Saturday, August 2, 2008

Play Ball!!

The first pitch is thrown and the game is on. The leadoff hitter for the Cubs today is Alfonso Soriano..
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The first couple of innings went along like a normal ball game. Both teams were struggling to get runners on and score runs.

With nothing much happening I thought we might as well get some players pictures out of the way.

Derrek Lee.....
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Aramis Ramirez...
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Ryan Bruan...
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Rich Harden...
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Prince Fielder hereafter called the Fat Man....
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One of the best people in all of sports...Alan Trammel
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Jim Edmunds...
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Finally we get some action in the 3rd inning, BOOM, Jim Edmunds hits a solo home run and the crowd cheers. Yes we are in Milwaukee but like I stated earlier over 50% of the crowd was Cubbies fans. This is what a Jim Edmunds home run trot looks like...
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Cubs 1, Brewers 0

Top of the 4th and now the bases are loaded with Cubs and who do you think is up to bat? Jim Edmunds and once again BOOM! LOOOOOOOOONG GONE!. Grand slam home run. This is what a grand slam home run trot looks like...
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And once he gets to home plate all the runners that were on the bases are there to greet him...
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Now the crowd is really into the game.... Cubs 5, Brewers 0.

This is where a game can get real interesting. If you remember when I drove into the stadium there were some Cub fans with the brooms out. For anybody that is new to baseball the broom means that one of the teams is about to loose all the games in the series against the team they are playing. This series is 4 games long and the Brewers are about to lose their 4th in a row to the Cubs. A lot of times by this time of year this doesn't mean a whole lot but this year these two teams are fighting for 1st place. When both teams started play on last Sunday they were tied for 1st place. The Cubs came into Milwaukee on Monday and pretty much put a hurt on the Brewers for 4 games. Two things can happen when this occurs either the team getting beat in every game rolls over and plays dead or the game can turn real ugly. This game decided to turn ugly, it didn't get real ugly but it got ugly. I wasn't about to leave because of the possibility of a hockey fight breaking out during a baseball game. I should bring you up to speed by telling you that the Brewer starting pitcher, Dave Bush, has already hit two Cub batters. The umpire has yet to issue any warnings though.

Things were relatively quiet until the Fat Man came up to bat in the seventh inning. His bat goes boom and he hit a rocket into the upper deck in right field. This is what the Fat Man looks like when he hits a home run....
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I hate to see what he looks like when he strikes out. Actually I like it when he strikes out because it is not unusual to see him shatter a bat. Cubs 5, Brewers 1.

At this point Harden puts a couple of other hitters on base, remember Harden he is the pitcher for the Cubs.
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And Lou Pinella decides to take a stroll to the mound to talk to him.
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I got to tell you Lou is the slowest manager I have ever seen getting to the mound and back to the dugout. You can go buy a beer, drink it leisurely, and then get rid of the same beer in the bathroom even after you wait in a long line. He is sloooooow. And once he got to the mound he says one thing to him and turns around and walks away.
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You got all the time in the world to take a picture of him when he is walking to and from the mound but you better be quick when he gets to the mound.

To the top of the 8th inning and up to bat is Soriano and BOOM...
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....gone home run. Cubs 6, Brewers 1

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Then Fukudome comes up and BOOM...
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Cubs 9, Brewers 1, the Cubs had scored another run between the home runs.

We go into the top of the ninth with the Cubs ahead 9-1 and Edmunds leading off...
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And this wild man pitching...
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Eric Gagne. He is a washed up has been. I can't believe the Brewers even keep him around. He has trouble throwing strikes and today was no exception. Now let's keep in mind Edmunds, the batter, has already hit 2 home runs today with one being a grand slam. Gagne and his inability to throw strikes works the count to 3 balls and 0 strikes. Now can you guess what happened next? If you said he hit Edmunds you would be wrong. He didn't hit him he actually threw the ball behind him and to the back stop. Before the ball could hit the backstop the umpire has already thrown Gagne out of the game. And believe it or not Gagne could not figure out why the umpire would throw him out of the game. Here they are discussing it.....
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And apparently the manager, Yost, for the Brewers couldn't figure it out either because he had to join in the discussion...
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As you can see the home plate umpire has heard enough and is heading back to the plate.

This is what a washed up pitcher looks like after he has been thrown out of a game....
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This is the look of frustration on Ned Yost's face after he lost he argument with the umpire...
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After a couple of more runs score the score is Cubs 11, Brewers 1.

In the bottom of the 9th the Fat Man comes up to bat and pops one up in shallow center field. Can you guess what he does next? If you said slammed his bat on the ground and shattered it you would be correct and then is slowly jogs down to first base, turns around and said something to the umpire. I am not sure what he said because the fans are yelling at the Fat Man for not hustling but he umpire must had heard him because he got tossed out of the game.

By now there is a lot of chirping coming out of the Brewer's dugout towards the home plate umpire. The umpire stops the game and starts to stare into the dugout. He the walks around to the right hand side of the batters box and tells the pitcher to take a couple of more warm up tosses. The whole time he stares into the Brewer's dugout.
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As you can see Ryan Braun looks a little amused by all this. I was half expecting for the umpire to clean out the Brewer's dugout before it was all done.

The final score after the Brewer's finally managed to score a couple of runs in the 9th....
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I know this was a long post but as someone once said "When you do a lot of stuff a lot of stuff can happen." It sure does apply here.

I can't wait until the next time the Cubs play the Brewers because somewhere, sometime the Cubs are going to retaliate for the hit batters and the throw behind Edmunds. I see they play each other again the last weekend in September in Milwaukee. I just might have to buy some tickets.

9 comments:

Shaelynn said...

Due to some commentary on the last post, I feel the need to clear my name: I knew who Alan Trammell was all on my own.

jporterGOP said...

ryan braun is still my guy...

along with aramis ramirez

it's really too bad that gagne had to have surgery a few years back. he truly was the best closer the game had ever seen. even better than trevor hoffman or mariano rivera. 80 something saves in a row, unbelievable.

Unknown said...

Well then I am impressed. It seems your aunt doesn't know who he is, such a shame.

I like Braun too but he has only looked average the last couple of weeks. I still don't know why he was bunting.

Aramis Ramirez may be the most valuable player for he Cubs this year. He alway seems to be in the middle of rallys.

If you watched Gagne today you would never know he was a good closer. To put it mildly he sucks.

megawatt miler said...

too bad samardzija didn't pitch

carriegel said...

you actually made the game sound interesting and that isn't easy with baseball. boring.

Unknown said...

I was hoping samardzija was going to pitch but I didn't think he would because he had just pitched the night before.

By the way he looks real good, he made the right choice to play baseball.

megawatt miler said...

i have only seen highlights of him so far

megawatt miler said...

i just saw your other post on tailgating-i went to tennessee once and it was really fun because everyone was so nice. that was the first and last time i will ever try moonshine, yuck.

Unknown said...

I tried moonshine once. It came from the back hills of Kentucky. I think bark off a tree a dog just pissed on taste better.

Tennessee is suppose to be one of the best schools for tailgate parties.