Waiting for the Cubs

What a glorious afternoon at the old ball yard! The place was packed. Fans hung from the rafters, or at least the ramps, in standing room.

It was Cubs-Cardinals, always a big draw. On the way to the ballpark I received a text from a childhood friend …

BLING:  Hey.  What up? At game with whole crew plus brothers Dave and Jimmy.

The Cahills were in town from New York! I texted back that we would be in standing room, and our friend texted back that they were in the last row of 218, so they’d be easy to find and maybe we could stand behind them.

So upon arriving at the game I strolled along the concourse above the seats and there they were!

Standing room behind 218 was already full with no room for both myself and Wife of Admin, so we agreed to meet in our usual spot above 205-206.

What a scene it was back at our ramp! To our left stood a family of six, five of whom were Cardinal fans. The sixth, a boy of about ten, was a Cub fan! How he survived his family’s onslaughts I’ll never know. They gave each other no end of good-natured grief. The five Red Bird fans all wore red Cardinals gear while the boy wore a blue “Dead Birds” shirt. When Cardinal Jon Jay slid into second for a lead-off double in the top of the first, the boy screamed that he was out by a mile, while his father claimed that he beat the tag. Then in the bottom of the fourth inning when Carlos Pena slid into third for a triple, the tables were turned and the debate raged. I just had to chime in that if Pena was out at third then Jay had been out at second. The father laughed and agreed. “You got jobbed on that Jay call!” he said.

And then Cubs owner Tom Ricketts showed up! We’ve seen him walk by several times before, but he always seemed to be on his way somewhere else, like the bleachers or the upper deck. This time he stopped and chatted and had his picture taken with lots of SRO fans.

Tom Ricketts (left) with SRO fans.

And then he stopped to chat with us!

“Hi …” he said to me, shaking my hand. Did he call me by name? He said Hi and then something else. I thought he said my name. Does he read this pitiful blog??

Neither Wife of Admin nor I had the heart to bring up anything about the horrors of this season, like Psycho Z or Hendry’s departure. Why bother? Both have been covered, or maybe over-covered, elsewhere. We just mentioned that it turned out to be a beautiful day when earlier thunderstorms made it look like the game may be postponed.

“I know!” he replied. “I got to the ballpark early, when it looked horrible out. I made a couple of calls and then came out and the sky was clear!” He smiled and gave the thumbs up.

Turning to move on he said, “Nice to see you, …” He said something after that farewell, too.  Did he say, “Nice to see you, (Admin)? Couldn’t be. I asked Wife of Admin. She didn’t hear him say my name either at the start of our conversation or at the end. I must be hearing things. But then why did he say, “Nice to see you” as if he had seen us before, or knew us, or … no way. Couldn’t be. I’m losing it.

He made his way through standing room, chatting with more SRO fans, and then headed down aisle 205. At that moment a security guard walked up and asked if he could stand with us. He stood right between myself and Wife of Admin, watching Ricketts closely.

“You his bodyguard or something?” we asked.

“No,” he replied, smiling. “Not really.” Then as Ricketts moved down into the grandstands, the security guy followed at a tasteful distance and kept his eye on his boss from the landing in front of the elevator, talking into his radio all the time.  Not really his bodyguard? Ha!

Security (in white hat with shades on bill) watching Tom Ricketts’ back

I don’t blame them. Who knows what a frustrated, and lubricated, Cub fan may do after this miserable season? But all was well and Tom returned to SRO and approached us. “Are you standing room?” he asked.

“Yes,” we replied.

“Here,” he said, fanning out a small stack of tickets. “Let me give you some better seats.”

Now, we know where Tom and the other Ricketts sit. You can see them on TV right behind the Cubs’ on-deck circle. But Wife of Admin looked at me and gently shook her head.

“Uh, we’re good,” I said.  ”Thanks.  Why don’t you give them to some other fans? We like it here.” He looked at us kinda strange, but smiled and said, “Sure. No problem.” Then he gave six tickets to the family of Cardinal fans with the ten-year-old Cub fan. They were thrilled!

“Do you know who that was?” the boy asked his Dad. “That was the Cubs’ owner!”

Just as the Cards fans and Tom Ricketts left SRO, our friends from New York appeared!  We hung out for a couple innings …

… and then agreed to meet at the ramp after the game to join their kids, who were in the bleachers, on Waveland Avenue and proceed on to a local watering hole.

There were signs everywhere, like this one, which I never got to read …

… but our friends told us that it said something like , “I just got engaged but I’ll break it off if I can kiss Mark Grace!” Apparently Gracie was doing the game’s broadcast for a network.

