Go Cubs! Go!

With all of the season's TV shows winding down, I've finally had some good chances to watch some baseball this week ...

And oh, what a week it's been ... The Cubs are hot, and the Brewers, well, they're hanging in there ...

On Tuesday night, Kates and I caught the Cubs come from behind -- in between flipping back and forth and watching Bill Hall bring the Brewers from behind too!

Then I watched the Cubs do it again to sweep the Dodgers Wednesday night ...

And today they came back from eight runs down ...

Ooh this is getting good.

Soaking up opening day!

... We've been buried in a dreary, pouring rain for much of the day ... But there was nothing better this morning than waking up to the sound of a steady rain beating our porch and the rolling thunder. I'll take it! ... Good-bye snow ...

And today was Major League Baseball's opening day ...

Still catching my breath from last night's KU game, we changed channels and tuned in to our first "Baseball Tonight" of the season ... and then the magnificent opener at the Nationals new Stadium -- George Bush throwing out the first pitch, Ryan Zimmerman walk-off homerun and all... What a game!

... Today over my lunch I caught a couple innings of the Tigers-Royals opener ...

And then got home in time tonight to see the ninth inning of the Cubs-Brewers opener ... The game was tied 0-0 and Kerry Wood had just nailed Rickie Weeks square in the back. A couple minutes later, Ryan Braun was knocking him in and Corey Hart had a two-run double to put the Brewers up 3-0 ...

Then! Eric Gagne couldn't finish it for the Brewers. He puts a couple runners on and the Japanese sensation Kosuke Fukudome launches a three-run homer into the center field bleachers! We were tied up again! Are you kidding me!?!

The Brewers eventually did win it in the 10th on a Tony Gwynn, Jr., sac fly ... but whoah.

This is too much ...

Baseball fever. I've caught it.

Sunday reading

The good reads that caught my eyes over the last couple weeks ...

Baseball ...
a Cubs' selection Sunday fast approaching
a Piniella settles on batting order
a Wrigley Field sale to state looking like latest Cubs loser
a Lasorda and the Dodgers say goodbye to Vero Beach
a Emotional day at Dodgertown for Lasorda
a Do-it-all Bill Hall returns to infield for Brewers' new defensive look
a Brewers slugger Prince Fielder now eating a Field of Greens
a Q & A with Brewers' owner Mark Attanasio
a Brewers owner: Yost dynamic leader who gives stability to club
a Japan Trip on for Red Sox, Athletics ... an extraordinary move indeed.
a Keeping up with Jones: Aside from closer, Tigers' bullpen is a big concern ... Not good.
a Why it's so Grand to be Tigers' Granderson
a Nobody's calling for Barry Bonds, and the phone won't start ringing soon
a Suspicion lingers in wake of Report
a Nats' Food Will Tag More Home Bases

Other sports ...
a Knight's ESPN gig could provide a bleeping good time ... From what I've seen, it has been.
a Rodgers ready to play for Packers

TV ...
a TV series alter time

Music ...
a Apple Said to Weigh Unlimited Music Deal
a Nine Inch Nails scares up sales with 'Ghosts'
a Judge Portrays McCartney's Ex As 'Out of Control'
a Judge says Heather Mills 'her own worst enemy'

Politics ...
a '3 a.m. call' Clinton-ad actress gets rude awakening
a What we don't know about Obama hurts him

Media & the Internet ...
a Wikipedia starts to look a bit less wiki
a In a newspaper war, we must mind our p's and q's ... an update from the Trib's big contest win.

Travel ...
a Mount St. Helens' booming history
a Restoring the Mall From 'Disgrace' to Showcase

Life & other stuff ...
a Hey, It's Your Funeral
a Dump the penny
a Starbucks tips ruling is made to order for baristas
a Neighbor 'ghosts' haunt drama on deadly summer ... I remember that summer -- and the heat -- well. It was the first time I'd ever been to Chicago, and every night on the news there were reports of more deaths ...

Sunday reading

Good reads that caught my eyes during the last couple weeks ...

Sports ...
a Kids' area to be part of Miller Park renovations ... This is great, but shouldn't parents be watching their children and not the game?
a Cubs execs try to calm stomachs
a Hearings confirm success of the Mitchell Report
a 2 wrongs only double the offense
a Atomic apples spoiling this bunch
a Observations from a nearly perfect NFL weekend

TV ...
a Suzanne Pleshette, sexy star of 'Bob Newhart Show,' dies at 70
a If the directors cut the right deal, it could save Hollywood from civil war
a 'American Idol' returns as a bright spot on strike-stricken horizon

Media & technology ...
a Thinly Sliced Laptop Polishes Apple's Image
a Baltimore Sun's 'Wire' Portrayal Fuels a Hot Debate

Politics ...
a Romney and reporter tangle at press conference
a Why Obamamania? Because He Runs as The Great White Hope

Life & other stuff ...
a Chihua-wheels: Disabled dogs get rolling
a The Battle To Remold the Mall
a Band of Scouting Misfits Attains Eagle Ranking
a Is Decade Doomed To Anonymity?
a No Assembly Required: For Ikea's Live-In Weblebrity, Reality Comes at a Discount

Random musings

I think the seasonal affective disorder is setting in ...

Yesterday afternoon I seriously could not stop yawning ...

Got home from work. Kates and I dinner. I did the dishes -- partly. We watched "How I Met Your Mother" and "Big Bang Theory." She retreated to her office to work ...

And I was zonked out on the couch by 8:30. Gone. Done. Day over.

* * *

I'm on a little bit of a Mamas & Papas kick right now. Over the weekend Kates and I watched a fascinating documentary about the group ...

I've loved the music of The Mamas & The Papas since the days of riding around in the car with my dad and listening to the oldies station. "Dancing In the Street" and "Words of Love" were staples in my 45 playing days. Their sunny harmonies and sing-able tunes have always whisked me away ...

But oh, how little I really knew of the foursome. I was listening to some of their music Saturday afternoon, and on a whim I started poking around the Internet to learn more about the group. I hadn't realized that their time was so short, from '66 to '68 really. Which makes their accomplishments even greater ...

Then, a pure coincidence, I discovered PBS was showing a documentary about the group Saturday night. Kates and I started watching it and couldn't pull ourselves away. There were insightful interviews with the group members mixed with loads of archival photos, footage and television clips ...

I always knew Mama Cass had cannon for a voice, but man was she light on her feet too ... Michelle was a doll ... And Denny and John were just pure musical talents ...

And "Creeque Alley" ? The epic about the beginnings of The Mamas & The Papas? A great song, I've always enjoyed it. But after delving more into the group's history this weekend, I'm even more impressed with the song ... It continues to amaze me how the stories of so many musicians and groups coming out of California in the '60s are so intertwined ...

