I could spend the entire time bashing the ninth inning collapse by the Hawks tonight, as the squad squandered a 5-2 lead with three outs to go, as Bo Bowman’s two-run walk-off single gave Tri-City the improbable win.

But instead, I will give fans the inside look at life here in the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick) and at Gesa Stadium (see Gesa Stadium up close during tonight’s national anthem)- one of the more improved ball parks and franchises in the entire Northwest League.

It starts with the team hotel, the Red Lion Columbia Center in Kennewick, a stone’s throw from the Toyota Center, where the Tri-City Fever AF2 team and the Tri-City Americans WHL hockey team plays.  The beds are comfy, they have a nice fitness center, and a big pool that was the first pool my son has ever set feet in.  Near the Red Lion are countless eateries – Red Robin, Applebees, Sharis, KFC, Taco Bell, Quiznos, Carl’s Junior, Red Lobster – along with a shopping mall, all within a two block radius.

Even better is the fact that Tri-City is the closest team in the NWL to Boise, allowing Hawks fans to make the trek to Washington, including the Lothrop family (pictured) – who are the host family for first-baseman Greg Rohan.

We talked about the sun-shade at Gesa Stadium last night, but since the Brett Brothers purchased the team a few years ago, the organization has developed into one of the better clubs in the league.  Last year, a new and improved Dusty the Dust Devil (pictured below) roams the park during the game – and has one of
the more impressive introductions in the league (right up there with Humphrey coming in on the Ram Tough pick-up), as Dusty is introduced each night before the team, running onto the field with a big Tri-City flag – reminiscent of a football intro.

Along with Dusty is their in-game promoter, Eric the Peanut Guy – who actually sells Cracker Jacks between the time he handles the on-field chaos.

In the past, it was hot dogs for the broadcaster each night – but I received a monster pulled pork sandwich tonight (pictured below) – something not great for my diet, but it was money…which begins to push Tri-City food up towards the Philly sandwich in Yakima and the Teriyaki Bowls in Spokane (which we’ll get to sample later in the year). 

All in all, it has been a good trip for the team – despite the tough losses on the field and the near 100-degree temperatures.

THE BACON – The Hawks were three outs away from ending a four-game losing streak to Tri-City – thanks to fabulous relief work from Dionis Nunez and Miguel Sierra, who combined to toss five and two-thirds innings of shutout ball…the Hawks stole a season-high four bases, including two each from Hak-Ju Lee and Jose Valdez…Kevin Clark scored the winning run on Bowman’s walk-off hit by bowling over Boise catcher, Alvaro Sosa, ala Pete Rose in the All-Star game during the 1970s.

NOTES: Corey Martin will now wear #25 and Matt Williams will wear #9…Su-Min Jung was lifted from tonight’s game with pain in his throwing shoulder after two and a third innings…he tried to throw a warm-up pitch after the training staff attended to him, but doubled over in pain…according to trainer Dan Golden, Jung will be evaluated by team doctors when the club arrives back in Boise on Saturday…also on the injury front, Matt Cerda is expected to be put on the 7-Day DL (minor league version of the disabled list) and will be sent to the Cubs Spring Training site in Mesa, Ariz., with a possible broken hamate bone in his hand…according to Golden, Cerda will not be able to swing a bat for up to three weeks…the blown save by Yohan Gonzalez tonight was his second of the season – as he has not given up a run in three appearances against the rest of the league, but allowed nine earned runs in two appearances vs. Tri-City…seven of George Matheus’ eight RBI this season are against the Dust Devils.

Today was not an easy day in the least – but as I say at the conclusion of every broadcast, “You don’t having a great day, you make it a great day (Pacific Lutheran Hall of Fame football coach Frosty Westering)”  Instead of hopping on the 7:30 bus with the team, my family and I were to drive to the Tri-Cities for the series.  However, the day got off to a rude start, when someone hacked into my bank account – buying Mac-Books by Apple through E-Bay.  Not good. 

To say we were rushed was an understatement – we got to the park and within 13 minutes, Hawk Talk was on the air.  Luckily, I was prepared (I guess you have to be after all of these years) – with all of my interviews in the can.