And then our favorite usher Margaret stopped by to say hello. She said she was stationed across the park along the first base line, but was on break and decided to stroll around the ballpark. We wished she was assigned to 206. We could have used some clearing out of fans who didn’t seem to notice that there were people in SRO watching the game.

Our favorite beer guy was doing a brisk business …

When I went to his station for the first time he recognized me saying, “Hey, Bud! How are you doing? Glad to see you.”

Is this a good thing? Anyway, each time I returned (Wife of Admin and I split beers, so it’s not as bad as it sounds), he would catch my eye and pull my draft even as he was waiting on fans ahead of me in line. We are very comfortable indeed in our little corner of the ballpark.

When the Cardinals fans strolled happily off to their box seats, a fair amount of space opened up to our left. Nonetheless, I noticed an elderly gentleman (look who’s talking!) nudging his way nearer to us. Why? Because Wife of Admin and I always keep score. He was curious about a stat that you can’t find on the scoreboard. With David Freese batting for the Cardinals in the top of the seventh, he asked: “How many strikeouts does Garza have?”

I counted them up and said, “Six.” Then Freese whiffed and I updated the count.  ”I mean seven.”

The man’s name is Burt …

… and he lives in Los Alamos, NM.

“You in the ‘industry’?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “Those folks are nuts. I’m just a school teacher. Retired teacher, that is.”

He travels to Chicago several times a year, just to see the Cubs. “I grew up in Plymouth, Indiana,” he said, “listening to the Cubs broadcasts on the radio. That’s how I got to be a Cub fan.”

He stayed and chatted with us through a boisterous seventh inning stretch …

… singing and counting the “one, two, three strikes YOU’RE OUT!” heartily, and then celebrating with us and the rest of the Cub fans in the crowd when the Cubs held on to shut out the Cards 3-0.

Burt turned to leave, but then paused and waved to us, smiling broadly. Maybe we’ll see him again in SRO when he comes back to Chicago for another Cubs home stand.

After Steve Goodman’s song ended, we met the Cahills and headed down the ramp ourselves …

… to meet the rest of their brood on Waveland Ave.

A hilarious time was had by all.

This is Vines Joy:

… especially when the Cubs win, as they did today for their seventh in a row, downing the Reds 11-3.

This is Vinejoy:

… Son of Admin sporting his new Chip Baltimore shirt! He’s happy because two of his wines arrived this week, Fiction (a Chicago-favorite red blend) and Vinjoy’s new The Shakedown …

… a red and a white, made by Andrew Jones who also brings you Fiction, and a label designed by Daughter of Admin. Coming soon to an independent wine shop near you!

But enough promoting the family products and back to the ballpark.

We walked east on Waveland, passing Son of Admin’s old apartment building, rife with Reds fans waiting to be let onto the roof. It’s called Beyond the Ivy now. Back when Son of Admin would put his TV in the window so passing fans, or fans who couldn’t get into sold out games, could follow the action on the other side of the bleachers wall, it was only 1010 West Waveland Avenue.

The wives of the Cubs stood in front of Gate D collecting non-perishables for a local food pantry. We dropped off a couple of Trader Joe’s bags and said hello to Ryan Dempster’s wife Jenny, whom Wife of Admin met for the first time. I introduced “WoA” as “the woman who gave up her seat in our car to your husband so we could drive him to the Avis office in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.” Both of you who read Waiting for the Cubs are familiar with the crazy story told in the Epilogue. If you’re not familiar with it, come on! Buy the book! (see link above right)

Jenny laughed and asked, “Did you have to crowd into the back seat?”

Wife of Admin replied, “I thought I was going to be left on the curb.” Jenny laughed again. We took a picture, said our farewells and headed into the ballpark.

It was already crowded in SRO, more than an hour before game time, so we expected a big crowd (paid attendance: 41,978). As always, we had nothing but fun meeting fans, both of the Cubs and the Reds.

One particularly entertaining drama unfolded just to our right. This woman is breaking ballpark law …

Fans aren’t allowed to sit on the railing. A very friendly usher stopped to flirt … I mean, ask politely that she not sit there.

He even explained that the rule is in the books to protect children who might climb up on the pipe railings and fall and get hurt and sue the Cubs, although he didn’t mention that last part. He didn’t need to.

The young woman hopped down, but got right back up as soon as he was gone. He returned every other inning, the upper concourse being part of his responsibility, and the dance repeated itself. The young woman kept an eye out for all ushers, at one point spotting one near aisle 205.

“They’ve stationed one over there,” she said, again jumping down from the railing. Toward the end of the game our friendly usher caught her one more time and, feigning sadness, said something like:  ”You’ve let me down! I thought we were friends.”

“You’re no friend of mine,” she replied, somewhat coolly. Deflated, or maybe shot down, the usher ignored her for the rest of the game. He had tried to do his job in a fun, pleasant way, to no avail.

