Thanks for a great season, Sky Sox.

Tonight, the Las Vegas 51s defeated the Colorado Springs Sky Sox by a score of 8-4, eliminating the Sox from postseason contention.  It was the seventh Sky Sox game I have attended this season.  For comparison, I have only been to four Rockies games.  Though it is sad that the Sox lost both the game and their playoff hopes, I had a total blast.  It was the most fun at a ballgame that I have had in a while.

For a minor league game, this contest had a lot of star power.  Troy Tulowitzki and Jason Giambi started for the Sox, as they are both on injury rehabilitation assignments.  Having just one big name in a minor league game makes the product on the field much more compelling.  Tonight, we had two established MLB stars playing for the home team.  Tulo played SS and Giambi was the DH.

Tulo flew out to left field in his first plate appearance.

Giambi struck out in his first at bat.

The game had classic minor league between innings entertainment, including this mascot dance off contest.

Tulo saw some high heat in his second plate appearance. He popped out on the next pitch.

Next up, Giambi doubled but did not score.

That picture at the top of this post?  I tried taking it when the camera was still in video mode.

I then switched to my Razr MAXX phone and recorded this video of Tulo punching out.

Giambi didn't fare much better, as he grounded out 4-3 in his final plate appearance.

Tulo doubled in a run in his last at bat.

The Sox' rally cut the lead to 8-4, but that would end up being the final score.  The final batter of the game was Chad Tracy, son of Rockies manager Jim Tracy (not to be confused with that other Chad Tracy).

On the second to last pitch, he lined the above-pictured ball sharply into foul territory behind home plate.  It rocketed directly over my head and slammed into the box seats just behind where I was sitting.  This caused it to deflect back and head straight at me.  Having no glove tonight, I reached up and watched the ball into my bare hands, catching it cleanly.  A few fans nearby clapped for the excellent display of dexterity.  Mrs. JT was just grateful that I was able to prevent the ball from landing on her skull.

In all honesty, this really made my night.  How often does a catchable foul ball come right at you?  Once in a blue moon, I guess.  But that wasn't the end of the fun...

The night ended with an awesome fireworks show.  That moon sure looks blue, doesn't it?  It was a fitting book-end for the season.  We saw the first Friday night fireworks of the year on opening day, and tonight we saw the last Friday night fireworks of the year.


It just doesn't get much better than this.