Why do you suppose-

that Dave Baggott, the owner of the Ogden Raptors Baseball Club called me this afternoon? And why did I miss his call since my phone was in my pocket all day?

Honestly, I have no idea why he called. I may find out tomorrow since whoever took my return call this afternoon wrote down my info and said he would pass it along.

You don't suppose he has a job for me do you? I could play Oggie, the raptor mascot and dance on the dugouts!

UPDATE: Dave called me. Apparently I left a message months back related to Ogden Clear Headlights and he was just clearing off his desk. He did offer me a killer advertising deal that I would love to be able to take him up on for my little 1 man business. The deal included 2 concourse banners, 1 each on the left field and right field concourse walls, a 30 second advertising spot on each radio broadcast of the games and enough ballgame tickets that I could attend every game with all my friends.

I really need a logo and just a few hundred bucks! I wonder if I did afford this opportunity if it would boost my sales. It would be some real advertising, something I haven't afforded so far and I would love to be a Raptor supporter, so this is a very tempting offer.

Raptors win!

Now THAT was a baseball game! After getting their butt kicked last night by the Orem Owlz, the Raptors kicked back today, even after going down 7 runs in the first inning, battling back to a 12-9 win! Woot!

Next week it is the Pioneer League championships against Helena with the first game in Montana on Tuesday and the final 2 games back in Ogden. I'll see you there Thursday night!

Ogden Raptors drop a slugfest...

Dang!

Well it is the end of the minor league baseball season and my beloved Ogden Raptors finished first in the Southern Division of the Pioneer League for both the first and second halves of the year, putting them squarely into the best of 3 playoffs for the Southern Division this year against the Orem Owlz. Friday night they beat the Owlz in Orem, 2-1 in the top of the 9th inning. Since the 2nd game was to be in Ogden last night, the BSU and I had to attend, hoping to see the Raptors close out this series with 2 straight games.

It didn't happen like that... Instead we got a marathon ball game that ended 17-10 in favor of the Owlz. The game lasted more than 3 1/2 hours and the Owlz nearly emptied their bullpen, putting 4 different pitchers into the 7th inning! At one point, the Raptors actually scored 6 runs in an inning putting them into the lead but the Owlz kept coming back and through some good hits and baserunning and some poor fielding by the Raptors, they kept putting runs on the scoreboard.

I guess the Raptors really didn't want to take today off to relax so they have to finish the 3 game series this afternoon. It's only 5 bucks for a seat so I'm going back to see if my team can find a way around the Owlz 1 more time this year. If they win, there's a Pioneer League championship series beginning next week for them to apply themselves to before ending their season.

Opening night of Raptors baseball

Summer is officially here. Everything is perfect except for being 3 runs down right now.

Sent from my iPhone.

UPDATE: Final score- Orem Owlz 6, Raptors 0. At least the Raptors broke the Owlz no-hitter in the bottom of the 9th inning. And the fireworks afterwards were very nice.

Raptors baseball season has begun!

Last night was Opening Night of Raptors baseball and you know I was in attendance even though I left early from a corporate dinner and even though the BSU is ill. I figured she was asleep in bed so there wasn't much I could do for her by being home, so with her approval, I went to the ball game.

Sadly the Raptors ended up losing the game to the Orem Owlz, 7-3 but it was a fine ball game just the same. I didn't stick around for the fireworks due to the late hour but I did have a fine time even if I was there by myself. I did discover a change to Raptors baseball that did not make me happy though. It is spelled out in the following paragraphs that I emailed to the Raptor's front office this morning. There's a response from the team president below my email. Check it out-

MY EMAIL: Well I was happy as could be to be back in Lindquist Field last night for Opening Night. It is one of my favorite days of the year- the kickoff of the new season of Raptors baseball. My spouse and I frequently attend the games though last night I was alone and so I packed along my miniature radio so I could listen to Eric Knighton broadcast the play by play.

But, alas, Eric has moved on and apparently, the league has gone completely internet streaming for the audio for those of us who like to hear the play by play and color commentary. In my workshop when I am listening to a game from home, that won't be a problem but it will be a problem and disappointment when I'm in my car. Additionally, whatever file type is being used to stream the audio is not supported by my Apple iPhone and so I can't use that device's web connectivity to listen to the game.

Are you aware of any upcoming applications for the iPhone that will allow internet streaming of the audio? I know that there is an application for both watching and listening to MLB games for the iPhone, so I would really like to see a similar solution for minor league ball.<

Can you please pass along my concerns to the league to inquire if some portable solution could be implemented so I can catch many more of the games than I can attend? Thanks.

THE RESPONSE: Your concerns are mine as well. The fact is, we could not find a station that was even interested in broadcasting our games. There was one station willing but the prices were four times greater than we have paid for in the past. I guess the radio industry is doing okay but I simply cannot afford $600.00 per game.

We don't want to be on line only, and I hope a station will come calling here soon to volunteer their station
Dave Baggott,President, Ogden Raptors

There you have it; right now there's no radio broadcasting of the games and nothing in the pipeline to make it look like the situation will change. Bummer

UPDATE: I tried tonight to listen online using my laptop and that system isn't working! Good grief!