Thursday was a record high, and boy was it hot. I met Theresa (another former coworker) in Johnson Creek at 11:10 and she drove us to the game in her BMW. After riding in her vehicle I’m thinking about getting my car’s AC checked, because it’s not nearly as cold. We pulled into the Cooper lot at 11:50 and headed right inside. We went to section 212 and got game photo number 82 taken care of. If you scroll down and compare 81 and 82 you’ll notice a huge difference in the sweatiness of my hair and face. The difference came from the fact that on Wednesday I spent 60 minutes out in the sun promoting Be The Match, while Thursday I went right inside.

After getting the picture taken we headed down to the team store to pick up a few more shirts and then got a beer and polish sausage. Theresa hadn’t had one before, and like Steve on June 20th she’s a believer now as well. We ate and drank underneath the press box behind section 218 and waited for the game to start. My seats are in the sun until about 3:30 and since it was a 1:10 start we didn’t want to brave the elements.

The Marlins scored a solo run in the 4th inning, and that’s all they really needed. They scored one in the eighth and two more in the ninth but since the Brewers put up a goose egg, the bonus runs were just insurance. I know this isn’t much of a game recap, but I’m sure you can find out the details if you’re interested. Braun grounded into three double plays, if that gives you an indication of how the game went. It was just one of those days, it’s baseball. Final Score: Marlins 4 – Brewers 0.

Theresa and I were up behind 218 for most of the game. They do the cap shuffle in the sixth I believe, and the Diamond Dancers are involved. They have the camera and the contestant in front of the press box, and the Diamond Dancers hold the three numbered signs. It wasn’t my idea (honestly) but Theresa went over and told them what I was doing and asked if I could get a picture with them. I told Theresa that there was a game going on and I didn’t want to miss any pitches. I gave in and quickly got a picture taken between pitches (and didn’t miss a single one).

After the seventh inning we went down to our seats but they were still in the sun. We could see that they were still in the sun but we went down anyways. I swear my head just turned into a faucet and I started sweating profusely. I honestly don’t know how people sat in the sun for the entire game. I’m not sure what you’d call it. Courageous? Impressive? Suicidal? I’ll say not-for-me. During a pitching change I had a lady in front of us take a picture of me and Theresa. I’ll let you guess who’s who.

After about 5 minutes in the sun we scooted down the row (it was empty) and sat in the shade. I almost had another chance at a foul ball when one shot straight back, bounced off the wall in front of the press box and ricocheted back towards us. The guy two rows behind us got it, and that was that. Towards the end of the game I noticed the guy in front of us had a cool hat on that I hadn’t seen before. Good stuff.

It was a short post, I know, but there’s a good reason for the brevity. My flight out of Milwaukee leaves at 6:00 am tomorrow morning so I’ll be on the road by 3:15. I connect in Atlanta, and get into Houston at 11:45. It’ll give me plenty of time to take the bus to the hotel, check in, and relax for a few hours. See you in Texas!

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Wednesday was July 4th (U-S-A! U-S-A!) and it was another 3:10 game. I usually like 3:10 start times because you’re home at a decent hour (I’m old). It was a different story on Wednesday though, because it was going to feel like 100 degrees at times, and it did. I left Fort at 12:20 and picked up Victoria (my girlfriend for you newbies) in Johnson Creek at 12:45. We got to the Cooooooooper Lot at 1:25 and I walked around telling people about Be The Match, and Victoria headed inside. We agreed in the past that it would be awkward if she joined me when I went around because I’d be the one doing all the talking and she’d just be standing there. I was only in the parking lot for an hour but I was dripping with sweat. I went inside at 2:25 and met Victoria in section 213 to get game photo number 81. I can’t believe the season is half over! As you can see; I look miserable, or at least my hair does. Even though I had just dried my face off it’s already sweaty again.

