Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Local Stories,by Casey Mitchell

Now I know not too many people here are huge Minor League Baseball fans, but I spent the evening at PK Park last night and got a chance to check out the Eugene Ems play. To my surprise, the place was packed for both the game and the fireworks show afterwards. At 16-2 the Emeralds have the best short-season record in the nation. When I was checking out the batting averages for all of the players I realized that they only had a couple of guys who could really hit, and the rest were hitting around .220, but they get hits when they need them and they have good pitching. Riding a 13 game winning-streak, if the Ems win tonight they will have the longest winning-streak in Northwest League history. I know it must feel great to the players to see the park packed with people, and actually hear the place get loud once they record the final out. So if you can, get out to the ballpark and catch a couple of games. It's a blast!

Chip Kelly and the Ducks are going through a lot of controversy these days. With all of the allegations surrounding LaMichael James, Lache Seastrunk and Willie Lyles, some people believe that come September Chip Kelly will not be the head coach for the Oregon Ducks. I am not one of those people, however I do think that some sort of trouble is coming our way because this is a much worst violation than a petty tattoo scandal. At the end of the day, our focus should be on football, and winning the first Pac-12 title.

2 comments:

Steve Tannen said...

Want to chime in on some of Casey's thoughts. I leave town and the Ems go on a tear. Yikes! Obviously missed it all being in NYC and keeping up with the Ducks took most of my Eugene attention. Interesting take on Chip Kelly. I'm saving a futuristic prediction until I hear from the University and hopefully get the logical explanation we want. Lot to discuss today from Duck football to MLB & the all star selections, to the dual lockouts and some if the insanity of my trip. Catch ya later!

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Steve!

SJ