DAY ONE – ON THE ROAD AGAIN
On Friday June 7, it was off again with St. Paul-based Ballpark Tours – my 31st trek with this dedicated if somewhat undisciplined, group or baseball fans. This time a ten-day trip that will take our hardy group of 26 baseball fans to five cities and eight ball games -not to mention several breweries and distilleries.
As I have in the past, I will chronicle this adventure to give readers and idea of what a Ballpark Tour is all about.
We left Saint Paul via motorcoach (fancy word for big bus with comfortable seats and a bathroom) at about 10:00 a.m. for a day of travel (without baseball) – headed for Chicago and a pair of Cardinals/Cubs contests. The trip started with a lot of the usual Ballpark Tours hoopla. At about 11:00 a.m., the tequila showed up and made it’s way down the aisle. (Tequila – It’s not just for breakfast anymore, but it is for breakfast.) At about the same time, the Bloody Mary Bar opened mid-bus. As usual, BBRT rates Bloodies and these were good – nicely spiced with horseradish and garnished with hard salami, white cheddar and green olives. (Side note: The Tequila was also very smooth.) Later, the traveler know as The Rev, The Associate Pope and the Lunchmaster fed the masses with crackers, cheese, deli meats and, appropriately, fish. (Side note: Given the conduct on our deluxe motorcoach, aliases are to be considered a good thing.) Meanwhile, an assortment of treats from bing cherries to brownies to Chicago mix was circulating around the bus.
From the A.M. Bloody Mary Bar.
A The Associate Pope feeds the masses, With a very “Latin” chant of “Nomar Garciaparra, my son.”
As we continued down that long – but no so lonesome – highway, other Ballpark Tours’ traditions were honored: A baseball book exchange; distribution of the traditional baseball trivia “K-Kwiz”: the contest forms for a contest in which you predicted how many runs would be scored in three days of major league baseball (Who’s Got The Runs?); the sharing of lots of tales (some even about baseball); and plenty of loud music and dancing at the “back of the bus.”
This trip, like so many before it, was becoming a “family and friends reunion.”
Note: For Days Three and Four, click here. Days Five and Six, click here. Day Seven, click here. Day Eight, click here. Days Nine and Ten, click here.
At about 2:30 p.m., it was time for the lunch stop – at (of course) a brew pub (Great Dane Brew Pub in Madison, Wisconsin). The beer was cold, the food both tasty and (in some cases) unique and the company excellent. I, by the way, opted for the Imperial IPA and the West African Chicken Peanut Stew, gorgonzola salad and pretzel bread. Then it was back on the bus, for the “run ” into Chicago – where back-of-the-bus music and dancing had deteriorated into some form of karaoke – with dueling “blue tooths.” Or should it be dueling blue teeth?
About eight p.m. we checked into the Claridge House (Chicago’s Gold Coast) boutique hotel and either settled in for the night – or headed out for a bit more celebration. I opted to stay in and monitor the Twins game. Tomorrow – brews, blues and BASEBALL!
Just When You Think Nothing Can Ever Be the Same Again.
We departed on June 7, which happened to the the 83rd anniversary of the day Yankee pitcher Red Ruffing picked up a 5-4, 16-inning victory over the Cleveland Indians. A couple of notes: Ruffing went the distance, facing 63 batters and earned his victory without striking out a batter. (Also, there was only one home run in the game – the 16th-frame game-winner by George Selkirk.) “My how the game has changed,” he mused with a bit of remorse.
Ah, but then on this year’s June 7, the Rockies’ Antonio Senzatela picked up a win (Rox topping the Mets 5-1), throwing six innings of one-run ball – without a strikeout. And, yesterday (June 8), the Phillies’ Nick Pivetta and Rangers’ Adrian Sampson both earned wins, while throwing their first-ever MLB complete games. Baby steps, but progress -maybe.
PS: For those of you who like to know this stuff, the average number of strikeouts per game so far this season (combined, both teams) is 16.8.
DAY 2 – BLUES AND BASEBALL
I started the morning of Day Two with a trip down the street to Chicago’s Division Street Farmers’ Market – vegetables, fruit, flowers and lots of food (cheeses, pastries, meats and even street-vendor paella. I grabbed a chocolate-filled croissant and washed it down with coffer al fresco, outside the hotel.
