From Legends to Hopeful Future Legends

After watching the Legends game in Normal on Saturday evening, we headed to Peoria the next day for an afternoon game.  I will say this was one of the hottest games I have been to in a while.  Our seats were in the sun next to the Chiefs dugout.  You could feel the burn through your shorts anytime you sat down.  We made it through 3 innings before finding seats in the shade, which was not hard to do considering there was maybe 1000 people there.  Due to the small crowd, it was easy to move around and get some great pictures. 

The Chiefs let fans play catch in the outfield before Sunday afternoon games.  That is my son and I closest to the infield.

Paul Balestrieri was the Chiefs starting pitcher.  He threw a no hitter earlier this year.  He did not have the same stuff on Sunday as he gave up 5 runs and 3 wild pitches in less than 4 innings. 

Catcher Dennis Ortega was just as bad as his pitcher committing 2 errors on throws to 2nd base and going 0 for 4 at the plate.  He was an all star this year and is hitting close to .300, so I must have saw him on a bad day.  Maybe the heat had something to do with it also.

Third baseman Elehuris Montero was promoted to high A Palm Beach yesterday.  His fielding needs some work as he committed errors 19 and 20 on the season, but his bat will be his meal ticket.  This was after hitting his 15th home run of the season.  He will not turn 20 until next week. 

Luken Baker was the Cardinals 2nd round draft pick this year.  He has been in Peoria for about 2 weeks.  This swing was his first home run in singe A.  It was a 3 run shot that was the eventual game winner as the Chiefs won 8-7.  He is a big man at 6 foot 4 and close to 260 pounds. 

Sunday is also run the bases day.  Here is my son rounding second.  He wanted to slide into home, but my wife was not having it.

Sunday is also team autograph day.  After the game the players were scattered throughout the concourse. 

I am not sure how many players signed this Mid-West league ball, but my son said it was full before he got the entire team.  This will be a challenge trying to figure out who all signed.  Some players did add their uniform number, but there are a few that did not.

Orterga singed 2 programs in a great spot.

The Chiefs give out a player poster before Sunday games. Gonzalez signed 2 of these.  He is a bit old for low A at 24 years old, but he was an All Star this year while hitting over .300 with 10 home runs.  He is mainly a first baseman who has played a few other infield spots out of need.  I think he will be blocked by other players from getting to St. Louis, but you never know.