On The Trail: Final Game Pre-Day

Hello Mustangs fans, Richie coming to you on our final day of On the Trail with the Mustangs. Their 14 game road trip is finally coming to a halt after tonight's Game 3 with the Great Falls Voyagers. I know these guys are excited to get to Billings. They're a little tired from the long days on the road and in the heat (it's about 92 degrees right now from what I'm told). I just got to the field and am waiting for the team to arrive so I can get those last interviews from them and we'll send them your way for Scott to report on the news.
After the game tonight we'll be making the drive back to Billings where hopefully we can get the Mustangs arriving at Dehler Park (Check out our Dehler web site) so we can see their first reaction of being in Billings and seeing their home field. More on that on Montana This Morning tomorrow.
Anyways log back on after awhile and we'll have all of the latest pictures from life on the road. Until then I either need to find some suntan lotion or get in the shade.

-Richie

Here are some pics of the Sunday night's light malfunction at Dehler:

On The Trail: No Habla Espanol

Well what can I say? I've spent the past 4 days with the Mustangs; hanging around them, listening and talking with them and so on. Today I decided to get to know some of the Spanish speaking players and all I can say is that the 3 years of Spanish I took in school was time well wasted. I couldn't keep up or understand hardly anything they were saying. If you haven't already seen the story make sure and check it out. I had to find out about the challenges that occur between the Americans and the foreign players. How do they hang out and talk with one another? What do they talk about? All that good stuff. Most of the players speak at least a little bit of English so it works out alright. The American players try to pick up on Spanish but most of them have no idea what they're actually saying. It was fun looking into that aspect of the team.

The weather has been RIDICULOUSLY hot up here in Great Falls (as well as everywhere else). Alot of the players and staff have been saying that this is nothing compared to where they come from. And since many of them reside in Texas, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, etc...I think they know what actual heat is like. Still if I get sunburned any worse it may cause some problems.

Only one more road game to go and I'm hearing that Dehler Park was having issues with the lights tonight. Well I hope they get that all worked out by Tuesday because the Mustangs are growing more and more excited to get back to Dehler and play. Might be difficult to play a game when it gets dark and the lights aren't working correctly. I'm sure they'll get it all figured out and Tuesday's home game will be good for the community.

If you haven't already, make sure to check out the latest Exclusive stories we have posted on the website. There's some pretty good stuff on there including the story on Ed Cohen, the play by play radio guy, sneak peeks at life in the dugout, and of course everything else we have done so far on this trip. I'll be back tomorrow with more updates. Have a good night.

-Richie
(PS special shout out tonight to Stef and Courtney. Courtney for hanging out even though she has to be up at 5AM tomorrow and Stef for putting up with me and my field producer, Kyle. Thanks ladies. You're the best!!)

The Rundown

Ed Cohen invited me up to the skybox as he announced the play-by-play live for the Billings radio listeners. Thanks again Ed!
I will have a web exclusive story on Ed on KTVQ.COM's Mustangs page later this week!

I also shot video of some of the team's Latin-American players trying to master another game that the Great Falls ball club uses for promotions between innings.... (Click here to play online)

I'll have a full story about the Latin-American players on the 5:30 News and online...

Here are two pics of the team: Pitchers have thier meeting with Tom and Tony works with the guys on their swing (Best to stay behind the netting)

Mustangs ride over to Great Falls' Centene Staduim

The next long bus trip is to the Magic City! As Billings fans await the team's first home game, the boys of summer are focused on winning on the road - here in Great Falls.

When we (Field Producer Ricky K and I) first arrived at Centene Park, we met up with our Great Falls sister station's weekend sports caster. KRTV's own Greg Smith. The whole news team over at "KR" is very accommodating to our needs as we continue to send reports back to Billings for the Q2 Newscast.

I was able to catch up with Mustangs Manger Julio Garcia after he shopped online for cross-trainers and before the team's pre-game conditioning. We already have an interview with Garcia up on our website.

As we waited with the team for practice to start, the temperature was reaching near 90! Some of the guys that came up from Florida were saying that it was nice (sans the high humidity). Everybody's favorite European-in-Montana weathercaster, Hedi, reported Saturday that we should expect 93 on Sunday and near 100 on Monday.... Summer finially showed up in Montana. (Click here to view Great Fall's weathercast)

During the game Garcia granted me access the dugout. Now I can show you a new point of view on what it is like to be a Mustang. Kyle was able to grab a shot of me during the second inning.... This will be great for my scrapbooking class.... I mean... show the ladies at the bar.

As with every trip from Helena to Great Falls, I continued an American tradition - taking pictures of landmarks from the windshield of a moving car. Here's a pic of the "Sleeping Giant"

On The Trail: Great Falls

Well the Helena stand has come to a close and it's off to Great Falls for the final 3 games before we bring the Mustangs back home to Dehler Park. I am excited to see the ballfield in Great Falls because it is a newer park and Dehler took some ideas from it. Should be interesting.
Not much new on the road, at last night's game I hung out in the press box with Ed Cohen, the voice of the Mustangs, to get a feel for his job and see all that goes into the play by play for the team. Let me just say that being a one man band for an entire baseball game is alot harder than people may think. Stay tuned for a complete story on him.
This afternoon I hope to touch base with Mustangs manager Julio Garcia and let everyone get to know him a little bit. He seems to be a pretty straight forward guy and he definitely knows his baseball. Well I gotta go catch up with the team so I'll post again later with a preview of what's coming up. Special shout out to Matt Bender for keeping us in line.

