I was debating whether to go to the Reading game in Portland and finally decided to brave the weather. It was the second day in a row I froze at a ballgame, as I was at Fenway last night at another game where I was unhappy with the outcome.
My indecisiveness caused me to miss the first inning, and Miller’s first at bat. His first two at bats were against a rehabbing major league pitcher; in the at bat I saw he was fed a steady diet of breaking pitches. He whiffed and looked bad doing it. His next at bat saw more breaking balls, the a fastball fooled him and he struck out again. The next time up he got a better mix of pitches. It seemed to me that he as guessing. He guessed right on a fastball and dumped it into left field. He did steal second. He ended the game hitting an easy fly to left.
It was a dull game. Charles King did not look like a prospect but pitched well. He had trouble putting hitters away but left with a lead. I knew nothing about the next pitcher, Wil Crowe, who apparently was making his debut for Reading. He appeared to be very nervous. He was wild and committed a pitch clock violation by asking for a new ball when he had already disengaged, I think. It was ball four with the bases loaded. Then he balked in another run. His body language showed utter confusion.
I swore off April baseball after freezing in Worcester and Portland last year. I may have to wait until June from now on.