However, what made the difficulty of the day a bright one was the behemoth of a Sun Shade off the first base side at Gesa Stadium.  In my first few years in the league, the Pasco ballpark was a sweatbox – no where, except the clubhouse, to escape the heat.  However, the Sun Shade, which the State of Washington constructed, makes Gesa Stadium a great place to watch a game.  Come on Governor Otter – help the Hawks out!!!

The game was a strange one, as Tri-City went without a hit for the final six innings of the contest – but still pulled out a 6-4 win.  I was very impressed with the debut of Corey Martin, who retired six of the seven men he faced.

THE BACON – The Hawks wore their green batting practice tops tonight – with Martin (#25), Matt Williams (#9), and Jose Valdez (#44) all wearing different numbers than the night before…Tri-City first-baseman Mike Zuanich has now hit five home runs in four games, while the Hawks have hit two home runs in 12 games…

NOTES – We will take a look at the Red Lion Columbia Center in tomorrow’s blog, along with Dusty the Dust Devil mascot and Erik the Peanut Guy…Cubs first-round pick, Brett Jackson, made his professional debut tonight with the Mesa Cubs…former Hawk Randy Wells got the win for the Chicago Cubs in a 4-1 victory over Pittsburgh – his third-straight victory.

I felt tonight like it was 2004 all over again – just as it was at the one-time only Northwest League All-Star Game to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the league.  That night, in the fourth inning of the game (after Ryan Harvey won the home run derby), the power went out at Avista Stadium – and never came back on, leaving then Yakima broadcaster Chad Goldberg to talk for 75 minutes before the game was postponed.

Fast-forward to tonight, the first-ever minor league game managed by Hawks skipper, Casey Kopitzke.  The lights were turned on at the park in the third inning, but I noticed they were off by the fifth.  By the time the eighth inning rolled around – it was getting dark, still no lights.  Luckily after a 17 minute delay, the 3/4 of the lights were on – allowing play to finish.  According to Hawks groundskeeper Jeff Israel, something was overloading the power grid at the part, tripping the turn-off switch.  He said that the electric company will be out in the morning.

Speaking of the game – what a performance by the Hawks pitching staff, not allowing an earned run in the game.  Jeff Antigua kept the Yakima batters off balance, with Dionis Nunez recording his second-straight quality appearance.  Mike Perconte knuckled down in the ninth, getting the final three outs for the save.

Despite two errors in the opening innings that allowed two runs to score, the Hawks defense was stellar – as Kevin Soto made a pair of diving catches in the outfield, while Greg Rohan made a nice diving snag of a grounder in the first inning.

THE BACON – During the game, two of the Hawks’ interns, Bryan and Nicole, competed in multiple events throughout the night – part of the Seven Deadly Sunday’s promotion…Bryan at one point was doing an “izzy-dizzy race in a snorkle and flippers, while Nicole was in a bikini, and both had to dance on top of the dugout…the crowd was announced at 2,198 – but a very boisterous 2,198…

NOTES – Hak-Ju Lee saw his eight-game hit streak snapped, but reached base twice…the Hawks did not allow an earned run in the game, while holding their opponent to the fewest number of runs this season…Chicago Cubs vice president of player personnel, Oneri Fleita is in Boise to watch the three-game series…former Hawk, Garret Anderson hit his fourth HR of the season in Atlanta’s 2-1 win over Boston.

After a tough 11-1 loss last night, things got off on the right foot for the Hawks – but quickly went downhill from there, as Boise saw their season opening record fall to 1-7 with a 12-3 loss at Salem-Keizer.

As I write this from Caldwell, the team is just leaving Keizer for the eight-hour jaunt home, arriving at Memorial Stadium just after the sun rises in the morning.

What they leave behind is a tough series in which they recorded 30 hits in five games – but allowed 31 hits by the Volcanoes in the final two games alone.

Tonight, it was lost opportunities – as the Hawks grounded into four double plays, and if it weren’t for hustle by a couple men, it could have been six.