Ah, the history of rock 'n' roll.

A good clip ...



* * *

So Jacque Jones got traded ... At first glance, I sort of shook my head at the trade, considering how well Jones played the latter part of the season. ... Then I realized, But wait, getting rid of Jones could mean more playing time for my boy Matt Murton. Yes! Good trade!

And in even better and more surprising news, Ryan Braun wins the NL Rookie of the Year! ... Now, as a baseball fan, I think Troy Tulowitzki got jipped. Tulowitzki helped lead his team to the World Series as a solid all-around player. Braun pretty much just wowed baseball by slugging the ball and playing ok defense ... But as a Brewers fan, Hey, way to go Braunie! Don't go the way of Listach!

* * *

I caught this cartoon yesterday ... It illustrates the bad news I was talking about Thursday night oh so well ...

Sunday reading

The stories and the headlines that caught my eye this past week ...

World & Politics ...
a The Two Obamas
a Dept. of Cheap Shocks
a Iraqi orchestra finds harmony amid war

TV & Entertainment ...
a Silverman calls Spears VMA joke ‘innocuous’
a 'Grey's Anatomy' spinoff 'Private Practice' in need of surgery

Music ...
a The album: Obsolete to whom? ... Um. Not me!
a Amazon takes a stab at iTunes market ... very interesting.
a Will.i.am goes solo for 'Songs About Girls'

Baseball ...
a These guys didn't live up to expectations
a Yost’s Bad Week Leads to the Brewers’ Elimination

Life & Other stuff ...
a Kids must run, not clop along in Crocs
a Long wait at the license bureau: "Jenny, I've Got Your Number" ... I remembered this story from several years and stumbled across it again this week. It's still a good read.
a There Are No Gray Areas

... And finally check out this video. Very cool ...

Images from the weekend

So Tad got hitched this weekend. If that doesn’t illustrate how much we’ve grown in the last 10 years …

Some answers to what are sure to be frequently asked questions in the next few days, as well as a few lingering thoughts and nuggets ( … well, at least the ones that are appropriate for this blog …) from a weekend that was -- to steal a descriptive word I read last week -- fantasta-magical …

The flights were fine. Maybe a little rough on the take-offs. But everything was on time, and we didn’t lose any luggage.

The wedding rehearsal dinner was wonderful, elegant. Excellent eats -- chicken, mashed potatoes, noodles, salad. Great conversation … Lots of emotion.

Afterward, back at the accommodations, we watched the news and kept our eyes peeled for the Brewers and Cubs scores. The Brewers lost; the Cubs won. And just like that it was over. The Cubs had won the division …

Then we watched Paris on the Letterman show (watch the video here). My oh my … Could she have looked more perturbed and embarrassed with Dave!? It was so awkward it was funny. It was Dave being Dave and poking fun at Paris after all …

Get this dynamic: There were seven groomsmen in the wedding, who included a writer/journalist (me), a pastor, a doctor, an assistant district attorney and a police officer who’s done three tours in Iraq. It had all the makings of a great TV show, right!? …

Speaking of the groomsmen. Tad was making phone calls to all of us about 2:30 Thursday afternoon, asking about our middle names and whether we rooted for KU or K-State … It wasn't surprising that he had put off another thing to the last minute. But Tad. Seriously, buddy. You know us better than that … The payoff: Each of us received cuff links with our initials engraved and Titleist golf hats with the KU or K-State emblems (depending on who you root for …) emblazoned on their sides … nice.

As we waited Saturday afternoon for the ceremony to start, we had a TV showing the K-State-Texas game … Hey, for this group, that was a big game. And after the ceremony, there were scores being checked on cell phones every five minutes … K-State won, and that made the beer taste even sweeter ...

The ceremony was beautiful. And everything went off without a hitch …

Except for the part that included the wedding party being picked up from the church by a trolley. The trolley had broken down, so our 18-person wedding party smashed into the three cars we had available and hit the town for pictures … A replacement trolley eventually picked us up at The Nelson, and we would have a jolly and bubbly good time riding it to the reception hall, if you know what I mean …


The new couple shared their first dance to Ben Folds’ “The Luckiest” -- a smart and wonderful choice that spawned an amusing conversation about first dances and reception music … The wedding party was introduced to Van Halen’s “Right Now” (excellent choice! … ) … I got props when I mentioned Kates and I first danced to Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be,” as did my cousin who recently danced with his new bride to Queen’s “Best Friend.” Also thrown out was Dave Matthews’ “Steady As We Go.” … And we agreed Frank Sinatra is way overplayed at weddings …

…And oh, the baby talk. There was a whole lot of it, and I’ll leave it at that … It was fun stuff.

The best thing about the weekend? Not only being a part of the new couple’s lives and seeing them so happy together, but looking around the table Saturday night and seeing the faces of the people with whom I've experienced so much. And being awestruck that 10 years later, with hundreds of miles separating our daily routines, we can still laugh and dance (... man, we had a good time dancing ...) and talk as though nothing's changed. We’re all happy, we all remain dear and close to each other … and I take an awful lot of pride in that. Even better, now our significant others have joined the fold and it’s almost as if they’ve been there for the last 10 years too …

Flying. And going down fast.

I’m on a plane, flying somewhere over Illinois, and guzzling a Pepsi -- something I’m now regretting because the crew gives you like five minutes to enjoy your beverage before the plane starts its dissent and they order you to put everything upright …

We’re on our way to Kansas City for the weekend. Tad’s finally settling down and getting married.

I’m thumbing through this week’s Sports Illustrated and the cover story about the faces of this year’s postseason ...

Man, will I be making runs to check the baseball scores at the bar room TV this weekend, or what!?

Forget the American League. It’s over. Done. All my teams got in -- minus the Tigers. Dang Yankees.

But the National League -- geez! All three division titles are virtually any team’s to win. The analysts I was listening to last night drove the point home even further by pointing out that all the NL teams could win more than 70 games this year, and few will reach the 90 loss mark. That's unheard of. The teams are so evenly balanced that no team will win or lose 100 games this year …

Exciting? Uh, yeah! Love the balance.

Last night, the Phillies caught the A-fadin’ Mets (They’re on my short list of teams I enjoy rooting against -- behind the Yankees and Devil Rays. Sorry Matt.)

Then there’s the matter of those Brewers and Cubs. And it hasn’t been good for my heart.

In all honesty, I thought the Brewers were done when they lost two games they should’ve won and left Atlanta on Sunday.

