Aside from the game, there was a fourth reason I wanted to be back. I would get to get a taste of the Yuppie life for the first time.
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Kyra finally got tired of commuting to Loyola, and settled in an apartment near campus. Lucky for me, Loyola is only a short ride from Wrigley on the Red Line. I would get to see what it's like to live on the North side; something I obviously want to do later in life.
I've taken the Amtrak home plenty of times over the past few years. This time, instead of getting on the Metra to Schaumburg, I would walk a few blocks over to State Street, hop on the subway downtown, and be at Loyola less than an hour after I got into Union Station.
It was a cold, rainy night on Thursday. I had a long week (just like every one this semester) and was ready to relax and do my thing for the last time this season.
Even when we were considerably closer to the park, we weren't able to get much more sleep. I usually get going at 8:15 for a 1:20 game, and after counting backwards, I determined we would get until 8:45. Not much of a break now, is it?
Once again (just like the Bruce concert), I thought this would be a sunny fall day that would require just a light jacket. The forecast called for rain, and it actually wasn't too cold when we left the apartment. I had a rain jacket, but was still hoping for the best. Typically, I get lucky with rain at baseball games. That is, until Mother Nature catches up with me and dumps it all on me in one day.
We arrived a little late for my liking. We hustled down Sheffield and over to the right field corner. I looked at the knothole, and bingo, the cage was up.
Even though this guy is a Cardinal fan AND likes Yadier Molina, I like how this turned out:
Unrelated quirk- can you see something odd about the Toyota sign in the next picture?
Here's what I mean:
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| If I could just find something long enough.... |
It was just 10:50, and we still had half an hour until the gates opened. I needed to be a little early to meet someone, though.
Just after my last game on August 15th, my mom told me a useful piece of information. A lady she worked with had a son that worked at Wrigley and was pretty high up in the security department. He would be able to do me a few favors since our mothers were friends. For example:
To say that Mom hooked me up would be a severe understatement. The guy's girlfriend is who actually worked inside and would escort me down to the bullpen for the picture. Two things I was going to get:
A) Picture on the field during BP on game day
B) Access to the Bleachers when I had a regular ticket
The second one was me being a little hopeful. I knew it wouldn't be too hard for one of them to walk me out there and let me roam free during BP. I would go back and sit in my seat after it was done; I would be that thankful for it. I just didn't want this last game to be lame, and with these three extra perks (yes, there's another one. Keep reading), it would make the trip worthwhile.
I was told he would be supervising the barricade by the player's parking lot near the firehouse in right field. I went over and asked the group of already there, and they said they hadn't seen him yet. I went back to the line outside Gate K and watched carefully.
After a little while, another Cubs representative arrived at the barricade. I was about 50 feet away from them. He went over, had a word with the guy I talked to earlier, and swiftly walked back to where he came from. I'm pretty sure I read the right name on the name tag. It was him. Dammit.
He was being really nice by doing this. I didn't want to disturb him while he was working, so I just hoped he would come back. He never did. AGHHH!
Gates opened on time, and I was frustrated. I kept my phone set on loud; Mom told me he might have my number.
Quick starts are what I rely on, and Kyra caught this picture the second she found me in the stands.
The coach above my glove and closest to me lobbed it up when it rolled down the line and close to the outfield wall.
"And don't ask for any more, now". Since you were nice and gave me one, you got it Coach. I was relatively happy; my current streak lives on.
Since I promised not to ask anymore, I just wished for good luck. I moved farther down towards the Bleachers, hoping that a hitter would crush one barley foul and into the seats.
As soon as I had that thought, I heard ushers yelling and telling fans that one was coming. I turned around and saw it was pretty far in, almost to aisle 201. I shuffled through the seats and had a beat on it; there was another kid (high school, mind you. Not a six year old) that was slightly ahead of me. It smacked the seat and flew back out onto the warning track, sadly.
The Cubs finished their portion of BP, and the seats were still pretty barren. Not many more people showed up than what you see above until the Cardinals took the field. Once they did though, a sea of red started collecting around me. The Cards were two and a half games ahead for the second Wild Card spot, and seemed to have quite a few faithful fans following them for the weekend. It didn't help that Cub fans were practically giving their tickets away to them, either.
I was a little part of the sea, too.
As my body language suggests, this was the best I could do as far as opposing team colors go. I realized when I was packing at my apartment that I wouldn't be able to stop home to grab a red hat and sweatshirt. I tried to put together as much red as I could. I mean, that's pretty red, but the hat would have helped.
I tired a brand new spot since the outfield seats were starting to fill. I saw these balls right in front of the Cubs bullpen, and figured it was my best chance to get someone (anyone, not necessarily from the Cardinals) to hand one over.
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| Did you see the one right below the wheel of the protective net? |
I ditched it, never to come back, but Kyra was determined.
"I'm staying here! I saw that one [under the wheel] before anyone else. I'm not moving until I have it!" Look at that, I'm rubbing off on her!
I realized I hadn't scoured many seats for Easter Eggs, so before moving to the first base side, I took a look in the field box seats:
Nothing. Not like I expected anything anyways....
