The Cats at the All Star Break

For the next couple of days AAA baseball teams are celebrating the All Star Break.  The Cats originally had Michael Choice, Grant Green and Sonny Gray on the roster but Gray and Green went up to the A's.   Gray has pitched two pretty impressive innings in the Bigs (0.00).  In nine at bats Green is still hitless - but he was at .305 with the Cats.

The Cats team ERA is 4.27.  Their team batting (.269) puts them in the middle of the pack.  The team is 50-47 for the season which would put them in last place in two of the divisions but in the middle in our division.   Their three games over .500 are from road wins. (The home record is dead even.)

There are 22 home games left in the season and 25 on the road.  Saturday night's game was one of the largest crowds ever for Raley Field.   And yesterday's win against Fresno was the first walk off win of the season.  (Jemile Weeks single in the bottom of the 10th drove in two runs to win.)  Last year at this point we had a good collection of walk off wins including a streak where we won several in a row. At this point in the season the Cats could still be in the hunt for the division at the end of the season but the team lacks some conviction compared to other seasons.   The new manager,Steve Scarsone, for the team seems to be a bit cautious in his strategy.

The Cats attendance is at 412,000 for the season to date (8243 per game) which puts them ahead of Round Rock at this point and first in home attendance.   Assuming that they keep this pace up the season would be slightly higher than last season (586,000) but well below 2010 and before.   In 2005 the team sold 750,000 tickets.

Two amenities got added in the park this year.   One is called the Cold Box - which is basically a cooler where you can buy canned beer.   There is a good selection, reasonably priced, that claims to be the coldest beer in the park.   It is sort of fun.    The second are two changes in the food stands, both on the right field side.   First, Subway has graduated into one of the permanent food stands and expanded their menu a bit.   Second, near there is a stand which sells Soba noodles.

The Cats are still a great value for family entertainment.   Even if they do not add to their records of divisional championships, it is a great way to spend a summer evening.