in June (with a mind-boggling 10-1 home record, followed by a dismal 3-9 road record for the month) - doesn't do a whole lot to reassure this fan that the club is getting it turned around. The boys' record in June was 13-10, not exactly stellar.

The Scorps' July record, to date, is 2-3; those two wins coming at St. George to close out the excrutiatingly long road trip, followed by the Scorpions dropping their first two games upon returning home (also v. St. George).

The club returned to Desert Sun Stadium on the Fourth of July to host the St. George Roadrunners. That four-hour hit parade resulted in the Roadrunners claiming a 12-10 victory. Clearly, good pitching was not in attendance for this game, folks.* (And you all know by now how much I harp on pitching.)

Thursday's game started off on a promising note - Tank Peterson hit a two-run shot to give the boys a 2-0 lead. From there on out it wasn't much to witness, offensively or defensively. The Roadrunners showed up to play and they claimed the 6-3 victory. I will say that I witnessed three calls that I would have considered very questionable - two at first base (St. George runner, same player both times) and one at second (Scorpions' runner). Marshall must have also questioned those calls as he trotted on to the field and had some words with Blue. The calls weren't reversed, but neither was the skipper tossed, so along with the negative we take the positive.

The three-game home series against St. George concludes with tonight's game, and by the way the Roadrunners have stepped it up lately (I do think they are a better team than their record indicates) I wouldn't be surprised to see Yuma get swept at home, something that has not happened this season. To be swept by the Roadrunners (5-21, .192) would be particularly painful.

As for other league play:

The Chico Outlaws lost last evening to the Reno Silver Sox by a score of 7-2. Chico's loss would have helped the Yuma side, except Yuma also lost. Story of my life.

The Orange County Flyers, after taking four of five games from Yuma in the latter half of June, are on a downhill slide, falling last evening to the LBALACUSNAIBA (aka Long Beach Armada) by a score of 12-9. The Flyers were handed their eighth straight loss and one has to wonder if some of the bad karma the Scorpions seem to possess has rubbed off on OC. At least the Scorps were able to stop their losing streak at seven games.

OC's loss moved Yuma to third in the standings, behind Chico and Long Beach. Long Beach, however, is on a seven-game win streak. Long Beach travels to Chico to begin a four-game stand Thursday. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. If the Scorpions can manage to win Saturday and Sunday at Long Beach we might see some shakeup in the standings in the next week or ten days.

Some general observations of Desert Sun Stadium:

Is security present at these games? I ask because - and I know right here and right now that I'm going to 'date' myself - there was a young couple (late teens/early twenties) engaging in PDA on the concourse, outside of the third-base tunnel. Call me conservative, but I don't find this type of behavior acceptable in a family-friendly ballpark.

Staff were mingling with the crowd handing out certificates for complimentary hamburgers, cheeseburgers or Double-Doubles at In-N-Out Burger, which I thought was a nice touch. I'm more of the 'grass and greens' type, so I'd appreciate knowing when the team will be handing out the same type of certificates for an all-you-can-eat salad bar loaded with spinach, chard, bean sprouts, cold peas and hard-boiled egg because I definitely won't want to miss that! Or, I could redeem the In-N-Out Burger certificate and eat just the lettuce and tomato. Seriously.

Yuma (and the Desert Southwest) has been in the grip of a severe heatwave the past few days. It was quite comfy under the misters last evening, until they were turned OFF! Couldn't the misters have been left on for two more innings? No misters and no beer sales. Huh.

As far as the jinx on the team, I now no longer think I'm it. It's become clear that whether I attend or don't attend the home games, listen or don't listen to the away games on the radio, and/or I blog positive, negative or indifferent comments it's impossible to predict whether the team will win or lose. The Yuma Scorpions are an oddsmaker's worst nightmare come true.

It's Friday, it's going to be another hot one, my house needs cleaned and my grass needs cut (no fun on both counts) so I think I'll resign myself to the fact that the chores can wait another day (or three, or four...) and I'm going to play on the water. Y'all have a super weekend and perhaps I'll run into you at Silicone Beach Saturday or Sunday. Stop, say hi, and have a cold beer or a mixed drink.

*My seven-years-old son was at the game with me last evening. As always, he'll spend a couple of bucks (mine, not his) and throw the baseball on the concourse at what used to be the speed pitch - now it's just throw the ball sans radar. My question is this: if he can accuately throw that pitch through that opening (which is smaller than the strike zone) why can't some of our pitchers do the same from the mound?