MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT TONIGHT AT CHENEY >>>

Remember a couple of blogs back when we argued all a ballclub needs to do to be successful is win half its games on the road and most its games at home?

It turns out our half-cocked theory on manufacturing championship seasons wasn't too far off-base. The man with the microphone, Mike Curto, agrees that a road winning percentage of .500, or even lower, is just fine.

"Overall, the Rainiers are a very respectable 11-13 in road games," Curto writes. "That's fine, even for a winning team."

See? The Rainiers know how to win games away from Cheney. It's their measly home record that's holding the team back from another PCL Championship run. At home, the Rainiers have won six and lost twelve -- not exactly positioning themselves in any sort of proper, uh, position.

What we here at the Volcano can't figure out is why the Rainiers are losing at home. Are the players uncomfortable in their freshly renovated digs? Does  Dustin Ackley secretly hate Tacoma?  Or, is it just a combination of poor hitting, poor pitching and poor luck?

Impossible to say, really. But we think the players miss the old locker room.

-Last night, however, the Rainiers looked radiant. In front of a sellout crowd, our boys blasted a season high six home runs in a 9-7 win over the Memphis Redbirds. Ryan Langerhans, Johan Limonta, Josh Bard and others all collectively aided the argument that the Rainiers can do just dandy at Cheney, thank you very much.

- As radiant as the Rainiers looked last night, the team looked the exact opposite the night before. Losing 8-2 to the Redbirds, the Rainiers never seemed to get off the ground.  They couldn't hit, they couldn't pitch and they certainly didn't get lucky.    

Regardless of the Rainiers' anemic home record, tonight should be an awesome time at the ballpark. First, this evening is the Salute to Armed Forces Night. That means cheap tickets and cheap meals for anyone with a military I.D.

Then, to sweeten the crab pot, Captain Keith Colburn of the television show "Deadliest Catch" plans to attend the game. As of this time, the Volcano has not received word on whether Colburn plans sign autographs, perform crab tossing tricks or take a dive under the ballpark's suites.

We're hoping for the later.   

LINK: The "Rainiers Minute" collection