Due to the weather I missed the final four innings of yesterdays Irish game against Cincinnati. The Irish decided to move the doubleheader up because of rain headed towards South Bend. It was for the best though since they gave up four runs in the ninth and lost. I did get to Notre Dame in time to see the second game though. The Irish played the last two innings of the second game in a soaking rain. That may have contributed to the two runs they gave up in the top of the ninth to tie the game up. All that did though was set up David Mills to be the hero. He hit a walk off home run to left field to win the game for the Irish. What is it with teams I like hitting walk offs lately? This could be a fun year for baseball.
Category Archives: Notre Dame Baseball
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Let the Madness Begin!
Tonight on the way to Minneapolis we decided to stop over in Beloit to watch the last couple innings of the Beloit Snappers game against the South Bend Silverhawks. We are still on the road, and I am way too tired to do a game recap. The Silverhawks won 6-5, and I got my first chance to see A.J. Pollack play. A.J. was the highest draft pick ever out of Notre Dame. Tomorrow we will be in Midway Stadium watching the Saints play a game. When I can open my eyes I will write more.
Draft Day Notes

My Favorite Games: #3
As I said yesterday the next three games all came from the 2006 season. It is also another Cubs game at Wrigley field. The one redeeming quality is that the Cubs were playing the White Sox. The game was played on July 1, 2006. It was the Fox game of the week, and the Cubs owned the Sox most of the game. This was shortly after the Barrett sucker punch game that was featured earlier in the countdown. Needless to say the tensions were high between the fans all game. I had my Sox jersey on, and I was just ripped on all game long.
The Sox sent Javier Vazquez on the hill against Greg Maddux. Vazquez gave up 5 runs in six innings off 11 hits including a 3 run blast by Aramis Ramirez. Maddux did not fare much better he gave up four runs in six innings off of 10 hits. Thome hit a two run homer, and Crede hit a solo shot off of Greg. Konerko added a Solo shot off of Eyre in the 7th to pull the Sox a little closer. The real magic happened in the ninth inning though. The Cubs brought in Ryan Dempster to close the game. The Sox started a two out rally that brought some hope to the Sox fans in the crowd. A.J. Pierzynski who had been getting booed all day stepped into the batters box. After the brawl he was a marked man at Wrigley. He pulled a Dempster pitch down the right field line and out of the park for a three run homer that put the Sox ahead. The Sox fans (including me) went crazy. The Cubs fans took it up a notch from us. They were so frustrated with how the season was going that they started throwing things on the field. Jerseys, cups, hot dogs it didn’t matter it went on the field. The last picture on here is off the grounds crew picking up the mess. I have never seen fans so upset with their team. I have a video that I took with my camera that day that shows most of the madness. I was on cloud nine. We did not just beat our rival, but we demoralized them. Before 2006 every Cubs/Sox game that I went to the bad guys won. This was part of the magical year of 2006 for me. Future Cub Neil Cotts had pitched the eighth so he got the win, and Bobby Jenks pitched a perfect ninth (after a delay to clean the field) to get the save. This was a great game that would be number one on my countdown except for two exceptional games.
When I go to another teams stadium I am a low key fan. I know how much I hate fans from other teams that come to my park and act obnoxious. I went against my own unwritten rule at this game. I was on fire letting Cub fans have it. I had an El trip to the South Shore train, and for that two and a half hours I was a walking mouthpiece. I had heard Cub fans rip my Sox for the whole train ride there, and the majority of the game. I snapped and gave a little back to the Cub fans. That is a little out of character for me, but in a way it is totally me.
Hard To Take
Today I was buying some things after a workout and picked up a couple packs of 2007 Topps Heritage. This is one of the first cards that I pulled out of the pack. It is so hard to see him wearing Cubbie blue. I watched him play both football and baseball at Notre Dame, and he quickly became one of my favorite players. He was a great receiver who could run after the catch. He was also not afraid to make the big play. On the baseball field he was strong, but probably only the third best pitcher on his team. That is an unfair comparison since he was only playing baseball as a hobby when football was out of season. Notre Dame had a great marketing strategy in 2006 when he pitched a game against Rutgers on a Friday night, and then on Saturday played in the Blue-Gold Football game. He was a great two sport athlete that I think made the right choice as far as longevity goes in baseball.
All of that being said I will have to root against Jeff’s team until he gets traded or moves away from the Cubs. It is hard to root for a Cub. I hope he has a long, successful career in the majors as long as it is with another team. By the way where is Harry Carey to pronounce this name? That could last a couple innings. Samardzija spelled backwards is ajizdramas. I think Ron Jeremy stars in ajizdramas. That is not too blue is it? Now I look at the post title and think, “What will people think?” Oh well, go White Sox.