But the real fun came in the last inning when two Reds fans to our left commented about how cool they thought it was that we kept score. “Don’t see that much anymore,” said one. We were about to point out that you see it a lot in SRO. In fact before the Reds fans arrived we debated several calls with a row of fans who all kept score, including one youngster who missed a play and asked Wife of Admin to fill him in.

But instead of talking scorekeeping at Wrigley Field we mentioned that we used to live in Cincinnati. As we chatted the fellows mentioned that they went to high school in Springboro, Ohio, with Tony Campana! How cool is that! In fact, one of them, Tyler Greene (seen below right with his friend Dan Wainright) used to drive Tony to school!!

If you read this, Dan and Tyler, sorry I couldn’t post the shot of Dan giving the “thumbs up” sign. One of you had your eyes closed.

We chatted about Cincinnati. They told us that Tony and his family are all truly nice, humble, regular folks, and that they never knew anyone who worked as hard as Tony. We replied that you could see that in the way he plays the game.

We learned that Dan had just moved to Chicago a month ago and was living near Irving and Southport. We expect we’ll see him in SRO again. The two of them loved it — the relaxed, friendly atmosphere.

With the last 5-3 putout of Todd Frazier in the top of the 9th, we shook hands and wished each other well. They headed down the ramp to our right as the strains of “Go Cubs Go” began to blare over the P.A. system. I wished I had told them to exit to the left. That last left field ramp feeds right into the exit at Gate K so you avoid the inevitable crush in the lower concourse.

And just outside Gate K, Wrigleyville was well on its way to a Saturday night of hilarity.

Eight in a row tomorrow? Why not? As the accountant at my job put it yesterday, the Cubs have no pressure on them and nothing at all to lose.

It sure is a lot more fun at the ballpark when they win, though.

That’s my theory.

Over 4th of July weekend, Foreign Correspondent and Friend were in town for four days. You’re familiar with their contirbutions to Waiting for the Cubs from their recent coverage of games and ballparks in Philadelphia and Miami. On Saturday we decided to make a full Chicago day of it with a trip to you-know-where as the centerpiece event of our adventures.

We started the day on the Brown Line, aka Ravenswood, heading to the Green City Market in Lincoln Park.

We got off the Ravenswood at Armitage and walked east, pausing to refresh at a convenient hydrant …

We breakfasted at the market on fresh cider donuts, lamb and pork fiadone (meat pies), strawberry and raspberry smoothies, samples of marinated portobello mushrooms with freshly baked baguette, apple puff pastries and other treats …

and then bought a sack o’ fresh cherries to go …

and headed east across Lincoln Park past the South Lagoon …

and the ball fields …

to North Avenue Beach where the two correspondents wanted to take a quick dip in the refreshingly cold fresh water of Lake Michigan …

And then it was time to head to Wrigley Field. We caught a bus in the park …

and took it up to Addison where we walked to the ballpark, approaching from the east for the first time in three seasons! (We live 1.6 miles west.)

But upon arrival, about two hours before the scheduled 3:05 first pitch, we were told by a guy behind a ticket window that there was no standing room and only expensive single seats were left. We were certain we were being jived; that the Cubs were trying to up-sell us, preying on our desperation. What to do next?

“I need a dog,” said Friend of Foreign Correspondent.  Brilliant!  We retired to Wrigleysville Dogs to consider our next move.

I made a call. Our friend Chris, who was in Ohio at a wedding with Son of Admin and Wife of Son of Admin, in turn made some more calls only to find out that nothing below $80 was available on the street. Glum, we decided to call the ticket office’s bluff.

“Any standing room?”

“Sure!” said the same guy who ninety minutes before told us SRO was sold out. “How many you need?”

It was thumbs up and high fives all around as we strolled happily toward Waveland Avenue to our usual entrance at Gate K.

Up at our favorite SRO spot it felt to Foreign Correspondent and Friend as if they had returned home after a lengthy exile.  Except that it was Friend of Foreign Correspondent’s first time in SRO! He thought he had strolled into Waiting4Cubs come alive!

We had a blast, meeting fans, like this young fella who wanted to compare scorecards with Foreign Correspondent …

Next to Wife of Admin stood a Sox fan with a number 11 jersey with no name above the number.

I asked politely if he was wearing a Luis Aparicio shirt. He confirmed that he was indeed wearing a number that he thought should be retired by the White Sox instead of letting it be desecrated by lesser players and even outright bums. I thought it curious because he was much too young to have been alive when Aparicio played shortstop for the Go-Go White Sox of 1959 pennant fame.  Nonetheless, I offered, “I loved Luis Aparicio!” … and it’s true!  I did! We got along great for the rest of the game. We even saved his and his friend’s (Cub fan) spot along the rail while they went in search of the men’s room, or beers, or probably both.

