Well, Opening Day has finally arrived. And in Spokane,
there was much fanfare. The National Anthem was sung
by the lovely Janet Jackson, and the first pitch was thrown
by comedian David Spade. Then Jack McDowell took the
mound and the Pirates took the field. They weren't out there
for long, as Blackjack retired the side one, two, three. But
don't let that lead you to belive that the first inning was a
sleeper. Quite the opposite, as a matter of fact. After reaching
first base on a solid single, lead-off man Paul Molitor saw the
next two batters fly out. Then Big Mac stepped up to the
plate. After working Finley to a three and one count, McGwire
hit a 430 foot home run to deep left to put the Pirates on the
board.
The score stayed 2-0 until the seventh inning. Two outs,
bases loaded, Brady Anderson, YARD!. A grand slam on
opening day. Now thats worth skipping out on a day of work
for. The final was 7-0. Jack McDowell pitched eight full innings,
giving up three hits and no runs.
In the second game of the double header, Spokane pitcher
David Cone was a little more kind to the Sea Dogs, but the
hitters weren't. Molitor, Anderson and Boone all homered, to
lead the Pirates to a 6-3 victory.
In an interview after the game, GM Jeremey Stephens had
this to say,"I know it's only two games, but the writing is on
the wall. Behind the plate we look just like last year, five home
runs in two games. It is on the mound that the difference is clear.
We gave up three runs in two games. Hell, last year we would
give that up in the top of the second! It's a lot easier to play the
game when their guys don't score!
We also got an interview with team captain Mark McGwire,
"It was a great day. Everyone did what they were supposed to
do. It was a much different feeling from last year. Last year we
were
always assigning blame. To be honest it was us blaming the
pitchers. Not so this year. Today we went out and did our job
then took the field and did it defensively too. We were never
out there for very long though. Hardly got to chat with the
fans."
Like Stephens said, it is only two games. But look out
PVBL, there is a new contender in town, and they play in
Spokane.
