I witnessed HISTORY today !!
Just an ordinary and typical summer Thursday for me became Historical.
I got up and dropped my car off for a check up. I came back home and surfed the net for awhile. I get a call from the mechanic to pick up my car. I get my car and return back to the puter. I get an instant message from my bff asking if I was going to the game. NOOOO I stated– it is after 11 and the ticket outlets have closed for the day. We continue **** chatting and I hear a knock on my door around nooon. It was my neighbor. She asked me if I wanted to go to the game. I grabbed them and said HECK YEAH. I looked at the tickets and felt a wee bit disappointed that that ticks were in the UD , but HEY – free is free and FREE IS GOOD.
I got dressed up in my Sox gear , took my doggie for a walk , and drove to the game. I parked a bit north of the park and did not get up in my seat until about 1:15. My first reaction was WOW — this UD seat is not that bad !! There is a great view of the field and of the big scoreboard. I wasn’t too happy with no AJ and no Thome in the lineup. Ohh well , I am here . I would be sitting in my frontchroom watching the game. The game progresses and the Sox load up the bases. Fields hit a GRAND SLAM. I have not had too much love for Mr. Fields as of late, but now he has gained back some of my respect.
The game continues on. Buerhls has let no Rays reach base so far. His rhythmn and pace are striking. The crowd is getting more and more excited. You hear sounds of he has a no-no going on and then they are hushed by their neighbor saying STOP , DON’T talk about it. The game progresses. The Sox score one more run and STILL NO RAYS have reached base.
It now is the top of the ninth. The crowd is going crazy (even in the UPPERS). There is this MAGICAL AURA in the air. You could feel it in the pit of your stomache. Could this be it ? Could this be a perfect game ? INDEED IT WAS !!! Wise made an incredible catch that had EVERYONE at the edge of their seats !! MERRRRCY ME !!! Fields caught the last ball for the final out !!
WOOOOWWWWW !!! Buerhls is the 18th pitcher in MLB history to accomplish this. He also is one of 6 to have a no-no and a perfect game. His name is up there with pitching legends such as Kofax, Young, and Johnson. I am so proud of him and SO proud to be a SOX FAN !!! I will always remember where I was , what I did , and how I was feeling on July 23, 09. Congrats Buerhls and Congrats Sox fans — also , tied for first place with the Kitties is feeling pretty good too !!
They are the youth gone wild !!
Well not necessarily, but I needed a catchy title. I know I have been a bit negligent on my blogging but to put it honestly “life has given me some lemons, and I am still trying to figure out how to make lemonade”. I think I am over the initial blow, and ready to move forward with my life so what better way to move forward then to GO TO A SOX GAME. Over the past month (w no blogging ) I have been following the boys via Fox mobile, t.v. , and DJ and Farmer !! It was a pleasant day yesterday, my sig other doesn’t come home until late, and ultimately my behind was gonna sit with Comcast on ANYWAYS , sooo I figured I would do it LIVE !!
I was searching on Craig’s List for some tickets, and someone posted some half price codes. I put the half price code in and BAM there were some decent lowers available. I texted my bff who is not a Sox fan, but will go to the game to enjoy herself and I did not hear back from her after 30 minutes.( I think due to BAD cellular service). Well the Soxlady isn’t a shy lady at all . She will go do things by herself and that is what she did. But I stepped it up a notch — I went to Stubhub and found a SINGLE game ticket on the third base side (near the dugout ) – row 2 !! It was a bit pricey and I was hesitant, but WTH — you only live once !!
I got myself all dolled up in my Sox gear and drove to the CELL. I parked pretty close to the park ( I have a residency sticker) and made my joyful stroll to the park. The hotdogs and hamburgers of the tailgaters smelled awesome. People were happy and joyful despite the clouds now lingering over the ballpark. The streetside musicians were out in full force too, adding more character and life to the ballpark surroundings.
I got my ticket swiped and made my way to section 143 about an hour before the game started. I walked ALL THE WAY DOWN the stairs and sat my behind two rows back from the field. A lady and gentleman came toward me a few minutes later and said I was in their seat. They said to move down one. OMG !! I was sitting with the field right in FRONT of ME !! NO people … just the FIELD . I know I paid a pretty penny for this ticket, but all I have to say — ITWAS WELL WORTH IT. Prior to the game, the sportcasters were virtually right next to me. Giangreco was all smiles and so was Megan Mawaicke (spell?). WOW — soo cool !!
The game was pretty okay. There were no homers for either team. The Sox left bases loaded once and a few men stranded other times. Getz and Beckham (two of the younger players were HOT w the bats , going a bit WILD ). Clayton pitched well. I was pleased. He also lasted about 116 pitches. The last few starts were not good for him, so this was a relief. Sox were up 2-1 in the top of the ninth when big bad Bobby Jenks made his way to the mound. He was supposed to wrap it up. Instead of wrapping it up, he gave the Rays some gifts !! It was heartbreaking and it has made me and other fans think that something may be up with him. I hope he is not hurt. Could it have something to do with his mental makeup? Is he under some really big STRESS with his new big contract signed not so long ago? The answers will come in due time, but I and other FANS are hoping that whatever ails Bobby, will indeed work out !!
I left the game a wee upset and surely I did not want to leave my seat. I only left to go to the washroom once and did not get ANY food/drink at the concessions. I didn’t even re-touch up my face. I WAS SO INTO MY SEAT and into the GAME . I was hoping to go into extras– really get the most out of my bucks spent, but ohh well. I did get to see many players just about 20-30 feet in front of me TRUE to life (Gordon-Bacon is so adorable, Getz is so focused, TCQ is so statueque, Pods has a look of pure joy, JD is towering tall, and AJ is attitude in a bottle). I took some pictures on my phone and a digital camera. They didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped. I also need to figure out how to get them saved to right file !!
To conclude – I got to feel special for about 3.5 hours. I got to see my cherished team. I got to forget about my drama for the time being. Maybe I was the one who went a bit wild , going to the game myself and spending alot of dough on one ticket? Who cares , this game was truly worth it !!
It’s that time again…
THE CROSSTOWN CLASSIC — The boys will be gracing their presence at Wrigley Field for three lovely games and as the media has pointed out, Ozzie will not be too thrilled about it !! Even though it is about 7 miles north of the Cell , it still is an away series and hopefully the boys can do well as stats state that we play better on the road then at home. Usually I am normally VERY EXCITED about this series , but this year I am having a ho-hum kind of feeling. The Hype of the previous years has sort of diminished. I think I might have matured a bit as a baseball fan and as a true Chicagoan. There are many Sox fans that hate the Cubs , but I DO NOT. I believe many of the players are friends off the field and even Ozzie and Lou have good respect for each other. I DO NOT hate Wrigley. It isn’t the most technical saavy of ball parks but it is a part of the history of Chicago and I DO LOVE CHICAGO. However, I prefer to cheer for the Sox and have been a FAN since I was a wee child. I also grew up near Bridgeport too. I also prefer to attend games at the Cell. I do hope that my boys play very well as the series won’t be a cake walk. Both teams this year seem to be struggling in some respects and I feel both will want to WIN not for the sake of beating the other TEAM FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN, but to win to help them in their Central Division Standards. They are chasing Milwaukee and St. Louis , we are chasing Detroit and the Twinkies. Wins in this series will help close the gap , or widen it even more significantly. I am feeling a bit optimistic as Jose’s return has been near perfect, Gordon Beckham’s bat has warmed up , who knew Clayton could hit and run ??, and Paulie’s thumb appears to be okay for now. Burhl’s home run in Milwaukee was way cool tooo !! I don’t think the Crosstown Classic will make or break the season, but many wins against the Cubs sure would make the time more happy for us Sox fans who have experienced roller coaster ride ups and downs so far this season.
Hitless Hooligans !!
According to internet sources the word hooligan means unruly and destructive behavior. The players by no means are showing behavior of this manner, but if the lack of making adequate progress continues , I have a feeling the FANS could definitely start showing hooliganism. US Cell could get pretty ugly , fights could be started and more and more booooing could be prevalent. Those Office Max signs will not be so joyous too ! Those of us fans at home could also get in on the action by starting to throw things at our television and snapping at our poor significant others! There could also be signs of more and more empty seats at the Cell. This indeed isn’t poor behavior , but sends a STRONG message that we the FANS are getting a bit fed up. Most of us fans thought the past road trip was the turning point on what has thusfar been a pretty bleak season , but no dice. This homestand has been uncalled for . We were not supposed to lose 3 games to the lowly and scrappy A’s. That series should of been won easily. The bottom feeders of the AL Central kicked our behinds tonight in yet another shutout ( and by Pavano who has been considered a decent pitcher , but nothing that would make you go WOOOOW )!! We now have 9 terrible shutouts on our 09 record. US Cellular is a hitting park and the bats over the past 4 days have been colder than some of those January days we encountered this past winter. Gordon Beckham was brought up to help be our “savior” or “golden boy”. It appears that his defense looks pretty good , but why hasn’t he been patient and taking pitches ? He so far appeared very eager to just swing at anything !! He is young and he does have talent, but I feel he was RUSHED up to the majors. I might be wrong with my analysis and hopefully he can prove me WRONG (Did I mention he looks alot like one of my first boyfriends several years ago back when I was a competitive skater ? — ohh okay off topic .. back on now ). I have nothing against Dewayne Wise, but seeing him up at the plate is making me really nervous. I am clueless as to why Ozzie has such faith in the guy. Buehrls Last night didn’t look too good and tonight Danks looked shaky and had a hard time hitting the strike zone. My head is spinning and my skin is crawling as I am writing this. I don’t drink ,but if I did I would be drowning my sorrows in some liquid courage and maybe indeed show hooligan behavior. This blog here helps me get it all out , so no need for that.