And then he appeared.  Magically.  Miraculously. Standing on the ramp behind us.

A ghostly figure, a shadow lost in the glare of the late afternoon sun shining in from over West Lakeview.

Was he finally going to join us peons in standing room after a couple of years of much publicized sitting in the upper deck, in the grandstands, box seats and bleachers??? Was he with us to extend a personal welcome to Friend of Foreign Correspondent and a welcome home to Foreign Correspondent?????

Should I give him heat about the Cubs SRO policies that almost had us on the 152 bus heading home to watch on TV??????

But alas, as happened so often before, he was in SRO on his way somewhere else. He had paused only to chat (with some animation on both parts) with an usher. And then he was gone, up the ramp to the upper deck.

Ah well, back to the game.

And what a game!  A classic pitchers’ duel.  Matt Garza pitched brilliantly, giving up only one run.  In fact, he had a no-hitter going into the sixth. But the Cubs scored ZERO runs — having two on with no outs three times only to have the nascent rallies squelched by double plays. Sox starter Philip Humber pitched seven shutout innings and got the win. Garza went the distance and received a standing ovation when he left the mound after the top of the ninth, but got the loss.

Cursing the Cubs’ lack of clutch hitting, we made our way out of the ballpark, getting our picture taken by a fan on the ramp! Who knows where that photo ended up? Maybe we’re on her FaceBook page!

What next? Direction: north to Andersonville. Goal: Great Lake Pizza, rated by no less than GQ, as quoted in the New York Times, as the best pizza in America.

Our friend Lydia at Great Lake told us that they probably didn’t have enough dough (literally — not “dough” as in bucks) to make pizzas for us. Saddened, we stood out on Balmoral Street, again wondering about our next move. But then the door opened and Lydia rushed out to tell us that we were in luck and would be seated in two hours. You see, Son of Admin regularly tips the good folks at Great Lake with not only a generous percentage over the tab, but a bottle or two of his best Vinejoy selections. It’s good to have friends in high places, like the finest pizza joint anywhere. Lydia wrote my name down as “Dad of Son of Admin,” in so many words, and said she’d call my cell phone when our half of the one big table in the little storefront was ready.

But two hours? NO PROBLEM!

We happily retired to the patio behind In Fine Spirits on Clark Street for a refreshment or two or three as we awaited the call from Lydia.

And then the phone rang and we returned to Great Lake for two of the most delicious pizzas in the history of western civilization, washed down with a bottle of Vinejoy’s Goundwork Grenache.  Heaven …

What a great Chicago day! Except for the Cubs, of course. But as we headed home in a cab …

… we decided to return to the ballpark the next day for game three of the Cubs-Sox series. But this time we would be smart and get there when standing room was actually available much closer to the start of the game.

Which we did, only to be told by the ticket guy that SRO was sold out. “They’re jiving us again!” we thought. So we waited until game time and tried again. Ha! Joke’s on us! They were not lying to us this time. SRO was indeed sold out. Bummed, we checked a couple of brokers who wanted $50 and $60 for standing room tickets (face value: $15+tax). No way. In spite of the fact that I once spent $100 per ticket for standing room for a Cubs-Sox game (see Waiting for the Cubs, the book), we weren’t going to pay that kind of dough (as in “bucks”) again.

So we hopped on the 152 and went home to watch the rest of the game on TV.  Cubs won! We celebrated with a nice risotto and some more great Vinejoy selections. Life is good in Chicago.

(photo by Son of Admin)

We used to almost live up there, under the scoreboard in the usually empty center field bleachers. But because of ridiculous price increases — it only cost $1 way back when we first started sitting in the section — we hadn’t been back since May 9, 1982 when, to celebrate Mother’s Day, Wife of Admin requested that we take in a ball game! So we gathered up our three kids (two Daughters of Admin and Son of Admin), ages 4, 2 and 11 months, hopped on the Ravenswood El (now called the Brown Line) and headed to the corner of Waveland and Sheffield. Neither of us would return to the bleachers for decades. Why? Because the bleachers rapidly evolved from cheap seats to ridiculously expensive seats, as many of you know.

Last year Admin was lucky enough to return in order to celebrate Son of Admin’s bachelor party. This year it was Wife of Admin’s turn! Why? Perhaps the Cubs decided to return to more reasonable bleacher ticket pricing?? Look closely at the ticket below …

Actually, Admin’s new employer, Tag (www.tag2u.com) bought a block of bleacher tickets as a donation to a charity.  No, the charity was not the baseball team — insert your own joke here. Tag bought the tickets from The Common Pantry, a wonderful food bank on North Damen (http://www.commonpantry.org/index.htm). The Cubs donated the tickets to The Common Pantry to use as a fund raiser. That’s why the price printed on the above ticket looks so crazy. Tag in turn gave the tickets to their employees, including three to Admin!

