During tonight's game I discovered the true power of the left-center field bleachers. The drunk gentlemen behind me held an impassioned hatred for Bill Hall, and they did everything they could to make this known. They began with "F--- you Bill Hall! Hey Bill, your mother's a @$%*#!", and whatever else they could come up with. After the security guy who doesn't actually get to watch the game told them that profanity and insulting immediate family was not allowed, they reverted to "Bill Hall sucks!", "Hey Bill, you're a moron!", and "Hey Bill, you suck!". They couldn't come up with much else. As it turns out, a couple hundred of drunk bleacher bums chanting that you suck really has an effect on your self esteem. Mr. Hall went 0-for-6, something we reminded him of every time he came back to the outfield.
We are not only a force for evil, however. Jacque Jones spent the majority of the game in center field for some unexplained reason, and once he moved over to right field he did something remarkable. First of all, he made a great diving catch. But more importantly, he threw the ball on the was to 3rd base on one bounce! That was unprecedented.
Once Felix Pie came into the game in center field our attention turned to him, and he churned out two hits in the late innings that ending up not helping our team win at all. It's more than he had been doing lately on offense though.
Some other highlights of the Wrigley experience:
- The college kid sitting two seats over from me caught a ball tossed to him by a Brewer outfielder, and a home run hit during batting practice. I caught nothing.
- Showing up two and a half hours early to a game that wasn't even close to sold out meant that I had a chance to get a good picture of the Harry Caray statue without anyone in the way for once.
- Showing up early also meant that front row in the bleachers was available, which allowed us to partake in the constant heckling of the aforementioned Bill Hall.
- Having beer spilled on my sweatshirt an hour before the game started. That was fun.
- Saw Ronnie Woo Woo again, didn't get a high five this time though. He didn't come down to our part of the bleachers.
- I yelled at Jacque Jones once asking how many outs there were. He flashed me the two sign, which was awesome. About an inning later I told him that he threw like my sister.
So that was my game. A lot of fun, but any 12 inning game where you lose is depressing at the end of it all.
Game Summary for April 23rd, 2007
- Score: Cubs lose to the Brew Crew, 5-4 in 12 innings.
- Player of the Game: Aramis Ramirez. Hit his 200th career home run, a solo shot that gave the Cubs a fairly solid lead.
- Subject of Lou's Wrath: The umpires. The last out was made on a ridiculous called third strike where the ball nearly landed in the dirt. Lou had some words for them in the tunnel after the game.
Piniella was not available to the media after the game. He and Perry exchanged some words with the umpires as everyone was headed to their respective clubhouses through the same tunnel, and Perry had to be pulled away. None of the words can be made available either. This is a family Web site.
- Comments: Zambrano failed to get a win again, continuing his April struggles. This time it was not his fault, however, as he left the game with a 4-2 lead. Scott Eyre came in and did what he does best, giving up two runs to dissolve the lead. The Cubs had trouble stringing together hits and failed to score after the third inning. Rocky Cherry made his Major League debut, giving up a solo home run to Prince Fielder and picking up the loss.
- Magic Number: 149. Can't gain any ground when you lose to the division leaders.
I will be at the game again tomorrow, and since Rich Hill is pitching I am hoping for a better outcome. On a side note, Wade Miller was placed on the disabled list with 'back spasms', which I believe is medical speak for having a 10.54 ERA. In the meantime I'm going to try and find out exactly what Lou said to those umps.