Tomorrow is a new day , maybe the trend will change and the boys can see a win and break this four game losing streak ? Floyd is up on the hill and had a pretty good start the other night only allowing two runs on four hits. Sower’s didn’t have a great outting against the Yanks the other night and displayed some serious control issues. Let us hope ,wish, and believe that this 4 game road block clears !
Thanks for reading — have a great night !!
Things are LOOKING Up !
As a Chicago White Sox fan — the SIGHT of breaking even never LOOKED BETTER. The last two or so months of baseball for the team I love to watch hasn’t been so vivid and beautiful. April and May have been kind of monochromatic. There has been some beauty during the two month span , but overall not so VIVID. However, the colors are beginning to look more BRIGHT and SPECTACULAR. The boys have won the last 10 out of 13 games (including winning four series – Twins, Pirates, Angels and Royals {{{sweep}}} ) and have shown many signs of finally clicking together. They managed a win against the most wicked pitcher in all the American League , Zack Greinke. Most teams have not been able to get much out of him , but the Sox managed to break through ! Tonight Gavin performed well after settling down around the third inning. His early starts were extremely shaky and it appeared that his confidence was misplaced. That was not the case this evening. He was called to start a day early and managed to not let that irk his nerves. I believe he lowered his ERA to slightly under 6 and struck out 8 batters. Pods continues to exceed expectations. Yesterday he was one home run short of the cycle and tonight he scored two runs and made a nice defensive play of a ball that I thought was possibly a home run. Big Jim Thome belted out his 9th of the year and #550 of his career. Hopefully Colon can pitch well (his last start was pretty good ) and the Sox can take another win from the Oakland A’s and their former teammates Ryan Sweeney and O Cab. They aren’t quite Monet, Da Vinci, or Van Gogh material yet , but the masterpiece in progress is truly becoming more VIBRANT as the season rolls on.
Thanks for reading … and have a great day/evening !! Go Sox !!
The FOUL BALL STORY — a happy ending !!
I do believe in Karma. IF YOU DO SOMETHING THAT IS RIGHT, THE POSITIVE ENERGY WILL COME BACK TO YOU. I am deeply pleased and so very thrilled to announce that I received a happy ending for something that happened close to a year ago. The baseball powers that be finally smiled down at me and let me have some peace and closure from a situation in which I felt I was HORRIBLY WRONGED.
Here is a summary of the story (in case you didn’t know). Early last June I caught a foul ball from Minnesota Twin Catcher Joe Mauer. My bff and I had went to the game and had some really good seats near the action and about 20 rows back. I held on to that ball with pride for all of about 3 minutes when security asked me to relinquish the ball so that they could give it to a boy that got whomped in the head. The usher thought it was the ball I caught, BUT it really wasn’t . Mauer kept fouling them back AFTER I caught the one I had and it was one of those balls (not MINE). I soooo did not want to give it up. The statistics of someone catching a ball is about 1-900 and I HAD one !! However, I am grown woman and I did the right thing — I GAVE UP THE BALL. The Sox were losing up until that point and when I handed over the ball, their luck changed for the better.
Fast forward close to a year later– I am an educator for a living (I actually teach at a school very close to the park) and I agreed to mentor a future teaching in training for the second half of the year. This future teacher in training (FTIT for short) heard me regurgitate the FOUL BALL STORY to a colleague of mine (who is another SOX FAN). I also showed FTIT my blog entry from last year. {During non instructional time of course !! } Turns out that FTIT knows someone who works at US CELL and asked this person to get me a ball signed by Joe Mauer. I laughed and methodically though – ha ha ha ha — Wow it would be something if this really happened !! TURNS OUT — it did happen. I was outside on the playground monitoring the children for early morning duty when FTIT handed me a ball signed by Joe Mauer. I gave FTIT a big high five and I felt like I was going to CRY, yes seriously CRY !! I went to Grandstand that afternoon and got a beautiful ball holder for it. I took a picture of it on my cellphone and that is now my cellphone wallpaper. Yes , I am not challenged in judgement AND DO KNOW that Joe Mauer isn’t a WHITE SOX PLAYER , but I am as thrilled as a chubby kid eating some brownies or a cougar finding a wonderful 21 year old boy toy. Welcome to my happy ending !!!
