Catching C's

The Solstice is cool and all, but the real beginning of summer was the Vancouver Canadians’ home opener at Nat Bailey Stadium. It was a beautiful night, and the newly renovated stadium looked great, attracting a sell-out crowd of 5,132. This put a massive strain on the rookie crew running the beer stand, but they got better as the game wore on.

The Cs weren’t great. Rattled relief pitcher Manzueta gave up four runs in the 6th (his ERA now sits at 27.0), sealing the 10-4 Dust Devils’ win. The local boys have heart, though, and heart’s what you need come September – or something like that. They’ve won their subsequent three games, and are one game back of the Northwest League’s West Division leading Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.

Mayor Sam Sullivan was on hand to throw the first pitch. I maintain that he makes a better pitcher than mayor. The game was followed by a surprisingly impressive 20-minute fireworks show – made all the more exciting by the sight of those having to light the fireworks, running perilously between the explosions.

Player of the Week: Ramiro Mendez, OF The Dominican outfielder’s batting .600 on 10 at bats...wicked. His name isn’t as fun to scream as Correra, but with stats like that, we’ll work something. Heckle of the Week: “Hey Clark, 13’s unlucky to be on your back.” Shouted to Dust Devil outfielder Kevin Clark (#13) after he struck out.