I live about two hours from Tulsa. I had a break in the schedule this week, so I went there Tuesday night to see the Wind Surge play, and stayed over to see the 12:05 game the next day. I fully understand the fallacy of small sample sizes in making a judgment, so I'll say now, and again at the end, a layman watching two games can not get a great feel for much about a team. I do not profess to be an expert on the Surge based on that.

Still, I did come away with several observations BASED ON THOSE TWO GAMES.

1. Jose Miranda was the one player I'd heard the most about. He played 3rd in game one and 2nd in game two. He didn't dazzle me in the field--nothing made me think he couldn't play either position, either. He went 2 for 7 with two singles, a walk and a caught stealing (more on that in a moment). Twice at the plate, he showed me something good. On one, he protected the plate with two strikes and dumped a ball into right field for a hit. In the other, he was fooled badly on the first two strikes, but hit a solid single after that. Either the pitcher switched what was fooling him, or he figured it out and hit it.

Nothing I saw screamed "future MLB star," but I didn't leave down on him, either.

2. I saw several players dogging it to first base on routine outs. Yeah, I know, a player at that level won't drop too many fly balls or screw up too many ground outs, but those guys are supposed to be putting forth max effort to move up to AAA and then MLB.

3. The manager is running the guys WAY too much. One guy thrown out trying to go from 2nd to 3rd for the last out in an inning. 3 of the 5 that tried to steal thrown out, including on in the top of the 9th in a 0-0 game. (Reader's note: I am convinced that the risk/reward in stealing is usually tilted toward staying on the base you have.)

4. The two games were 9-3 and 1-0 wins for Tulsa, but that's a bit deceptive. The first game was blown open late by the relievers. Winder and Sands both did well as starters--Sands had a no-hitter through 5, I think. Cano was given the loss in the second game--and in this case, it is accurate, because although he was throwing gas, he walked two guys and then after having a runner on 1st and 3rd,the bases were loaded intentionally. A squib was hit between the pitcher and third, and Cano threw wide to first. His control needs work, but he has closer-type stuff.

5. Mooney played 2nd in the 9-3 game, and two balls got by him that I think a MLB fielder would have gotten--or at least one of them.


6. I hope to see the Wind Surge again when they come to Springdale, Arkansas (about 75 miles from me), and may update this if I get a chance to see them again. I have thought about going to Wichita to see a few games, but that's 4.5 hours away, and I may pass on that this year.

7. Remember, these observations are based on two games, and no firm decision should be made on any player or team on such a small sample. (told you I'd come back to this point.)

Oh, my title? I don't know if the Drillers play Eric Clapton's "Living on Tulsa Time" after each game, but as I walked back to my car after these two games, I heard it. I like the song--I was born in Tulsa, and have hung out there many times over the years--so it was a natural for me.

JcS