After getting the game number photo we went back up into the concourse and got some food. I know I had said I would have four or five $1 hot dogs but I did not. I only had two, and we’ll leave it at that. We walked down by section 216, said hi to Bill, then set up shop under the press box for the first two innings. They had retired and active military members throw out first pitches together which I thought was pretty cool.

The Marlins took an early lead when Brett Hayes drove in a run on his second-inning single. The Brewers again put up a crooked number, this time a 5-spot in the bottom of the second. The Brewers sent 10 batters to the plate in the second and got four singles, three walks, and two groundouts that drove in runs. Five runs without an extra base hit; not the most exciting, but it got the job done. Here’s Braun as he hits one to the first baseman, driving in Randy Wolf in the process.

Randy Wolf pitched well early on, and here he is in the third inning, about to let go of a pitch that struck out Jose Reyes.

Between the top and bottom of the fifth inning they have the muscle cam at Miller Park, where they show people flexing their guns on the jumbotron. This little guy was up there for 10 seconds or so, and we thought he was really cute. I’m referring to the one in the blue shirt, standing on his mom’s lap.

In the same half inning the Brewers show three lucky fans on the scoreboard. Whoever gets the loudest cheers is chosen as the Briggs and Stratton Power Fan of the Game and awarded a personalized bat in the next half inning. Wednesday they showed two “normal fans” and then showed a marine in uniform. I wonder who won? The other two fans didn’t stand a chance. I mean, who’s going to cheer for anyone else when this guy is serving his country and risking his life? I want to thank all military personnel, past and present, who have served this great Nation.

Wolf pitched into the seventh, and maybe it was a little too long. I’m not going to second guess Roenicke like many people around me did. “What an idiot!” was something I heard from a guy behind me. It kind of ticked me off and I actually turned around and said; “Did you see the bullpen yesterday, what do you want him to do?” I don’t know if he responded. Wolf gave up a leadoff home run which cut the lead to 5-2 then with two outs he gave up a three-run home run that tied the game. In the bottom half Aramis Ramirez came through with an RBI single after the Marlins had walked Braun to get to him. Here’s Ram-Ram shooting one to center to drive in Aoki.

The Brewers took the one run lead into the top of the ninth, and Axford seemed like his old self. He got a groundout and a strikeout to start off the inning, then had a 1-2 count on Gaby Sanchez. He delivered a 98 MPH fastball…

And Sanchez gave it a ride to right field for the game-tying home run. Ugh. I don’t know why he didn’t try a curveball on a 1-2 count, and looking at the pitch sequences from the inning he threw 15 fastballs and just one curveball. Maybe he wasn’t feeling it, who knows.

The Brewers had two on with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Ramirez at the plate, who was trying to be the hero once again. He flied out to shallow right and the game went to extras. Parra came in and gave up a run in the tenth and the Brewers needed one to tie in the bottom half. Weeks got a hustle double, Maldonado struck out, and Taylor Green stepped to the plate. Heath Bell delivered the 2-2 pitch to Green and he grounded out to end the game.

Final Score: Marlins 7 – Brewers 6. The game had started out great and it looked like my wishful writing after Friday’s loss may have helped. I had said that if the Brewers won their last nine games before the break they’d be one game over .500. They were on their way, winning four in a row after I said that, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Thursday is going to be another scorcher. I’m going to the game with Theresa, a former co-worker from Tetra Tech who is a big sports fan. Besides the 100 degree temperatures I’m sure we’ll have a great time.

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Tuesday was another hot one, but I survived. I think the game itself had more adverse effects on my well being than the near 100 degree temperatures. I left my parents’ place at 12:10 and was parked an hour and three minutes later. I walked around for about an hour and told people my story and encouraged them to join the registry. I also got a free Spotted Cow (it’s a beer) and water from two different groups. Freebies are always nice, thanks guys!

I headed inside at 2:15 and went right to section 214 to get the game number photo taken. If you’re not familiar with what I’m doing; I am slowly working my way around the loge level, getting a game number picture in most sections along the way. Today was the 80th game of the year, thus the sign with the number 80 on it.

