Every four years, I end up in Chicago. It's not planned that way, it just keeps happening. In 2002, my dad took me just to go see the Cubs; in 2006, Paul, Bert and I came to see Spamalot; and in 2010, Joe said hey let's go to Wrigley Field.
In 2014, our friend Katie got married down the road in Champaign, so we moseyed on over again. Joe found a hostel down the street from the ballpark for easy access.
We saw three games this week, so let's see what happened at my third experience at fabled Wrigley Field, where my record was 3-4 going in.
Monday. Lose 3-1 to Brewers.
We arrived in Wrigleyville at about 2 p.m., five hours before game time. We picked a bar for lunch and discovered it had batting cages upstairs.
Bob and I had been talking all week about opening a batting cage back home, and here Joe and I found ourselves at one. After a burger, I took about five rounds of hacks. They had softball and three speeds for baseball.
Once I got the speed down on fast pitch, I was able to put some solid swings together, possibly some doubles down the line and into the left-field gap. I took a round on softball for practice for rec league. Was crushing the softball.
And now I really want to open a batting cage in the city. I think there's a market.
There's our view from the front row of the left-field bleachers. While I was in the bathroom during batting practice, a home run came our way. Joe ended up with it, but gave the ball to a little kid, a decision he may or may not regret.
Tuesday. Defeat Brewers 3-0.
Joe is in the right corner of this picture from our seats in the right-field bleachers.
The Brewers' best player, Ryan Braun, plays right field, and he was suspended last year for taking PEDs. He was actually caught twice, but got off the first time on a technicality. And boy, did he hear about it from our section, as I'm sure happens in every game he plays on the road.
The guy behind us kept saying: "Hey, Braun. ... You suck!" I swear I heard this in my dreams Tuesday night. Around the seventh time the fan shouted this, Joe and I set the goal for him at 20. And he got to 21 times shouting this same exact thing -- the game lasted 2 hours, 22 minutes -- with four variations on the insult.
Our section also yelled "cheater!" about 500 times. Plus, there were some unprintable insults and out-of-line remarks about the man's wife. Braun brought this situation on himself by cheating, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him for all the abuse. He is human.
I caught this ball in batting practice when a relief pitcher tossed it into the stands. Not the same thrill as catching a home run ball, but I'll take it. It even has the 100th anniversary of Wrigley marked on it.
I was able to get up close while the center fielder took extra batting practice. Wrigley is so old that it doesn't have new age batting cages tucked away in the stadium. No, this is next to the men's bathroom in the bleachers.
Thursday. Lose 6-2 to Brewers.
The Cubs lost two of the three games I saw, dropping my Wrigley record to 4-6. But so what? At least I had a good time.
Not a bad view from down the third-base line.
On every trip to Wrigleyville -- 2002, 2010 and 2014 -- I have bought a souvenir. First, there was a Wrigley Field shirt, then a vintage Cubs hat and Thursday this cool shirt that combines the Cubs symbol and the Chicago city flag.
After the game, we took the pilgrimage to the famous seat Steve Bartman sat in during the 2003 NLCS when he changed Cubs history forever by helping -- along with several other fans -- to prevent Moises Alou from making a pivotal catch.
I don't think this seat should be used, but they sell it for every game. As Indiana Jones would say: It belongs in a museum.
Here's me looking at the spot where Alou was when trying to make the catch. It's not far down, and I remain convinced he would have caught the ball if the fans would have stayed the fuck out of his way.
It wasn't all sad, though. I found this on the ground, cleaned out the nacho cheese and earned a free memento.
By the time I get back to Chicago -- yes, probably 2018 -- Wrigley will be much different, as the push to modernize the park now seems inevitable.
So I was glad to see some games on the 100th anniversary of the field and perhaps the last season where it still looks like Wrigley, the greatest venue in all of sports. Not to mention several of the young stars that could help turn this franchise into a winner by 2016.
And before we go, let's play a guessing game: How many beers did Joe drink during our three games at Wrigley?
Keep in mind that they stop serving beer in the seventh inning but also that we were in the stadium at least an hour before each game. Also, he was not drunk by the end of any game.
Keep thinking.
OK, ready for the answer?
14.
That's two touchdowns worth -- five Monday and Thursday and four Tuesday.
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