Game 15- Dog Days

It was finally August, which meant a lot of things. The end of summer, leaving for school, and the Cubs are really making it hard to cheer for them.

This wasn't my ticket. We'll get to that at the end...

I feel pretty bad about saying this, but I didn't even want to go to this game. In 48 hours, I would be on my way to O'Hare to catch my flight to New York. It took a week to let it sink in, then I calmed down. I knew this game would be an enjoyable one. I wasn't super excited since this was one of the most normal games I could go to, but I didn't feel like I wanted to get it over with.





It was 10:30, and I was getting in line at 11:05. Kyra and I made a stop in here:

This store has been next to McDonalds all year, but I never had the chance to go inside. I knew it wouldn't be a normal souvenir shop; it's been advertised as having autographed and more prestigious items than one of the other shops down the block.

Since I was just seeing inside for the first time, it was awesome. My favorite items were the flags that were flown at the top of the stadium.

Those were anywhere from $100 to $150. It's a lot, but I could see myself buying one somewhere in the future. One that meant something to me...or any one that was from a year after I was born.

The big ticket item, which was my favorite thing in the entire store, was THE W flag from 2011.

I wouldn't be so willing to buy this one. It's massive, costs $450, but is an awesome and original item.

We started making our way to left field, taking the long way around.

Just 10 days prior, Ron Santo was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Ron Santo Day was the next home game, Friday the 27th. The place was still decorated with lots of things in his honor.

Right next to me was his statue that was dedicated on August 10th of last season. I was at that game. I had to choose between balls and Ron. I picked the balls, only because I wanted to say goodbye alone, not with 1,500 other people doing the same thing. I went all the way until last December before even seeing a picture of the statue on accident. I still haven't looked at it in person besides a glance, again on accident. I'll go take a look and say a few words sometime this winter. It's long overdue.

I was really hoping the previous night was a quick one, with no extra innings. Today, I felt like I needed every possible chance to snag a ball. I was surprised and filled with joy when I took a peek inside.

That is indeed the batting cage, and some Cubs were already taking swings.

Based on the trends I've seen the past few years when attendance has been low, this was going to be a small crowd. It's middle of the week, after a night game, late in the summer. Everything was lining up for my success.

We continued walking around....

Welcome to the Lakeview Baseball Club

...and STILL had some time to kill. I decided to do something I've only done twice in my entire life.

I stood out on Waveland and spent some time with the REAL Ballahwks. In the Ballhawk world, one name sticks out when Wrigley Field is brought up-Moe Mullins. Moe has spent more time than anyone attempting to catch MLB balls. He has 241 game home runs, including five grand slams. Those are the most recent totals I could find from the end of last year. Overall, he has 5,517 balls. The amazing thing is, he's never caught a ball inside the park. Every single one of them was hit over the bleachers, whether in BP or during a game.

Why did I never do this before? I'm still too inexperienced, just like when I'm inside. On any given day, there are eight professionals and fifteen first timers standing out there. I've only seen four balls total leave the whole yard when I was standing back here. The odds weren't in my favor at any time, and I didn't have time to get better. Moe only stood up once, and not a single ball went out in my 15 minutes of waiting.

I noticed more Santo stuff while standing out here.

Every pole on the roof had those flags. I would defenantly pay $100 for one of those.

I wasn't usually cursed with a long line when gates open, especially at Wrigley when everyone is eating and drinking until game time. That wasn't quite the case today.

Thank GOD Kyra took my bag. It took her a whole 10 minutes to get through the line. But I was only behind 10 to 12 people.

While I was pretty lucky with that, those 12 people had to be the SLOWEST, most CLUELESS people I was ever behind. Some of them walked to the scanner and still had the tickets in their pocket! COME ON!

After an agonizing few minutes, all was well. I just hoped nobody beat me to the first ball.

Let's see, who was my target today....

That guy without the jacket was number 41...what's his name again? It's the time of the year where mediocre AAA starters from Iowa start coming up for their cup of coffee. He started just a few games ago, and if I watched that one, I know I would have remembered. If you read regularly, you know this is the perfect type of guy to ask for a ball; one who isn't known by more than a handful of fans.

I discovered it was easier to have rosters on my phone rather than shuffling papers. I quickly looked to see it was Justin Germano.

I called out his name twice without even getting a look. One more time and I was going to give up on him. But sure enough, when a young kid hears his name called, he likes to repay the favor.

This is a pretty bad picture, and the only one I'll ever get of this ball.

Too easy. I knew I didn't have any more chances here, so down to the dugout I went.

I need to shake things up. This whole routine I do at Wrigley gets boring after a while. I'm restricted to just the walls. If I could run to the Bleachers and back I don't think there would ever be a dull moment. For times like this, I had nothing to do but sit.

Obviously I wouldn't be bored if I got a ball. But the Cubs went in early, tossing nothing into the seats.

