Play Ball!!!

Ben and I are quite thrilled that baseball season is once again under way. We're just not into other sports and the six months when there is no baseball are arguably the coldest, dreariest months of the year, so baseball also signals that spring (and warmer weather) may soon be back. As for that warmer weather... it sure hasn't materialized here. The thermometer seems to be stuck in the 40s.

On Friday we attended our first ever opening day for baseball, being totally converted Brewers fans at this point (yes, I think I will root against my beloved Reds when they play the Brewers this week). We've had opportunities to go to opening day in the past, but knew that the crowd would be different than a regular game day, namely drunker. Not being fans of drunken fans, we hadn't gone. Plus we really don't get the hours of tailgating that they do beforehand in these parts and the thought of showing up hours in advance just to get a parking spot wasn't thrilling either. But we decided to give it a try and hoped that the weather would be decent enough to allow us to ride our bikes to the ballpark.

Well... the weather was clear. But it was cold. About 40 degrees and windy. I think that is probably the coldest day that I have ever been on a bike and willfully riding around outdoors (so cold at times that my eyes teared up). But it worked really well to ride the 5 miles or so to the park and pull right up to racks along Friday's, aside from drunken people yelling at us from cabs and Ben getting his tired kicked by someone post-game.

The good news was that opening day actually felt like a BREWERS game. We had tickets again yesterday (yes, Easter Sunday evening game, an ESPN Sunday night baseball game in Milwaukee, the first in 12 years), and at least half the crowd were Cubs fans. It's not fun to be buying coffee to warm up during the game, hearing screaming, and wondering whether that means something good for your team or the opponents. I don't so much dislike the Cubs so much as the fact that their fans are way too numerous in our stadium. You're supposed to have a home field advantage!

We've been present for some pretty notable (and rather dubious) highlights already:

1. The Hot Dog had a bit too much to drink before the game on Opening Day. How else do you explain falling down at the end of the race?



2. A come-from behind win on opening day, 4-3, final!

3. Reed Johnson robbed Prince Fielder of his first grand slam last night. (MLB needs to get with embeddable video. Really this was an amazing play, even if the difference would have meant a Brewers win.)

4. Brewers pitching walked in 4 straight runs to the Cubs last night. Apparently this has been done only 9 times since 1969; twice within the last five days (Braves vs. Atlanta last week and Brewers vs. Cubs last night). Not fun to watch. What the heck is up with Suppan? And who is going to step up? Hopefully Gallardo will get it going tonight!

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter and that you have time to enjoy a little baseball as well. Sewing updates to come later, I hope (time to go catch the game for an inning or two).