I spent this evening at Siebert Field on the University of Minnesota campus watching the Golden Gophers baseball team take on the North Dakota State University Bison. It was the second Gophers game I have attended at Siebert this year and my 23rd ballgame of the season. Watching Northwoods League games last summer got me more interested in college baseball. The guys play their hearts out and you can get a really good seat, and I'm talking 'you can see a curveball curve' good, for five bucks. The only defect in the college game is the use of aluminum bats. The speed at which the ball comes off the bat is dangerous to the players and there is no romanticism about 'the ping of the bat.' This one flaw is the reason baseball is the only sport in which the college game is not better than the pro version.
The Gophers won 10-4 with Dan Lyons and Kevin Carlson each hitting 3-run home runs.
A little comparison:
10/21/2006 - Football - Minnesota 10, North Dakota State 9
5/2/2007 - Baseball - Minnesota 10, North Dakota State 4
Yes, the numbers on the scoreboard are correct. The Gophers baseball team scored as much as the football team did against NDSU. And the Gophers baseball team held the Bison to 5 fewer runs.
Minnesota is not a football school! Hockey rules around here and nothing short of a few trips to the Rose Bowl will change that.
Back to the ball team - The Gophers look really good this year. They are now 31-8 and are second in the Big Ten behind #22 Michigan. Here's hopeing the Gophies make a run deep into the post-season.
M!-I!-N!-N!-E!-S!-O!-T!-A! MINNESOTA! MINNESOTA! YAAAAAAAY GOPHERS!
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment