Also, I forgot to get pics until the last game, and they're all shot with my crappy camera phone. My bad.
Game 1: Cubs Win 6-3
The game started at 1:20 and I had a non-missable class that ended at 12:50, so I didn't have high hopes for getting to the stadium on time. But somehow I managed to convince my professor that the Cubs were more important than anything and made it to the ballpark with minutes to spare. Being at Wrigley when at least a third of the fans are cheering for the other team is a strange experience. Someone is going to cheer after every play, so you really have to be paying attention to what is going on. For example, when Ted Lilly throws a pitch to Tadahito Iguchi on a full count and people start cheering, you better make sure it was called a strike before you stand up and clap. Otherwise, you will feel like a moron when it turns out it was a walk. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.
The Sox fans seem to have this chip on their shoulder because people only love their team when they play well. Because of this, someone was constantly starting a "Let's Go White Sox" chant. This chant was repeatedly met with loud booing until the offender shut up. As an alternative, some people joined in with a "F*** the White Sox" chant. I enjoyed those people.
As for the game, it was fun to watch. The thing about baseball games is that when you're heavily invested in a team, your mood at the moment completely depends on how that team is doing. So through the sixth inning I wasn't very happy. It didn't help that the girl sitting next to me that I invited to the game was more of a Sox fan than a Cubs fan. But Mr. Oxymoron came through with the 7th inning rally and it was all happiness from me after that. When Dempster came out we all got nervous, but everything turned out alright. Oh and I forgot to mention, I stayed up all Thursday night so I'm still not sure how I managed to stay awake through all of this.
Game 2: Cubs Win 11-6
Most of the time when I go to Cubs games I sit in the bleachers. For this series we were stuck in the back of the Terrace Reserved section, but I wasn't about to complain as long as I got into the game. Being enclosed under the Upper Deck makes you realize just how loud the crowd can get during a normal game. And this was no normal game.
In the eighth inning with the bases loaded, Lou decides to make a gutsy call and replace Daryle Ward with Derrek Lee. As soon as he steps out of the dugout, the crowd goes nuts. Apparently he wasn't supposed to come back until Tuesday (today). The time he swung was really awkward looking, and I was worried. Maybe it was too soon for him. The count worked its way to 3-1, and one of the guys I was with said "This is it, the 3-1 count". David Aardsma, the man we traded away for Neal Cotts, delivered the pitch. Lee connected. The crowd completely exploded. Loudest I have ever heard Wrigley in my relatively young life. I turned around looking for more people to high-five and came face to face with an unhappy Sox fan. I laughed inside, not knowing the carnage that was to come on Sunday.
Game 3: Cubs Lose 10-6
All of us Cubs fans were cocky for this one. People were in line to get in to the park holding up brooms, one guy even had a little one stuck in the back of his Cubs hat. But alas, it was not to be. On the way there the guy I had brought with who is almost as big of a Sox fan as I am a Cubs fan informed me that in the last four Sox games he had been to, the Sox hit a grand slam. I told him it wasn't happening today. I also bet him 5 bucks that both teams were .500 before the game. Looks like I was wrong on a lot of things.
The game wasn't so bad at one point. My friend commented to me about how "Wrigley is the World's largest gay bar". I responded with "Comiskey is the World's largest crack dealership". He then told me he makes good money selling that crack. At least they're proud of who they are.
I was sure we were going to win, we were facing a horrible relief pitcher in Masset and we had the new and improved Zambrano. The one that went 8 innings last game while only giving up one run. But now he's the one that amassed 7 earned runs in just less then seven innings. When Lou brought in Cotts and he served up that grand slam on a silver platter, I died a little on the inside.
Then the rain came down. As part of their "we really need to make money" program, the Cubs have put a logo in the middle of their tarp. I was not impressed.
Most of my group left at this point, but me and my Sox friend remained. We refuse to let a little water ruin our experience. While we were hiding in the warmer walkways behind all the seats, we found a window. Behind this window lies what I have good reason to believe is Lou Piniella's office. And by good reason I mean there are posters of him all over the walls. Note the blown-up cover of SI on the right.
Eventually the rain stopped and we moved up to the pricey seats. I would guess at this point there were maybe 3,000 people left. Pansies. We had a great view of the action, which turned out to be Cliff Floyd getting tossed from the game. We were screaming for Lou to go crazy, but he kept his cool and stayed in. That was thoroughly disappointing.
Something else I noticed was that Sox fans are very angry drunks. There were two separate people I saw that were starting fights for absolutely no reason, calling Cubs fans sore losers for leaving the game early and dropping F-bombs in front of 8 year olds. All of this anger came after the Pierzynski home run and while they were enjoying a comfortable lead. I couldn't understand what their problem was.
Overall, these were some of the best baseball games I've ever been to. I can only hope to be lucky enough to get tickets next year. Hopefully by then enough people will read this that one of them will have tickets and be kind enough to offer me one. But at the rate we're going I'll just have to find a friend that's a ticket scalper.
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