Breakfast!
Coffee in front of the Claridge House.
Then it was off to Millennium Park for the 36th Annual Chicago Blues Fest. Six stages of FREE live blues. Did about five hours there, before getting ready for today’s headliner – the Cardinals/Cubs at Wrigley. I learned later that other in our group spent the afternoon in places like the Museum of Science and Industry, The Field Museum, the Chicago Art Museum and The Lodge (you had to be there to understand). Ballpark Tours is nothing if not cultured.
Yes, Virginia, there was a ball game!
Our view.
I took the EL to Wrigleyville, for the 6:15 p..m game. As usual, I’ve written about this before, there was plenty of opportunity for pre-game music, libation and laughter at spots like The Cubby Bear, Murphy’s Bleachers and the Sports Corner. Once inside the friendly confines of Wrigley itself, we found out seats located in the deep, left field corner (foul territory). A couple of observations, from our seats we could not see the old, traditional scoreboard beyond the CF wall (which I missed) nor the newer, jumbo video board above the RF stands (which I did not miss). Still, the Cubs do charge $74 for those seats. Breaking the World Series curse may have gone to their heads just a bit. (Also, in the banner-style video board directly in our line of sight, the Cubs chose to display the ball-and-strike count – only when the Cardinals were at bat.)
Still, the site lines to the field were good – as was the company.
The game itself started out badly for the home squad. Jon Lester started for the Cubbies and after just seven batters, he had surrendered a walk, two singles and a pair a home runs. He was down 4-0 and not yet out of the first, Surprise! He settled down and, five innings later, was still around to pick up the win. Lester ended up going six innings and giving up five hits, two walks and four earned runs, while fanning six. In fact, after those first seven batters through the end of the game, the Cardinals only hit one ball out of the infield. During that time, hey touched Chicago pitching for:
- 11 strikeouts;
- 13 infield ground outs – one a double play’
- Two infield foul pop ups’
- One batter safe on an infield error – erased on that double play;
- One walk;
- One batter safe on a passed ball on strike three; and
- one fly out to left field (second inning)
Chicago prevailed 9-3.
As is tradition, BBRT tried and rated the Wrigley Field Bloody Mary. First observation – not cheap at $16. However, it was top flight vodka and a good pour, came in a Cubs’ souvenir mug, was embellished with four large (and firm) olives and a line wedge. (A key BBRT pet peeve is mushy Bloody Mary olives.)
The bar was out of hot sauce, but my bartender did a good job of spicing up the Bloody with the pepper she had on hand. Overall, a solid offering (although the mix was a bit salty) that would place in the upper mid-range of the BBRT ratings.
A few other Wrigley observations:
- I’m not fond of the new video boards, maybe I’m too into nostalgia.
- Like most parks, lots of people seemed more into selfies than the action on the field.
- I was proud to see at least four others in our group keeping scorecards – including mentor Nina and her “Grasshoppers” Joe and Pamela.
- We were seated in the LF corner and I had been told a new Beer Can Chicken Sandwich – available in the RF corner – was a good concessions bet. One of our tour group made the cross field trek, but pronounced the sandwich not worth the effort.
- The singer who presented the national anthem held the “free” longer than the anthem should have lasted. Why do so many feel the anthem is a chance to honor their personal”song stylings” and ignore the fact that the song is supposed to be rendered at a brisk tempo?
- The seventh-inning “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is sung with special fervor in Wrigley.
- Hearing the crowd’s boisterous rendition of the song “Go, Cubs, Go”is always stirring.
An Unlikely Hero
With the bases loaded and the game tied 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth, the Cubs called on backup catcher Victor Caratini to pinch hit. In three MLB season to that point, Caratini was hitting .128 in 38 pinch hit at bats. He cleared the bases with a double. (Also in his two previous MLB seasons, Caratini had average just .238 in 107 games. This season, he is hitting .366 in 17 contests. He did, however, average .290 in seven minor-league seasons.)
A final thought, yesterday’s night game at Wrigley came on the 56th anniversary of the first Sunday night game in MLB history (June 8, 1963). In that contest, the Astros topped the Giants 3-0 in Houston. (Because of Houston summer heat, MLB had granted them permission to schedule Sunday evening contests.
Watch for more from the road in the coming days.
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