That Tottlin' Town - Part 3

Sunday, July 4, 2010, Chicago USA. The day was hot but not blazing; the people were blue and red in the old stadium. Mike Leake was on the mound. We liked our chances. We never expected the ball to go flying out of Wrigley like Southwest flies from Midway, but it did, and it did again and again and again and again and again and again. Seven of them, three of them by Drew Stubbs and one by some guy named Paul Janish, who was only playing because a certain snubbed All Star first baseman had been thrown out of the game for arguing balls and strikes.

It was really unbelievable to see those baseballs fly out of the ballpark and watch the numbers on the scoreboard go up and up and up. We watched as a few of them off the bats of Stubbs and Miller leave the stadium and bounce on Waveland Avenue. You always see that on television, but it's really great to see in real life. I mean, when your team is the one hitting the bombs. Some Chub$ chump hit two out, too, but that was the extent of their meager offense. The Reds outscored the Chub$ 30-8 in that four game series.

The thing about our seats was the sheer number of beer vendors - sometimes there would be three all bunched up in the aisle and blocking the ballgame. Seriously, it's too much.

Chub$ fans were pretty quiet during the game for obvious reasons. I'd make a note about Mike Leake's greatness right here, but just his names stirs up painful memories of last night's travesty and Caca Cordero.

Here are my previous posts about the trip:

That Toddlin' Town Part 1
That Toddlin' Town Part 2

Other photos from the homerun derby:

That Toddlin' Town

My trip to Chicago USA over 4th of July weekend 2010 to see the Cincinnati Reds take on the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Music by Frank Sinatra and Sufjan Stevens, both songs titled "Chicago." Photos are mine. I honestly don't know how the picture you see when the video isn't playing is stuck on the scoreboard, but HA!

Hope you catch my subtle jabs at the Cubs.

Feel free to share. (Just give me the credit for the photos, please!)

That Toddlin' Town - Part 2

One can hardly imagine a more beautiful day than July 3, 2010 in Chicago, USA.

It would have been more beautiful with less Chub$ fans in the world, but hey, we can't always have everything we want. The Bleacher Experience at Wrigley Field is, well, if you're a grown up, not something you want to do again. (But if you're a Chub$ fan, go ahead and pay $50 for a general admission ticket to a baseball game where you have to line up at 10:30 in the morning for a 12:00 game and there aren't any beer vendors because you're all too drunk to handle them.)

We were staying near the airport and took a train into the city every day. Because it was the Taste of Chicago, the trains were running late, and we didn't get to the ballpark until 11am for a 12:05 game. (Oh, but that Polish sausage smothered with peppers, onions, tomatoes, and mustard I had at ToC the night before was divine.) I had to pick up tickets at will call, stand in the wrong line to get into the park, walk around the whole stadium to the bleacher entrance after we were told it was the wrong line, wait in line, get told the line on Waveland was shorter than Sheffield, stand in that line which wasn't shorter, enter, try to walk buy the beer concessions only to be told you had to have an ID bracelet, went to get the ID bracelet, went to find a seat, discovered there were no seats, asked the usher about it, got a rude answer, ended up finding seats, didn't move for six innings out of fear of losing the seats.

Because it was a holiday weekend, the tickets were more expensive than other games, which may have kept the really super obnoxious drunks away, because I didn't see any. Then again, the game started at noon, so that could have helped a bit.

The Reds didn't get a hit until the fourth or fifth inning. It's not like they were facing Cliff Lee, but they made Randy Wells look like Cliff Lee. I tried to start a #randywellsnohitter hashtag on Twitter to jinx it, and I guess it worked!

I should have started a #comeonredsletsgetsomeoffense hashtag, because they couldn't score runs. I thought maybe they should have saved some of those runs from the previous day's 12-0 romp. They ended up losing 3-0, but the Chub$ fans weren't rude to us in the Cincinnati gear. I guess they know their place in 2010! Anyway, some more pictures from the Johnny Cueto-Randy Wells match up on Saturday.

That Toddlin' Town - Part 1

Have you voted Votto yet?

If there's anything all non-Chub$ baseball fans can agree on, it's that it's fun to make fun of Chub$ fans.

They don't deserve that gem of a park they play in.

I've been to Wrigley Field a few times in my life now, and it never gets old. I mean, yeah, the park gets old - it's quite old now - but the experience never does. This is how baseball is meant to be enjoyed - a day game, none of that Playstation garbage in the concourse, no pop music blaring from the speakers, no flashing television screen - just good old fashioned baseball, where people actually sit in their seats, watch the game, talk to each other, and enjoy each other's company.

For all the obnoxiousness of Chub$ fans, it sure is nice to see people excited about their baseball team, even if they haven't won a World Series since 1908 and have to resort to stories of curses to explain away their suckitude. I really love the rooftop culture, although it's sad how corporate it's become. Still, it's pretty freaking cool to walk down Sheffield or Waveland and watch people with their team's colors splashed across their bodies. If only they could name their team's starting lineup...

I love taking the train to a ballgame. Places where that isn't possible are missing that element of excitement that is found in places like Chicago, New York, and even Washington where you see the team names and know you're getting to go to a baseball game. There's none of the headache of finding and paying for parking, and you feel a sense of camaraderie with those around you on the train, even if you are rooting for opposite teams, because you're all Baseball fans, sharing this tiny quality in this vast universe.

It was nice of them to fly both an Ohio flag and a Cincinnati flag on the outside of the stadium. I can't think of any other stadium that does that.

I'll have more about my trip to see the Reds play at Wrigley last weekend, but I gotta go vote some more for Votto, so here are some other photos: