Notes: New celebration for team

An apple a day…
By Beth Sass / hereforthesass.blogspot.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Here for the Sass team had a new after-game celebration on Thursday, holding an “Apple Party” in the clubhouse after the game. Both Beth and Dawn felt that they had too many parties recently featuring high-calorie and unhealthy foods, and decided they would honor the good eating habits they try to install in the Sassians. When Jermaine Dye went 2-4, Beth declared that they would have an Apple Party. Doug Mientkiewicz and Adam Dunn both later hit home runs, to add the celebrations.

“These guys are athletes, and most of them are still young men, so they weren’t hurt by the extra calories in cupcakes and ice cream,” Beth said, “But it’s come to the point where we think we need to remind them that healthy foods can be party foods, too. We’d like them to stay fit and healthy.”

Jermaine, Adam, and Doug picked Golden Delicious and Fuji apples for the party.

“Next time we’re having Braeburn,” Dawn said, “Those are the best.”

Beth was heard arguing the benefits of Gala apples. Justin Duchscherererer was arguing about the differences between Apples and Windows computers.

Happy Birthday! Sass second baseman Mark Grudzielanek celebrates his 36th birthday today and Sass pitcher Chan Ho Park will celebrate his 33rd Birthday. The Sass will let Mark rest on the bench after playing yesterday, and balloons and birthday cake will be in the dugout and bullpen during the game. They will allow Chan Ho to take the mound and pitching in the first game of the holiday weekend. During the seventh inning stretch, “Happy Birthday” will follow “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

“Whoa. They’re old,” said Sass closer Ambiorix Burgos in awe, who turned 22 earlier this year. “I didn’t know you could play professional baseball that long. That is so cool.”

Rocco Baldelli will cook the post-game meal with a menu that Mark and Chan Ho will provide.

Chan at Bat: Because of the BFL rules, Beth and Dawn found themselves limited in their choices of fielders, pitchers, and hitters on Thursday. This became an issue when they needed a pinch hitter late in the game. “Frankly, our choices weren’t very open,” Beth said, “There were no position players left, so we ended up sending Chan to the plate. As a pitcher, he doesn’t often get to pinch-hit, but there comes a time when you need to take desperate measures. And, for a pitcher, his batting average wasn’t that bad.”

Chan’s batting average was .360 coming into the game, but he flew out to end the inning.

Lunch time!: Sassian Doug Mientkiewicz hit a home run on Thursday off of Sass pitching coach Bronson Arroyo. As a thank-you, Doug was able to bribe Rocco into making a lunch using a menu drawn up by Bronson.

“I do love to cook, and I love planning menus,” Rocco said, “But I do have to admit sometimes it’s nice to have that decision made for me. So today is like a day off, with the menus being planned, and I even got Doug to do the grocery shopping for me!”

Gold Star: Beth randomly gives out gold stars to players for superb performances. On Thursday, Dawn earned a gold star for properly answering a Word Problem relating to apples. Dawn was able to correctly deduce that if she bought 9 apples, and she ate one, she would have 8 left.

Weekend series: Friday night, the Sassians will put Chan Ho Park on the mound, Saturday will see Carlos Silva pitching, and on Sunday then entire starting rotation is going to spend the afternoon singing in the Sass Park Gazebo to celebrate the Fourth of July (a little early), leaving Beth and Dawn to decide if they’ll pick a pitcher from the fans, front office, or the relievers.