Game 6- Walking (Off) on Sunshine

This game was amazing, on so many levels.

Well, the first part wasn’t the good type of amazing. I thank my friend Nick SO MUCH for driving in from McHenry just to spend a day in the Bleachers with me. The long drive, along with a wrong turn or two, caused us to leave my house 25 minutes later than I had hoped.  In a perfect world, I would have wanted to spend 45 minutes waiting in the VIP Bleacher line. I swore to myself that I would ALWAYS be there half an hour before gates opened, no matter what. The gates opened at 11:15 or so, and it was currently 9:30. I was starting to get nervous. But I’m a nervous person when it comes to tardiness; multiply that by 1000 when baseball is involved. I tried to tell myself that we were still in good shape.

After picking up Brent and Kyra, we were half an hour behind. This was even after I pushed our departure time back because I didn’t want Nick to wake up at the crack of dawn. The drive on I-90 wasn’t out of the ordinary, but Irving Park Road was TERRIBLE. There were trucks everywhere and only 5 cars made it through each light. I turned onto a side street and opted to cruise through the neighborhood streets after I saw it was already 10:30. We wouldn’t be there 45 minutes before, but we would make it.

I found a spot close to where I usually park. I still thought we were in decent shape. I started going ballistic in my head when I saw it was 11:05 and Wrigley was nowhere in sight. This is when I apologized for leaving the other 3 a block behind me, and tried to haul ass as much as I could to make sure I was there before the gates opened. SOMEHOW we were able to make it by 11:10. Barley enough time, and way too close for comfort…for me at least.

The past is the past, and I forgot about our travels as soon as I saw how many people were lined up.

The two sets of two that were right in front of us were new to the line. Fortunately, everyone in front of them is a season ticket holder, and not competition for me. I tried to calm down, but something didn’t feel right. Nothing bad had happened, so I tried to ignore it.

While we waited in line I saw a ball rolling across Sheffield, and a small group scramble for it. Damn, it came from inside the park. I really wish I could get one of those, because the only thing better than getting a ball in the first few minutes is getting it in negative minutes, before the gates open and the Ballhawking clock starts ticking.

I chatted with my friends for a little while…then a little longer….and longer still. It was 11:19. I should  be inside right now! Maybe even have a couple balls! I was super anxious, and crossed my thin line between nervousness and impatience. I was really stressing until I heard a security guard say that because of the delay, the regular lines would be held up too. Phew…that took a load off my mind.

I got in hassle free, just like any other game. Our plan was to sit in the second row of the small section next to the left field side of the batter’s eye (we had a couple short people this fine day, which kept us from the first row, which really was fine). While Kyra, Nick, and Brent went to reserve the seats, I opted to stay in right field for the start of BP. I gave myself a laugh when I saw the Cubs hitting, because I wouldn’t have to go through the nightmare of a pregame like May 16^th when they didn’t hit. I took this picture no more than 10 minutes after I got in.

I usually don’t like to reveal things prematurely when telling people about my last game, but you’re here reading this anyway, so I trust you’ll finish. When I took that picture, I had 3 balls already. Even I was amazed.

I much too eagerly shouted at Casey Coleman from way too far away while still behind the party deck, which spoiled my chance to repeat the same phrase within toss up range. Great, already squandered a decent opportunity on what I felt like would be a tough day. I gave up on him and moved towards center field looking for Easter Eggs. I didn’t see any obvious ones, and I wanted to focus on the action on the field. I just about gave up when I thought I spotted a white object hidden deep under the first row. I jogged over, and sure enough, there was ball number one. It was well hidden and lying in a small puddle sort of thing. I wish I had taken a picture, but number one, I wanted to get back to the field. Number two, I didn’t have a good spot to do a “dramatic reenactment”.

I assumed a spot a few rows up in right, hoping to get near some homers that reached the seats on the fly.

And sure enough, I heard the glorious sound of a ball smacking the underside of the metal bleachers many times over, ensuring it would stay in the seats and not bounce back. I noticed where it was right away, and had a causal walk up a few rows to grab it. If I had to guess, I say it landed right about here:

And the picture of the picture taking; Photo-ception.

I went back to my spot feeling pretty good about myself.  Granted all the roadblocks I went through, I was very happy with my situation at the moment. Just a minute later, I watched a ball sail into the third row of a section pretty far away from me (the second one over from the batter’s eye in right, easily over 100 feet away). It popped back up, and looked to be heading over the wall and back to the warning track. I kept my eye on it, and saw it catch the tiniest piece of the basket fence and roll back down towards the wall and seats. I waited to see someone run down from the Bleacher concourse to grab it. If someone was paying attention they could have easily gotten to it faster than me. I saw no one, and took a few steps towards it. I looked for anyone in closer sections while taking a few more slow steps.  I couldn’t believe it, but I was the only one who saw it, started running down to the first row. Not a single person challenged me for it, and thanks to my long arms, I was able to lean over and grab it.

A basket shot at Wrigley was something I always dreamed about. When I was younger, I figured it was my only real chance to catch a home run ball. If pitchers could throw 9 miles an hour, how fast will that batted ball be going? The thought of bare handing it scared the crap out of me. I loved dreaming about watching it fall in there, then quickly reaching down right in front of me and hoisting it above my head for the whole world to see.

So there you have it. There are my 3 balls in 10 minutes, and sadly, I was done for the day.

It took me a little while before I realized an oddity that all my balls had in common. None of the three were thrown to me by players. The first one was probably a BP homer, and I saw the second two hit with my own eyes. It’s encouraging to see that I’m moving up from begging.

