Technically, yesterday was opening day for Major League Baseball. But, most games were scheduled for today as were the Cubs at Wrigley Field as Ron Santo was honored at the game and Robert Redford threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Pre Game Dining
Before the game, I headed to Irish Oak to meet up with friends. As I was walking there, I thought there was no way the game would start in this rain – it was not a hard rain but one I thought would delay the game. For some reason, …

The Ultimate Sports Baby attended his 24th MLB game this afternoon and his 22nd Cubs game since being born on May 9, 2010.
The Cubs defeated the Pirates 5-3 to win the series as Thomas Diamond pitched 1 2/3 innings and received his first major league victory.

Blackhawks Jim joined us in Wrigleyville for the Cubs game tonight so we went to two usual places before the game.
Pre Game Dining
First up was Wrigleyville North – the cheapest place to buy beer around Wrigley Field on game day. Second, we went to Full Schilling since everyone was hungry. Now it is $7 to buy a 24 ounce beer and receive a free hot dog (it used to be $6). Since nobody was in the bar we actually received a second hot dog without having to purchase a second …

The Cubs are back at Wrigley Field for a nine-game home stand and crushed the Pirates in the first game back 14-2. It was Mike Quade’s managerial debut at Wrigley Field since Lou Piniella left the club last Sunday. Carlos Zambrano pitched well and hit a two-run home run to lead the Cubs to victory. 2010 Hall of Fame inductee Andre Dawson was honored before the game.

There is one thing I will say about Cubs fans – they endure some pain to attend games at Wrigley Field and I am not talking about the performance on the field. If I did not live less than one block from the ballpark, there is no way I would attend as many games as I do – unless, of course, I lived near a subway stop. But I would never want to drive to Wrigley Field on a regular basis. Let’s consider what suburban Cubs fans go through.
1) They …

The Cubs somehow managed a victory versus the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. And, somehow Alfonso Soriano was the reason why. Soriano belted two home runs leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the Pirates. The Cubs improved to 3-8 on the season versus the lowly Pirates as Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic of ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike in the Morning sang during the seventh inning stretch.

Cold Weather at Wrigley Field
It can sometimes be tricky to predict what clothes to wear at Wrigley Field. First and foremost the direction …

The Cubs were back in town to host the Pittsburgh Pirates after a week on the road. The Pirates, losers of 17 straight road games, were hoping to snap their streak. And, the Cubs were the perfect opponent for them since they are 7-2 against the Cubs this season before last night’s game.
The game appeared to be heading to extra innings until the top of the 9th inning when Jose Tabata doubled to deep right center scoring Ryan Doumit to give the pirates a 2-1 lead.

Ron Santo Ceremony
Before the game …

For the second day in a row, I met up with The King and Gary Herman as they were attending their 5th of six baseball games in three days. They attended the Friday afternoon Cubs game, the Friday night Brewers game, the Saturday afternoon Cubs game, the Saturday evening Kane County Cougars game, the Sunday afternoon Cubs game and Sunday night baseball in Milwaukee – just a typical weekend for the two of them.
Beg, Borrow and Deal
As was the case Saturday I was planning to sit with Gary and The …

It was a meeting I had looked forward to for 10 years. On September 23, 2000, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I traveled to Milwaukee for a doubleheader at County Stadium. I met a guy who called himself Mr. Ballpark. He had attended a MLB game at every ballpark including all one off games. He had been to Monterrey, Mexico in 1996; Honolulu, HI in 1997 and earlier in the 2000 season had travelled to Tokyo, Japan.
While we were talking at the Brewers game he mentioned he met two guys …