Road Trips 2016: Bridgeport Bluefish

Red Sox Nation Invasion Part II: First Stop ... Bridgeport, Connecticut

The Ballpark at Habor Yard

HOME of the BLUEFISH

Bridgeport, Connecticut

Just as I hit the New York City line, the idea struck me.  Don't waste Friday.  Maximize it.

I thought to myself ... what cooler way of kicking off the second leg of my great Red Sox Nation Invasion than by making a convenient pit stop at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard?

I've been there before.  But the decision was a natural.  It was on the way, and I could make up time by driving through Hartford instead of sticking with I-95 then I-93 through Boston.

So I did just that, kicking back with a lemonade and some peanuts ... then hitting the road again by 9:30 pm.

Besides, Bridgeport was hosting the Long Island Ducks.  If you follow this blog, you know I'm an Atlantic League fan.  The Ducks and Fish just so happened to be engaged in a tightly contested race for the second half Liberty Division flag.

Ten days later Somerset has reemerged to make it a three team race.  But with a first half pennant already in hand, Long Island is looking to sweep the division.

The biggest reason for my last minute decision, though, was knowing Roger Clemens would be in the house patrolling Bridgeport's first base line.

August 5, 2016

The Bridgeport Bluefish are charter members

of the Atlantic League of Independent Baseball

Final 

Ducks 6 

Fish    2 

boxscore

Roger Clemens coaching first base for Bluefish

Next Stop:

Manchester, New Hampshire

ICYMI: PART ONE 

Pawtucket Red Sox 

Lowell Spinners 

Boston ~ Cy Young

L.I. Ducks: Let Idle Bridgeport Off the Hook

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

Ducks lead series 2-1

I - LID 8; SOM 6

II - LID 6; SOM 5*

III - SOM 7; LID 4

IV - SOM @ LID

*12 innings

Long Island Ducks: Fail to increase lead over Fish with loss to Patriots.

Roger Clemens manned the first base line in Bridgeport last week, 

and my only thought was how the mighty have fallen.

Mother Nature delayed Atlantic League baseball along both sides of the Long Island Sound Wednesday evening, but only elected to postpone one.

The visiting Sugar Land Skeeters game against the Bridgeport Bluefish at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard was rained out.  On the other side of the Sound, however, baseball ultimately got underway where Long Island hosted the Somerset Patriots.

With Bridgeport declared idle, the opportunity arose for Long Island taking a full two game lead over the Fish.  Yet, after winning the first two games of their four game set against Somerset, the Ducks failed to seize the day, bowing to the Patriots in Game Three by a 7-4 margin.  As of close of business Wednesday, then, the Ducks hold a paper thin one game lead over the Bridgeport Bluefish in the Liberty Division standings.

With their victory, the Patriots closed to within three games of the Ducks.

Both literally and figuratively, the dog days of summer are in full effect.

Man, it's been hot out there!

Nine exhaustive games into their stretch of 20 consecutive scheduled games, the Ducks are clinging to a 5-4 record in August with eleven more games to play before their first day off on Aug. 22.  After which, they'll close out the month with another stretch of ten games in nine days.

Once the Ducks conclude their present series against the Patriots, it's on to play Freedom Division competition - Lancaster Barnstormers, New Britain Bees, and the Sugar Land Skeeters.

Ducks @ Bluefish

8/5/2016

I dropped in for the Ducks @ Bluefish game last Friday night at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, thinking it a cool way of kicking off my long weekend trip deep into the heart of New England and Red Sox Nation.

But I also swung by to get a glimpse of Roger Clemens ... yes, that Roger Clemens.

There he was ... coaching along the first base line for the Bridgeport Bluefish, and looking inconsequential as ever.

Now 54 years old, the man posted a 354-184 major league W/L record, with 4,672 strikeouts.  Yet, no one really seemed to care.