An Evening with the River Cats

We went to the Sacramento River Cats game this evening. The River Cats are the Triple-A team for the Oakland A’s, and they were playing the Albuquerque Isotopes, whose parent club is the Florida Marlins. I had to go watch a team named the Isotopes: aside from being a joke from The Simpsons (in one episode Homer had to stop his favorite team, the Springfield Isotopes, from moving to Albuquerque), it’s in the family—my father in his days as a nuclear chemist was the co-author of several editions of the Table of Isotopes. Anyway, the team has a neat logo, so I picked up a hat.

The River Cats played well, and won 6-2. Bobby Crosby, their young shortstop, went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs. Since the A’s shortstop, Miguel Tejada, will probably not be staying with the A’s next season (he becomes a free agent, and the A’s don’t have enough money to keep him), there may be forthcoming advancement opportunities for Crosby. Eric Hiljus, who’s bounced between the A’s and the River Cats a lot, pitched for the win.

Raley Field is a great little stadium, and Sacramento fans, generally starved for sports, have really taken to the team. The game was sold out this evening, with 14,611 in attendance. Minor league ball has these endearing sillinesses you never find in the majors—tonight’s favorite was The Dancing Usher Guy.
And what River Cats game is complete without the antics of their mascot, Dinger, shown at right.