In the first playoff game at Milwaukee in 26 years, the Milwaukee Brewers lived to see another day after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1.
Obtaining TicketsA friend of mine was able to purchase tickets to each playoff game through a contact of his at the Brewers. Since he had a prior engagement on Saturday, he sold his tickets to me for face value – including the parking pass.
ParkingIn a rare event, Miller Park only allowed fans who had pre-purchased parking coupons into the Miller Park parking lots. Most cars …

As a fan, the Los Angeles Dodgers have always been a thorn in my side. Even though they have not won a playoff series since 1988, they somehow manage to spoil the fun of the teams I have followed over the years. I’ll give you a brief history of the pain the Dodgers have inflicted on me over the years. I grew up in the suburbs of San Francisco. Since Bay Area fans can be apathetic towards their home teams, there was no “you cannot root for the Oakland …

In my first of at least three MLB playoff games this week, the Chicago Cubs lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers last night 7-2 at Wrigley Field. It was the first time the Dodgers opened a postseason series with a win since the 1988 World Series.
The GameThe game started off well for the Cubs when Mark DeRosa hit a pop fly that the wind carried over the right field fence for a home run. This moment had us asking – were the fates finally with the Cubs?
That question was quickly …

The Chicago White Sox asked for all fans to wear black to U.S. Cellular Field for last night’s one-game tiebreaker versus the Minnesota Twins. The fans complied and the stands appeared to be completely black.
In the first AL one-game tiebreaker game since 1995, the White Sox defeated the Twins 1-0. It was the first 1-0 clinching game since 1987 when the Detroit Tigers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Twins could only produce two hits in a game that lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes. It was the …

With the Minnesota Twins sitting ½ games ahead of the Chicago White Sox before last night’s game, a White Sox loss would have sent the Twins to the playoffs and the White Sox home for the winter. However, last night’s White Sox victory over the Detroit Tigers forced the eighth one-game tiebreaker in MLB history.
Tonight will be the second one-game tiebreaker I attend as the White Sox host the Twins in a 6:30 pm start at U.S. Cellular Field. The last one-game tiebreaker I attended was September …

Normally only one-game tiebreaker games take place on the Monday after MLB’s regular season ends. However, each year there are always some possibilities of a game that was rained out earlier in the season that will need to be made up on Monday if the 1st and 2nd place teams are only ½ games apart in the standings. Yesterday was that exception.
For the first time in 27 years, a team needed to make up a rained out game after the conclusion of the season. In 1981, …

The Chicago Bears held onto their 4th quarter lead to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles last night 24-20. With 5:40 left in the 4th quarter, the Eagles had 1st and goal at the 4 yard line. The Bears stopped the Eagles’ run on four consecutive plays. The Bears took over on downs and ran the clock down 28 seconds before having to punt.
One of the best things about Sunday Night Football, is that you have your entire Sunday to relax, run errands or tailgate. On a normal …

With a possible Wild Card clinching game on hand in Milwaukee I decided to drive to Miller Park yesterday for the game between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. Some friends of mine recently moved to Milwaukee and were tailgating before the game. I met them in the Miller Park parking lot for my first Milwaukee tailgate. Of course, they served brats. Tailgating at Miller Park has a similar feel to tailgating before an NFL game – it seems everyone in the parking lot is grilling …

The Cleveland Indians defeated the Chicago White Sox 11-8 last night. Ryan Garko hit a grand slam in top of the 5th inning to give the Indians the lead which they never gave up.
In the ten White Sox games I have attended at U.S. Cellular Field this season, I have witnessed 6 grand slams in 5 of those games. In addition, a player has had at least four RBI in seven of the games I attended. I’m not sure how many grand slams I have witnessed in total but I …

For the past few seasons, I have generally chosen to attend a Cubs game at Wrigley Field over a Bears game at Soldier Field because of two main reasons. First, Wrigley Field is located much closer to my house than Soldier Field. Second, the Cubs are usually out of the playoff hunt late in the season and their tickets are worthless whereas Bears tickets range in the triple digits for early season tickets.
Earlier in the week, I chose to attend the Bears game instead of the Cubs for two …