June 27 The Crosstown Showdown

I have been a baseball fan for as long as I can remember. I went to my first game in 1972 at Shea Stadium. I remember watching Bud Harrelson fight with Pete Rose in the 1973 playoffs. Because of that fight I was cheering for Carlton Fisk and the Red Sox to beat the Reds in the 1975 World Series. I loved the Yankees during my teen years as Reggie, Thurman, Sparky and the rest of the "Bronx Zoo" won the World Series in the late 70's. As I got older and jaded by the real world, I lost my child like love for baseball. I still go to games, but it isn't the same for me. Today I went to the White Sox game against the Cubs with the intentions of regaining my love of baseball. For Chicago baseball fans, these games are like the World Series. I met Patty at a packed Ricobenne's on 26th Street for lunch. Since this place is a southside institution, it was full of Sox fans with one or two people dumb enough to wear their Cubs jerseys. I'm not sure they were actually served and if they were, I'd be nervous about eating it. We got to the parking lot about an hour and a half before the first pitch. The tailgating was in big time party mode. Cubs and Sox fans mostly engaging in good natured verbal abuse. It really was a great scene. We did see a lot of mixed Cubs & Sox fans in the same party groups. Impressive, I didn't see one fight but the alcohol was just beginning to flow. My two favorite t-shirts were "Cubs Baseball Killed Harry" and "Any Team Can Have A Bad Century 1908-2008". Comiskey Park, also known as Cellular Field, was sold out. It seemed like the good weather was contributing to the feel good energy in the park. We watched batting practice. Only saw the Cubs, the gates don't open early enough to watch the White Sox. I'll admit that watching batting practice did remind me of my younger years. So far so good. We met Monte & Cheryl at our seats. The game long banter between us really added to my enjoyment of the game. Behind us was a split family, dad & son were Sox fans, mom & daughter were Cubs fans. The little boy made me laugh several times during the game with his blind faith cheering. Reminded this old man of someone he once knew. The game was very exciting. Not necessarily well played but very enjoyable. Both teams had the lead and blew it several times. The Sox rookie sensation, Gordon Beckham made two critical errors to give the Cubs the lead. Then in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, he doubled and drove in the game winning run. He was mobbed by his teammates and the White Sox fans went crazy. I had a huge smile on my face, it was one of the best games I've attended as an adult. On the way out of the stadium, there was relatively friendly taunting. Hell the series was tied at 1, tomorrow's game was the rubber match. The Cubs fan parked next me even said it was an exciting game. He was also glad the rookie was able to redeem himself with the big hit. Driving home, I still had a childlike smile on my face. Mission accomplished.

The parking lot was one big party.

Patty gets congratulated for waiting to pass until the bean bags were thrown.

Souvenir stand in the parking lot.

If Cub & Sox fans can get along, there is hope for peace on Earth.

A truly great baseball man is honored.

Every mixed team couple we saw had a female Cubs fan and a male Sox fan. Patty thought it was because the female baseball fan wanted to date a knowlegable baseball fan. I thought it was due to the limited pool of heterosexual male Cubs fans.

The Cubs during batting practice.

Scotty Pods looking for divine intervention during pre game stretches. It must have worked. He went 4 for 5 at the plate.

The scoreboard shows the south side fans' favorite 2 words. OK, maybe their second favorite two words.