Tonight was the final game of the season at Coca-Cola Park, the AAA National Championship game. It was a good one, and the Omaha StormChasers eventually got the better of the Durham Bulls 2-1. The Royals affiliate were the Pacific Coast League Champions for 2013, and now can say they are the champs of minor league ball in general.
The Royals #11 prospect, Chris Dwyer, was perfect through 6.2 innings, before finally giving up a hit. Former #1 pick of the Rays, Tim Beckham did break it up with two outs in the seventh, but his team could not come back from the 2-0 hole they were in. Dwyer punched out eight in the game.
The Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, threw their #2 prospect Jake Odorizzi. He threw four innings of one run ball. He lost his 23.2 innings scoreless streak. He looked pretty tough too though.
It was a fitting ending to another great summer in Allentown. Coca-Cola Park opened in 2008, but it feels like just yesterday. In this sixth season, the IronPigs put up a .500 season, and stayed in contention until the final weekend in the most competitive division in the league. As usual it was a great time going to games, and I'm looking forward to season seven. While I join just about everyone in hating the ticketed seating in "the trough" in right field, they did other positive things recently (The Tiki Bar in left and the urinal game in the men's room are both big hits). Overall, the experience at Coca-Cola Park remains the best.
