Empyreal Environs

Oneonta vs. Lowell
Tigers (35-29), 1
Spinners (31-33), 3
L: Thomas Thornton (1-3)
W: Justin Masterson (2-1)
H: Brian Steinocher (1)
S: Josh Papelbon (10)

Since the Gulf Coast League Red Sox won the championship of their league on Friday, six members of the team were recognized prior to the Spinners game and four of them got to take part of the game: catcher Jonathan Egan, first baseman Mike Jones, outfielder Ryan Kalish, and infielder Kris Negron. Southpaw pitcher Felix Duobront and lefty-hitting second baseman Chih-Hsien Chiang were also promoted but did not see playing time at Fenway.

Spinners starter Kris Johnson gave up a run early; perhaps he was nervous pitching in such a setting. He allowed my nominee for Baseball Player Name of the Year Deik (pronounced “deke”) Scram to ground a double to left; Scram advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Santo De Leon. The first inning ended with a dizzying 6-2-5-2-3-6 double play.

Fittingly, “One”onta scored only one run the entire game.

For a team that had such esteemed personages such as John Elway, Al Leiter, Don Mattingly, and the homegrown Yankees of the most recent dynasty don their uniforms, the current Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers and the former affiliate of the AL New York club does very little in the form of team promotion. Its official URL is inactive and the only information I found on them was through Wikipedia, the minor league portal, Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues and this devoted fan’s page.

The Spinners did all their scoring in a single inning as well, but the three runs they notched in the fourth garnered them the win. Luis Exposito doubled off the base of the wall. The smiting Paul Smyth was hit by a pitch and Kalish outpaced visiting first baseman Ryan Strieby to the first base bag to load the bases.

Londonderry native Mike Chambers arced his hit into right field to plate Exposito. Ryan Khoury, who had made solid contact in the first and second innings, duplicated his second inning fly out to left field in the fourth, but this time Smyth was on third to score.

Reid Engel drove in the third and final run by Lowell with his grounder to center field.

It was all the breathing room Justin Masterson would need. The former Cape Cod leaguer took the mound in the third inning and pitched for four, allowing only two hits and striking out four.

By far the loudest ovation was for Josh Papelbon. The name recognition alone would have been enough to excite the crowd, but the submariner pitched a perfect ninth for his tenth save of the year. Lost in the transition between the electric Masterson and the younger Papelbon was Brian Steinocher, who ably bridged the gap between the pair with two shutout innings of his own.

Because of the intervening Class A exploits between innings, the progression of the game was surreal. There was a toothbrush running the bases and sumotori battling along the third baseline. Blue, the Frisbee-retrieving border collie, did his best imitation of unsure Red Sox outfielders, camping out under a seemingly easily-caught projectile only to flub the catch at the last moment. These things are the custom at LeLacheur Park, but these tiny spectacles were dwarfed by history and sweep of Fenway.

It was like a game at US Cellular Field, but with charm.