Two For The Price Of None

We are still wading through flood waters here in the Windy City, but I was able to turn a weekend full of rain into three free ballgames. I had two comped tickets for Friday night's Tigers-Sox game which I was able to exchange into one ticket for Sunday's doubleheader and the last game of the year when the Tribe comes to town.

Game 1 Sunday was played in front of 500 fans tops. I used this to my advantage,  sitting in the first row of the upper deck right behind home plate instead of out in section 554. (For the record, I like sitting out there, but only when I bring my glasses, which I left at home in a rush to get to the park.) I counted 67 fans in the Upper Deck in the top of the second inning. 

Verlander pitched decent, the Tiger bats were silent until the 9th, and Javier Vazquez got his 2,000 career K. 

Game 2 brought in a much bigger crowd. I'm guessing the combination of knowing that they played a first one coupled with the second one being on ESPN brought the fans out. I moved over to a third base section in the upper deck so I could get some pics from a different angle. I sat next to a nice group of college kids from Lansing who were just happy they were getting to see some baseball period after our wet weekend. the only talkative one of the bunch was the only White Sox fan of the bunch (go figure....) but it was fun like always striking up a conversation with a random fan and chatting about the highs and lows of our team's seasons.

Anyway, my dumb ass, who is still learning about Chicago weather, and only bothered to wear a t-shirt and shorts on a day when the temps were in the 50's, decided to tough it out in exchange for seeing Kenny Rogers make what may have been his last start of his career. Long story short, I toughed it out until Kenny fell behind 7-0 in the 5th, and that as they say, was that. So long fellows, have a safe trip back to Lansing. Thanks for the 2006 memories Kenny and good luck on your next gig as a pitching coach somewhere.

I walked in the door of my apartment just as Marcus Thames' grand slam tied the game at 7. But the Tigers bullpen being the festering collection of puss they are gave the lead back almost as quickly as they got it by in turn giving up a grand slam to DeWayne Wise.

But despite seeing a doubleheader sweep on a blustery and chilly afternoon and evening, I did get one pic that was the highlight of my day. Rod Allen was chowing down on the grub during the second game. I guess Mario had somewhere else to be, as Rod sat in the booth the entire game checking out the Tigers from one of the best seats in the house. I wish he would've called. I would've loved to hang with him and have a beer and commiserate over the 2008 Tigers.

Oh well, I made it to 10 Tigers games this year, which tied for the most Tigers games I've gone to in a year with 1984. Too bad the results weren't the same.