Farewell Mr. Buehrle

Mark on Opening Day last season

This blog is usually about events that I have attended live. Every now and then though something happens that I feel the need to write about. Today one of those events happened. Today Mark Buehrle signed with the Miami Marlins to join his former manager on the team. I really enjoyed watching Mark pitch during his time with the Sox. The picture above tells you all you need to know about the guy. Here is was Opening Day, and he was walking around with his glove on his head before pitching. He was always loose and fun to watch. Maybe they will let him slide around on the tarp in Miami.

Goodbye Ozzie

Ozzie in the better times

Over the last two days I have seen people cheering the end of the Ozzie Guillen era in Chicago. For some reason I am not so happy. I guess it is due to the fact that I remember how much excitement he brought to the South Side. He managed the Sox to their first World Series title since 1917 in just his second year as the manager of the Sox. He also was never boring as the manager of the team. I guess he is hoping that he can bring the good times to the Marlins.

The Streaking White Sox!

Today the White Sox won the game I was at to make it two wins in a row! I know it is a winning streak. This is the third time this season the White Sox have put together at least two wins in a row. We are on a roll now. Actually there were many positives in the game today. Gordon Beckham was on base two of his three times at bat today scoring two runs. Alex Rios drove in three runs, two of those on a home run in the fifth. They even answered the Marlins in the 8th by scoring a run. That is not even the amazing part. Pauly scored from second base on a double. That was the amazing part. Maybe that in itself was a sign that the season is turning around.

My 25 Goals For the 2010 Baseball Season

This year marks the 25th year that I have been attending Major League Baseball games. At first my attendance was sparse. I went when my father got free tickets from his company. We all know now that I will go whenever I can get a chance. I love lists. Lists are how you can look at things. So as this season progresses I will have a few lists on here. The first of those will be my goal sheet for this 25th anniversary season. Here are the things that I would like to accomplish during the 2010 season. Some of them have already been checked off. Some of them might take some work to get done. I will have to look at this at the end of the year to see how I fared. Here is the list:

1. See the Arizona Diamondbacks play (5/1/2010) – Arizona is one of the two Major League teams that I have not seen play coming into 2010.
2. See the Colorado Rockies play (5/17) – The other team that I have yet to see in person.
3. Attend the White Sox game against the Orioles on 8/25/2010 – This is the day 25 years later that I attended my first baseball game. The stadium may have changed, but I still get chills when I walk inside.
4. See the Toronto Blue Jays play – (5/7) The Blue Jays were the first opponent that I saw the Sox play.
5. See Brian Bannister pitch (5/5/2010) – Brian is the son of former Sox hurler Floyd Bannister who pitched in the first game that I saw.
6. See a game at U.S. Cellular Field (4/5/2010) – I checked off a few goals on Opening Day. This was one of them.
7. See a game at Wrigley Field (5/1/2010) – This may be the territory of the enemy, but it is a landmark park in my own backyard. I also have some great memories inside this stadium.
8. Attend Opening Day (4/5/2010) – This should be a goal every season.
9. Attend a game on my birthday – I also try to do this every season. This year the Sox are in town, and they are playing the Yankees.
10. Attend Frank Thomas day at the Cell – The day after my birthday (8/29/2010) they will be honoring the Big Hurt. I guess I will have to make it two in a row at the Cell.
11. Attend a Red Sox game – I always enjoy games between the two Sox clubs. I would love to make this the first time for Fenway, but I will probably have to settle for the September matchup at the Cell.
12. Attend a game at Miller Park – This stadium just north of us on 94 is a great one to watch baseball in.
13. Attend a game at Comerica Park – I was here in 2003, but did not take my camera. Last season I visited all the parks that I did not take pictures at besides this one. We cross it off in 2010.
14. Visit a new Minor League stadium – While MLB baseball is fun, MiLB baseball can be just as much fun. I need to find a new stadium to enjoy the action in this year.
15. See Lyle Overbay play (5/7) – While I was in college I attended many South Bend Silverhawk games. Lyle was a star on those teams. He now plays for the Blue Jays.
16. Attend the Midwest League All Star game – This year it is just down the road in Fort Wayne. What better way to see some of the young talent in the game?
17. See an Angels game (5/20) – With the World Series year being five years ago I would love to see them play their ALCS opponent.
18. See an Astros game – After visiting their stadium this season I wanted to see the team play in person. They were also the team we beat in 2005 to win it all.
19. Attend at least nine games at the Cell this season – If I can accomplish this I will have attended 50 games at the Cell. It took a while for the first 50, but I bet the next 50 comes much easier.
20. Road trip to a new MLB stadium – I have knocked out most of the stadiums near me. Although my brother does get married this season in Colorado when the Rockies are in town.
21. See a game on 5/22/2010 – For some reason I seem to see a game every two years on this date. So this being an even numbered year it is time to see a game. I really have a problem huh?
22. See a game against the Tigers, Royals (5/5/2010), Twins (4/11/2010), and the Indians (4/5/2010) – This one involves seeing all the AL Central teams.
23. Snag a ball during a game (5/4/2010) – I have plenty of balls that I acquired during batting practice. This year I want to get one during a game. Update: I snagged a foul ball in the 4th inning of a game between Northwestern and Valpo. With less than 100 fans at the game it increased my odds a bit.
24. Ballhawk at Wrigley Field – I have always wanted to just take the train up to Wrigley with no ticket and ballhawk. I guess this will have to be the year. No ticket required.
25. Get a ball autographed by both Rich Dotson and Carlton Fisk – I met both of these guys at my first game in 1985. The both autographed my program. I would love to get a ball autographed by both players for my collection.