Yet, most of the analysts I heard and read pointed to the schedule, which had the Brewers returning home, where they had one of the best records in baseball, and the Cubs going on the road to play tough teams in the Marlins and Reds …

So I held hope.

Kates and our friend Tiffany and I went to Monday’s series opener against St. Louis. The Brewers had cut ticket prices in half to try filling the stadium (genius!) and slapped a “Raise the Roof!” tag on the series … It was a wild game, and the crowd was electric. Prince hit his 48th home run of the season, and Ryan Braun hit a bomb to left field for his 33rd. The Brewers dominated, and picked up a half game on the idle Cubs. Things were looking good.

Tuesday. We watched from our living room and it was like watching a rerun of Monday’s game. The Brewers dominated again. Prince hit Nos. 49 and 50. The Cubs lost, and now the Brewers were just two games back with five to play.

Then Wednesday came. Good lord. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from that one … The Brewers had left something like nine runners on base in first four innings and were down 3-2 in the eighth inning. Then Seth McClung throws at Pujols, which gets McClung and Ned Yost tossed -- and suspended. The Cardinals nailed Prince earlier in the game, and both teams were warned. But I find it hard to believe that any pitcher or manager in his right mind would risk throwing at a batter when your team is one run behind and this deep in a pennant race. Then again, that pitch flew at Pujols head like a magnet; McClung couldn’t have been that lucky. I’m thinking Tony LaRussa knew exactly what he was doing by throwing at Prince first and manipulating the game so that the Brewers couldn’t retaliate without consequence … Then Turnbow comes in and gives up four runs. Don’t even get me started on Turnbow’s woes …

Then last night's game, too. Ugh … I got home from work in time to watch the Cubs manage a come back and then fall to the Marlins again. I still held hope, especially while I drove to a meeting and listened to the pregame on the radio -- Tony Gwynn, who was broadcasting the San Diego side of the Brewers-Padres matchup, said on paper the series was Milwaukee's to win. (It was also amusing to listen to Gwynn talk about his enjoyment with watching his son play for the contending Brewers this year, and his commitment to removing his headset whenever his son steps to the plate ... ) ... But the Brewers failed again to grasp any opportunities to get ahead ...

A Brewers loss and a Cubs win tonight, and it's all over ...

Ay yay yay.

A look back at the live action ...
April 11: Angels-Indians ... at Miller Park!
April 22: Brewers-Astros
May 8: Cubs-Pirates ... and extra innings during the train ride home.
June 5: Brewers-Cubs ... at Wrigley Field North.
June 16: Cubs-Padres ... The weekend the Cubs finally got hot, literally.
July 21: Brewers-Giants ... The Bonds watch.
Aug. 10: Royals-Blue Jays
Aug. 14: Brewers-Cardinals ... with the legends.
Aug. 17: Cubs-Cardinals ... AND Brewers-Reds.
Sept. 2: Cubs-Astros
Sept. 5: Brewers-Astros
... and Monday night, Sept. 25.

Not ready for primetime

It can’t start. I’m not ready yet.

For the fall TV season that is.

There’s still too much good baseball left, dang it.

( … and it’s not looking good for the Brewers right now, folks. Stayed up and watched ‘em blow an extra innings affair against the Astros on Wednesday night. Then Kates and I hooped and hollered watching the come-from-behind thriller on Friday night. And we endured the heartbreaker yesterday during which they came from behind once again and went up in the top of the 10th on a Corey Hart home run, only to see the Braves tie it up again in the bottom of the 10th on a Scott Thorman home run, and then we watched the Brewers lose it in the bottom of the 11th …All the while, the Cubs have kept on winning, and as of this evening, the Cubs are 3.5 games up with six left to play … Ah well. The Red Sox are in. The Angels are in. And at least all is well in Packer country … )

On Wednesday night, Kates and I caught the premiere of “Back to You.” ... Not bad. It is a change from Fox’s usual style of programming, and Patricia Heaton's and Kelsey Grammer's and Fred Willard's comedic chops will be enough to keep me watching for awhile … Though I’m not betting on this one. Frankly, it reminds me too much of “Good Morning, Miami.” And we all know how long that one lasted ... On the other hand (and I'm disagreeing on this one with my cohorts who also watched the show) there could be some strong possibilities with Kelly Carr's daughter Gracie and the idea that Chuck Darling is her father. It could be fun to watch how Darling adapts to the news, which Carr broke to him at the end of the premiere, and then how the parents raise her while serving as co-anchors of the Pittsburgh news station.

Then on Thursday night, only because we couldn’t find anything else to watch for the time, Kates and I ran through the DVR and watched the “Grey’s Anatomy” Addison Montgomery lovefest that originally aired on Wednesday night … Seriously. That thing featured everyone on the People Magazine staff, including the janitor, (and probably paid them handsomely) gushing about how strong and smart and vulnerable and dignified Addison is …. And blah, blah blah … bleh!

Whatever. I’m boycotting “Private Practice.” (see why here.) I wish I could predict that it will barely last a season, but the reality is that Grey's has such a strong fan base and PP has such a cast of TV stars that it will probably stick around. And before we know it Grey's is going to be ABC's version of "CSI" ... bleh!

Still, the premiere of "Survivor" remains on our DVR, unwatched. And tonight “Desperate Housewives” and “Brothers & Sisters” come back.

I’m not ready yet.

But here’s what I do plan to watch during what looks like an otherwise disappointing year for new shows …

a Pushing Daisies ... This reviewer, and the fact it has Kristin Chenoweth was enough to pique my interest ...

"... Chenoweth calls this show "fantasmagorical," and when you see it, you’ll know precisely what she means. Pushing Daisies is bizarre and strange and wonderful and vivid and has all the makings of a great new TV love affair."

a Samantha Who? ... Same reviewer.

a Cavemen ... which I'll bet doesn't make it past a third or fourth week. But, hey, the commercials make me laugh ...

Good TV reads ...
a CBS aims to be the talk of the Web
a The joke's on sitcoms as dramas get the laughs

Movie night

Some Applebee's takeout. Another heart-wrenching Brewers loss and Kates and settled down last night to watch some movies ...

We started with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ... Um, yeah. Not nearly as fun as watching the first one. Johnny Depp was just as comical (particularly HA-larious was the bit with Capt. Jack becoming a native god on Pelegosto), but the plot soon got tiresome with almost too many details to guage. Kates and I were all but tuned out after the first hour ... And that whole Kraken thing? ... I hate watching movies with special effects that are so fake-looking and laughable it's gross.

