dvdmgsr

Last night I made the trip down to Jack Murphy with an old high school
friend to take in the first of the three games in the series. It was
a snappy, entertaining game, made even more entertaining by my
compulsive female-watching friend and just a beautiful evening.

We got to the ballpark at about 5:30 and then did as the San Diegans
do - tailgate. This is probably the most active baseball tailgating
ballpark I've ever been to, and it's almost to the point of what you
typically see at a football game. There were tons of Cubs fans, as
there always are, but more than usual, and judging by the tans and
blonde hair, they were not from out-of-town. We were not as prepared
for the tailgating as we probably should have been (six pack, El
Pollo Loco and a bag of Fritos) but we definitely enjoyed watching the
gorgeous San Diego eye candy cavorting around the parking lot.

One thing my friend noticed that was rather remarkable: parking is 8
bucks, and the person at the gate just takes your cash and there is
no record of the transaction. Unless someone is watching them with
binoculars, I'm guessing these people supplement their income
generously from what they receive. Tonight I plan to drive to a
trolley stop and take that to the stadium.

This will be the last time I visit Jack Murphy, and I can only offer
good riddance, although in a milder form than what the Vet deserves.
The Murph underwent a football facelift a few years ago that was
similar to what the Oakland Coliseum suffered, and what Anaheim
Stadium got during the Rams years. So now the entire place is
enclosed by mostly empty seating, and what used to be bleachers in
right field now looks like a wall of seats. It's a good thing they're
getting out.

We did not have good seats - we were on the bottom level but in the
back row about half way into left field, so we had the full coverage
of the overhang. It's not as bad as the back of the bottom level at
Wrigley, since there was no true obstructed view, but you definitely
get the feeling you're not seeing everything. I took some comfort
from the extensive stress sensing apparatus distributed all along the
upper deck (they do have earthquakes in San Diego). Anyway, you are
never really close to the field in almost any seat in San Diego, and
this seemed very far away. I had no sense at all of what Prior was
throwing, and had to rely on the scoreboard to tell me what was a
fastball and what wasn't. It seemed that he was throwing a LOT of
fastballs, to good effect.

We were slow getting into the ballpark, particularly because we stood
in one of the purchase lines to get our will-call tickets (something I
think is not necessary, by the way) and arrived just as the national
anthem was being sung. While my friend got beer, I looked for a
scorecard stand. And looked. And looked. So I asked an usher, who
directed me to a spot that was about a five minute walk away, and
there was no scorecard stand. Fuming, I went to my seat just as the
game started, and I saw NO ONE keeping score. I've been here before,
and I've always bought a scorecard (can't remember if they make you
buy a program), so this is something new. Al, if you ever plan to
come to San Diego, bring your own.

Again, it was a good game, made better by the largish crowd composed
mostly of Cubs fans. I'm sure I was not the only of you who screamed
aloud watching Martinez cruise slowly into home on Sosa's second
inning single - I now hear that this was probably Kim's fault because
he has a bad hamstring. Still, this kind of stuff happens to this
team far too often, and that could easily have been a very important
run. It would seem that the Cubs are going to need an extra run every
game just to make up for Aramis Ramirez's defensive lapses.

There was also an audible groan from the crowd when Prior did not
appear to pitch in the seventh, but not from me. Kudos to Baker for
trusting his bullpen, which he will need to do if this team is going
to contend. Contending teams take care of their injured pitchers
coming off the DL, and they trust their bullpens with a lead.

Well, I'd better get cleaned up now and make the way back down for
tonight's game, which I will be enjoying with The Cub Reporter,
Christian Ruzich (whose excellent Cubs blog can be found at
http://www.all-baseball.com/cubreporter/). I'll try and provide a
late report, perhaps in time for Al to read after he wakes up for
work.


David Geiser

altasrecrd

Al works?

"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger."
- Hermann Goering

al yellon

HEY!

--

"If you want it, come & get it, for crying out loud..." -- David Gray
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++
Rants, comments, reviews: || To contact me use the following:
http://www.yellon.org/links.htm || itghtfr02 (at) sneakemail (dot) com

claude

When people look for a job, some go after money, some go after benefits,
some go after pleasant working conditions, some go after challenge, some go
after interesting tasks....Al went after a job that allowed him to attend
every Cubs home game.

al yellon

Only one of the many benefits...

--

"If you want it, come & get it, for crying out loud..." -- David Gray
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++
Rants, comments, reviews: || To contact me use the following:
http://www.yellon.org/links.htm || itghtfr02 (at) sneakemail (dot) com