Edit: OK so its a little late - some people only get to sit at a computer while working and don't have fancy mobile phones where they can type blogs while listening to concerts (I haven't spent a lot of "free" time on the PC). WARNING: Extremely long post ahead, after typing every exquisite detail, I thought about shortening it. Then I thought "since I spent so much time on it, I might as well leave it." So for those of you with a short attention span, try reading one paragraph every hour.
Edit: So my edit is basically a post in itself, I just had one more update (can I update a post before I publish it?), in honor of the Cubs vs Cards series in Chicago with a victory for the Cubs ending a skid of 8 losses in a row, I will publish this post!
Sunday we had all day to waste, since the game was changed from 1:15 to 7:05. We had to be out of the hotel by noon, so we got up with enough time to sit by the pool for an hour or so. It was hot by 10AM, and sunny so we decided to catch some rays and dip in the pool (barely big enough to swim). After checkout we went to Galleria (shopping mall) - it was a half mile from our hotel, and there was plenty of AC. We had about 6 hours to kill, might as well make a day of it. We ended up going to the Cinema and watched "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." It won by 1 vote over "The Wedding Crashers". The movie was a little darker than the original, but I wouldn't say it was any better or worse. This version had a little less of a "musical" feel to it, and the oompa loompa songs weren't done nearly as well as the original. I would have to say I liked the original a smidgen more, more so because of the nostalgia than anything else (countless pop culture references - Family Guy).
After the movie we did a little more shopping and decided to head to Union Station. This one time, in college, we drove to St Louis one night and went to the Arch and Union Station and drove back home. It was kind of a daze, we spend an hour or so at the Arch and a few hours at Union Station, then we drove home. It was about 5 hours in St Louis and 10 hours in the car. We were smart. Anyway, getting back to this trip, Union Station was very different. The layout was generally the same, but I remember different restaurants and stores. Also my head was a little more clear this time around. We didn't really shop, just kind of took in the experience and "tried" to find a place to eat. Of the 10 choices we had, we narrowed it down to 3. After an hour of checking out the menus, walking back and forth between the 3, we decided on the cheapest one that had a table available. I guess there is a reason this place was cheap and had a table... it was a "Jimmy Buffett" style cafe with a VERY LOUD jukebox and very bad service. Oh well, at least it was cheaper (<$8 for our sandwiches). My BBQ tuna was pretty good though.
After our wonderful dining experience, it was time to head to Busch Stadium. We didn't want to get there early because of the heat - but we still wanted to get into the parking garage close to the stadium (same price as our 4 block walk the previous day, but getting out was a little tougher). We brought 2 coolers full of water for the game. I never knew you could bring water - good call by my bro - so we saved a ton of money. We got a couple of pre-game beers down in the garage, after a big party foul by yours truly. Unpacking the van, there were 6 beers in a six pack, which happened to be soaked from condensation. While I erroneously grabbed them by the handle, each one (separately) fell through the bottom of the pack, bouncing off the bumper and falling onto my bare feet (flip flops). Strangely only 3 of them broke after hitting the concrete and/or bumper. The damage was done, one of the bottles landed squarely on my big toe, giving me a nice deep cut. Nothing a few high quality Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages couldn't fix. Luckily, or coincedentally, my bro had blisters on his feet from the previous day wearing his sandals, he had the bandages on hand.
