BUT, that didn't keep me from getting one last BP session in before going back to ISU. This was in the cards all season long; these tickets were the last set in the package I got from my VIP guy back in March.
My companion was TBD until the previous week. I had promised my cousin Dylan another game; one that was much better than last year. He came with me to my only trip at the Cell on July 25th. It was a day game, and I don't know why I expected something great to happen. There was no BP, yet we were both able to come out with one ball each. To repay him for my bad decision making, I brought him along to what I thought would be a cakewalk.
The gate opened a few minutes later than it should have. Dylan was quite anxious and really wanted to know when we were going to be let in. The tardiness put the cherry on top of my diminished positive attitude. I was hoping this would be one of those goldmine late summer games. The crowds would be small, balls would still fly in the hot weather, and I would be able to use my skills to their full potential.
That was not the case at all. The amount of people around Wrigley dismissed assumption number one. On top of the larger than expected crowd, I saw way too many Reds fans for my liking. That's something I hadn't even anticipated. My visiting team color matching was now useless with a couple hundred Cincinnati-ans here. Then, the Bleacher regulars showed up in full force. I was hoping we'd be able to snatch the Easter Eggs before they got there, but there was no way that was happening now. Every passed minute meant one less minute we would have before the regular crowd got in. I was officially nervous.
Getting through the gate took much longer than I would have liked. Almost agonizingly slow. Every second that went by was painful. Dylan was counting on me to produce, especially after I promised him a big day.
We did get a FEW minutes alone for the most part once we got up to the seats.
The late summer sun in my eyes was unexpected. The Cubs weren't even hitting balls to the outfield, much less over the fence. All this while keeping track of the best place to be and making sure I was moderately close to Dylan at all times. It's not like he needs constant supervision. He's a freshman this year at good old JBCHS. I just didn't want to disappear and have him be left alone not knowing where I went or what to do. This was his first time in the Bleachers, and he definitely wasn't sure of his way around.
We got over to left field as soon as the regular gates opened. It quickly became a mess.
I haven't made a ranked list, but this is one of top five things I hate about Wrigley - the GA dynamic as a whole. People, you're all in the most inconvenient spots you can possibly be. Can you all PLEASE just condense and sit in the front row?
It was bad. And the situation was still the same 15 minutes later. Balls hardly made it to the outfield, much less to the guys fielding them.
All I could think to do was go over here and maybe get a lucky rip down the line. The front row was still empty in this section, and it was clearly the one with the least amount people in it at the moment.
We stayed here for quite a while. We had no choice. The Cubs went in after giving us nothing.
At one point in the Reds portion, someone finally deemed it acceptable to flip one up to us. It turned out to be Ryan Ludwick, who I called Manny Parra about six times before someone on the foul line got his name right. That made me feel like a complete moron. I've never screwed up that bad before, especially repeatedly. He tossed it over his shoulder as he was walking back to his group in a random sort of fashion.
It was close. Close enough for me to react. Then I stopped. I knew there was a kid behind me somewhere, and the ball wasn't clearly intended for me, nor in my direct path. Not half a second later did I say to myself "Hey! I have a kid of my own to take care of!"
I stepped up another row and made a stab at it, only to have it miss the tip of my glove by the smallest measurement possible. I even had one of those feelings like it DID go in, but it's just your brain playing a cruel trick on you by saying my glove hand should have felt something. The ball hit the seats, took a less than neutral bounce, and the other kid got it. (I wasn't trying to rip off an 8 year old; he was close to Dylan's age, if not older. Hence, my reasoning).
I was pissed. SO pissed. I BARLEY hesitated and I screwed myself out of a perfectly catch-able ball. The opportunities were so few and far between that I couldn't afford to miss that one. Dylan was still depending on me. I felt like I screwed up the only chance we would get for the rest of the night. And it wasn't even 5:30.
We ended up back in right field. It's just not good practice to stay in the same place for almost all of BP. Plus, look what the Reds did:
Nearly every single shagger took a spot on this side. Weird. I don't know if I never been paid close enough attention, or this was an actual anomaly. Regardless, I'm glad they helped me make up my mind.