I'll admit, I was heading to the first base side much too early to wait for the end of BP. I had something in mind that would be an AWESOME thing to bring home. I know it's not a good picture, but the guy with his leg up behind the cage is Mark McGwire.
If you ask me, it looks like he shrunk to half his size. (I wonder why...)
Anyway, since he's become the Cardinals hitting coach, he's been very fan friendly. Every game, he quickly signs a few BP balls, and tosses them up. They're not pristine, or even remotely clean, or even a good signature. But if I see someone sign something in person, it has more value to me than just buying it.
I was 12 rows up as usual, and couldn't do anything besides stand up on a seat and wave my arms. The extra Cards fans didn't help, and they all got snatched up within the first three rows.
Since the whole park had cheap tickets, I decided to upgrade a little bit from my usual seats.
By now it was pretty windy and chilly. In my experience, this was the worst section in the ballpark to be in on a cold day. Luckily, I didn't plan to be here for long (but more on that in a second.)
This game felt funny even before I got to the park. As I was sitting here, I realized I would be seeing a playoff team today. The mixture of gloomy weather, the Cubs crappy record, and poor attendance really mad it apparent that it wasn't a normal summer afternoon.
I got a little bonus, too. Chris Carpenter was coming off the DL and making his first start of the season. This would surely end bad for the Cubs, but it was going to be bad anyway.
I obviously expected some cheers from the St.Louis fans when he was announced as the starter and walked to the visitors bullpen. The amount that I actually heard made me say our loud "Ah shit, one of these games..." I'd have to listen to an embarrassing roar every time to Cards scored. I've been a part of the visiting crowd in Milwaukee many times, but very, very rarely have I been the opposite at Wrigley.
The game started on time despite a little drizzle. Soon though, it developed into a steady, light rain.
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| Chris Volstad to John Jay. |
C) Seat upgrade
My friend I was going to meet outside was buddy buddy with lots of ushers. Our text conversation right after the game started went a little like this:
"Hey Ryan- Where the hell were you earlier you idiot?" (That's what it looked like to me, at least)
"Yea sorry about that....We're sitting in 240 row 17"
"Just finishing up outside. I'll be over there in just a minute."
I had no idea what to expect. Was I going to be sitting next to Tom Ricketts himself?
He came over and we met for the first time. Then he led us down the stairs and closer to home plate. We chatted, I told him about my balls and blog, and he apologized for not being around earlier to meet me. (Honestly, that's fine. I consider it an IOU I could use next season for the stuff I missed. I'm almost happy I didn't get to it today so I have something to look forward to at the beginning of next season.)
This was where he dropped us off:
This may be the best section I've ever sat in here. Once (in 2003) I was in aisle 34, four rows behind the Pirates bullpen. I still consider the 100 level better than the ones so low and far down the line like in aisle 34.
It was pretty sweet. I most wanted to just be up close and see details about the players I don't see from hundreds of feet away.
It was freaky to be right behind the umpire. Now I could actually see the exact location of every pitch.
Of course, with my luck, the one time I want a quick game, it was a marathon that never seemed to end.
Like good teams do, the Cards jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st thanks to Yadier Molina single to score John Jay. They tacked on another one in the 3rd with an Allen Craig sac fly to score Carlos Beltran.
Much to my surprise, the Cubs retaliated. David DeJesus led off the bottom of the 3rd with an exciting triple, and was then knocked in by Darwin Barney shortly after.
Alfonz then pulled a double down the left field line, and Barney was hustling from first the whole time. The coolest part of the day was when he slid to beat the play at the plate. I actually heard him yell with excitement as he was called safe.
The Cardinals went back ahead in the top of the 4th; Pete Kozma was credited with a steal of home on a suicide squeeze that went terribly wrong. Daniel Descalso whiffed on the bunt, and Wellington Castillo was charged with a passed ball. (Good Lord I'm glad this season is ending.)
By the 6th inning, the crowd had thinned to almost nothing. It was already 3:15. Every half inning, the grounds crew would spend extra time throwing down some drying agent and fixing the mound.
Now is when the game really slowed down. I almost wasn't even enjoying it. It was so slow and monotonous that I couldn't even pay attention to the game situation. We had been out in the cold all day, and also been soaking wet for hours. The Cubs were already losing, and the Cardinals added another in the top of the 8th to go up 5-3.
At 4:30, and the beginning of the 9th, we decided we'd had enough. It was my call, really. I've gotten enough baseball today, even if it was my last game before the long, baseball-less winter. I'm glad I came, but it was really time to let it go.
I got my last picture of the year with my prize....
As well as me and Kyra trying to stay happy while also being drenched.
Figures. Oh well.
STATS
(Somehow I messed up my consecutive game streaks last time, so I made sure these were accurate by looking at my account on MyGameBalls.com)
- 1 ball at this game
- 22 balls total this season
- 5 consecutive games with a ball (while avidly Ballhawking)
- 10 consecutive games with a ball in Chicago
- 32 lifetime balls
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