The Perfect Day

And I feel so alive
I can't help myself
Don't you realize

I just wanna scream and lose control
Throw my hands up and let it go
Forget about everything and run away, yeah

… That was the first song to come on after I plugged in my iPod this morning. Appropriate.

You know how in elementary school when you had to write a journal entry describing your perfect day? Mine always went something along the lines of sleeping in, watching Sportscenter and then going to a bunch of baseball games …

Today I lived it.

… For the last few summers, I’ve made it a point to pick a day to go off to a Cubs game by myself. I get a single ticket, go down to Wrigleyworld and take it all in. No stress. No worries. It’s one of my favorite days of the year …

So back in February, I bought my tickets for the season, and picked today as my “Me” day. A Friday afternoon. Cubs-Cardinals. August pennant race. Perfect.

Then, yesterday, a friend offers me box seats to tonight’s Brewers-Reds game. At first I hesitated to accept them, thinking there’s no way I could pull that off! But the adventurous, carpe diem, no day but today! me took over and I seized the opportunity …

This can work, I thought. The Cubs game is a 1:20 start. I take the train down, as usual. Maybe it’s a fast-paced game, and I catch the Davis Street train to go back home by 5 p.m. Or, at the worst, I leave the Cubs game an inning early. I meet Kates back at home, and we drive to the Brewers game, which starts at 7:05. And if we’re an inning or two late getting there, no big deal …

* * *

So … this morning I slept an hour later than normal. Donned my Cubs paraphernalia, watched a little Sportscenter, and then drove to the Waukegan station, catching a McDonald’s breakfast on the way. I caught all my train stops and transfers, and arrived at Wrigley’s doorstep at about noon …

Everything was perfect. It was a gorgeous day. A vendor selling Budweiser was walking up and down the aisles advertising it as a "LaRussa Breakfast!" And a couple with a young boy dressed in Cubs gear were holding a sign that read "Draft me in 2025!" ... referring to the boy, of course. Said the boy's mom, "We couldn't hold a My-First-Game sign. We've seen too many of those."

... And it was bucket hat day at Wrigley ( … a joyous replacement for yet another one of the cherished items I lost in our burglary). AND! with the Air & Water Show happening this weekend, jets were flying over and around Wrigley throughout the game, giving us fans our own little air show. Some of those things were flying so low when they rocketed past the stadium, it looked as though they were setting to land on the streets outside. And at one point during the game a trio of jets flew over the field in a circular motion, leaving a perfect “C,” for the Cubs fans in their paths …

After having no luck catching a ball in the left field corner during the Cardinals batting practice, I went for my souvenir Mountain Dew and set out to find my seat …

Yeah. In my 13 seasons of attending games at Wrigley Field, I’ve never had a view this good. Section 222. Seat 105. Row 1 … I could see the entire field. I was sitting right in line with home plate. I had almost as good a view as the home plate umpire. And I had a bar in front of me to put up my feet …

Bears and Kansas University (rock chalk Jayhawk, baby!) great Gayle Sayers threw out the first pitch, and then we were off ...

It was a pitcher's duel. Braden Looper for the Cards, Rich Hill for the Cubs. Hill didn't allow a hit until the third, Looper didn't allow a hit until the fourth. Neither gave up a run until the sixth inning ... In the top of the sixth, Hill struck out David Eckstein and Ryan Ludwick and then gave up a homerun to Albert Pujols. The way the game was going, it could've put the Cubs away ... But! Ryan Theriot singled in the bottom of the sixth and then Jacque Jones stepped to the plate and launched a homerun of his own. I don't need to tell you that the crowd erupted ...

From there, Cubs fans everywhere held their breaths in hopes the Cubs could close out the Cardinals and cool them down. At the same time, I was also starting to watch the clock and check my train schedule to time my departure ... Lucky for me, the Cubs did hold on and retired Jim Edmonds for the last out. Final: 2-1.

Go Cubs Go burst over the loud speakers and the crowd sang it loud as ever. I couldn't keep from smiling ...

* * *

It was 3:50 p.m. I jumped into the aisle and beat it down the third base line toward the exit at Sheffield and Addison, on my way to board the El. I must've made it in record time too because the crowd inside the station wasn't half as thick as I'm used to. I got my pass punched, raced up the escalator and hopped on the waiting train ... So far so good. If I kept my pace, I thought, I could make the 4:33 train at Davis and Kates and I had a chance of making it to Miller Park before the first pitch ...

Then tragedy struck. Ok, it wasn't a tragedy, but it was a setback. I had to wait several minutes for a train at the Linden station, and that was enough to put me at Davis no more than two minutes after the 4:33 had passed through. Doh!

So, I waited. Caught the 4:59 train at Davis. Got back to my car at the Waukegan station at about 6 p.m., and I was pulling back in our driveway and picking up Kates at about 6:30. She had a Subway sandwich and a soda waiting for me, along with my Brewers gear so I could make a quick change in the car. She took the keys so she could drive, and off we went for the nightcap ... Gotta love it!

... We arrived at Miller Park at about 7:30, parked and were walking into the stadium for the bottom of the second inning. And! we got our Harvey Kuehn bobbleheads! (I had conceded to Kates on the ride up that I didn't think we would get the bobbleheads because we were going to be so late ...) After the usher handed the box to me, I turned to Kates coming behind me and held it over my head like a World Series trophy ...

On to our seats. Gorgeous! Box seats. First base side, about midway into the outfield. So close you could see the whiskers on Ken Griffey's chin.

The Brewers playing? Not so gorgeous tonight ... I had been saying throughout today that priority No. 1 was a Cardinals loss -- they came into the day in third place, two and half games behind the Brewers; they must be cooled off and put away for good. But the Cubs came into the day in second place, a half game back, which meant that with a Cubs win, it was paramount the Brewers won too to keep their lead in the NL Central ...

Didn't happen. The Reds were already up 1-0 when we found our seats, and they added another run in the third on an RBI double by Griffey. J.J. Hardy cut the deficit with a solo homerun in the bottom of the third, but Scott Hatteberg hit a homerun of his own in the sixth to put the Reds up 3-1 ...

And, oh, then wheels fell off in the seventh. Quite possibly the most mediocre play I've seen in a major league ball game: Jeff Keppinger singled for the Reds to lead off the inning, then Griffey grounded to Ryan Braun at third base. Off the bat, it looked like an easy double play ball, but Braun threw wide of second base and the ball bounced into right field. Keppinger headed for third and scored. Meanwhile, as Griffey's pulling into second, the Brewers right fielder, Gabe Gross, picks up the ball and flings it over to second base (... Watching Gross throw the ball so awkwardly was kind of like the equivelant of nails scratching a chalkboard, I have no idea what he was thinking ...). Gross's throw sailed wide of second base and rolled over to left field, and Griffey went all the way around to score on a two-error, inside-the-park homerun that looked like a play you'd expect to see in a 6-year-old Little League game ... I've never heard boos so loud, or seen fans so upset at Miller Park. I actually heard a guy behind us moan, "I want to go home and take a bath in my toaster ..." I burst out laughing.

In the eighth, Gross and Hardy, who'd committed an error earlier in the game too, tried to redeem themselves with a solo homerun each. But the Reds tacked on two final runs in the top of the ninth on an Adam Dunn moonshot to the upper deck in right field ... Final score: Reds 8, Brewers 3.

And so ended The Perfect Day.

I plan to sleep in tomorrow morning.