For the love of the game...

Baseball. Still a great american past time.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend game two of the NLDS with the Chicago Cubs vs. LA Dodgers. I say fortunate because it was the luck of the draw that I was even able to go. Cubs.com had held a drawing. You put your name in, if you were chosen, you received an email with a password and a time for you to go to their web site and get "the chance" to get tickets. You only had one chance. The email came, along with the password and time to log into the site. Seems silly, but I was totally nervous. If I screwed up, I would have lost the chance to go. I logged in, put in the password and was put in a "waiting room" to purchase tickets. I figured at that point, it was all over, but I waited and after about 10 minutes it said it was my turn! I got the confirmation and I was going to Wrigley Field!! Yah!!

I had been to baseball games but I had never been to Wrigley and I can tell you that nothing compares. We all got off the bus and there were Cubbie fans everywhere! Everyone talking about the game and the game from the night before. There were stands all over the place selling souvenirs of all kinds, people passing out flyers, others asking if anyone was selling extra tickets. I couldn't stop smiling.

Walking into the staduim made me jump and giggle. I was so excited and I hadn't even gotten to the field yet. More vendors selling everything under the sun with the Cubs logo, music blaring, the smell of ball park food lingered. You could feel the excitement and energy and what an amazing feeling.

Walking up the stairs to the stadium was like walking in slow motion. You could see the lights but thats all you could see until you reached the very top of the stairs and then you just stopped and stared in awe. The players were on the field warming up and the fans were piling in. It was almost game time. I got to my seat and just sat and took in everything, snapped a few pictures, and waited for the game to begin.

Even though the Cubs lost the game, it was the most fun I had had in a long time. The cheering, the chants, the high-fiving of the other fans around you, the vendors selling beer, hot dogs and peanuts. When a big play happened and everyone stood from their seats at the same exact time, more high-fiving. Even the wasted guy that sat in front of me was entertaining. Oh, and then....there was, I believe, only ONE Dodger fan in the entire stadium and he was sitting right behind me. Young guy and not afraid to cheer for his team when everyone else was silent. He got a lot of shite from the fans surrounding us but he handled it quite well.

Win or lose it's all about having fun, and that I did. It's an experience that I hope I can repeat again. I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked to as I was into the game, but here are a few of my favorites =)

1 - This is the sign when you enter Wrigley Field
2 - This was the view from where I was sitting
3 - Zambrano warming up
4 - Umm..this is Soto's backside as he was stretching *blink* =)