Finally, Pirates ground to a halt, and we flipped through the channels ... and landed on TBS for its 1 millionth and one showing of "Serendipity" ... Yes, Serendipity, a movie that Kates and I saw in the theater. One of those that I might shamelessly consider one of the most charming movies of all time. A movie that we willingly watch over and over again. A movie for which we own (and adore) the soundtrack. It's one of those movies that tends to make us well up at the end ... And so we watched it again.

And finally ... we watched the "The Wedding Date," which we'd caught on the DVR earlier in the day ... Not exceptional; your typical cute little chick flick, starring Dermot Mulroney and Debra Messing -- who by the way I want to add to my list of famous people I'd like to have lunch with ... And the best line: After Messing, playing Kat, tears down an Air Supply poster to hide her apparent admiration for the '80s pop duo, she mutters under her breath, "Everyone knows their greatest hits but some of their lesser-known ballads are surprisingly poignant." ... nice!

Streaming my pop culture consciousness ...

Don't mind me. Just rambling about some of the other things I've been doing / watching / listening to the last few weeks in between all the pennant races ...

(What do you think I'm doing as a I write this post? Watching the Brewers, of course ... I'd be watching the Cubs too, but that game's on ESPN, which means it gets blocked out in our region. Idiot cable ... By the way, the Cubs and Brewers are all tied up atop the NL Central heading into tonight. The Brewers just went up 2-0 on homer No. 47 from Prince, and last I checked the Cubs were scoreless ... There's still a solid week left, but judging by the last few nights, I'm really liking the Brewers chances right now ... )

... So I was holding out as long as I could, but over the weekend Hotmail made me change over to Windows Live. Me and everyone else I know who uses it agrees: We hate it ... but then again -- we agree on this too -- we've hated it every time Hotmail makes a change, only to wind up getting so attached to it that it's inevitable we'll hate the next change ...

* * *

... With the fall TV season starting up, Kates and I have been pressing ourselves to clean up all the movies that have stacked up on our DVR over the summer and on our entertainment cabinet ... Most of them have been put off for a good reason -- we weren't that interested in seeing them, but we kept hearing good things about them and there comes a time when you feel like you have to see them whether you want to or not ...

And so we watched ...

Pirates of the Caribbean? Even with all the hype surrounding the third installment this summer, never really interested in seeing it ... But it was pretty darn entertaining. Funny. And I've enjoyed the last few Johnny Depp movies I've seen so much that it's getting to a point where I'll watch just about anything he's appearing in ...

Spiderman 2? Again, with all the hype surrounding a third installment this summer, I couldn't care less about this movie -- because I thought the first one was horrible (and I saw it in the theater ... ) ... Turned out, I liked Spiderman 2 enough to actually want to see Spiderman 3. I still thought the barage of computer graphics were so fake-looking and poor I laughed, but the action (and watching Kirstin Dunst) kept me interested ...

The Cat in the Hat. Ok, so I've never heard good things about this movie. But c'mon, it's got Mike Myers, Dakota Fanning and Spencer Breslin, and it's based on a Dr. Seuss classic. How bad can it be right!? ... Started watching it, and was happy to see Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston and Sean Hayes too. Thought it wasn't too bad, but then again, it was being held up by Dakota, as usual, stealing the opening scenes as the primped and proper Sally, poking around on her palm pilot and making her to-do list ... Then Myers broke in as the cat, and the movie just started going from bad to worse. Kates and I fell asleep and woke up after the movie was long over. And I don't care to go back and watch what we missed.

And last night, I stayed up after the baseball games to watch Dodgeball. Yeah ... I'm going to liken this one to my experience watching Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle: A movie that starts out so silly and juvenile you want to turn it off ... but you can't keep from getting attached to the characters, and by the last 30 minutes you're rooting for them and you're glad you stayed on the ride ...


* * *

... I've gotten hooked on watching FX's "It's Always Sunny in Phladelphia." I'd never heard of the show until I ran across a preview for the premiere a couple weeks ago. So I tuned in, and enjoyed it ... In the premiere you had a guy infiltrating a group of enviro-hippies and then sleeping with their leader's girlfriend out of revenge. Two guys (one of them is Danny DeVito's character) become so addicted to digging through trash bins they turn into bums and don't realize it. And a couple ends up painting a baby (which they found in a Dumpster and named D.B. for Dumpster Baby) brown so he might appear Latino and have better odds of appearing in a commercial ... It's good old-fashioned silliness -- almost like the kind you'd find at Second City, or any other improv comedy club. It's funny stuff.

* * *

... I recently got a hold of Kelly Clarkson's new album. Right now, I can hardly stand to listen to it; it's too dark ... But I'm open to the possibility it could grow on me ...

... In the meantime, I've really been getting into The New Pornographers, Feist and Mates of State (Lawrence, Kan., baby!) -- who, by the way, all appeared together in a smashing performance on Letterman a couple weeks ago ... I've been clicking on "Fraud in the '80s" almost every time I've turned on my iPod for the last month ... I'm mesmerized by Kori Gardner's organ playing and the duo's punchy pop harmonies ... Check out the video ...

... And it's not over yet.

So I finished watching the Brewers dominate the Astros, knowing all along the Reds were leading the Cubs ...

I switch over to try catching the end of the Cubs game ...

And I watch the Cubs score three runs in the bottom of the ninth to come from behind and beat the Reds ...

The Wrigley crowd is roar-ing.

Go Cubs Go is blasting through the PA

And Len & Bob are so giddy it's sending chills down my spine.

Bob screams "So you like pennant race baseball or what!?!"

Sh-yeah. Chills.

Oh. And by the way, today I passed up tickets for tomorrow night's Cubs game ... Doh!

There's only one September ...

I'm feeling like I've said this before, but how great of a weekend was this for baseball!?!

And I know I've said this before: This is the most exciting baseball season we've seen since at least 1998 ...

Kates and I spent our weekend making the rounds to each of the parents' houses, and the baseball was always on. Going in, we knew this was going to be a make-it-or-break-it weekend...

Friday night was Applebees takeout with Kates' parents. And then the Brewers-Reds game ... When we turned it on, the Brew Crew already was down 5-0 and Ben Sheets had been plucked from the game in favor of Chris Capuano (Chris Capuano!?! ... ugh...). We got to see Prince Fielder tie the franchise home run mark, and Capuano actually pitched better than he had in months, but the comeback fell short ... The Brewers lost. The Cubs had beaten the Cardinals. The Brewers fall 1.5 games back from the Cubs, and the Cardinals -- thankfully -- lose their eighth straight to go six games back ...

I switch channels ...

To the Red Sox-Yanees game. It was 10:30 at night and that game was in the eighth inning. We had just missed a Jason Giambi home run, but with a 7-3 lead the Red Sox appeared to be cruising ...

