Familiar farewell

YAKIMA -- It had a last-game feel to it, well before the first pitch.

A hazy sun was setting much earlier than it had back in June, when the Bears began a 76-game Northwest League odyssey that completed its home portion Tuesday night.

Some players chatted about and planned for the offseason. Others browsed the Yakima County Stadium souvenir shop, seeking keepsakes for friends, family or themselves.

And for the announced 2,566 who watched on Fan Appreciation Night, there were still positive reminders as to why they'd come to root for the home team, even if it lost 6-3 to Tri-City.

Mother Nature, for example, called off the cold and bluster of previous evenings for a postcard-perfect, late-summer display.

Boomer, the team mascot, got in one last base race against a couple of youngsters and, for a change, won -- and then got booed for his efforts.

And though the Dust Devils took a 4-0 lead, saw Yakima scratch to within 4-3 and then put it away, a team that typically played hard if not well gave its fans some reasons to cheer.

T.J. Hose, though he started slowly and took the loss, flashed the slider that made him one of the Bears' best pitchers, at one stretch retiring nine straight hitters.

Alfredo Marte, David Cooper and Jhoan Pimentel combined for a textbook relay from left field in the fourth to cut a runner down at the plate.

Greg Bordes came through with another clutch hit, a two-out, two-run single in the fourth that boosted his batting average with runners in scoring position to .368.

And Cooper walked again. If that doesn't sound like much, remember that the diminutive middle infielder had worked his way aboard in that very manner for the 66th time -- easily tops in the league and a major factor in his lofty on-base percentage.

"The first two innings (during which Yakima fell behind 4-0) kind of put us behind the 8-ball," manager Bob Didier said. "We had a playable ball at second that could've been a double play, and then in the next inning we thought we had a guy struck out and he ended up driving in two runs with a double.

"But that's not to make excuses. Good teams play through those things."

Hose finished 4-5 and a couple of rough outings left his earned run average at 4.48, but Didier remained in his corner.

"I don't care what his ERA is after his last two starts," he said. "He'll move up next year and he'll be in someone's rotation. He's showed he can pitch."

Offensively, meanwhile, the Bears finished with only four hits -- two over the last five innings.

Erik Wetzel doubled, singled and drove in two runs for the Dust Devils (36-39).

So despite a 27-48 record with a game remaining tonight at Pasco, despite a 15-23 mark at home and despite a season winning percentage that would equate to 100 losses in the major leagues, Yakima improved its attendance for the fourth straight year despite a fifth-straight losing team.

The Bears' official season total was 72,207, or 2,090 more than in 2007 to represent a 3-percent increase.

Since 2004, when Yakima drew only 51,544, attendance has increased by 40 percent.

But even for these Bears, now 21 games under .500, the home finale also showed you can't win them all.

It was their first loss in seven games in which fireworks followed.

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