Have you ever seen a scout at a minor league ball game? Last night I went down to Bowie, the Orioles double A affiliate to see them play the Trenton Thunder, the affiliate of the New York Yankees. I go to a lot of minor league games. They are fun, if you have never gone to one, then you need to go. Anyway, everytime I see a scout at a game, I feel like I am staring at the scout the entire game, and when you look around, everyone is. Its a bit awkward, and I do not want to stare, but his craft is so interesting. His papers are recording what an organization might think of the pitcher on the mound, or the hitter on the plate.
I couldn't see his papers but he had a radar gun. So I am assuming he was recording the speed of every pitch and the outcome of every pitch. I wonder what goes through their minds as they are watching the game. I also wonder what they think about the entire ballpark staring at them the whole time.
On the game side, it was fun. There were 5 homeruns, two of them leaving the high, high outfield walls. If you are an Oriole fan, Chris Ray had a rehab inning where he had a ground out followed by two strikeouts and looked real good. The Catcher of the future for the Orioles also showed his skills at the plate with a single and two walks (Matt Wieters). Minor League baseball is always a good time, even when the Mets blow a 7 run lead with 17 outs to go.
