inconsistent

game 2 of the giants vs cubs was a disappointment. not only did my need to not spend too much on tickets to see jason marquis cause me to buy unintentional tickets (that i sold at a loss), the baseball buddy and i sat behind possibly the most annoying people on the planet, the bleachers were cold, and the cubs never managed to score a run against matt cain when they had scored 9 the night before. the loss kinda sucked too, but that was probably my fault as i insisted on wearing my no-maa jersey, which i'm pretty sure has a losing record.

this game cemented the fact that i am too old to sit in the CF bleachers. the parade of marina girls sitting in front of us had no interest in the game and had to be asked to sit down several time. there were a bunch of drunk cub fans who kept yelling shit at jim edmonds. they need to get over it. those same fans got into a fight with some drunk giant fans who didnt understand they were booing a player on their own team. those same drunk giants fans chanted "1908" as the game drew to a close. who knew giants fans knew so much about baseball?!


at least we got a good pic out of it.




cubs 1, giants 2

reverting to form

after the demoralizing sweep and losses on the south side, the cubs rebounded last night with a victory over the giants.

it was an awesome game. im so glad i shelled out the extra bucks to sit closer, in the 100 level. lilly looked awesome, giving up 2 runs in 8 innings.

i'm AWESOME at predicting baseball. in the 8th with the cubs up 5-0, bases loaded, and de-ro up, i turned to hey you and said "you know, i think the cubs need about 4 insurance runs right about now". BAM, derosa slams a grand slam to the bleachers.

and then, in the 9th, after lilly gave up a baserunner, with his pitch count just over 100, i turned to mopey boy and said "if lilly gives up another baserunner, or reaches 110, he's getting pulled". sure enough, john bowker reaches on pitch 110, and out trots lou to replace him with kerry wood.

watching the game later, its sad to see that some of the best parts didn't make it to the broadcast. when lilly, who had a shutout going into the 9th, came out to bat in the top of that inning, he got a standing ovation from all the cubs fans who stayed to watch a game we couldn't possibly lose after plating 9 runs.

also, when lilly finally got pulled after allowing 2 hits in the 9th, even the remaining giants fans were on their feet, recognizing that his stuff was just on that night.

this SF chronicle article does a great job at capturing the feel:

By the time Chicago starter Ted Lilly came to bat in the ninth,
most of the Giants fans among the announced crowd of
35,311 had left, and the remaining army of Cubs fans gave
Lilly an ovation so loud you looked up to make sure there was
no ivy on the outfield walls.

like i have at some many ballparks i have seen the cubs play at, the legions that come out to support the cubbies was out in full force. its one of the greatest parts of being a cubs fan, our fellow fans are everywhere. so cool.

here's the baseball buddy with me and hey you



and here's some true fans flying the W flag (albein a little early, as the game wasn't over yet). i was shocked that the baseball buddy and the woman sitting next to him didnt know what it was, nor do the giants have anything similar.



cubs 9, giants 2

no soul

like i knew was going to happen, leonard bernstein was not able to make it out here this weekend. of course not. work. thats always the reason. im pretty much used to it.

cuz was nice enough to go with me to the OAR show at the fillmore. i thought the show and the music were good, but cuz had to be a sport about going. she doesn't know OAR, and she really doesnt like being at a show full of marina kids. understandable.

nights like this though, made me wonder if i have a soul. leonard bernstein texted me during the show, and, in his own cynical way, made it clear he was pissed about not being there and missing me.

we've never discussed the band before. but he was immediately receptive to seeing them, his only concern being that we would be the oldest people in the audience. this is where our realtionship confounds me. without a discussion, we understand how much the other loves music like this, without even asking.

OAR, despite their marina/lincoln park audience, has some really good things to say. they mean alot to me. and ive missed several opportunites to see them.

seeing them for the first time, and knowing that leonard bernstein had really intended to see me before he left, and was pissed he wasn't there, is a rage of emotions that would normally cause your average woman to at least shed a tear, if not out and out cry.

but not me. apparently i have no soul. i couldnt even conjure up a tear out of guilt.

i care, i really do. i just can't seem to cry. should i be concerned?

cee--eh--n--eh-dee-eh

the cubbies played a 3-game series in toronto this weekend. as it was my "mimimize human contact/scrapbook/recover from this stupid cold" weekend, i caught every game.

it was a great series. the team proved the following

1) they can hit AL pitching
2) they can win on turf
3) they can win a road series
4) they dont need so-ri-over-paid to win

im sure lilly's game today will go down as one of his best performances of the season. and i'm sure i will be re-watching it during my post-season withdrawal this winter.

i may try to watch more blue jays games. the broadcasters are canadian, or at least talk like it. and it never gets old, hearing them say "uut" and "abuut". and in baseball, there's a lot of uuts to be made.

and just for the record, i think aj burnett, as scary as he is with his shaved head and constant tobacco spitting, would be a beastly addition to the cubs pitching rotation come july if we try to get him.

in case you didn't figure it out, the title of this post is the answer to this question:

how do you spell "canada" in canadian?

good idea, but don't do it again

WGN thought it would be a good idea for "throwback day" to broadcast today's game in the same way one would have watched (if you had tv) in 1948. the stadium was decorated to look like 1948, the players wore throwback uniforms, even len and bob were dressed up.

and the broadcast was done with old-school camera angles, and the first few innings were broadcast in black and white, with no instant replay or slow-down camera work.

good idea. terrible execution.

i couldnt see SHIT with the camera angles. and with no instant replay, i might as well have been listening to the game on the radio. the black and white was entertaining for about 2 minutes before it got old. and they would only show the stats of the game once every few min, the score, if there were guys on base, the pitch count. and no pitch speeds. all those little things that make baseball appeal to the math nerd in all of us.

i hope they dont do it again. that is, unless it means the difference between a win and a loss for the team. as games go, it was a nail-biter. while i knew that the cubs would pull off another come-from-behind win when they loaded the bases with no outs in the 11th inning, the strategy was brilliant. lets put the player who gets hit a lot into the game, and let him take a pitch for the team to drive in the winning run. he doesnt have to swing. which reed johnson did, with no problems. first pitch, pegged on the ankle. game over. atlanta swept.

im not going to say the words. but with games like that, how else can the season end but with the cubs winning it all?

atlanta braves 2, chicago cubs 3