So off we went, Wife of Admin, Son of Admin and Admin! The ramp up to the seats — the same 1937 ramp because the center field bleachers structure was not demolished during the 2005 renovations — seemed longer and steeper, but we finally made it and saw all kinds of cool stuff like the view behind the center field camera …

And the TV guys, Dave Kaplan and Todd Hollandsworth, doing their pregame routine from the bleachers. We watched from maybe two feet away! Okay, we were behind chain link fencing, but still …

We sat near where we usually sat, right under the scoreboard, but closer to the aisle for easy access to the beer guy at the top of the section …

… and so got ready for the big game!

The game, unfortunately, was like so many others “back in the day” when we might be among only a handful of fans in the center field bleachers. And so by the late innings, when most of the fans had given up and left the ballpark, the scene felt very familiar indeed.

… until finally, the Cubs being for the birds, the birds themselves arrived and soon outnumbered the fans.

The gulls seemed to be enjoying themselves, eating hot dogs and slurping spilled beer. Everybody loves the bleachers!

We recently received two reports from Cub fans in remote corners of the East Coast. Braving the wilds of the National League East, Friend of Foreign Correspondent in Miami and Foreign Correspondent herself in Philadelphia bring us into the lairs of the opposition to document the experiences of Cub fans in strange lands.

The first story details a recent game during the last ever Cubs visit to — what the heck is the latest name of that concrete monstrosity in South Florida??

Eight years ago that ballpark was the site of an excruciating road trip for us. It was October of 2003 and Cubs needed only one game to clinch … but you read about that in our previous blog and hopefully in the book.

Below Friend of Foreign Correspondent bids adieu and good riddance for all of us to the current home of the Fish.

A Cub Fan Lands in Miami

By Friend of Foreign Correspondent

I didn’t know what to expect when I was given a free ticket to go to Miami for a few days with my mother’s sister and her two parents (my aunt and grandparents). I went on a whim. After two days of what seemed like endless shopping and navigating my way through crazy Miami, I am fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time. The Chicago Cubs baseball team is in South Florida to play the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night in the first game of a two-game series. I know that the stadium, Sun Life Stadium, is not very close to the city limits but quickly find out while driving up I-95 that there is a reason why no one goes to watch the Marlins: the stadium is too far!

(All photos by Friend of Foreign Correspondent)

As I am dropped off following a rather mediocre dinner on South Beach’s Ocean Drive, I walk through the massive parking lots outside the stadium to find many Cubs fans tailgating prior to the first pitch. It’s a beautiful thing. I go to the box office, hoping to strike a good deal, and come away with a $12 outfield ticket. Not bad for a team much better than the Cubs. I make my way through the enormous Sun Life Stadium, formerly known as Land Shark, Pro Player, and before that Joe Robbie, into my seat. This would be the first baseball game I attend by myself. Luckily, in Admin and Foreign Correspondent tradition, I purchase a scorecard and plan to keep score throughout the duration of the game.

Despite sitting alone, my seat is in a section filled with Cubs fans young, old, and in-between. At about 7:08pm EDT, I would say the stadium is only about 20% full. Of those 20%, the plurality backs the Cubs. Marlins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco strikes out Kosuke Fukudome and Starlin Castro in the first inning. The successful top third of the order goes down and then it is Ryan Dempster who takes the hill for the visiting team. Dempster gives up a solo home run to the struggling Hanley Ramirez in the bottom of the first to allow the Marlins to take the early 1-0 lead. Dempster then walks Logan Morrison but manages to get Gaby Sanchez out on a fly-out to Pena, and then strikes out Greg Dobbs.

The Cubs don’t record a hit until the third inning when Koyie Hill lines a 2-2 pitch into left field. Hill would eventually score on a Darwin Barney sacrifice, tying the game at 1-1. In the fifth inning, the Cubs score again on a Barney sacrifice with Hill coming into score, followed by a Castro RBI single that brings in Fukudome. Dempster heads into the bottom of the fifth with a two-run lead, but alas proceeds to hit pitcher Ricky Nolasco. Nolasco would then score on a Gaby Sanchez RBI single. The next batter, Greg Dobbs, knocks in Ramirez and Sanchez to give the Marlins the lead. A Mike Stanton RBI single would end the scoring for the Marlins, and heading into the sixth inning the game is now in favor of Florida with a 5-3 lead.

