Play Ball!!

The first pitch is thrown and the game is on. The leadoff hitter for the Cubs today is Alfonso Soriano..

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.....


Aramis Ramirez...


Ryan Bruan...


Rich Harden...


Prince Fielder hereafter called the Fat Man....


One of the best people in all of sports...Alan Trammel


Jim Edmunds...


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...


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...


And once he gets to home plate all the runners that were on the bases are there to greet him...


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....


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.


And Lou Pinella decides to take a stroll to the mound to talk to him.


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.


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...


....gone home run. Cubs 6, Brewers 1



Then Fukudome comes up and BOOM...


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...


And this wild man pitching...


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.....


And apparently the manager, Yost, for the Brewers couldn't figure it out either because he had to join in the discussion...


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....


This is the look of frustration on Ned Yost's face after he lost he argument with the umpire...


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.

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....


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.

Playing Hookie Part 2

In part 1 yesterday we took a tour of the outside of Miller Park and got to see the atmosphere leading up to the game. Today we will take a look at the inside of Miller Park. I didn't take a lot of pictures inside of just the park itself because when I go to a game I normally try to take pictures of players and action going on on the field. If you want better pictures of the general park you will have to wait until the older sister is here. She is much better at that kind of picture than I am.

The first thing we do when we get into the park is grab a beer on our way to our seats. I have to give this park a A+ for beer. Many different kinds so a good choice to be had. I chose my current favorite Linie's Honey Weiss. I'm not sure what a beer cost because I was with a vendor and with you are with a vendor they pay for everything. Now because we entered through the center field gate and had to walk all the way around to the area behind the first base dugout the beer was gone by the time we got there. That is not a problem in this stadium because they sell beer about every ten feet.

By now though it is time to think about food. I decide on a brat because hey when you are in Milwaukee Wisconsin what else is there besides beer and brats? And no I didn't take any pictures of the food. To be honest the food in this stadium is a big disappointment. The only food I saw was frozen style pizza you can buy out of your local grocery store (pretty sad eh?), hot dogs and brats. And the brats weren't anything to write home about. This doesn't even come close to the multiple choices of Pittsburgh's PNC Park with restaurant type food or Camden Yards in Baltimore where the bbq smoke drifts throughout the ballpark from over the right center field bleachers. For a new ball style ball park that Miller Park is this is a huge, huge disappointment.



The ballpark was packed and believe it or not there were a lot of Cub's fans here. Look at the above picture and everybody you see in blue is wearing Cub's apparel. And don't forget about all the Cub's fans not wearing blue, like myself. I heard one estimate today that put the overall attendance of the game 85% Cub's fans. I believe this could be pretty close because whenever the Cubbies did anything the place got pretty loud. Would this every happen at Comerica Park in Detroit? I don't think so, it would never be allowed to happen. If it did I think it might cause a riot. That is the difference between hard core Detroit and hung over Milwaukee.

This is a nice ballpark though with a nice field and great architecture.


I love the green, green grass of a major league ball field and always dream of having a yard just like one.

On the back wall of the stadium is a large scoreboard flanked by to huge windows to let light in whenever the roof is closed.


There are huge banks of windows all the way around the stadium to let natural light in.


The scoreboard gives you all the information you need plus instant replays of the action on the field.


Since I have already mentioned this stadium has a roof it should be noted it is one of the new stadiums with a retractable roof.


You can see the different levels of roofs in this picture. It is a nice feature because here there is never a rainout. Today was overcast but still nice enough to leave the roof open.



Here is a little closer look at the roof system. You can see the rail the roof rides on and the three or four different layers of roof the expand and retract whenever they open and close the roof.

And with this being a newer stadium it is a family friendly ballpark.

There are plenty of activities for the whole family located all around the ballpark.

That about does it for pictures inside the ballpark tomorrow we will get into the action on the field but before I go I have to show you the saddest picture I took all day.


And one last picture for today. Can anybody tell me who this guy is? If you are a true Tiger fan you will know.

Let's Play Hookie

I have been looking forward to this day since late April. Why? Because today is the day I finally get to go the Miller Park where the Brewer's play baseball. And who are they playing today? How about the Chicago Cubs. I admit the Tigers are my favorite team but the Cubs come in a close second. As far as the Brewer's go I could care less about them. It has been great at work this week because everyone there are Brewer's fans. Sure does suck to be them this week because today the Cubbies were going for the sweep.

I was wondering what kind of crowd there would be today as I was driving into the stadium parking lot. Just about every other car had an Illinois license plate. Driving in I saw a couple of Cubbie fans with their brooms.

I did like how easy it was to get into the parking lots at Miller Park even though it took about a half hour. Once parked it was a matter of finding the people I was to meet there so I could get my ticket to get into the stadium. And let's not forget where we park.

If your memory is like mine it is not a bad idea to take a picture.

I started towards the stadium and the first thing I notice is all the tailgaters in the parking lot. There was the smell of bbq in the air, lots of beer, and people tossing footballs around.

This may not seem unusual to the people who go to football games but I have never seen tailgating to the extent there was today in Milwaukee. Most of the tailgaters were once again Cubs fans.

There were corporate tents set up all around the parking lots. There is even toilet facilities out there and sausage stand to buy a brat on the way into the game.


One thing in common with PNC Park in Pittsburgh is you have to cross a bridge to get to the stadium.

Now granted it isn't near as spectacular as crossing Clemente bridge but it is a nice bridge. It doesn't go over a river but actually crosses over Miller Parkway which is the road that brings you to the stadium.

Once across it is into the stadium. More on this tomorrow because it is late tonight and I need to go to bed.