New Mexican makes MLB debut with Angels

May 16—Farmington's Chase Silseth became the latest player with New Mexico ties to make it to the big leagues, making his MLB debut over the weekend as a spot starter for the Los Angeles Angels. He got the win, tossing six innings of one-hit ball in a win at Oakland.

He's one of nine players with state ties who have either appeared in a big league game or are on a 40-man roster. There's some obvious names on there like Alex Bregman (Albuquerque Academy, Houston Astros), Mitch Garver (Texas Rangers, La Cueva and UNM) and Matt Moore (Rangers, Moriarty). Then there's players like Silseth (Piedra Vista), Trevor Rogers (Miami Marlins, Carlsbad) and Luiz Gonzalez (San Francisco Giants, UNM).

Toss former Rio Grande pitcher Ken Giles on that list. He's under contract with the Seattle Mariners but has been injured and hasn't pitched since signing with the team last year.

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Who doesn't like rankings?

Admit it, you're scrolling through social media and come across someone's post about top-five this, best-to-worst that and you can't get enough. The more you stand in disagreement, the better they seem to be.

Enter Cody White, whose YouTube channel has fewer than 100 followers but has some interesting content. White posted a 13-minute video April 27 ranking the team logos in the Pecos League, giving detailed reasoning behind each club's identity.

Brace yourselves, Fuego fans. He's not crazy about your team's look, ranking it 12th of the 17 teams he reviewed (he tossed in the league's spring team, the Houston Apollos, despite the fact they're not part of the 16-team summer league).

In short, White said he "hates" the flames rising behind the SF lettering on the cap and closes by saying, "It's giving me a headache to look at it."

Ouch.

Then there's this: "This looks like a tattoo put on somebody that I can expect to see at a Kid Rock concert." For good measure he posted a picture of a man's arm — complete with farmer's tan, no less — with a Kid Rock tattoo.

Yowza. White is comin' in hot with the haymakers, but at least you have to admire his honesty. He wields it like blunt force instrument. He uses it with some teams in the league whose logos are actually sort of interesting.

He laid waste to Garden City, which he ranked dead last at 17.

"It's just boring, that's the biggest crime this logo commits," he said.

He didn't understand the logos for the Trinidad Triggers and Alpine Cowboys, which makes sense. He also wasn't crazy about non-animal logos like the Roswell Aliens, Santa Cruz Seaweed and Austin Weirdos.

But, hey, it was worth the view. Go to his channel and check it out.

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Speaking of the Fuego, their season opener is right around the corner. The team's first game is set for June 1, a Wednesday night matchup against Roswell at Fort Marcy Ballpark. It's the first of a four-game series to start the two-month season.

The Fuego will play 17 of their

25 games in June at home and 14 of their 24 July dates in Santa Fe. The All-Star Game will be July 10 in Garden City, home of the worst-rated logo in the entire outfit.

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It's no secret that Rachel Balkovec is a trailblazer in baseball. Her ties to New Mexico are also no secret, as she played softball at UNM and graduated from the school in 2009. She is now the manager of the Single-A affiliate for the New York Yankees, the Tampa Tarpons.

On Saturday, the Tarpons lineup went down on strikes

24 times in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays' affiliate from Dunedin in a Florida State League game. Only three outs were recorded in the field. Dunedin won the game, 1-0.

According to mlb.com, it's the most strikeout in a minor league game in at least 17 years. Three Tarpons batters struck out four times apiece.

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The Albuquerque Isotopes and Colorado Rockies have teamed up to provide help for the people affected by the wildfires in New Mexico.

They are jointly contributing $20,000 to the All Together New Mexico Fund, with all the proceeds going directly to residents who have been displaced from their homes. It helps provide emergency shelter, food and water, plus other critical services.

"Our thoughts are with those affected by the fires in New Mexico," said Rockies president and chief operating officer Greg Feasel. "We are honored to extend support to an affiliate community as we join the Albuquerque Isotopes to make a contribution towards the community efforts through the All Together New Mexico Fund. It is our hope this donation helps to bring some relief to those who are impacted."

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Saturday's Albuquerque Isotopes game against Sugar Land drew the 12th-largest crowd in Isotopes Park history. The

15,190 fans are a big reason the team is averaging better than 7,100 fans a game thus far.

Comparing them to, say, the Major Leagues' Oakland A's is not too bad. Through Saturday's doubleheader against the Angels, the A's had gone

15 straight home dates without surpassing Saturday night's Topes game. That includes three straight games against Tampa Bay earlier this month where their total draw was 10,141.