Boise jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, as starter Javier Hernandez could not find the zone – walking four men, including two with the bases loaded, but Miguel Sierra and Danny Keefe could not hold the lead, allowing a combined ten runs in three innings of work.

On the positive side, great to see Greg Rohan get a pair of base hits – not including a ball he ripped into the left-field corner foul in the first inning, while both Jose Valdez and Hak-Ju Lee added two hits apiece, with Lee extending his hit streak to eight.

THE BACON: Pitching coach David Rosario has tweaked the piggy-back rotation for the next three nights, as Robert Whitenack will make his first professional start tomorrow night against Yakima, with Larry Suarez throwing Monday, and Jon Nagel on Tuesday…Jeff Antigua will be the back-end of the piggy-back tomorrow, Tarlandus Mitchell on Monday, and Josh Whitlock, Tuesday.

ROSTER MOVE: The Chicago Cubs have announced that Joe Simokaitis has been promoted from rookie ball in Mesa to the Hawks…Simokaitis, a tenth-round pick in 2005 out of Nebraska, is a converted pitcher, after advancing as high as AAA as a shortstop…the Hawks will now have four converted pitchers among their 17 pitchers.

HISTORY:  The 1-7 start by the Hawks is not the worst in franchise history, as the 2006 team began 2-9 and the 2007 squad went 0-9, eventually 1-11…however, the 2006 team won the Eastern Division pennant and the 2007 squad was in the pennant chase up until the final week.

It was 2 a.m. in the morning and I was waiting for a cab in the lobby of the Comfort Suites in Salem – on my way back to the Treasure Valley to take care of my son P.J., flying home on the 25th Anniversary Horizon Air jet.  As long as my day ended up – it mirrored that of the Hawks, as Jorge Bucardo and two relievers limited Boise to just two hits in an 11-1 loss.

Robert Hernandez struck out five in his four-plus innings of work – the most by a Hawks pitcher this year, but allowed a three-run homer in the second to Ryan Lollis that gave S-K the lead for good.  Bucardo took a no-hitter into the sixth, but Alvaro Sosa broke it up with a solo home run to right (Tod Pickett with the call
homerun2.wma).  But that was all the Hawks would get – as the pen allowed seven runs in the final three frames.

A BIG THANK YOU: Special kudos to Tod Pickett for filling in for me tonight and tomorrow, along with Salem-Keizer radio man Mark Gilman for providing equipment for us (including the monitor for me in the booth this week) – both are true professionals and a pair of the nicest guys in the business.

THE BACON: The second hit by the Hawks was a double by Hak-Ju Lee in the sixth, extending his hitting streak to seven games.  At the major league level, former Hawk Randy Wells picked up the victory as the Cubs topped the White Sox, 5-4, with another former Boise player, Geovany Soto, hitting the go-ahead three-run homer…former Hawk, Josh Vitters, was selected to play in this year’s Futures Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, the Sunday before the All-Star Game.

STRANGE BREW: The Hawks were victimized by a pair of weird outs on Friday night, as Alvaro Sosa was called out on a ball that looked as if it hit his foot, however, after the catcher tossed the ball back to the pitcher, all realized that Brett Terry, the plate umpire ruled the ball in play, with the out finally recorded at first…another play saw Jose Valdez called out for stepping on home plate when trying to bunt the ball.

I could hear the late Harry Caray in my mind – “Cubs Win, Cubs Win” or Ron Santo saying, “Yes” after tonight’s game, as the Hawks rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the final two innings to pull out a 5-4 win over Salem-Keizer.

It was a gutty performance by the Hawks on Don Larsen night in the Willamette Valley, as the former Yankee great to tossed the only perfect game in World Series history was on hand.  Jon Nagel did his part on the bump, retiring nine of the ten men he faced without a hit – making it five quality starts by Boise pitchers in six games.  However, it was with the bats that helped the cause, Logan Watkins lacing a two-run single in the eighth, then Greg Rohan launched a solo homer in the ninth (listen to the call here –
homerun.wma) to tie the score, then Jae-Hoon Ha chopped an RBI double to left to score Matt Cerda with the winning run.