Right ... Robinson Cano homered for the Yankees. Melky Cabrera walked. Johnny Damon doubled. Derek Jeter singled. Bobby Abreu doubled. And Alex Rodriguez singled to give the Yankees a 8-7 lead ...

Kates was already asleep on my shoulder. And I went lights-out for the ninth, only to make up to the postgame highlights.

That was Friday night.

* * *

On Saturday, it was off to my parents' place ...

For lunch, I brought Culver's; Kates brought Arby's (... hey, we were road trippin' ...). We had some sit-down time with Mom & Pops ... and then it was time for another Cubs-Cardinals game. The first of a doubleheader, actually ...

The Cardinals were looking good ... Then Alfonso Soriano whacked a two-run homer to win it. Alfonso!!

On to the Red Sox-Yankees game ... What started out as a captivating pitcher's dual between Josh Beckett and Chien-Ming Wang turned into a Yankee-drubbing (lovely!) in the blink of an eye ...

We watched until the eighth, and then it was time for Kates and I to hit the road again ... Flipping between the Cubs-Cardinals nightcap and the Brewers-Reds games all the way home ...

I figured the Cardinals couldn't keep losing the way they had been; they took their game. And I figured the Brewers couldn't let themselves slip any further; they took their game too with Prince hitting another home run to become the single-season record holder for the Brewers.

So the Cubs still lead. But the Brewers are just one back. And the Cardinals are all but done at six games back.

* * *

On Sunday, Kates and I threw the Packers-Giants game into the mix as we did some shopping and worked around the house ...

To be honest, I didn't watch the Packers that closely. But they looked good enough to me. And a 35-13 win can't tell me anything less ... I'll take it.

Didn't catch any of the Brewers game. But they won, and I'll take that too.

I did, however, listen to almost all of the Cubs-Reds game. And the Cubs won ...

Driving to the hardware store for some supplies and listening to the jubilee of Pat and Ron celebrating the fact the Cubs were heading back to Wrigley in first place, I couldn't keep the smile from leaking on to my face. It was then then it hit me: Hey, it's either going to be the Cubs or the Brewers winning this thing, this has been one HECK of a pennant race and I'm going to be having a ball no matter which one makes it ...

Of course, I wasn't done yet. The Red Sox and Yankees were on Sunday Night Baseball (lovely!) ...

And it was a classic as usual.

... Curt Schilling against Roger Clemens (no two pitchers had gone against each other with more wins in the history of Fenway Park ...)

... Game is tied 1-1 heading into the eighth. Then Derek "Mr. Clutch" Jeter launches a 3-run homer over the Green Monster to silence the Red Sox nation ...

... Jeter had fouled off pitch after pitch, and Jason Varitek went to the mound after almost every one to talk with Schilling. Jon Miller offered up an interesting stat that put to rest one of the thoughts swirling in my head all weekend long: The average American League game lasts about 2 hours and 53 minutes. The average Red Sox-Yankees game lasts 3 hours and 33 minutes -- because there's so much strategy and thinking that goes into each pitch.

... The Red Sox start mounting a comeback in the bottom of the ninth ... Against Mariano Rivera (... Need I say again how horribly overrated I think Mariano Rivera is!?! Every time a broadcast team starts gushing about him I want to run to throw a baseball at the TV ... He's not invincible people = 2001 World Series.)

... Then Rivera loads of the bases for (insert dramatic music here) David Ortiz. (More dramatic music here.) ... A couple weeks ago, Matty and I were discussing who we thought the three most exciting players were in baseball right now. I answered Vladimir Guerrero, Prince Fielder and David Ortiz. Prince had come through for me this weekend, I hadn't been paying much attention to Vlady, but surely Big Papi was going to come through here, I thought ...

He struck out ... oooooooooooooooh! I sigh with the Red Sox Nation ...

And so ends my latest baseball weekend.

* * *

... So I caught this story on MLB.com today ... and once again, I'm wondering, how much more fun can this get!?

What in the world has happened to the standings everywhere else? Five minutes ago, it seems, it was two Wild Card races and a pair of National League division races. Now every division but the AL West has a race, half of baseball is still alive, it looks like a seventh straight year with a new world champ, tiebreaker-scenario talk will soon be all the rage and someone will be crying more tears of joy than Jamie Pressly.

Uh. Yeah!!

A week ago I figured my ultimate postseason was out of reach. Now, anything could happen ...

If the Red Sox and Yankees meet again, it would be in the AL Championship Series. You know what those are like, and it could happen again. Any wild guess will do. The Cubs and Indians could meet in a battle of the two teams with the longest world championship droughts in the Majors, and the Cubs could win it all for the first time since 1908. The Brewers could win it all for the first time, and so could the Padres or Rockies. It could be another Subway Series, it could be 1986 revisited with Mets-Red Sox, or Grady Little could come back to Fenway with the Dodgers.

I might pee my pants.

That is, if it's a Cubs-Indians world series. Or even a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Or if the Brewers or Dodgers even make it to the World Series.

The Rivalry never seems to disappoint when it comes to drama. Fans who went to sleep Friday night assuming the Red Sox had won the opener easily awoke on Saturday to hear about an epic Yankee comeback. Saturday was the day Josh Beckett one-upped Chien-Mien Wang, and then Sunday was a fabulous Roger Clemens-Schilling pitching duel (representing the most-ever combined victories by two starters at Fenway) that Jeter broke up. And what an amazing finish, with Big Papi just loaded up for a grand slam walk-off against a closer he had beaten before. This time, Rivera won.

Like I said -- I watched every one. And no, I was not dissappointed.

Last year, the Tigers basically gave away this division at home on the final weekend, their hopes spoiled by Kansas City while Minnesota clinched. Of course, Detroit took advantage of its Wild Card berth instead, making it to the club's first Fall Classic since 1984. Those Tigers seem determined to do things different in 2007, and now it remains to be seen whether their momentum will stretch across an entire fortnight ...

Guess where Cleveland plays on the final weekend of the season? Kansas City. The Royals won at the Jake on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep, but if the AL Central is still a race on the last weekend, it would be too ironic.

Too ironic.

There's only one October. There's only two weeks left in the regular season.

And I looooooove this commercial ...

Baseball tonight

... So the Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals all lost today ...

The Cubs got creamed, actually, 11-3 by the Dodgers. And us Cubs fans said yesterday's dramatic win was a pivotal one ... But hey, if there's a silver lining for me, it was the Dodgers, and I need some wins from them right now too for a chance at my ultimate postseason ...

But c'mon, the Brewers should have won their game today. Tonight, they should be just a half game behind the Cubs. And I hate to say it, but I gotta blame this one on Ned Yost ...