If I can do all of this I would have to say that I will have had a great year. We will see what happens over the course of the season

My Favorite Games: #23

Game #23 belongs to Ryne Sandberg. Most of this blog as far as Major League Baseball is concerned is about the White Sox. I have been to a few Cub games in my time though. Today’s game is one of those. It was played on August 28th, 2005 between the Cubs and the Florida Marlins. There was a game played that day, but I stopped by Wrigley Field that day for two reasons. One of them was the fact that it was my birthday. I like to go to a ball game on my birthday. The Sox were out of town so this seemed like a good choice. The second reason was that my friend Rob got tickets to the game because the Cubs were retiring Ryne Sandberg’s number. Regardless of who you root for you have to admit that Sandberg was one of the greats of the 80’s. I really wanted to see a number retired at the old ballpark. We got to the game way too early and waited in line to get in. Our seats were way down the first base line almost in the bleachers. We had a terrible view of the area around home plate where the ceremony would take place. I knew that most Cub fans arrive in the 2nd to 3rd innings so I told Rob to move right behind home plate. We did, and we were able to watch the entire ceremony from right behind the plate. Just before the first pitch the rightful owners of the seats kicked us out.
As far as the game goes I know that the Cubs walloped the Marlins, but until I looked at the box score I forgot how bad the game actually was. If this had been a competitive game I think that it would be much higher up the list. The only had a one run lead before Ryno sang the seventh inning stretch. The Cubs then put 10 runs on the board in the next two innings to win 14-3. Derreck Lee hit two home runs, and Carlos Zambrano hit a triple to lead the way for the Cubs. I do remember watching the overweight pitcher leg out a triple. Things like that are hard to forget. Another memory was watching Antonio Alfonseca come into the game for the Marlins. The crowd actually cheered him because they knew he would give up some runs. He did not dissapoint giving up 3 runs in 0.1 innings pitched.
I have always been a White Sox fan, and they will always come before the Cubs. I think so much of this rivalry that in my label section for this blog I have the Cubs listed just that way instead of as the Chicago Cubs so that they follow the White Sox. Pretty sick isn’t it. I was thinking about that as I added my labels to this post, and thought I would share that reason with the viewing public.
I have added a few pictures from the day that I took below. It was a pretty festive day, and I will always remember seeing Ryno get his jersey retired.

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