The mood of the team was upbeat after the game – especially Rohan, who had been robbed a pair of times earlier this year of hits.  He will join me on Hawk Talk tomorrow to talk about his time in Boise and about the home run.

THE BACON – Franklin Font’s days as Boise’s interim skipper will come to an end on Saturday, as Casey Kopitzke arrived in the Treasure Valley on Thursday and will take over the helm of the Hawks ship in Sunday’s series opener with Yakima…Font will return to Mesa, Ariz., where his family from Venezuela is waiting to spend some time with him

A SLICE FROM KEIZER – Boise fans, you make the call on who has the better mascot – our Humphrey the Hawk or Salem-Keizer’s Crater (see video).  Honestly, I don’t know what Crater is?

HEADED HOME EARLY – My time in the Willamette Valley has been cut short due to a family situation back home, as I will be returning to Boise early Friday morning – but will be on the air Friday night for Hawk Talk (J Bates and Will Hoenike will join us for an Around the Horn segment and will chat with Don Larsen about his perfect game in the World Series).  Longtime Fox Sports broadcaster Tod Pickett will have the Play-by-Play on Friday and Saturday night – while I’ll be back in the saddle on Sunday at Memorial Stadium.

 For the first time in five games, the Boise Hawks bullpen was outstanding – allowing just one hit over nearly seven innings of work, however, that one hit was a two-run home run, as Salem-Keizer extended the Hawks season-opening losing streak to five games with a 5-3 win.

There was a very intimate crowd at Volcanoes Stadium, as the crowd was announced at just over 2,200 – but you be the judge as this video shows how many fans were in the ballpark during the national anthem.

Cliff Andersen was the story offensively, knocking in three runs – two on a first inning double, but Boise did not get a runner to second base in the final four innings.  Really impressed by Robert Whitenack, the Division III draft pick out of SUNY-Old Westbury, who used his knuckle curve and a solid fastball to retire all six men he faced.

THE BACON: To the left is the den of the broadcaster on the road – the desk in the hotel room.  Since my laptop monitor is dead, I have to bring another screen with me, plus with my diet – you notice it is diet soda there (went with the Walmart brand since it was 59 cents – sorry Pepsi) and the bottle of water has been refilled countless times.

Went to the gym with the team for the mandatory workout – something I have never done in my years with the club.  My wife and I are on a major diet and working out is something we consider a priority right now, so I am going to take every advantage I can on the road.  After 20 minutes of row machine, a 15 minute jog and a 15 minute walk, I watched something hillarious, as Jae-Hoon Ha and Tarlandus Mitchell were playing racquetball in a court below – neither knowing the facets of the game.  Those who had finished their workouts were huddled around the court – it was REALLY funny.

After the game, I accompanied the team to Applebee’s for dinner – for me, it was a small salad, unlike in the past, which it would have been a full order of nachos, some mozzarella stick, and some beer.  The mood of the team is upbeat, although the losing is beginning to wear on some of the players – especially the veterans.

NEWS: Carrie Muskat of cubs.com has reported that Brett Jackson, the Cubs first-round pick, has signed and following a physical, will report to Boise to begin his professional career.  It would mark the sixth-straight year that a first-round pick has been assigned to Boise (2004 Ryan Harvey/Lou Montanez/Luke Hagerty, 2005 Mark Pawelek/Luke Hagerty, 2006 Mark Pawelek/Tyler Colvin, 2007 Mark Pawelek/Josh Vitters/Kyler Burke, 2008 Mark Pawelek/Josh Vitters/Kyler Burke/Andrew Cashner/Ryan Flaherty).

SIGNINGS:  With the signing of Brett Jackson, it marks 13 official signings by the Cubs – including the four players (Whitenack, Petraitis, Rohan, Keefe) with the Hawks (although Jackson is the only one that the Cubs have announced)…others include Wes Darvill (5th round), Charles Thomas (10th), John Mincone (11th), Cody Shields (15th), Matt Williams (18th), DJ Fitzgerald (22nd), Justin Bour (25th), and Tim Clubb (29th) – who are all in the Arizona Rookie League.

