Baseball Journal 6-8-13

On Friday, Len and JD were calling the Cubs-Pirate game from the Budweiser Bleacher section of Wrigley Field. I know management is trying to promote these like they’re Green Monster seats at Fenway, but frankly they’re the worst seats in the ballpark that aren’t obstructed by a girder. They’re tucked in the corner in the deepest part of the stadium in the well in Right Field. I doubt anybody in that section is there for baseball. (I assume you get a deal on the beer there.) The guys made the best of it. JD did briefly heckle the Pirate outfielders. The blimp provided beautiful aerial shots of Wrigleyville and probably had a closer view of the field than the announcers. The Pirates won and unfortunately that’s all I know about the game as I was only able to watch a couple of innings.

Saturday morning, I caught a very quick and crisply played game between the Rangers and Blue Jays. In the top of the 9th, the Rangers tied the score at 3-3. With an odd sense of prescience, I decided to go ahead and go to my parents’ apartment to watch the White Sox-A’s game. I just had a bad feeling.

Another lovely day in Chicago. The blimp relocated to the Southside and provided excellent views of the parking lots and freeways surrounding the ballpark. The game settled into a 1-1 tie for most of the afternoon. It wasn’t a good sign that Hawk and Stone kept giving updates of the Rangers-Jays game, which had yet to be resolved. In the bottom of the 9th, after the Sox took a 4-1 lead in the top of the frame on the way to the win, they finally announced that the Blue Jays had just won, 4-3 in the 18th. Damn. Let’s play two the hard way. Thank goodness I didn’t stay till the end of that one.

Meanwhile in New York City, the Marlins and Mets laughed, “You lazy bums,” and kept playing in their 20-inning game. 2-1 Marlins in the end. It’s funny that earlier in the week, my dad had called me as he watching that White Sox-Mariners game last week that went scoreless for 14 innings. He was determined to see the end of it, sort of an endurance contest. I know that the otherwise reliable Addison Reed blew a five-run lead that extended the game another two innings. He was out there for three innings and got the win in 16, 7-5 Sox. He may have also been the only pitcher left for the Sox in the bullpen. In his appearance Saturday, Addison hadn’t seemed to have suffered any ill effects.

Right before the end of the game, we caught the horse race. One of those big ones. I forgot which one it was. I’ve been to a horse race once and enjoyed it (translation: I won money). In my mind, if you’re going to bet on sports, do it with the ponies. It’s entertaining without getting you emotionally involved in a team. While the horses were parading before the race, one of the commentators was going on about how one of the jockeys had been arrested for domestic abuse and was in court-mandated counseling. First, waaaay too much information there, for either entertainment or betting purposes. Second, what kind of home life do expect out of a guy who whips horses for a living?

My regional Fox game of the week that evening was yet another Angels game. Yay. I’m almost beyond questioning their scheduling now and am resigned to my fate this season. “Big Game” CJ Wilson was on the mound again for the loser Halos. Yes, he’s handsome and personable, and is generally a good pitcher, but he’s a marshmallow. All he needs is some chocolate and a graham cracker, and I’ll upgrade him to Smore. My biggest irritation with him is his constant throws to bases with runners on. Not only is it OCD, he couldn’t pick off a runner that’s fallen down with his move. While I’m on a roll, if the Right Fielder wasn’t named Josh Hamilton and owed tens of millions of dollars, he’d be playing in Triple-A by now. And Al? He’s bravely playing through an injury to his foot. He tripped over a pile of money lying around his mansion and hasn’t been the same since. At least I got the satisfaction of watching them lose to the Red Sox, 7-2.