But look, Theo!

(Last guy on the right)

For the first game next year, I'm bringing a nice ball with a pen. I want his signature; he's the best thing going for the Cubs this year.

The stadium didn't look that crowded at this point.

That's because most of them were on the right field wall. I actually had trouble finding a spot. That's never happened to me before. That's how bad it was.

I fortunately found a decent spot when the Pirates came out.

Not a whole lot happened. The position players didn't hit. I was just trying to possibly get another ball. I wasn't trying hard, but I would have taken it.

I was really concentrating on things like this:

AHHHHHHH! Three perfectly good balls just sitting there with nobody able to reach them. The fact that I can't get them isn't what bothers me, it's that they're going totally unclaimed. I wonder how they....

Oh....well then. I've never seen that before. Now I know employees allowed to do that and plan to use it to my advantage.

They all went in without anything happening. Booooooring.

One thing I did notice was A LOT of black and yellow mulling around.

This was, after all, the Pirates first trip to Wrigley this season. They wouldn't have this many fans in their OWN ballpark if they weren't contending for a playoff spot for the second year in a row. Pittsburgh is just 2 games back of a wild card spot. I really hope these guys make it. Nothing would bore me more than to see the Dodgers play the Cardinals in the first round. Give me some Pirates-Nationals. Make it interesting!

The picture is a little dark, but here's another Ron tribute:

There was a lot of extra time with nothing to do. No exploring, no eating, no pictures. So we sat. I picked a view I don't normally get at Wrigley.

I never seem to get tickets here. I rarely look for seats that are under the second deck, so I succeeded in my quest of at least not getting bored.

We then headed up the ramp towards the top.

I scouted out our seats. It was empty enough to sneak up a little bit, but I didn't want to get caught by an usher or kicked out by people in a crowded section. I analyzed where I wanted to go and snuck into a row in aisle 412.

I love it in this area. You can really tell the difference and you're right on top of the action.

I enjoyed watching the idol of my future son warm-up.

"Help me Anthony Rizzo; You're my only hope".

I'll be brief with the game, because we all know that's the boring part. 

Travis Wood's first pitch from an excellent angle:

I really enjoyed watching Andrew McCLUTCHen again. It's not too often I run into and see a possible MVP more than once in a season.

The first run of the game came on a Starlin Castro solo homer in the bottom of the 1st.

Just like nearly every other game, one big inning lead to the Cubs loss. They were only down 2-1 when a 5 run top of the 8th did them in.

Right before the game ended, I remembered what these weird white lines were:

Just two Sundays ago, Wrigley hosted a soccer game for the first time since the 70's.

I swear, Tom Ricketts would put a 3-ring circus out there if it would make him some money.

Anyway, a three run rally was too little too late for the Cubs. It was encouraging to see, especially the 410 foot blast by Wellington Castillo. At one point, Rizzo was the tying run if he were to hit homer with the bases loaded. There were two runners on when he struck out to end the game. I feel like that was a sign that things were going in the right direction, but we're still very, very....VERY far away from achieving the ultimate goal.

Pirates 8, Cubs 4.

It was now I realized I had only seen the Cubs win once this season. Thankfully my plan worked, and I was pretty preoccupied this whole season and not paid too much attention to the losing.

Kyra and I followed through with our tradition of taking a picture at our last game each season.

Here's where I would put the picture of me with the ball, then of the ball itself. That's not going to happen.

I wanted to take a fancy picture like this one of Sean I took in Milwaukee. Kyra did some from the front, then the back just like that one. Somehow, during the 10 seconds we weren't watching, someone swiped my bag from the row behind me. 

I was kind of hysterical. I ran all the way to the upper deck hoping I forgot it. We searched for another 10 minutes in the surrounding sections of the places we were standing after the game. 

Someone up there didn't want me to be totally screwed. I had my phone, wallet, and camera all in my pockets. They did get my car keys, though. For the first time in two seasons, I asked Kyra to drive today. She did, and we weren't stranded. Talk about luck of the unlucky situation.

They got my glove, ball number 29, my plastic ticket holder (including this game's tickets), and glove trick materials along with the keys. I know they wanted money and stuff of value, but come on. Take the ball if you want and turn my bag with my glove into the lost and found. 

There was nothing I could do. The thing I was most stressed about was that I was leaving for New York in LESS than 48 hours now. My best bet was to go back to Play It Again Sports and see if they had the same model. They didn't, and it really put a damper on my night. I had to go back to the old glove that I wasn't comfortable using. My poor glove...didn't even get to come with me to the hallowed Yankee Stadium.

I've caught more balls, so that sting is gone. I ordered the same model glove from Walmart, so that sting is mostly gone too. I'll make sure this never happens again though.

I woke up the next morning with a positive attitude. I started to pack, and I still couldn't believe this was happening.