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Articles Archive for July 2010

Chicago, Chicago White Sox, MLB, Oakland Athletics »

[31 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]
Reverend Jesse Jackson at U.S. Cellular Field

It’s not every game that you run into someone famous walking the concourse of a ballpark. Last night as I was walking from home plate to right field along the 100-level concourse of U.S. Cellular Field, I noticed the Reverend Jesse Jackson walking towards me. I asked if I could take a picture with him and he replied as long as that baby is included. And, of course, the Ultimate Sports Baby would always be included in a picture like that.

My timing needed to be perfect in order to walk …

Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB »

[28 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

Everyone knows the main attraction when attending a Brewers game at Miller Park is the sausage race in the middle of the 6th inning. Another highlight is watching Bernie Brewer take a spin down his slide after the Brewers hit a home run. But, something that rarely occurs is when a player hits a ball so far it lands in the slide. That is what Brandon Philips did Wednesday afternoon as he hit an 8th inning grand slam 450 feet. That grand slam put the game out of reach as …

Chicago, Chicago Cubs, MLB, St. Louis Cardinals »

[26 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

For the second week in a row Sunday night baseball was held at Wrigley Field – two Sunday night baseball games at the same location in back-to-back weeks is definitely rare. The St. Louis Cardinals were looking to avoid being swept by the Chicago Cubs and managed to comeback from a 3-2 deficit to defeat the Cubs 4-3 in 11 innings.
A kid sitting next to us held up a sign throughout the entire game that read:
It’s A Plane
It’s Superman
No It’s Marlon Byrd
At first I thought there was no way this …

Chicago, Chicago Cubs, MLB, St. Louis Cardinals »

[24 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

For the third time this season, I met up with a fellow sports roadtripper (someone who travels to attend sporting events) – Sean MacDonald who runs the website sportsroadtrips.blogspot.com. Sean lives in Tokyo and was on a two week trip touring the Midwest. His itinerary can be found here.
Pre Game Dining
I already had tickets for us so we decided to grab a beer at one of my favorite Wrigleyville dive bars. Wrigleyville North is located on the corner of Sheffield Ave and Byron Rd. The place was empty before the …

Chicago, Chicago Sky, New York Liberty, WNBA »

[24 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

Four weeks ago I had the same predicament. Attend the Friday afternoon Cubs game, the Milwaukee Brewers night game or the Chicago Sky game. Most people would never consider attending a WNBA game over a Major League Baseball game but that is what I ended up deciding today for obvious reasons. First, I had to work – meaning the afternoon baseball game was out. Second, even though I am working in the northwest suburbs, I would get home too late from Milwaukee – probably around midnight.
Thus, the Chicago Sky was …

Chicago, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, MLB »

[21 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

Last season, I scheduled a few doctor’s appointments to coincide when the Cubs or White Sox were playing on a weekday afternoon. Today was no different as I had a scheduled dental procedure that would keep me home all day. The good thing was that my dental appointment was early in the morning – meaning I could come home, take a nap to recover and still make it to the Cubs game which started at 1:20 pm.
However, of course, since I was in so much pain the game lasted 12 …

Chicago, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, MLB »

[20 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

After losing 11-5 on Monday night to the Astros, the Cubs put on their own offensive display tonight defeating the Astros 14-7 (after the Astros had a 7-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 5th).
Aramis Ramirez hit three home runs in tonight’s Cubs game for the fourth time in his career. This was also the third time this season I have witnessed a player hit three home runs in one game. The other two were Albert Pujols on May 30 and Drew Stubbs on July 4. …

Chicago, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, MLB »

[20 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

There are a lot of things I take for granted at Wrigley Field now that I have attended 435 Cubs games, two minor league games and the NHL Winter Classic at the ballpark. One thing I never think of is the ballhawks that sit along Waveland Ave. I pass these guys every game, but have never talked to or inquired about their desire to sit outside Wrigley Field which is equal to my desire to sit inside the ballpark. In fact, I have never once wandered outside to try to …

Chicago, Chicago Cubs, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies »

[19 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

One of my favorite things about Sunday night baseball is that my Sunday afternoon’s are completely free. I can sleep in, go to brunch, BBQ, nap and still attend the Cubs game. Today was case in point. After a relaxing Sunday, I walked down to my neighbor’s place before the game to BBQ.
Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago Cubs
Tonight Roy Halladay was pitching for the Phillies. However, after pitching 18 consecutive scoreless innings, he gave up four runs in the second inning and the Cubs never looked back cruising to an 11-6 …

Chicago, Chicago Cubs, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies »

[18 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]

Geovany Soto (and, of course, Carlos Marmol) blew my chance to see a four-game sweep of a series. Marmol walked five in route to a four-run ninth inning for the Phillies. However, the Cubs would have won if Soto held onto Tyler Colvin’s solid throw from left field. The throw beat Brian Schneider but Soto’s drop allowed Schneider to score.
The Cubs would have still needed to win tomorrow for the four-game sweep. But this would have only been the second time I witnessed a team win the first three games …