Temporary BLISS
Before I start my ramblings (both good and bad ) for this blog entry , Let all of us die hard Chicagoans flashback to January 15, 09. I slapped my alarm clock for the umpteenth time around 7:30 a.m. I put on the weather channel via cable and learned that the high for the day was to be -2 with about a -30 below wind chill. UGHHHH !!! I get myself ready for the JOB and on the way out the door I get on my ski hat (where only my eyes are visible ), two jackets, heavy gloves, heavy boots, and a pair of jeans over my work pants. I get to the garage and start the CAR . UGHHHH again !!! She don’t want to start. Finally she gets rolling and after about 10 minutes of heating up time I am riding on my way to work. I get to my happy JOB and it is pure torture from the somewhat long car walk to the building….
Okay NOW to May 21st , 09 . It is about 83 degrees and sunny. The ski mask is happily placed in my dresser drawer and the boots are hiding in the back of my closet. The weather over the past few days has been GREAT. It was very nice yesterday too when I attended my FIRST SOX game for the 09 season. I did not plan this event, my bff’s niece’s husband got the ticks and let me SAY that they were SWEEEET. Our group had seats along the foul pole on the 1st base side EIGHT rows from the FIELD. AWESOME GAME —–The Twinkies took the early lead but a two run bomb from Paule early in the game and a SLAM from JD toward the middle of the game allowed the SOX to be on the right side of the W yesterday. Danks pitched very well and Dotel , Thornton , Liney, and Jenks kept the lead . The Cell to me is a magical place and I am soo glad the magic was vibrant last night. The 600 doggies and their owners looked to enjoy themselves too !!!
The magic could not continue… The SWEEP of the Twins could not come to fruition. We were WHOMPED, WHAMBOOZLED and SMACKED AROUND today by the score of 20-1. I believe this was the worst loss in the history of the franchise. I had to work today so I tried my best to keep up w the score via my lovely Blackberry. When I couldn’t see the score I listened for fireworks ( I do work two blocks from the CELL ). NO bangs at ALL. After work I attended a meeting. No bangs !! I hoped that when I hopped in my car I would hear a much better score than the 10-0 I last was aware of. NOOOO DICE !!! It was worse , much worse !!! I do congratulate Joe Mauer on your slam. You do have a special place in my heart as I did catch your foul ball last year (but then was FORCED to give it back ). I know I had complemented Colon thusfar in my previous blogs . I think the complements are gone for now. Let’s hope GOOD GAVIN shows up tomorrow for the PIRATES and not the Gavin that has been sooooooooo shaky over the past few starts. If Danks can do it , then Gavin can TOO. AND as for PEAVY — it would have been nice , but it just didn’t work out. Kudos for Kenny for giving it a shot . So PEAVY– it is your loss. Yeah the team isn’t doing that great right now, BUT – You could have at least given us a shot , US FANS would have really SUPPORTED YOU.
2 days of bliss, 1 day similiar to the screeching sound of long finger nails on a chalkboard –
Hope the series w the Pirates will show some signs of life !!!
the bad , the worse, and the really UGLY
Being a White Sox fan as of late has been pure torture. I optimistically thought that the boys would be able to pull out a win from their tall magic top hats this afternoon. BUT– that idea was ultimately crushed in the bottom of the 8th when normally dependable Liney couldn’t keep us on top. Wells, Lind, and Bautista were able to breakthrough for their team allowing those birds the win. YES they are a good team those Jays, but the way that Colon started out the game, it appeared statistically feasible to win. The bullpen today couldn’t hold up. Yesterday, they looked pretty sharp — today — pretty darn dull. The starting pitching is in need of a reality check. It appears that only two of our five original starters can cut the mustard as of late. Burhls didn’t look too sharp the other day , but hopefully that was just a fluke . Colon hasn’t been that horrible. He actually has been pretty consistent. He has been maybe one of the only GOOD surprises to have happened to this team thusfar. NOW here lies the negativity. Danks was really awful last night and I am certainly afraid what Floyd will do tomorrow. Clayton Richard as our fifth isn’t too optimistic. However, what can be done here ? I would say yank Carrasco out of the pen and let him start, but he has been pretty reliable there in the pen.