I then went up into the concourse and stood under the giant fans that they have in the loge level. After a few minutes I decided it was time for another Polish sausage with caramelized onions. One word: magnifilicious. If you haven’t had a Polish sausage with caramelized onions yet… Arnold voice: “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!?”

I met up with Zach before the game started, and we chilled under the press box for the first inning or so. Zach is a twitter follower who replied to my announcement Monday night that my ticket for Tuesday was up for grabs. He made a $40 donation to Be The Match in exchange, and he’s a swell fella. He had a nasty ankle injury back in May, so both of us were sporting ASO ankle braces.

The Marlins started things with a bang, and took a 2-0 lead on a Logan Morrison home run in the first. Estrada pitched well for the Brewers, and he deserves a mention. He only gave up the two runs in the first, and he deserved the win. Here he is after letting go of a pitch in the second inning. It resulted in a strikeout on a foul bunt by the Marlins pitcher.

In the third the Brewers got one back on an Aoki RBI single. After a Braun single Aramis Ramirez stepped to the plate looking to give the Brewers the lead. Going clockwise from top left:

1) Ramirez as he’s sending a drive deep to center field. The ball wound up going off the wall, but Aoki got deked by the Marlins center fielder, and thought it might be caught. Braun saw past the fake and was almost to second before Aoki took off from the same base.

2) Braun right on Aoki’s heals as they race past third. You can see in the upper right hand corner that the second baseman has the ball and is gathering himself to make the throw home. The shortstop is ducking so he’s not beheaded.

3) Aoki about to touch home with the tying run, the catcher grabbing the off-target throw, and Braun about to go into his slide. Whew.

4) Braun barely beating the tag. Brewers lead 3-2.

It stayed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, and that’s when things got interesting. To lead off the inning Corey Hart hit the first pitch he saw into the Brewers bullpen to up the lead to 4-2. Here’s Corey getting some love from third base coach Ed Sedar.

Weeks followed Hart with a double, Ransom walked, Maldonado laid down a sacrifice bunt, and the Marlins intentionally walked pinch hitting Travis Ishikawa. Gomez then grounded one to second baseman Omar Infante, who threw to Jose Reyes covering second. Reyes missed the catch and all hands were safe. I think he was trying to hurry because he knew it would be tough to turn a double play with the speedy Gomez running to first. Aoki followed with a sacrifice fly to right and Braun came to the plate with two outs. I told Zach that I was looking for an exclamation point from Braun and two pitches later he did just that. Clockwise from top left:

1) Braun making contact. He hit a bomb to centerfield, his 23rd home run of the season. “Must be all those steroids.” HA!!!

2) Braun rounding second base.

3) Ed Sedar giving Braun a low five as they cross paths.

4) Brauny touching home plate, preparing to get a high five from Ishikawa. Braun’s 3-run home run capped a six-run sixth, and gave the Brewers a 9-2 lead.

The Marlins chipped away and got three runs in the top of the seventh. The Brewers answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half. Weeks’ single drove in Hart, who slid home for the Brewers 10th run of the game.

Maldonado followed Rickie with an RBI single of his own, and the Brewers had a six run lead heading to the eighth inning (11-5). I was feeling pretty confident with the six run lead, but that all changed rather quickly. This is how the Marlins’ eighth inning went: double, double, single, groundout, home run, home run, double, walk, sacrifice fly, fly out. That’s a six-run eighth inning and it was all square at eleven apiece. And on top of that it could’ve been worse. Carlos Gomez made what could be the catch of the year for the Crew when he crashed into the wall as he caught Morrison’s fly out to end the inning. Another run would’ve scored but Go-Go said no-no to Lo-Mo. Ha! Lo-Mo is actually Logan Morrison’s nickname. I’m so witty…