One day in the books in the capital city of Oregon and another loss in the books for the Boise Hawks, as Salem-Keizer claimed a 6-1 victory tonight.

The Hawks were stymied by three Volcanoes pitchers, with Sean Hoorelbeke the only player to have a multi hit game.

The team got to test out Volcanoes Stadium (left), the only park in the league with a chain link outfield fence.

Jeff Antigua was solid in his Boise debut, allowing just a two-run home run in four innings of work, walking two and striking out four.  However, the bats were silent – despite a good round of BP (including this video of Jae-Hoon Ha) by the team.

For the first time this season, Boise relievers were able to make appearances without allowing a run, as Ryan Sontag got four outs and Mike Perconte got three outs to close the game.

Another negative that I heard about after the game was from catcher Matt Cerda, who’s parents were at the game, but forced to watch the game from an outfield berm (video of the park shows the berm beyond the short fence in left field) – as despite a crowd of 2,724 (well below capacity), they were not given a seat in the park (unless they bought one).  For me, my vantage point (pictured above) is a small booth – but the window makes it tough to see.

Tomorrow will see the first team lift on the road – which I will be attending…not sure what the staff will make me do?

It has been a struggle for many of the Hawks this afternoon, not from the fact that the club is 0-3 to start the 2009 season, but Salem has one of the more difficult eating situations for the team.

Watch my short You Tube account of what is around our hotel and eating in Salem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4XLsgLBw6M

I like our hotel, the Comfort Suites – a nice room with ample space for me to work during the morning and to be able to file postgame reports, but the ammenities near the hotel are view and far between.

You see, there is no eateries on site, in fact, there are no eateries within a half mile radius of the property.  A little less than a mile is a lone Denny’s – which one in the NWL will get sick of real quick, and for me, after all of the years, I won’t touch Denny’s (nothing against their food – but when you have had it over and over, it gets old).  From Denny’s, there is a Costco, which you have to have a membership to enter – beyond that, it’s another mile or so to Walmart – which has a Subway inside, along with a Panda Express and Taco del Mar near it.

So a three to four mile round trip for food – and a two mile trip after the game at night just for a postgame meal.  Not good.

What was worse was that without anything within sight of the hotel, it has been difficult for the foreign players to find these spots.  Larry Suarez and Robert Hernandez were trying to find the food and I pointed them in the right direction – followed by Jeff Antigua, who as tonight’s starter, will have to make the long walk for food…maybe this is why Salem-Keizer has such a decisive home field advantage.

Yes, last night the Hawks lost…yes, last night the Hawks blew a 5-1 lead for the second straight night…yes, the Hawks had just one hit after the fifth inning and the bullpen allowed six more runs…however –

Tri-City is gone and the Hawks are 420 miles down the road.

Instead of dwelling on the completion of a three-game sweep by the Tri-City Dust Devils (wasting another solid start, this time a four inning, two-hit stint by 19-year-old Su-Min Jung), we focus on the all-night drive West.

And yes, the Eagle has landed in Salem (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSq5YVbHxY0)

It was a pretty typical bus ride – a two movie trip (Taken and Fired Up were the two movies – and kudos to Dan Golden the trainer for stepping up to the plate and going to a Redbox and getting new movies instead of Joe Dirt or Anchorman for the umteenth straight year).  Skipper Franklin Font really liked Taken – which had some good action moments, while most of the team missed Fired Up (typical high school movie with football players trying to “mingle” with girls at a cheerleader camp).

Once again at 5:30 a.m. I stepped up to the plate and helped Hal our bus driver find the Comfort Suites here in Salem – since there are two hotels of the same name within a mile and a half.

Tonight will be a big night for me, as it is my 300th Northwest League broadcast – not a bad milestone and ranks third all-time in Hawks history behind Rob Simpson and Dave Hahn.

We’ll have more later today from Volcanoes Stadium as you get a few of what I see from the booth (that is, if my photos will load).