The Florence RedWolves

Baseball 2009, Game 75: Florence RedWolves 3, Columbia Blowfish 0

Florence Sloppiness: 0
Columbia Sloppiness: 6
Most batters in one inning: 7
Hitter of the Game: Sam DiMatteo, Florence (rating: 13)
Pitcher of the Game: John Taylor, Florence (rating: 154)
Time of Game: 1:35
Mid-game temprature: 80 degrees
Attendance: 1,180 (Level III sporting event)

Baseball 2009, Game 76: Columbia Blowfish 7, Florence RedWolves 3

Columbia Sloppiness: 3
Florence Sloppiness: 15
Most batters in one inning: 9
Hitter of the Game: Shawn Glover, Columbia (rating: 59)
Pitcher of the Game: Erik Sommerville, Columbia (rating:60)
Time of Game: 2:25
Mid-game Temperature: 75 degrees
Attendance: 1,180 (Level III sporting event)

Last night was a doubleheader once again featuring the Columbia Blowfish. But the Blowfish were the road team, playing 90 minutes northeast of Columbia in Florence. Florence is a much different town from Columbia. It has more of a country feel, as it is less than a third the size of Columbia. Columbia is actually a fairly large market within the CPL, with some markets such as Edenton and Outer Banks in North Carolina being far smaller than Florence. If it weren't for two interstates (I-95 and I-20) converging 10 miles northwest of the RedWolves' park, it is likely that Florence would be just another struggling small town in South Carolina.

But Florence has much more to offer than my slightly bigger hometown of Sumter thanks to its interstate business. The RedWolves' park is 2500 seat American Legion Field, named after the Legion team that used to be the primary tenant. The RedWolves don't get the interstate business that the mall and the Civic Center get. But they get far better community support than the Blowfish could ever get.

That is because the RedWolves' ownership has given the place a more local feel and has a stronger commitment to the community than the Blowfish. Blowfish owner Bill Shanahan is a career entreprenuer with other baseball enterprises, including a AA team in Alabama. RedWolves owner Kevin Barth by contrast is a local attorney. Barth is often seen among the fans cheering his team on and yelling at the umpire after a bad call. Shanahan on the other hand is mostly concerned dealing with his staff employees, and rarely gives the game his attention.

There are trade-offs to these different approaches. The Blowfish have a professional staff supplemented by USC sports marketing interns, whil the RedWolves are primarily staffed by about a dozen teenage girls. Grounds work is done by the City of Florence and the RedWolves players.

But the emphasis is much more on baseball here in Florence. The local redneck crowd enjoys a good ball game, and unlike the Blowfish fans come to see a win. The RedWolves have an excellent fiel manager in Wes Davis who has made the team one of the best teams in the CPL South. The Blowfish by contrast are among the worst, despite having more players from Division I colleges than the RedWolves do.

Many of the same fans can be seen every night. There is one guy who arrives via wheelchair evry night to the ballpark, and another who sits atop the home plate bleachers razzing opponents. This RedWolves heckler is one of my favorite fans in Small Time Sports, he always gets on opponents for the way they throw the ball or swing the bat in a clean and fun manner. He is also definitely one of the more "country" folks there, but the fact that he always has a good time makes RedWolves games more enjoyable. I often see the same kids every night, as the RedWolves do hype a family atmosphere. But the Chicken Dance doesn't overshadow the game here like the Blowie Jr. dance does at Columbia. Plenty of beer is sold in Florence, but I haven't seen one drunk RedWolves fan as opposed to Columbia. The sound effects on the PA are always in tune to the game, and can create humorous moments. "You have made a fatal error, there is nothing we can do for you" is often heard after an opponent's mistake. One umpire shook his head at the press box last season when "Bzzzz! Wrong!" was played after a questionable call. It's not just glass breaking sounds like so many parks do.

In Game 1, USC redshirt John Taylor shut down the Blowfish completely. He pitched all seven innings, and his only baserunner came on an infield single by Branfy Arias in the third. Taylor's rating of 154 is the 12th best in the 271 games I have seen since May 30 of two years ago. By contrast, Sam DiMatteo's rating of 13 was tied for 2nd lowest among Hitters of the Game. DiMatteo from California University in Pennsylvania was the RedWolves' leader going two for three with a run.

While the RedWolves became the 4th team in Game 1 to finish a game with no sloppy plays, they weren't so lucky in Game 2. The RedWolves had 7 walks, 3 hit batters, 3 errors, and two passed balls for a Sloppiness total of 15, which is very bad for a 7 inning game. Erskine's Shawn Glover's three-run bomb and a solid relief outting by Erik Sommerville (who plays college ball just a few miles east of American Legion Field at Francis Marion) made the RedWolves pay. The Blowfish finally got a much needed win to move to 4-7, while the RedWolves are now 7-4.