The Brewers failed to score in the eighth, and neither team scored in the ninth, setting the stage for bonus baseball. Livan Hernandez came in to pitch the tenth for the Brewers, and he gave up a two-out solo home run to Jose Reyes. It gave the Marlins a one run lead going into the bottom of the tenth. Carlos Gomez led off the inning with a walk, Aoki flew out and Braun struck out. Ramirez came to the plate representing the winning run and on the 0-1 pitch he swung away.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking…

This is why you don’t leave a baseball game early. Yes, you might get thoroughly disappointed in the teams’ performance, but when anything is possible, why risk missing out? Final Score: Brewers 13 – Marlins 12. I meant to take a picture of the scoreboard to help illustrate how crazy the game was. I’ll give you the linescore from ESPN.com. What. A. Game.

Before the dreadful eighth inning I had a lady a few rows in front of us take a picture of me and Zach. I’m on the left, Zach is on the right. Zach is a cool guy, and I’m glad he came down from Sheboygan to watch the 4 hour 28 minute game with yours truly. At times I wanted to pull my hair out because the Crew almost blew out, but it all worked out in the end. If you’re wondering; I don’t always wear hats, but when I do it’s because the hair underneath is such a sweaty mess that it needs to be hidden. If I could’ve been wearing a beard hat I would have done that as well.

I got back to my car after the game, only to find this on my bumper:

I believe that is the “gay symbol” (two male gender symbols intertwined). Now, I have nothing wrong with same sex couples, but I also absolutely HATE bumper stickers. It’s on there pretty good, so I’ll have to find the right substance to get it off of there. Whoever stuck that on there needs to check themselves. If they are homosexual, I hope that they wouldn’t go around putting stickers on everything. If it was some stupid teenager that thinks this type of stuff is funny, someone needs to lay the smack down. Luckily the Brewers won, because otherwise I would’ve been über-pissed.

One more thing. At some point in the game Zach pointed out that a guy in front of us changed his Hardy (7) jersey into a Hart (1) jersey. That’s how you do it!!! It’s too bad that you can clearly see that it was once a Hardy jersey, but it’s still cool/funny.

Tomorrow is our Nation’s birthday, and in the spirit of Independence Day I will celebrate by watching glorious baseball, and perhaps consuming four or five $1 hot dogs.

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Monday was the lone night game of the series. Tuesday and Wednesday are at 3:10, and Thursday is at 1:10. Even with the 7:10 start time it was really hot and it was humid enough to drink the air (I might be exaggerating). I left my parents’ house at 2:45 and made a pit stop at Wedl’s in Jefferson. The name has changed over the year, but they’ve been serving hamburgers from this location since 1918. They are pretty legit, and the burgers are called sliders. Going clockwise from top left:

1) The exterior of the two structures. The little red shack is where they do the cooking.

2) The inside of the shack, the griddle where they cook the sliders is to the left, just inside the door, and the deep fryer is across the “room” (it’s really small).

3) The interior of the larger building, where they have more seating and ice cream. One of the pictures on the wall is a signed picture of Will Ferrell, and he wrote “Sorry about the flood” on the photo. Jefferson suffered a major flood back in 2008, as did many other towns in southern Wisconsin.

4) My lunch; two single cheeseburgers with sautéed onions and a small fry. I think it came to $6.53. All in all it was a good start to the day.

I left Jefferson at 3:40 and pulled into the Brewers 1 parking lot just before 4:30. I spent the next hour walking around telling people about my mission and Be The Match. I went inside at 5:45 to get out of the sun. I met up with my friend Jason, and his mom introduced me to Jason’s Grandpa and great Aunt and Uncle, who were visiting from Florida. They were sitting in section 216, which is the section I needed game photo number 79 taken from, so it worked out well. I had Jason’s mom take the picture for me. Almost halfway there…

I glanced over to my seats in 221 and noticed that Eric had arrived. Eric is a twitter follower who replied to a tweet of mine. I had asked if anyone wanted to join me at the game in exchange for a donation to Be The Match. Eric donated $40 and I’m very grateful for his contribution. Thanks Eric! When some players were on the field getting loose before the game I spotted Carlos Gomez, Hanley Ramirez, and Jose Reyes fraternizing in centerfield. Gomez was in the Mets system, and likely played with Reyes at some point. I think Go-Go is pointing towards the infield, asking Reyes if he saw his awesome walk-off base running feats from the game before. If you haven’t seen my pictures yet, scroll down to Sunday’s post, because I document the heck out of it (in a good way).