Update from the Trail

Could it be any hotter outside on this roadtrip? If I'm complaining about the heat I don't know how the Mustangs can do it. They're wearing their black uniforms today which has to make it even worse. Not to mention the visitors dugout here in Helena is directly in the sun.

View Larger Map

But enough complaining, it's been a pretty busy day since the last time I checked in with you all. Hope you all got to check out the Mustangs breakfast schedule (all continental breakfast almost all the time). I personally would get sick of eating cereal and hotel bagels, but they didn't seem to mind it.

We had a little bit of time to spare before we headed to the field so Online Guru (and an Artium Baccalaureus of History) Kyle and I went to the Montana History Museum to strengthen our intellect. I've been here before but not since the high school days so it was fun to go see everything again. I was trying to get my picture taken giving 2's but some guy in the background had to ruin it! He needs to shave.

Anyways we got some pitching tips online for all of you pitchers or wannabes out there so make sure and check that out. Also we have a sneak peek into what goes on in the day of a Mustang. They are constantly doing the same routine (which is a superstitious part of baseball anyways) but starting at breakfast until the time they get back to the hotel after the game it's all pretty much the same thing.

I also got to talk with Ed Cohen, the radio voice of the Mustangs, so be on the lookout for an online exclusive story with him. Well game time is an hour and a half away, so it's time to go grab some dinner and get back to work.



-Richie

On The Trail: Day 2

Hello everyone good Friday morning to you. Richie coming at you from Day 2 of On The Trail with the Billings Mustangs. Yesterday proved to be entertaining as I first met up with the team and got to know a few of them. Hopefully you woke up to watch the Morning Show with Jennifer and Nikki (the 2 coolest people I know). If you did watch then I hope you liked the coverage we brought you of the two Mustangs fans we found at last night's game. We had a little difficulty getting the sound to work when we sent the story back to Billings. There are two channels of audio on our edit machine and for some reason or another, the audio of them cheering didn't go through. But have no fear we are working on it so it will be fixed on the website.
This morning my fellow colleague Kyle and I woke up and headed to the hotel's continental breakfast where we met up with a few of the Mustangs. Stay tuned for an exclusive with a couple of them on what it's like to be eating out of a hotel on the road. (UPDATED: we have pictures and video of everything) I would personally get tired of eating the same thing every morning but check it out to see their thoughts.
Later this afternoon we hope to continue our tips section (yesterday's batting tips for all you baseball/softball players out there). Today we are looking at grabbing the pitching coach to master the technique of the "perfect pitch". We'll see how that goes. We also hope to look into the jobs of a couple Mustangs that aren't even in uniform. Be on the lookout for that as well.
Make sure to stay tuned to KTVQ and ktvq.com for all of the latest from the road as I will keep you upto date throughout the rest of the day. Until the next blog, have a good day as I continue to Ride the Trail with the Ponies. Later
-Richie

Billings Mustangs - Meeting the team / Fans in Helena

Hello sports fans (and anyone else reading this blog)...Richie coming to you from the road as we have finished day 1 of On The Trail with the Mustangs.

Yesterday was a long day, starting at around 6AM to get everything ready and then driving to Helena, but once I met up with the team it's been fun ever since. I got to meet the new manager, Julio Garcia and his staff, as well as most of the players. I can already tell that this team is full of characters and the rest of this roadtrip is going to be a great time. Every Mustang I talked to is counting the days until that home opener at Dehler Park. They also can't wait to meet you the fans when they get back into Billings. Tuesday is going to be an awesome day.

Aside from the team I also met our Capital correspondent, Anna who has been great in helping out. She has made sure we don't get lost here in Helena as well as helping make sure those of you in Billings get the video of our stories. We would have been lost without her so thank you Anna!

At last night's game we also ran into some Billings natives in Jackie Thomson and Ashley Duncan. Both are Skyview graduates who now live in Helena, but they were at the field to cheer on the hometown Mustangs. Talk about dedication! These girls are amazing for letting us interview them and hang out with them during the game. If you watched the Raw Footage of their interview, they didn't know that the new ballpark was named Dehler Park. When I spoke with them later they stated "It will always be Cobb Field in our hearts!" Special thanks and shoutout to Jackie and Ashley for being awesome Mustangs fans.

Well that will pretty much do it for Day 1 coverage but stay tuned to the newscasts and the website for all of the latest highlights, stories, interviews, blogs, and exclusive content as I will continue bringing them to you while I follow the trail bringing the Mustangs back home to Dehler Park.

-Richie

On the Trail with the Billings Mustangs

Hey everyone out there in Internet land! This is Richie Melby blogging from the heart of Montana's government operations - Helena (The basement of the capitol)

As some of you might have seen on the news we are following the Billings Mustangs on their final four road games before they rush the field at Dehler Park.

I will update you daily on this blog and tell you about extended and exclusive footage of your Billings Mustangs available on KTVQ.COM.

We'll have pics, video and maybe have a baseball professional give you tips for the batting cage.

Log on to KTVQ.COM this weekend to watch the videos!