That is the end of Ryan Dempster, as the former Marlin lasted five innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, two walks, while striking out three. The top of the sixth proceeds to be very much like the Cubs we have watched thus far: a Marlon Byrd fly out to right followed by an Alfonso Soriano groundout to second. With two outs, Koyie Hill manages to get a single with Dempster scheduled to bat after him. Mike Quade substitutes Reed “Poop” Johnson to pinch-hit for the pitcher and Johnson hits a two-run home run to left-center field. The Cubs are back in it!  They proceed to the bottom of the sixth with a tied ballgame and Jeff Samardzija relieving Dempster of his pitching duties.

Before I wrap-up with the climactic and consequently anti-climactic ending, I would like to make some observations of my time spent at Sun Life Stadium. I would like to acknowledge the peanut vendor in the outfield of Sun Life Stadium who not only was bizarrely dressed but carried around several tennis balls to throw to his customers after they caught bags of peanuts. I also would like to make notice that the Florida Marlins were the first and hopefully the last professional baseball club to hire team dancers: The Marlins’ Mermaids. They also have not one, but TWO team DJs: Petey and Vertigo! It ruins baseball, but what do you expect? It is South Florida after all! I also want to make note that in devastatingly non-Sullivan form, I give up keeping score following the conclusion of the fourth inning. After doing it for so long in high school while managing the varsity team, I simply grew tired. Admin and Foreign Correspondent shake their heads in disgust as they read this, I know it!

I also want to thank all the Cubs fans there. Specifically, the gentleman sitting behind me who has been living in South Florida for at least the past ten years, who lived in Riverside, Illinois, and went to many Bulls games at Chicago Stadium. He knew statistic after statistic and was a pleasure to chat with! I was also greeted by another Cub fan who loved my socks (a gift from Wife of Admin and Admin) and wanted to buy them off my then-sweaty feet. Perhaps the most interesting encounter was with a neutral fan who admired my Bulls hat and later went on to say that he hoped the Bulls would sweep the Heat. Sadly, the Bulls would lose that night to the Heat in Chicago.

But back to the game!

At this point, a small crowd of teenage Marlins fans from Fort Lauderdale are shut up and their insults towards the city of Chicago and its deep dish pizza are not spoken again. Samardzija in the bottom of the sixth manages to get out of the inning despite allowing two men to advance to third and second. As Cubs fans, we’ll take it. The top of the seventh then sees Castro and Aramis Ramirez get on base only to have the ten million-dollar man Carlos Pena ground into a double play. The Cubs leave two men on. At this point in the ballgame, I receive a BlackBerry Message from my grandma saying they are coming to pick me up. I have not left a sporting event early since the Kansas-Temple men’s basketball game in Philadelphia in January of 2010. It was at this moment that I realized I can’t possibly be a Sullivan: no scorekeeping and leaving the game early. Disgusting. (Admin’s note:  We understand when one is forced to leave a game early.  See Waiting for the Cubs/Don Cardwell)

After a relatively quick bottom of the seventh, I stand up to watch the last possible plays I can at Sun Life Stadium. Marlon Byrd knocks a solo shot over the left field wall and I depart the stadium at least with the knowledge that the Cubs took the lead, 6-5. As I exit the stadium, I weep at the nature of me leaving a sporting event early, knowing that I also missed a streaker running on the field while I went to go grab a Pepsi at the concession stand.

Driving down I-95, I check the GameCast from my phone to see that the Cubs scored again on a Baker sacrifice. The final would be 7-5. I realize thereafter how much fun I had at the game by myself. While that will probably be my only game at Sun Life Stadium, I enjoyed the experience. Being a Cubs fan is great and I look forward to going to my first Cubs home game next month in Chicago. The Cubs are still playing mediocre baseball (Admin note:  ”mediocre baseball” is a generous assessment), but it is that mediocrity that allures me into continuing to support them!

The View From SRO.  Citizens Bank Park Version, Episode II

By Foreign Correspondent

Admin Note:  Last year Foreign Correspondent filed a report covering a Cubs-Phillies game in Philadelphia. This season she returned to Citizens Bank Park for another Cubs disaster.

The Cubs currently have the dubious distinction of being the only major league team to have not won three games in a row this season.  So when they salvaged one game against the Reds on Sunday, and then won an exciting game against the Phillies in the 11^th inning on Monday, I went to Citizens Bank Park for game two of the four game series with hopeful enthusiasm.  It was a beautiful night for baseball and two of the league’s best were slated to pitch, Roy Halladay and Carlos Zambrano.  How could baseball get any better?  Pick up a copy of Waiting for the Cubs to learn why this optimism is futile.

With seven sympathetic friends in tow, I headed to the ballpark for a little pre-game tailgating.

