Heroes and Zeroes - Baseball trip report April 22, 2008

As mentioned in my last post, April 22nd was a great baseball day - 2 Major League games in person on the same day. The crew consisted of Mike, Jason and Q, along with this trusty old blogger. I thought I would relive some of the highlights!

Let's start with game 1 - a 1:20 start at Wrigley Field to see my Mets take on the red hot Cubs. Pre-game festivities included a few frosty beverages and a delicious corned beef sandwich at nearby eatery The Irish Oak. Yummy! The weather was perfect as we mosied over to the shrine at Clark and Addison. We scored as we entered the ballpark and were given free Cubs tshirts. This should make a great dishrag!

We were sitting in the bleachers and managed to avoid shirtless old people and mostly shirtless people in general. The weather was great, even got downright hot at a few points. But, most importantly, the wind was blowing out, which usually means you'll have a lot of runs at Wrigley. Our crew decided to put a little wager down on the game based on total runs scored during the game. We broke it into 4 thresholds, 0-6 runs, 7-9 runs, 10-12 runs and 12+. Two of the fellas were quick to snatch up the 2 highest thresholds, leaving me and the other guy to do paper-rock-scissors to see who would get stuck with 0-6 runs. Of course I lost and was stuck.

The game was fun, there were a few morons in the crowd but less than usual. The park was packed and it was a really good game. And amazingly, headed into the 8th inning, the score was 3-2 Cubs. I had a shot at winning the bet(!), which consisted of having the other 3 buy your dinner at game 2 of the day. And this is where our baseball zeroes come in. Mets reliever Jorge Sosa came in and gave up all kinds of baserunners. But with 1 out, he induces a groundball to shortstop for what should have been an inning-ending double play. But Jose Reyes throws the ball home instead of going to second and then first for the inning-ending (and bet preserving!)double play. Mets only get one out and Sosa loads the bases for Ronny Cedeno. Cedeno deposits the ball in the left field bleachers and there goes the game and the bet! NOOOOOOOOO! So, for the effort, Jose Reyes, Ronny Cedeno and Jorge Sosa, you are today's baseball zeroes!

Off we go to US Cellular Field. First, I'd like to rant a bit about the shysters on the South Side. They have the gall to charge $32 a stub for upper deck ducats for a mid-April chiller. Brutal. But, due to our tricky ways, we bought the cheapest seats because we planned to sit in the bullpen bar area, which is at field level just beyond the right field fence. Highly recommended, it's free to get in and you are right there. Being so low, it's a cool and different view of the field.

The other benefit is that if you get to the game early enough, you can interact with the players who are warming up in the OF, mostly pitchers. During BP, a few zingers came our way, including one screamer that nearly took my head off. Instead, some old guy just gave me a forearm shiver and scavenged near my feet for the ball that just missed skulling me. Whatever.

The cool part here was Yankee youngster Joba Chamberlain. I've got a predisposition to like the hefty hurler for a few reasons but hadn't really seen much on him to make up my mind for sure. When we first get there, he's acting like a hyper junior high kid on the field, really hamming it up. Pretty annoying but the dude is actually in his younger 20s so I guess I get it. But after a while, he comes over near where we are and autographs a couple balls for some Yankee fans who are wearing his #62 jersey. Once that happens, the vultures descend and he proceeds to autograph several balls for people. One dude walks up in a White Sox jersey and hands him a ball over the fence to autograph. JC just stares at the guy, looks at his jersey, back at the guy, at his jersey, back at the guy and then turns and walks away, putting the dude's baseball in his back pocket, he's not going to sign it for the White Sox fan! After about ten steps he turns around and signs the ball and gives it to the dude. Pretty funny and Joba really did a good job of working the crowd. I'm definitely a fan of this fella, keep up the good work Joba, hope you sign with the Mets when you become a FA!

The game was also pretty good although we did not place any wagers. Interestingly, this game also featured a grand slam, this one by Bobby Abreu. I will say this - two games in one day is too much for this guy. I love baseball, but being at the park is something that I guess I can only do one game per day. My 2nd ever doubleheader and both times I've not really enjoyed it that much. But all in all we had a good time.

The bad news was that after getting home, the better half proceeded to contract the flu about midnight and was up all night. #1 got a strong dose of it at 4 am. #3 got it in the am. And #2 got it at about 4 pm. Man, what a horrible day! Luckily, I wasn't able to get it until Friday and it was a much milder version. Thankfully we're all back at full speed. Sheesh, that was not fun.

Done with one class except for an in class final! And only have a paper to finish for another class. It's due today but no way I'm going to make that. I think I can get it by tomorrow though, so we'll be ok. Hopefully the teacher won't think I'm too much of a slacker! Still have to figure out my summer and fall schedule, that will be up very shortly.

Soccer, wow, what an experience. I'll talk about that more later. And plans to get into some races this year. Looking forward to some summer stuff very soon.

Song lyric of the day: "Hey, everything's gonna be all right" - Seven Mary Three, Dreaming Against Me"

Until next time.

Ace