Reese Kaplan - You Can't Win 'Em All in El Paso

Friday night I had the pleasure of visiting Southwest University Stadium for a rematch of the visiting Las Vegas 51s with the home El Paso Chihuahuas (also known as the C-Dogs and sometimes the Angry Puppies).  They’re flush with their collective little chests puffed out because in some "Clash of the Caps" baseball cap contest they apparently won best design over such luminaries as the Albuquerque Isotopes and the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

The last time I was here it was with press pass in hand.  This time I was part of a group purchase of the Fiesta Patio area, a series of tables with four mesh swivel chairs surrounding them at field level just past the 1^st base  dugout (which in this stadium is reserved for the visiting Las Vegas 51s). 

I arrived around 5:45 for the 7:05 game and got in line with some of my coworkers.  Everyone seemed genuinely excited about going to the game and it was clear that despite their lackluster standing in the division, the Chihuahuas are a huge hit in merchandising.  The vast majority of the 9000 fans in the sellout crowd were wearing some form of Chihuahuas attire. 

As the game prepared to start it turned out to be an exact rematch of the pitchers from May 15^th’s game – righty Giancarlo Alvarado for the 51s and lefty Jason Lane for the Chihuahuas.  Prior to the start of the game the players were so close I was able to converse with several of them.  Josh Satin extended his greetings to the Macks Mets family.  Omar Quintanilla was smiling and seemingly enjoying his celebrity status as the locals cheer for the hometown hero as loudly as they do for the Chihuahuas.  Cesar Puello was genuinely friendly, came right up, shook my hand and said he hoped to make it to Queens someday (pointing at my chest emblazoned with a Mets embroidered logo).  

When the game started it looked like it might be another Las Vegas laugher with two loud fly balls for outs off the bats of little Danny Muno  and Josh Satin.  As Andrew Brown stepped to the plate I turned to the people surrounding me and said, “This guy has excellent power against lefties – just watch!”  Right on queue he slams the next pitch over the left field wall for a solo home run and a 1-0 Las Vegas lead.  They loaded the bases on hits by Zach Lutz,  Cesar Puello and an error landing Kirk Nieuwenhuis on first.  Unfortunately catcher Taylor Teagarden struck out to end the threat.

Giancarlo Alvarado started off strongly with a 1-2-3 first while keeping the ball in the infield the whole time.  Unfortunately his strong start was short-lived as the C-Dogs struck back quickly in the second with three runs of their own, including a very non-pitcher-like swing for a run scoring double down the line by former outfielder Jason Lane.    

With the seats right on top of the field we were wondering if foul balls would reach us and sure enough a liner foul to right bounced into our reserved group area from the upper tier with one of our employees grabbing it for his daughter.  Later on another foul was fielded cleanly by another employee who presented it to his son who had just arrived from Atlanta the previous day.  It couldn’t have happened any more perfectly. 

The game was fairly uneventful until the 6^th when Omar Quintanilla hit into a 4-3 forceout to drive in a run pulling the 51s within a run, 3-2.  Unfortunately that margin was quickly given back when a routine fly ball to end the inning pitcher Jason Lane on first running on contact resulted in a run when Puello dropped the ball making a casual one-handed play.

 At 4-2 it looked like a lost cause for the 51s until the top of the 9^th inning when all hell broke loose.   After Danny Muno hit a two-out double to bring the tying run to the plate, Josh Satin lined a ball down the right field line for a triple to drive in Muno.  Of course, if you were Jeff Francoeur fielding the ball, you would go ballistic with the umpire, insisting it was a foul ball.  While we couldn’t hear exactly what was said, he got one of the quickest thumbs I’ve ever seen.  His manager took up his cause and needed to be physically restrained when he, too, was run from the game. 

When the on-the-field festivities appeared over (and the fans were screaming that the Chihuahuas were robbed), .365 hitting Andrew Brown strolled to the plate to try to bring the tying run in from third.   The Chihuahuas pitcher, Blaine Boyer, promptly plunked him with the first pitch.  The fans cheered this unsportsmanlike conduct, but upon reflection I can’t help thinking it was not intentional as it would have been foolish to put the go-ahead run on base with a .300 hitter in Zach Lutz coming up next.  Unfortunately it was not to be and Lutz flew out to right field to end the game. 

With a hometown victory, everyone was leaving the stadium with big smiles.  The ballpark has been a huge success and brought a much needed “thing to do” in a town where the lack thereof is a common complaint.  There was no visit to the locker room this time, but I’ll most definitely be back regardless of the opponent.