I headed back to left to check in with my group, and maybe even get a fourth ball if I was lucky.

I took it easy for a couple minutes and hoped one would be hit towards us to make it interesting. Kyra, Nick and Brent was enjoying the laid back combination of the Bleachers and BP. Meanwhile, I was just glad I didn’t have to be caught in this mess along the foul lines.

Honestly, I can’t do that anymore. Begging is no fun, and my chances are slim. Luckily, I’ll only be restricted to that two more times this season.

Numerous balls ended up very close to us.

The roster came in handy, let me tell you that. It seemed like players were constantly coming and going. New faces meant more chances, and more opportunities for me to call out the guys other fans had no clue about.

I soon found out this was really a prime corner spot for toss ups. The group of a girl and 2 guys next to us in the front row got 5 total. That doesn’t include this one, though.

The frat-star from Purdue you see behind her was nice enough to pass it on to her.

Ready for some action shots? Here’s a couple of me attempting to snag:

My glove looks funny in the last one because I had admitted defeat; it was thrown nowhere close to me.

I also really like this one, which I titled "The Moment of Truth".

Alas, Kyra’s ball was the last one for anyone around us, and BP ended rather uneventfully.

For once, I was happy to see Ryan Dempster take the mound. It seemed in the past few years when I got to a larger number of games, he was pitching at least half the time. It got boring to see the same guy over and over. He’s having an amazing season thus far; even after slowing down and cooling off, he has the 4^th best ERA in the majors and a WHIP that’s just above 1.

I tried to get the best shot of him doing his first stretches just next to the 400 marker on the wall, but that’s all I got.

Dempster was opposed by Anthony Bass. (Don’t feel bad, I have no idea who he is either).

Even with the Cubs being terrible, I still got pumped up for this one. The Padres were the worst team in the National League, so I was convinced they had to win this one, otherwise I was cursed.

It happened to be Illinois State student and alumni day at Wrigley (funny how that worked out with Nick, huh?). Some representative who I have never heard of threw out the first pitch.

Go 'Birds!

Here’s the REAL first pitch of the game from Dempster:

We had up close and personal views of Joe Mather and Wil Venable.

This one constantly went back and forth momentum wise. The scoring got started early when Chris Denorfia hit a 2 run homer into the first row in straight away left field, just over the well.  In the bottom half, the Cubs actually rallied. A steal of second by Darwin Barney and back to back singles by Steve Clevenger and even Dempster himself tied the game up.

Our happiness was short lived, as former White Sox outfielder Carlos Quentin, of all people, hit another 2 run shot. This one landed just half a section to our right. Later in the 5^th inning, he would go to the opposite field and sneak one into the basket for his second of the game. The Cubs never led, but they managed to stay afloat the whole game.

After a long and grueling afternoon, the Cubs trailed by 1 in the 8^th. Reed Johnson pulled a single into left to get on base. When Tony Campana took over as the pinch runner, everyone in the stadium was waiting for him to fly around the bases. He stole second AND third with two outs to give Starlin Castro a great RBI chance. With 2 strikes and 2 outs, Castro hit a chopper down the line to third. The question wasn’t if Campana would make it home, oh no. Castro had to beat out the grounder to tie it. With a headfirst slide into first, he did just that, and the game was tied yet again.

Somehow, James Russell tiptoed out of the inning despite giving up 2 hits. A leadoff single turned into a double play, and then a double by Quentin didn’t matter as he struck out the next batter to end the inning. We headed to the bottom of the 9^th, still tied.

By this time, the game was over 3 hours old. I was hot AND cold thanks to the cloud cover, exhausted, and felt bad for the other 3 who looked like they just wanted to get it over with and leave. If it went to extras, I couldn’t give up the chance to see the blue W for one of the very few times it will be raised this season!

Bryan LaHair got on with a single, and after Alfonso Soriano struck out, I figured there would be no comeback in the 9^th. Barney was up again, and the inning wasn’t going to go anywhere.

He hit a fly ball to left center. I stood up along with the people around me; like we all did for every fly ball to make sure we had a good view of the play, no matter how routine.

A couple people yelled, hoping it would propel the ball farther.

“This isn’t a regular fly ball, this one was crushed for Darwin’s standards. Could it maybe drop for a double? That could possibly get LaHair in”, I said to myself.

More fans stood up and it got closer to the Bleacher faithful.

“No, there’s no way. Sure, he makes good contact from time to time, but the wind wasn’t going out at all. The only other homers were line drives.”

The ball started to drop. The entire stadium held their breath. It couldn’t be.

“They’re going to run out of room…IS IT GOING TO MAKE IT?!”

IT’S A WALK OFF WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went crazy as Barney’s teammates stormed the field to meet him at the plate. I truly couldn’t believe what just happened.

Final score-Cubs 8, Padres 6. The guy who caught this one was the same one to catch Quentin’s first homer. Here’s a screenshot of the final hit; the ball is in the seat of hands below the “O” in “out” on the score bug, and I’m in the box on the right.

Wow. It was so nice to be celebrating here again. I knew we still were 11 games out of first, but it was such a dramatic win, it felt like it actually meant something. After we all collected ourselves, we all got a group picture.

Then me with my 3 balls, which I was very proud of considering this whirlwind day.

It’s almost like they planned it this way. After this game, I wouldn’t be back to Wrigley until June 27^th, almost a whole month. They made it just interesting enough to keep me excited to come back.

STATS

• 3 balls at this game
• 9 balls total this season
• 6 consecutive games with a ball
• 19 lifetime balls