(best part of the night)

Being Orioles fans, the friends understand what it’s like to cheer for a losing team, and so they gamely agreed to root for the Cubs.  In fact, having five ex-Cubs in the organization (Derrek Lee, Cesar Izturis, Felix Pie, Kevin Gregg and Jake Fox) may have something to do with the Orioles’ bad luck.  Regardless, everyone loves Derrek Lee, and two brave friends even suited up in D. Lee Cubs shirts!

It was nice to have support for the Cubs on the road, especially at the sometimes-tempestuous Citizens Bank Park.  But alas, Carlos Zambrano did not live up to his side of the pitchers-duel hype.  Although he struck out Jimmy Rollins in the 4^th inning to reach his 1,500^th career strikeout, Big Z’s night was otherwise dominated by unlucky number seven: he walked 7 and gave up 7 hits and 7 runs over 7 innings.  Roy Halladay, meanwhile, pitched seven scoreless innings.  Typical.

(view from SRO)

We cheered our heads off in the top of the 8^th inning when the Cubs came back and scored 5 runs on a string of base hits.  But of course, they fell short in the top of the 9^th, despite bringing the potential tying run to the plate.  And so we returned to our car with our heads hung low, as the Cubs returned to their losing ways.

Given the agony of watching the Cubs lose again and again, why would we want to drive 13 hours to Chicago next week to see them play the Brewers at Wrigley Field?  I’m not sure, but we can’t wait.

Alfonso Soriano hit a home run off Diamondbacks pitcher Armando Galarraga in Phoenix last night. He led off the top of the fifth inning and drove the ball into the left center field seats.  This was nice because the Cubs were losing 2-0 at the time. But what made it kinda spooky was what happened next.

(image: Zuma Press)

TV coverage followed Soriano into the dugout where he looked happy and confident in accepting the congratulations of his teammates. The dugout camera had a live microphone attached to it. I am pretty sure I heard him say “I got one more in me,” as if predicting that he would hit another dinger next time up.

Here’s where the coincidences start building.

In Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, Babe Ruth came to the plate in the fifth inning having already hit one home run against the Cubs at Wrigley Field (that’s right!  The Cubs have actually played in the World Series at Wrigley Field … several times!). The players, coaches and even the trainer on the Cubs bench were giving Ruth no end of heat, cursing him so foully that the fans near the dugout complained to the ushers about the profanity. Ruth took two strikes and then gestured at …? Legend has it he pointed to where he was going to hit the ball, past the flagpole in the right center field bleachers. Most of the evidence says otherwise. Where did he point?

Most witnesses said he gestured with two fingers at the Cub dugout, saying “That’s only two (strikes),” and here’s where the coincidence comes in as some sources reported that Ruth next said something like, “I got one more,” words uttered almost verbatim by Soriano in the fifth inning last night. Ruth was talking about strikes and Soriano was talking about 4-baggers, but the similarity of the choice of words felt eerie. During the broadcast Bob Brenly commented on how Soriano seemed to be calling his next home run.

I must say that there has been a raging debate about what Ruth said and where he pointed ever since, but the coincidence is still fun.

What happened then? With the count 2-2, Ruth hit Root’s next pitch somewhere between 440 and 490 feet (there’s a dispute even about the homer’s distance!) to right center field for his second home run of the game.

What happened when Soriano came back up to the plate in the top of the seventh last night? With the count 2-2, Soriano hit Galarraga’s next pitch well over 410 feet for a home run to right center field for his second home run of the game.

Too much fun! And here’s the last bit of strangeness. As vehemently as Charlie Root denied that Ruth called his shot (“Ruth did not point at the fence … If he had … anybody who knows me knows that Ruth would have ended up on his ass.”), Root gave the Babe his due. “I fed him a changeup curve.  It wasn’t a foot off the ground and it was three or four inches outside, certainly not a good pitch to hit. But that was the one he smacked.”

And what did Galarraga say about Soriano’s homer? “”Sometimes you have to give the batter credit,” Galarraga said. “On the second homer, it was a real good pitch. It was down — really down. I thought, ‘Wow, he got me two times.’ It was probably the best pitch of the night, I’m not kidding you.”

It all made a rare Cub win (4-2 final) all that much more enjoyable. Now, let’s hope Matt Garza gets his first win as a Cub tonight!

They’ve only played 20 games, but they’ve established a new Major League record! The Cubs have been at .500 at every number from 1 to 10!  1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 etc. to 10 and 10 today! No other team has accomplished that in the history of the game.  We have to enjoy this because it may be the only accomplishment of the season.

Big crowd, and we knew it would be because there was a 5-deep line to cross the street … at Ashland Avenue!  Half a mile from the ballpark.