Now for the final game of the series (which is my 2nd and last game at Old Busch Stadium). This time we were up in the upper deck, right in the sun. A skycraper in the distance teased us with the shade it could provide, had it been 30 yards to the left. The game started off bad for the Cubs, as Prior gave up 3 solo home runs in the 1st inning. This seemed to happen just as 4 ladies (3 off them had to be 70+ years of age). The all had matching shirts, visors, and the hand-held fans with spray bottles. It definitely was one of the coolest things I have witnessed at a baseball game. Too bad they were Cardinals' fans, but you could tell this wasn't the only game they've been to this season. Unlike many fans, they toughed out the heat, and came to a good ball game. I was suprised at how many empty seats there were for the Cubs/Cardinals matchup for both games. When the announced the attendence, they announced "paid" and not actual, so I'm guessing either the scalpers bought many tickets they weren't able to sell becuase of the heat, or many people had tickets but couldn't bear the heat. So after the disasterous first inning, Cubs are down 3 runs. Prior settled down after that and the Cubs chipped away at the lead over the next few innings to make it 3-2. Not much happened over the next few innings, pretty good pitching dual until the 8th inning. After walking DLee for the 3rd time in the game (and what seemed like 10th in the series) Aramis Ramirez smashed a homerun to take the lead 4-3! Our section (mostly Cubs fans - except for the lovely ladies in front of us) went crazy! By this time is was getting late - very late. Most of us had to work at 8 or 8:30AM the next morning, so we were hoping for a quick inning and a half and get on our way home with a couple wins for the Cubbies! For the most part, we got our wish... until 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Suprisingly many fans left before the ninth inning (yes even the 4 ladies in front of us). Ryan Dempster went through the first two batters, bottom of the order, with no problem. Two outs and my friend Tim sends me a text message "Get On Your Feet!" Of course I didn't need the instruction, everybody was one their feet, Cubs fans hoping for the final out, Cards fans hoping it wasn't the final out. Dempster then gave up a walk to a pinch hitter. This is where things went bad. After putting a pinch runner in, who then "stole" second (from the replay, it looked as though the throw and tag, he was out. Unfortunately, instead of being game over, lets go, it was, OH NO! Not this, not with the top of the lineup coming... Next batter Eckstein singles in the tying run. Ouch - now all we could hope for was extra innings (what time is it? who cares, we're not leaving this game!). Dempster gives up another hit to Nunez, bringing up slugger Albert Pujols with 2 outs, runners on First and Third. BIG TROUBLE! I had all but given up on this game - surely Pujols was going to win this one for the Cardinals. Dempster then got Pujols to ground out to second base for the final out! So we make it extra innings! You could really feel a momemtum change though, after the Cubs lost the lead. Luckily we had the higher part of the order coming up - Walker, Lee and Burnitz. The inning started off good - Walker cranked a double, followed up by another walk for DLee (4th this game). Burnitz actually sacrafice bunts (whah?) in order to avoid the double play and move the runners up to 2nd and 3rd. Looking good, we have 2nd and 3rd, one out, and here comes Aramis Ramirez. With the pitcher spot on deck, the cards actually load the bases, intentionally walking Ramirez. The Cubs bring in Barrett to pinch hit (Blanco was cathing). After a couple of swings, Barrett strikes out swinging! 2 outs, bases loaded, and its up to Neifi Perez. with a .265 batting average, I wasn't expecting much. A hit would be great, score a couple runs, gets some up on the board and hope that we can hold them for one more inning. Lo and behold, Perez rifles the ball into right field, barely fair, into the Cardinals Bullpen. A GRAND SLAM! It had to be one the most exciting moment I've ever felt at a baseball game. Our entire section went crazy, my heart was beating so fast! All the Cubs fans high fiving everyone within 5 rows of you, screaming and celebrating! During which, many Cardinal fans walked silently toward the exits with their heads down. With a 4 run lead, you definitely felt safe, it was just a matter of getting the game over with. We decided to stay, even though the time was nearing midnight, and there was work in the morning. The bottom of the tenth finished without much excitement and we could finally head back to the Burbs!
Luckily I slept most of the way home (thanks bro!), so I got about 3 hours there and 2 more after getting home at 4:30 before waking up for work the next day. I don't really remember that day of work - just that I didn't feel like working. I think Tuesday was a little harder to wake up than Monday though, probably after the excitement wore off.
Hope you enjoyed my extremely long post. WHEW!
Waj