The Brew Crew went into the eighth inning with a 7-4 lead. They were in the driver's seat ... Buuuuuut Derrick Turnbow got into trouble and loaded the bases. Ok, no need to panic yet, right?

Yost yanks Turnbow for Brian Shouse, who quickly gets Craig Biggio to fly out for the second out of the inning. The runner on third base did tag and score, but the Brewers still led by two. We're still good ... Right?

Not for long. Yost yanked Shouse after one batter for freshly-called-up rookie Greg Aquino.

Now, I understand the whole idea of wanting to get the right matchup, but the FSN crew had just finished showing a clip of the last time Aquino pitched in the majors -- in April when he gave up a game-winning grand slam to Craig Biggio! ... Why, why, why!? would you put in an unexperienced rookie on the mound with two runners on and your team fighting for their postseason lives. Shouse would've been just fine ...

Ay yay yay.

Exciting baseball

And I thought I'd made my last trip to Wrigley this summer …

A guy that I play ball with came through for me last week. He was giving up his pair of box seats for today’s game -- about 12 rows up from the field, first base side, in front of the visitor’s bullpen. He was selling them for $50 each …

I had no plans for the day. I e-mailed Matty; he was on board for the game. I checked with Kates to make sure I wasn’t forgetting any other plans for the day; she gave me the go-ahead. And I seized the tickets …

So I awoke this morning, donned my Cubs jersey and hat, caught the 8:49 train, and was meeting Matt at the Harry Caray statue outside Wrigley about two hours later …

We took in Wrigleyville, took a couple rounds of batting practice at Sluggers and then took in an early lunch at Goose Island. We talked baseball, baseball and more baseball -- We discussed Hall of Famers and wishes that Ken Griffey Jr. was the new homerun record and not Barry Bonds. We pointed to the reasons Tampa Bay shouldn’t have a major league baseball team and agreed Vladimir Guerrero is one of the most exciting players in baseball right now …

Then we entered Wrigley -- today’s house of worship, if you will -- a little after noon … Interesting, just when I think I’ve begun to take all my trips to Wrigley for granted, I enter the grand old park for one more game, catch a whiff of the peanuts and beer, the spirit of the crowd hits me, the organ music, the vendors shouting their witty calls (First place beer here!), the whole aura -- and the smile takes over my face once again …

Today we saw Dick Vitale appear as one of the dozen or so people who get to throw out a ceremonial first pitch (like there is such a thing anymore … especially at Wrigley, it’s ridiculous how many CEOs and special kids get to throw out “first pitches” … ). And the PA announcer made just as many references and plugs to Milt Pappas, whose no-hitter 30 years ago today the Cubs were celebrating …

We had a 1:20 game time. Woody Williams was on the mound for the Astros. Rich Hill was going for the Cubs. The Cubs came into the game in first place, a game-and-a-half ahead of the Brewers. And the Cardinals were two games back …

But aside from striking out the side in the third, Rich Hill didn’t have his game today. He walked the leadoff batter and then gave up a two-run homerun to Lance Berkman in the top of the first. Then he gave up an RBI double in the second and two more runs in the fifth to put the Cubs down 5-1 …


Matty and I were baking in the sun. I was getting annoyed by the endless parade of fans and vendors in the aisle in front of us. And the game was hardly going down as memorable one. Up to that point, we were having more fun watching the scoreboard -- the Brewers had gone back and forth before putting away the Pirates, the Cardinals and Reds were scoreless until St. Louis pulled out a late 3-0 win, the Royals were all over the Twins, and the Devil Rays were beating the Yankees (that’s the only time I’ll cheer for the Devil Rays, I said …)

… But what we didn’t realize then was the Astros offense was finished for the day and the Cubs were only getting started.

Finally the Cubs put two runs on the board in the sixth inning and the managers had begun making so many pitching and lineup changes Matt and I were barely keeping up on our scorecards …

In the seventh, Matt Murton stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter for Cliff Floyd. Earlier in the day, Matt and I had discussed how we think Murton is one of the most underrated players in the league and the fact some of the Chicago media dislikes him … And then he pops a 400-foot homerun to the bleachers in left-canter field to bring the Cubs within one run, 5-4. The crowd goes crazy. High fives all-around. “That’s my boy!” I yelled.

We went to the eighth … With two outs and a runner on second base, Mark Loretta hit a fly ball to left-center. Theriot went back on it, Soriano was coming in and Jacque Jones was chasing too. Then, almost out-of-nowhere, Jones dives between Theriot and Soriano and makes the catch. It was undoubtedly the play that saved the game for the Cubs …

In the bottom of the eighth, Soriano singled with one out. Then with two outs, after Theriot flied out, Derek Lee came up and launched a homerun that barely cleared the basket in left center field … Unbelievable! More high fives all around. The crowd was so loud, Wrigley was literally rocking …

Then a fiery Ryan Dempster comes in for the ninth and the Cubs sent the Astros down 1-2-3 … Cubs win, 6-5. “Go Cubs Go” starts blaring from the PA system the moment the third out is called and we embark on one final round of high fives …


Soak it up folks. The Cubs, Brewers and Cardinals all won today. We’ve got a pennant race.

On my train ride home, I struck up a conversation with the conductor about the game, which he had watched on TV.

“ … Man, it’s fun to watch, It‘s exciting baseball,” he said. “Yeah, I’m a switch-hitter. Usually I root for the Sox, but this year, man, they’re not doing nothing’ …”

I was happy to relate.

“Oh, I’m the same way,” I told him. “I grew up with the Brewers, so I’m having a tough time right now with the Brewers and the Cubs battling, but you’re right, it is fun …”

Yep. It’s going to be one heck of a September …

Tearin' up my heart

... Watching the Brewers-Cubs game. No other place I want to be tonight. This is the series ...

Unfortunately, I only caught the ninth inning of last night's game because I was playing a Cubs game of my own. Too bad, I'd like to think if I had been watching I might have been able to cheer the Brewers on to a win last night ...

I've drawn a lot of questions this week about the series, what I think of it and who I'm rooting for ...

My answer: Any other year I'd be cheering my heart out for the Cubs -- they're playing so well, and I can't help but think this might finally be their year ... but the fact that it's coming at the expense of the Brewers -- who've treated us to such a magical and promising season -- is making it really hard to enjoy. It kind of breaks my heart actually ...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So call me a fair weather fan all you want, but I have my reasons ...