We met a new scorecard vendor just inside Gate K. Our old friend from last year has retired, as he told us on Opening Day. But the new guy, who may be older than the old guy, said to us, “Hey! I’m having fun. If you can’t have fun, why bother?!” ‘Nuf said.

It was the windiest day in the history of SRO. No doubt about it. At times we felt like we were tied to the pylons of a bridge in Florida as a hurricane blew through.

Hard to see at times! Hard to stand at times!

At one point as a fan walked up the ramp to the upper deck, a gust of wind blew about 1/4 of his, or her, beer out of his, or her, cup and hit us, us being Admin and wife of Admin, about the head, neck and shoulders. So we smelled like beer while consuming none. We determined to change this situation by ordering beer at Tiny Lounge on Leavitt after the game.

SRO was SRO as always, loads of fun, hanging out with who knows who, and running into friends like Pepper, former security supervisor, and her friend Fred, current security supervisor.

Next to us stood a group who had apparently come to the ballpark to eat hot dogs. They took many pictures of each other holding every variety of hot dog available at Wrigley Field. Then they left. We shrug!

Keeping score was a challenge because it was SO windy that the wind moved our pens and pencils at will.  So a K could become a slur of a mark that resembled a double!

Then fans stood up. Some of them wanted to better hug each other to warm up. Others just stood. One group of three guys just below us blocked our view of left field. Admin almost did the “down in front” thing, but then realized that maybe we really didn’t want to watch Soriano butcher left field. And then the eighth inning came and the Cubs started scoring all kinds of runs in all kinds of ways and one of those guys turned, eyes wide, and screamed “SMALL BALL!” to us. High fives all around as the Cubs put 5 on the board to overcome their earlier meltdown to go ahead for good. Our new best friends, who just happened to have a W flag on hand.

In the 6th inning, Darwin Barney, who has been unbelievable and who with Castro has created the most exciting 1-2 hitting combination on the Cubs since Aparicio and Fox played for the Sox, struck out. I turned to the ramp railing to brace my scorecard and enter the K when a guy on the ramp, clearly enjoying the opportunity that a 3 1/2 hour game affords to beer drinkers, looked at me and said, “Why bother writing that down? They suck.”

Three innings later we experienced a unique variation on the “fan’s prerogative” theory, first explained to me by my brother Steve and detailed in my book on page 123. As the Cubs came from behind after blowing a 3-run lead, to win 10-8, the same guy nodded and said (two or three beers the better, or worse, since that 6th inning) “Friggin’ great that you kept score! What a game!”

Marmol struck out the last batter to deafening cheering! Then Steve Goodman’s “Go Cubs Go” came on and no one left. Pepper, the former security person who had worked all 81 games in 2010, said, “Oh no! I’ve heard this song 5,000 times!”

We politely pointed out that we didn’t think so. The Cubs don’t win that often. She laughed and agreed.

Can a person have more fun than in SRO at Wrigley Field? We don’t think so.

Cold. Wet. Gray. Ugly game. Welcome to Cubs baseball 2011! Below is our annual photo study of Opening Day.

The gentleman above was very charming, standing at the corner of Grace and Clark. He asked me not to send his picture to the police. “I’m already on the hit list at 7Eleven,” he said. “I go in there and help myself to their creamers without buying anything.”

Above and below:  Murphy’s.

Above:  Ballhawks ready on Waveland Avenue.

Above:  Ticket scanners ready at Gate G, Clark and Addison.

Above:  Our friend “Bull” with son Grady.

Above:BP workers giving Cubs trivia quizzes on Clark Street. Who did the Cubs beat in the 1908 World Series?

Above: Ernie in the spotlight.

Above:  Bleacher line, stretching from Waveland to Addison.

Above:  A Cub hat.

Above:  Da Coach????  Not really.

Above:  Watching batting practice through the “knot hole” on Sheffield.

Above:  Vine Man

Above:  The Pirates’ broadcasters arrive at Clark and Addison.

Above:  New banners.  They were ugly last year; they’re ugly this year.

Above:  Guy proposes!  Girl accepts! Clark and Addison (not the names of the happy couple).

Above:  New York and Chicago firefighters and police march east on Waveland Avenue, carrying the 9/11 American flag from the Wrigley Field Firehouse to the ballpark for opening ceremonies.

Above:  Entering the ballpark through Gate K.

Above: Our friend Margaret (seen here with Wife of Admin and Son of Admin) ushers our section of SRO!  Great to see her again, and we are extremely pleased because she is the best at keeping SRO sight lines clear.

Above:  Admin with Wife of Admin.  It is cold. Go Bears.

Above:  Late innings.  Cubs losing.

Game over.  Addison near Racine. View from the 152 bus.