The Victory Lap

How do you describe the fourth home game in a series? (actually this was a different game than the last three against Salt Lake) This turned out to be the final game of the PCL championship which keeps the Rivercats' streak of never having been defeated in a Championship series game. We won 4-3. Tony D probably kept Brad Knox in one batter too many Fernando Tatis scored three runs in the top of the eighth with his home run. But those runs were not enough to match the fourth inning play of the Cats;where for one out the Cats scored four runs. In the top of the eighth Jesus Feliciano was thrown out of the game - I am not sure why he beefed what looked like a third strike. And then there were the fans - in it pumping up the players for the whole game.

The crowd was electric - as they were in the last three games of the Salt Lake series - although this one had 14,414 fans in attendance - it was the most crowded I have seen the stadium this season - indeed on the outside before the game - the signs suggested a sellout.

Between them Knox and Blevins had a total of 87 strikes on a total of 131 pitches. Colamarino got two more RBIs in the series. And in this game we had no homers. We had six hits, the Zephyrs half that. They had two errors. But then there were the fans who stayed with the game for the full nine innings. In our section, the Thunder Sticks became an opportunity to make improv jokes with a prop. Some of those were even funny.

But then there were the fans - electric as they were in the Salt Lake series. I do not even care that I will have to wait until April 11 to see more Cats ball. And then there were the fans.

Branch Rickey, Jr. as league president presented the trophy to Art Savage. Both mentioned the fans. So did Tony D. They should have.

On a spontaneous effort the players did a victory lap for the fans - and then there were the fans. Ultimately, and what I learned from the last two series of games, is that baseball is an interactive sport.