The hitting has been very inconsistent for the most part and the ability to move runners over has really tanked. I don’t remember the specifics of every game , but over the past week and a half of so , there have been numerous guys on the bases, but the big hits to move them over haven’t gone through. Dye, Konerko, and Pierzynski, cannot be the ONLY hitters for the most part on this team. Alexei is swinging at garbage, Carlos cannot connect properly, Lillibridge (who exactly is this young guy? ) looks lost at the plate , and Thome has not reached his full potential. Pods has been pretty decent too . He has made some pretty good plays and isn’t swinging the bat awfully.
Earlier in the season, I thought that the combination of veterans and newer guys would be able to mix into something special. I am not so sure of this now. A 15-20 record at this point is UGLY. It is really hard to believe that we are not out of it in the Central Div. There hasn’t been too much to be happy about here. Maybe the rehabilitation and re-assignment of BA will get this team up and moving… one can only hope !!
HOT and cooooooold
To paraphrase a popular radio hit song by Katy Perry —
You change your mind like a girl changes clothes –You PMS like a witch I should know —Your hot and your cold … your YES and your NO … etc.
Or in poker terms chop it on up –
Two games in one day and two entirely different results.
Bartolo Colon looked pretty good throughout the game. He managed six strike outs and looked pretty confident. One unearned run in seven innings was really great. Paulie managed to get things started in the fourth with a double that brought in two runs. Bobby Jenks had me pretty darn nervous in the ninth , but managed to pull it off despite a few Mariners on base. It was good to see Griffey Jr. out there in the Mariners uniform .
Johnny Danks … what was up with that tonight? Five runs on eight hits in four innings … gross !!! However, I guess everyone is entitled to have a bad night and I guess it was your night. It really didn’t help that the bats were pretty cold . Paulie managed to bring in the only run for the evening while the Mariners kept firing away. Ohhh and that Hernandez kid. He looked pretty great . He appeared to be on cruise control until he was taken out .
It is early in the season and about .500 ball isn’t too awful just yet. There seems to be some inconsistencies going on and hopefully those can be ironed out. I am glad to see BA doing well with his plus .300 batting average. I am also happy to see Paulie producing.
I will attend my first Sox game in late May. I am really excited about it !! I am going with my bff Diamond Darling and some of her family. I attended a Cardinal game a few weeks ago with seats in the Bank of America area. It was awesome and I highly suggest a trip to St. Louis to catch a Cards game … however… they aren’t my boys and I have to “adopt” them from time to time. I really do enjoy the game of baseball so I guess it is all good. For now I depend on technology and t.v. to get my fix. Although a day like today frustrated me… I am soo glad to deal with the HOT and coooooold that my boys are throwing down now.
A hair RAYS-ing series
Revenge can be a sweet thing …
Flashback …last Fall … my boys lost the first round of the playoffs to the Rays. It was indeed heartbreaking and upsetting. The pain sure didn’t fade for a long while. I was bitter, numb, and broken up. The season was over and the rest of the Fall and the whole Winter season were going to be blah !! The Rays made it past the second round and then to the World Series. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be for them either. I honestly was hoping that they would do well as I was familiar with their line up , they were an American League team, and it appeared that they played the 08 season with heart.
Okay back to the present time – I really thought the Sox would split the series with the Rays, but the boys won a bonus game. It was like yesterday when I went shopping. I bought this cute summer tank top . The price on the tank top said $14.00 bucks and it was wrung up at only $5.00 !! I told the cash register lady that it was wrung up wrong. She stopped and called the clothing department and the person said to let me have it at $5.00 because they were going on lunch and didn’t have time to check the real price . SCORE !!!
I won’t be wearing the top for awhile but I am optimistic that it will look nice on me when the time comes. I am optimistic also with how my boys are playing thusfar. Gavin looked much better than he did the last time he was out there (a little wee bit scared). I also believe he allowed no walks today. The first stringers definitely have their bats warmed up (Thome, Konerko, Dye, A.J., and Quentin). Alexei hasn’t gotten there , but hopefully he can stop swinging at anything and everything !!! I have been impressed with the youngins’ out there thusfar with Lillibridge, Getz, Fields, Miller, and Wilson B. !! I am really hoping that this year is BA’s breakout year. He has proven his defensive abilities time and time again. Thusfar, I noticed he has been more patient at the plate and has taken a good share of walks. I like his speed and I think he has the ability to be a good hitter !! I think the direction of the team this year is a good combination of the long ball hitters and some new blood. Not out with the old and in with the new, BUT blend in the new with the old.
I don’t know what I will do with my time tomorrow with no game being on (well I actually will be quite normal … no being glued to the t.v. , or the internet , or looking on the Blackberry ). I do look forward to our series in Baltimore (who so far hasn’t been playing too badly ).
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful Sunday and start to your week !!
SL8
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