I wasn't going to go to yesterday's Cubs game, because A. I was hungover from the Tito's Vodka Trailer in the VIP section of the Robert Plant Concert on Friday, and B. The tickets on StubHub never went under 40$, or at least when they did, they were either snatched up before I could buy em, or they were in nosebleed, and simply not worth it. But after a day of recovery, and the sound of Pat Hughes saying "Cubs Baseball is On the Air!", I put on pants and headed down on my faithful two wheeled steed, to at least be around Wrigley, for the electric atmosphere of 42,000 fans witnessing a rare Saturday night ballgame at the Friendly Confines. I'm glad I went.
I snapped off a few shots, around the ballpark, when I was approached by a lovely gentleman, sporting a shiny gold tooth, inquiring of my need to procure tickets to tonights contest. I hadn't planned on it, thinking the seats would be "premium priced", but after a brief and amicable negotiation, we agreed on 30$ for a 200 level seat in the 13th row behind home plate. I introduced myself as Son Ranto, he as Cleo, and I asked him if we could take a picture together for today's blog. He agreed. And here it is.
Cleo is probably the nicest scalper I have yet done business with outside of Wrigley. His price was fair, his negotiation easy, and he didn't act as if I was taking food out of a baby's mouth just because I haggled a 40$ asking price down to 30$. So, if you don't have a ticket, Cleo's you're man. You don't get an expensive gold tooth in this business if you're not good at what you do. And Cleo is excellent.
Heading through the turnstiles, there is always that brief moment when you think you just bought a counterfeit seat. I've bought many counterfeit products in the past, but don't learn my lesson. I've bought powdered sugar for 120$, oregano for 50$, and a bag of mushrooms, that it took an hour of looking at my hands, to realize were also counterfeit, at a Grateful Dead show in Tampa in 1995. But this ticket was real, and a great seat! Thanks Cleo!
My only issue with this seat was the obstructed view caused by the ivory headed man in front of me. Cleo couldn't have foreseen that though, and I didn't blame him.
What a ballgame! The Cubs roughed up Lance Lynn early, and by the end of the 4th inning, the Cubs had a 6-1 lead. Garza, in likely his last start as a Cub, was pretty damn good, pitching 6 2/3 and giving up 2, while Soriano and Valbuena both hit homeruns. They'd need all of it, as the Cardinals fought back in the last three innings, putting the tying run on base in the 8th, and the go ahead run on base in the 9th. Cubs/Cardinals games are highly charged events, and with the blankets of red covering large swaths of the seating bowl, the Crimson colored fans made their presence known throughout the game. The stadium was packed for the forst time this year, and it was electric!
Seated next to me throughout the game, were two very nice Cardinal's fans from the Champagne/Urbana area named TJ and Katrina. Katrina was quite inebriated upon our first meeting, but TJ supplied her with food until she proclaimed herself sober enough to watch by about the 5th inning. The Trayvon Martin verdict came in "not guilty"during the 7th, and we all had a frank discussion about race, segregation, opportunity, and the fear that violence might erupt in Chicago tonight. Well...not sure what would make it particularly different than any other bloody Summer Saturday in Chicago, but none of us certainly hoped to find out either. They were thoughtful about the verdict and what it meant. These are Card's fans from Illinois, not Missouri. I'm now certain it makes a difference as to your level of social and political progressiveness. And it has since Missouri was admitted as a slave state in 1820.
TJ is a nice guy and a huge fan, and it was a pleasure to sit next to him to get the lowdown on what's going on with the Cards, and how he felt about each player. It was refreshing to hear him say, "Oh...Descalso's up...easy out". Because to me, there is no such thing when the Cubs face the Cards. All the Cardinal's hitters seem dangerous. And have seemed that way since Keith Hernandez was playing 1st base...BTW....if you haven't seen this Keith Hernandez mockumentary....you just should...it's awesome...
Take me Out to the Ballgame was sung masterfully out of tune by Dutchie Carey, as last night was the anniversary of the untimely death of our beloved Harry at the the age of 84.
And of course, the most exciting part of the game was the last out, and the traditional singing of Steve Goodman's "Go Cubs Go!".
Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Holy Cow!
So great game. Great fans. I drank Pepsi instead of beer. And when it was all said and done, as I smoked a celebratory cigarette outside the main gates, I was approached by a young couple, holding 2 Harry Carey statues (yesterday's giveaway) who asked me to take their picture on their iphone. I said, "and it'll only cost you just one Harry Carey statue". I was kidding of course, but after the photo session, the guy said, "here you go", and handed me one of them. I couldn't believe my luck! I introduced myself, and thanked them profusely. This generosity after a Cubs win, had my heart full of Chicago baseball pride. What lovely humans! So, a big shout out to Zach and Meta! You guys are the best!!!
Gonna do it again today!
It's a matchup of All Stars. Wainwright, who we beat in St. Louis, vs. Wood. This is the ESPN Sunday night game, so I look forward to all of my Twitter followers and followees complaining about the announcers, such as they did last night with Fox's Cardinal's biased Buck and McCarver. I'll make a suggestion to either come down to Wrigley on those nights, or listen to Pat and Keith. I hate the national announcers...hate em....
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