You see I've been cheering for both these teams about as long as I've known how to throw a baseball. I grew up cheering for those Brewers teams of Molitor and Yount and Gantner (not to mention Greg Brock, B.J. Surhoff, Teddy Higuera, Greg Vaughn, and Dale Sveum) and those Cubs teams of Sandberg, Dawson, Dunston, Grace, Sutcliffe, Luis Salazar and Les Lancaster. The Brewers were the American League team; the Cubs were in the National League ...

Ok, so I lost touch with the Brewers when I moved to Kansas City and the Royals took some of my American League spirit. Yount and Gantner retired, Molitor moved to Toronto, the Brewers changed to those ugly green and navy blue uniforms and I suddenly had no idea who any of the guys were on the field ...

Thanks to Harry Caray and WGN, though, my Cubs love only grew stronger ...

But a few years ago, I returned to Brewers country, where Milwaukee had returned to the National League and joined the Cubs in the NL Central. Slowly I started watching again, but they were years away from contending ...

Now here we are. The last couple seasons, Kates and I have gone to about twice as many Cubs games, and we've gotten to know and enjoy watching this new crop of players -- J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, Billy Hall, Rickie Weeks and this year, Ryan Braun ...

Sigh.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Cubs haven't earned any points this year with me for buying their pennant team. And they've been to the postseason four times in the last 25 years ...

The Brewers have grown their own crop of players. They haven't had a winning season since 1992. They haven't even tasted the playoffs since 1982 ...

If the Cubs are the only team standing come October, I'll be rooting my heart out for them again ...

But until then ...

Streaming ...

So the story of the week is the rain. And the flooding ...

The rain started early Saturday afternoon -- just after I finished mowing our lawn and doing some work in our yard -- and literally did not stop until mid-day Sunday ... And we have several major downpours in the days that have followed ...

Last night, at about 3 a.m. actually, I was woken by another storm with lightning so bright and thunder so loud I swore it was topping the trees in our front yard. And man was the rain beating against the windows ...

So far, our house has been spared from any major water damage ... many in our area can't say that ...

And the ball field where I've played a lot of games this summer? There's about three feet of water standing on it ...

* * *

... So, in my continuing fascination with the Internet and my work responsibilities to be as knowledgeable about the culture and trends as I can be, I joined Facebook this week ...

It's something I've been meaning to do for months, ever since the powers-that-be opened up the site to more than just college students ...

Yeah. First impressions? I enjoy MySpace much more ... but I'll keep logging in ...

* * *

... How 'bout those Brewers!?! ... Monday night they roll into Arizona and jumped all over former Brewer Doug Davis for a 9-0 win. Prince Fielder absolutely pasted that ball he hit in the second inning. Yovani Gallardo hit a homerun. And it was so bad that Jeff Cirillo -- another former Brewer, but an infielder! -- even got some action on the mound ...

Last night's game wasn't as exciting -- well, Gabe Gross's grand slam was pretty exciting -- but it was a win, and we'll take it ...

Now tonight's game is a little closer ... But I'm tellin' ya -- they're gonna get hot ...

In the meantime, I'm keeping my watch on the Cubs this week too while they're in San Francisco. Wanna talk about exciting games? How 'bout Cliff Floyd and last night's Cubs finish in the ninth ...

Yep, it's exciting ... but the downside of it all, they're late, west coast games this week that I refuse to miss -- and they're kicking my butt when it comes to getting up the next mornings ...

* * *

This guy was on Monday night's Letterman show ...

This is awesome ...



* * *

... So I had a dream last night that I was reporting in the Giants lockerroom and I confronted Barry Bonds, looked him straight in the eyes and convinced him to give it up and admit his steroid use. My dream ended with a forlorn Bonds sitting front of a mic and beginning a press conference to admit his steroid use ...

Oh, if only the world were so perfect ...

There's some good Bonds cartoons on Cagle's ...

There's no breaks in baseball

I’m about baseball’d out …

Let’s review: Royals-Blue Jays game last Friday. Brewers-Cardinals game on Tuesday. The Cubs-Cardinals game Friday afternoon and the Brewers-Reds game that night, not to mention playing my game on Thursday night …

For the record, that's four Major League games in eight days. Three different cities and ballparks. Six different teams. One division pennant race.

Yesterday, on a lazy and so perfect rainy Saturday, I listened to the entire Cubs game on the radio (God, I love Ron Santo and Pat Hughes. They make it all worth it… rain delays and all. And I erupted with the Wrigley faithful when Daryle Ward popped that grand slam to put the Cubs solidly ahead).

Then, I had the Brewers game on the TV in the background last night while I did some work, though the Brewers -- for the first time this week, about time -- had the game well enough in hand, that I didn’t pay too close attention …

This morning, I was supposed to play again, but with the rain falling pretty much non-stop from about 6 o’clock last night to about 3 o’clock this morning, I knew there was no way we’d be playing. Sure enough, I got woken up at 8:45 this morning with that phone call telling me all games had been canceled …Now the sun is shining.

And with that I flipped on the DVR, to watch the broadcast of Tuesday night’s Brewers game and the whole 1982 anniversary bash. Pretty cool. Did I mention we were there?

At about 11 o’clock, Kates, was calling me. I’d dropped her off at her parent's house after the game on Friday night, and she’s spent the weekend there cleaning/moving her stuff out of her old room …And guess where she is this afternoon with her parents and some relatives? The Brewers game … The only reason I wasn’t there with her was because, as I said, I was scheduled to play today … And that brings me to the reason Kates was calling -- they had scrounged another ticket to the game this afternoon and she was calling to invite me up …

Sigh. I couldn’t do it. I actually groaned -- me, groaned! -- at the thought of making the drive to Miller Park for another baseball game …

So here I sit, watching it on TV inside my nice, comfy home …

Then tonight, the Cubs-Cardinals game is on Sunday night baseball. Guaranteed I’ll be watching that one too …

Then, maybe I’ll take a break for a few days …

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

We’ve got a pennant race to watch, folks

The Perfect Day

And I feel so alive
I can't help myself
Don't you realize

I just wanna scream and lose control
Throw my hands up and let it go
Forget about everything and run away, yeah

… That was the first song to come on after I plugged in my iPod this morning. Appropriate.

You know how in elementary school when you had to write a journal entry describing your perfect day? Mine always went something along the lines of sleeping in, watching Sportscenter and then going to a bunch of baseball games …

Today I lived it.

… For the last few summers, I’ve made it a point to pick a day to go off to a Cubs game by myself. I get a single ticket, go down to Wrigleyworld and take it all in. No stress. No worries. It’s one of my favorite days of the year …

So back in February, I bought my tickets for the season, and picked today as my “Me” day. A Friday afternoon. Cubs-Cardinals. August pennant race. Perfect.