The seats were just as bad too.
Looking back, this was still an awful place to be. However, I did have the corner spot by the well. That was the one thing helping me not lose my mind and rip my glove in half.
These were killing me too:
If we had just been here at the moment right before they fell in, we'd have them in our bags right now. I'm certain of that.
Out of nowhere, someone finally cut us a break. A (most likely) left handed hitter kept blasting balls to the deep outfield before sending one almost right to us in the corner. I didn't pick it up until the last possible second before it made impact. There was one older guy who slowed it down with his bare hands before it slammed into the metal. The ball bounced back up, and I launched myself from three rows below in order to jump high enough to get it. I literally snatched it out of the air with my glove before the same guy could get his hands up to grab it.
PHEW.
Let me just say - I appreciated this guy's small act of sportsmanship. I was about to clobber him going full speed when it was up for grabs. Instead of being mad about missing it or complaining he deserved it, he patted me on the shoulder and moved back to his seat. THIS is how I want Ballhawking to be. "Hey man, sorry I almost destroyed you, but nice try and good luck".
Anyway, this was quite a relief. I was no longer a liar to Dylan, and personally, my streak was extended. As you can see, the cage is already gone in the last photo.
I'll give Dylan some serious credit though. I told him what to say, and he did a great job of timing and realizing potential chances. Unfortunately, our only real target was Corky Miller, who wasn't the most unknown guy on the field. He'd already given away plenty of balls too.
I didn't quite know what to do at this point. Now I wished we were at the Cell so at the very least Dylan could sit in the best seats of his life. But no, we were trapped here with very few options.
I thought the 400s may work for foul tips. We stopped here and waited to see where some empty seats would be after the first inning:
I don't remember why we moved again; I think I wanted to grab a scorecard and they were sold out upstairs. Regardless, this is where we ended up watching most of the game:
There was a special ceremony for Billy Williams, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Ernie Banks was also there to speak highly of his teammate:
There were still some empty seats upstairs, but I still wanted to wait a couple innings so we could look like we belonged there. Plus, these were really great seats we made our way into. I wanted to enjoy them a little bit.
I would not mind one bit having season tickets somewhere around here in the future:
As always, the first pitch:
I was able to get some sweet closeups from here:
Then I started to get creative. This seat offered a bunch of great views I had to take advantage of.
Then I had the urge to try something I haven't fooled with on this camera yet - black and white! It turned out pretty good. Here are my favorites:
Both teams scored early and it stayed close throughout. They needed more than 9 to settle it.
It was STILL tied into the 11th. I haven't mentioned yet that it was COLD for an August evening. Plus, it was after 10:30. We'd been here quite a while, and it was clear there would be not be more chances for balls.
Dylan gave me the 10th, but I agreed it was time to go after that. It was a little difficult to walk out. How many times do I get the chance to witness a Cubs walk-off? Turns out Dylan is the smart one - the Reds got two in the 11th to win it 6-4, just as we were getting on the Blue Line at Addison.
****
This was a sad and upsetting day that didn't live up to my expectations. I DID have one more game lined up, but I had no idea what to expect. With classes almost a month in and getting back to life without baseball in that time, I may not be able to devote my mind completely to Ballhawking.
As far as I was concerned, this night ended summer for me. It almost broke my heart. This season was wonderful and exciting in so many ways, and it was almost over.
However, thanks to a friendly stranger, my last game turned out to be one of the best of 2013. I've said that a lot the past six months, but I got a Wrigley experience in September like I've never had before.
STATS
- 1 ball at this game
- 28 balls total this season
- 19 consecutive games with a ball
- 60 lifetime balls
- Time Spent at Game: 6 hours, 15 minutes
- Total time spent at games: 99 hours, 35 minutes (So close!)
- 1 ball X 33,286 fans = 33,286 Competition Factor
No comments:
Post a Comment