THE HELL WITH THE UMPS AND HARBOR PARK!

Barons lose 3 straight to Tides before bashing them in the series finale. Kent Westling is on the verge of insanity.

The rookie and wannabe umpires surfaced from the bay at Harbor Park to officiate this 4-game series between the Tides and the Barons. They blew 2 games, and it looked as if they would blow the finale until the Barons broke free.
The opener of the series saw former Baron Anthony Shumaker in typical Shu form -- giving up 7 runs in just under 3 innings. Shane Bowers appeared to be in control until the 4th inning. That's when Nawfuck erupted for 7 runs off Bowers and the "Gandhi" act of Thomas Jacquez (or "The Hawk" acc. to Westling). Jimmy Rollins, who was on fire throughout this series, blasted a homer in the 9th inning to reduce the deficit to 10-9, but the Barons were stopped short of victory on this night.

Then came the most ridiculous game this season, and one which nearly sent Kent Westling to Clarks Summit State Hospital. The Barons and Tides were tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the 5th inning. Timoniel Perez was on 3rd base, and Vance Wilson was on 1st for Nawfuck with 1 out. The batter, Ryan McGuire, hit a fly ball to Dave Doster in left field, which was caught for the second out. Perez tagged up from third base, and apparently scored. Wilson strayed too far from the bag at first, and the relay throw beat him back and the tag was applied for the third out. Everyone in the park knew the run should have counted, as Perez crossed the plate before Wilson was tagged out. However, the home plate umpire ruled otherwise. Norfolk manager John Gibbons immediately filed a protest, and indeed, had good reason to. Meanwhile, Reggie Taylor put the Barons ahead 4-2 in the 6th inning. After the 6th inning, with the score 4-3, the umps halted play and had at least a 15 minute conference with both managers. Westling was going insane as this was going on, using every adjective in Roget's Thesaurus to describe his amazement. The conference ended with the umpires awarding the run in question some 45 minutes after it actually scored. This took away the Barons' momentum, and our buddy Fesh would feel the worst of the effects, taking the loss in the 8th inning as the Barons lost 8-4. The game is under protest by the Barons now for the ridiculous umpire actions, but it probably won't be upheld.

The third game seemed to be a continuation of the previous night's contest. Evan Thomas pitched well but once again ended up with the loss. The Barons just couldn't hit all night, only managing a run in the 9th on a bases-loaded walk. Reggie Taylor ended the game by leaving the bases loaded when he struck out.

In Sunday night's finale, the Barons looked like they would be the victim of piss-poor umpiring once again. Dave Doster hit a grounder to second base, and the throw pulled first baseman Jorge Toca off the bag, but the poor excuse for an umpire called Doster out. Doster argued, and was immediately ejected. However, on this night, the Barons would explode for 11 runs off a plethorah of Nawfuck pitchers. Jimmy Rollins ended the series reaching base 15 times, and has hit 5 Arkansas Blasts in his last 12 games!! Now, it's on to puny Knights' Castle to take on Charlotte and to finally finish off the inter-division games on the road.

Hmm, I was just thinking about something...David Francia is pretty good. As is Reggie Taylor. Boiled Okra!