Chips family baseball; a little bit of roadfood and a lot of heartache

      The 2010 baseball season has not been the greatest of times for the Chips family. Our beloved Mariners have from contenders to pretenders with the worst offense in baseball and it is almost an exercise in masochism to watch them lose each night.
     Sam's 2010 high school season saw him play 10 j.v. games and 5 varsity games during a spring season that resembled monsoon season in Asia more than typical weather here.  More games were rained out than played. His team made the state playoffs but he did not make the travel squad and the team was eliminated in the first round.
     Sam's senior little league was difficult. We were associated with a new league that was not as pleasant as previous years. He got the chance to play first base, led his team in on-base percentage but the team was a a generally unpleasant group of kids who cussed out the coach and were backed up in their actions by parents. The coach was let go at the end of the regular and the new league board and coach were actually mad at the previous coach's kid for not wanting to play for the team after they canned his father. The new coach was 19, brought up 3 kids from his junior league team, benched the kids who had been respectful to the previous coach, and still managed to lose two straight games in the tournament after all the sturm and drang.
    The only really good thing about the season was the discovery of an excellent mexican restaurant a block from the Little league park. El Brasero is a D.F. style Mexican restaurant. serving excellent huaraches, a sandal shaped tortiila filled with cactus, onions, red peppers and meat of choice. The dish itself is not spicy but that is always an option. Estilo D.F.(literally Mexico City style) usually features large portions, barbacoa style meats(lamb is very popular) and quite large tortas. I loved the place and the food was outstanding.
    This past weekend we ended our baseball activities for the summer by attending a Class A baseball game between the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes and the Spokane Indians in Keizer, Oregon.
Before the game we lunched at Los Baez, a roadfood reviewed restaurant in Salem. I have always had mixed feelings about the place. It has been around since 1974 and it was the first good mexican restaurant I ever ate in. I ate there regularly during college as our Spanish club ate there weekly. One of the owners played for the Portland Timbers of the North American Soccer league and it has been a proud supporter of soccer in Salem. As i have grown more knowledgable about mexican food, I have become less thrilled with the food . I have eaten the cheese combination for 35 years(quesadilla, relleno and enchilada) and I like it but i don't think the restaurant belongs in the roadfood pantheon. Yet i eat there, more because of memory than anything else.
    The Keizer ballpark is a small, pleasant place just off I-5. There are asian wraps,mexican specialties and cheap microbrews available though i could not indulge because i was driving. Sam was most surprised at the size of the players, ranging from 18-23 in age. They were the same
 size as him and frankly they looked a lot more like teammates than burly professionals.
     The game itself was a game resembling college baseball more than anything. Salem got 17 hits, all singles and won the game 12-7. Nobody struck me as especially bound for glory but i will keep the scorecard to see if any of the kids make the bigs.
 

I can only add that my dislike of a lot of Little league attitude was increased by this year's experiences. And I liked the food at El Brasero as well.

mr chips-
Sorry to read this was such a disappointing year baseball-wise for the Chips family.  I am especially sorry for Sam, who deserved a better fate.  Hopefully, he will still want to play next year and the experience will be better.

I know the GM of the Mariners (he is a western PA guy) and he is a good baseball man.  If given time, I have no doubt that he will get the M's back in contention.

I feel bad Jack Wilson didn't work out for you guys. He is a class act, and when healthy, the best fielding shortstop in baseball.

Too bad about Sam. That kind of stuff will ruin the fun of sports. Kids can take the losing, it's the "no fun" part that drives them away.

Actually there is good news. Sam is joining a fall ball team and will play Sundays this fall. The folks on the team are friends from his school and past legion teams.He is also pursuing doing umpiring next spring and summer. His love for the game is undiminished despite the summer follies.

One more bit of baseball news. Sam and I attended a Portland Beavers game last week with a friend who had complimentary tickets a few rows behind home plate. The Beavers are an AAA in the Pacific Coast League and this is their last year in Portland. The baseball stadium is being converted to a soccer only field for our expansion MLS team next year and the local powers were unable to agree on a new location for a stadium . It was a well played game with several outstanding defensive plays. The Beavers set up man blew the game by throwing a bunt into the right field corner and following that with a wild pitch that allowed another run. What made it fun is the guy's wife was right in front of us so we had to be restrained in our reaction. The Beavers ended up losing 3-1 but it was an enjoyable outing for Sam and me.