Then, yesterday, a friend offers me box seats to tonight’s Brewers-Reds game. At first I hesitated to accept them, thinking there’s no way I could pull that off! But the adventurous, carpe diem, no day but today! me took over and I seized the opportunity …

This can work, I thought. The Cubs game is a 1:20 start. I take the train down, as usual. Maybe it’s a fast-paced game, and I catch the Davis Street train to go back home by 5 p.m. Or, at the worst, I leave the Cubs game an inning early. I meet Kates back at home, and we drive to the Brewers game, which starts at 7:05. And if we’re an inning or two late getting there, no big deal …

* * *

So … this morning I slept an hour later than normal. Donned my Cubs paraphernalia, watched a little Sportscenter, and then drove to the Waukegan station, catching a McDonald’s breakfast on the way. I caught all my train stops and transfers, and arrived at Wrigley’s doorstep at about noon …

Everything was perfect. It was a gorgeous day. A vendor selling Budweiser was walking up and down the aisles advertising it as a "LaRussa Breakfast!" And a couple with a young boy dressed in Cubs gear were holding a sign that read "Draft me in 2025!" ... referring to the boy, of course. Said the boy's mom, "We couldn't hold a My-First-Game sign. We've seen too many of those."

... And it was bucket hat day at Wrigley ( … a joyous replacement for yet another one of the cherished items I lost in our burglary). AND! with the Air & Water Show happening this weekend, jets were flying over and around Wrigley throughout the game, giving us fans our own little air show. Some of those things were flying so low when they rocketed past the stadium, it looked as though they were setting to land on the streets outside. And at one point during the game a trio of jets flew over the field in a circular motion, leaving a perfect “C,” for the Cubs fans in their paths …

After having no luck catching a ball in the left field corner during the Cardinals batting practice, I went for my souvenir Mountain Dew and set out to find my seat …

Yeah. In my 13 seasons of attending games at Wrigley Field, I’ve never had a view this good. Section 222. Seat 105. Row 1 … I could see the entire field. I was sitting right in line with home plate. I had almost as good a view as the home plate umpire. And I had a bar in front of me to put up my feet …

Bears and Kansas University (rock chalk Jayhawk, baby!) great Gayle Sayers threw out the first pitch, and then we were off ...

It was a pitcher's duel. Braden Looper for the Cards, Rich Hill for the Cubs. Hill didn't allow a hit until the third, Looper didn't allow a hit until the fourth. Neither gave up a run until the sixth inning ... In the top of the sixth, Hill struck out David Eckstein and Ryan Ludwick and then gave up a homerun to Albert Pujols. The way the game was going, it could've put the Cubs away ... But! Ryan Theriot singled in the bottom of the sixth and then Jacque Jones stepped to the plate and launched a homerun of his own. I don't need to tell you that the crowd erupted ...

From there, Cubs fans everywhere held their breaths in hopes the Cubs could close out the Cardinals and cool them down. At the same time, I was also starting to watch the clock and check my train schedule to time my departure ... Lucky for me, the Cubs did hold on and retired Jim Edmonds for the last out. Final: 2-1.

Go Cubs Go burst over the loud speakers and the crowd sang it loud as ever. I couldn't keep from smiling ...

* * *

It was 3:50 p.m. I jumped into the aisle and beat it down the third base line toward the exit at Sheffield and Addison, on my way to board the El. I must've made it in record time too because the crowd inside the station wasn't half as thick as I'm used to. I got my pass punched, raced up the escalator and hopped on the waiting train ... So far so good. If I kept my pace, I thought, I could make the 4:33 train at Davis and Kates and I had a chance of making it to Miller Park before the first pitch ...

Then tragedy struck. Ok, it wasn't a tragedy, but it was a setback. I had to wait several minutes for a train at the Linden station, and that was enough to put me at Davis no more than two minutes after the 4:33 had passed through. Doh!

So, I waited. Caught the 4:59 train at Davis. Got back to my car at the Waukegan station at about 6 p.m., and I was pulling back in our driveway and picking up Kates at about 6:30. She had a Subway sandwich and a soda waiting for me, along with my Brewers gear so I could make a quick change in the car. She took the keys so she could drive, and off we went for the nightcap ... Gotta love it!

... We arrived at Miller Park at about 7:30, parked and were walking into the stadium for the bottom of the second inning. And! we got our Harvey Kuehn bobbleheads! (I had conceded to Kates on the ride up that I didn't think we would get the bobbleheads because we were going to be so late ...) After the usher handed the box to me, I turned to Kates coming behind me and held it over my head like a World Series trophy ...

On to our seats. Gorgeous! Box seats. First base side, about midway into the outfield. So close you could see the whiskers on Ken Griffey's chin.

The Brewers playing? Not so gorgeous tonight ... I had been saying throughout today that priority No. 1 was a Cardinals loss -- they came into the day in third place, two and half games behind the Brewers; they must be cooled off and put away for good. But the Cubs came into the day in second place, a half game back, which meant that with a Cubs win, it was paramount the Brewers won too to keep their lead in the NL Central ...

Didn't happen. The Reds were already up 1-0 when we found our seats, and they added another run in the third on an RBI double by Griffey. J.J. Hardy cut the deficit with a solo homerun in the bottom of the third, but Scott Hatteberg hit a homerun of his own in the sixth to put the Reds up 3-1 ...

And, oh, then wheels fell off in the seventh. Quite possibly the most mediocre play I've seen in a major league ball game: Jeff Keppinger singled for the Reds to lead off the inning, then Griffey grounded to Ryan Braun at third base. Off the bat, it looked like an easy double play ball, but Braun threw wide of second base and the ball bounced into right field. Keppinger headed for third and scored. Meanwhile, as Griffey's pulling into second, the Brewers right fielder, Gabe Gross, picks up the ball and flings it over to second base (... Watching Gross throw the ball so awkwardly was kind of like the equivelant of nails scratching a chalkboard, I have no idea what he was thinking ...). Gross's throw sailed wide of second base and rolled over to left field, and Griffey went all the way around to score on a two-error, inside-the-park homerun that looked like a play you'd expect to see in a 6-year-old Little League game ... I've never heard boos so loud, or seen fans so upset at Miller Park. I actually heard a guy behind us moan, "I want to go home and take a bath in my toaster ..." I burst out laughing.

In the eighth, Gross and Hardy, who'd committed an error earlier in the game too, tried to redeem themselves with a solo homerun each. But the Reds tacked on two final runs in the top of the ninth on an Adam Dunn moonshot to the upper deck in right field ... Final score: Reds 8, Brewers 3.

And so ended The Perfect Day.

I plan to sleep in tomorrow morning.