When the members of the Brewers bullpen walked out to the ‘pen Kameron Loe was carrying some flowers. Jeff Adcock, a member of the grounds crew family, tragically collapsed during Sunday’s game while in the bullpen. He passed away on Sunday and there was a moment of silence for the man who helped get the field ready for play, among other things. When they got to the bullpen they placed it right in the middle, a fitting tribute to a guy who spent many games out there with the relief pitchers. Very sad.

It’s hard to talk about a game after what happened, but I will continue. I’m not sure why the Brewers did the Major League Moment promotion on a Monday, but they did. Usually it is a Sunday thing. You can register your kids to be randomly selected to join a Brewer on the field during the national anthem. These two were at home plate waiting for Maldonado. The players greet the kids, and then sign the baseball as part of the promotion, good stuff.

The game did not start out the way I had envisioned. The Marlins loaded the bases in the top of the first with two singles and a walk, and Greinke was in trouble. He struck out Morrison for the first out, and then induced a ground ball that may have gotten the Brewers out of the inning. It took a bad hop on Ramirez and went into left field for a two-run single. In the bottom of the first Gomez and Morgan both grounded out, but then Carlos Zambrano hit Ryan Braun with the 0-1 offering. Here’s Braun turning his back to protect his arms/hands/face as he’s about to get hit. (The ball is hidden behind Braun’s frame, so he may have actually already gotten hit)

Carlos Zambrano then proceeded to walk the next three batters, the last one to Rickie Weeks drove in the first Brewers run of the game. A Maldonado fielder’s choice groundout got Zambrano out of the jam without any further damage. In the top of the Greinke got Zambrano to ground out to Weeks for the second out, here’s Greinke after releasing the pitch.

In the bottom of the second the Brewers tied it up at two with a leadoff triple from Izturis and a sacrifice fly from Greinke. The angle makes it look like Greinke doesn’t have arms, but somehow still managed to swing a bat and drive in a run.

In the third the Marlins put up three runs; one on an RBI double from Morrison and two from a home run by Ruggiano. A solo home run from Carlos Gomez in the fifth cut the lead to two runs (5-3). No pictures here as I was eating some popcorn. The Brewers tied it in the sixth when the pinch-hitting Travis Ishikawa drove in Weeks and Maldonado with a single to center. No pictures here either because I was up in the concourse, waiting for the inning to end to exchange my designated driver voucher for a Sierra Mist. I didn’t miss any pitches, so keep your pants on. I go up to the concourse with two outs in an inning, watch from there and then make my move after the final out is recorded. “Sixty percent of the time it works every time.”

Between the seventh and eighth inning I had the very kind lady behind us take a picture of me and Eric. I’m on the left, Eric is on the right. Eric’s a cool guy, and recently moved from Appleton to the east side of Madison. He has a ten game pack and also frequented Timber Rattlers games as he lived less than a half mile from the stadium.

In the bottom of the eighth the Brewers got a leadoff double from Weeks, and a single to right from Maldonado moved Rickie to third base. Roenicke went to his bench, and called on Norichika Aoki to get the job done. Aoki bunted on the very first pitch from the Marlins reliever and it worked to perfection. Just after Aoki made contact I snapped a pic.

It was a safety squeeze, so Rickie waited until he saw it was going to fall before taking off for home. The first basemen tried his best to barehand the ball and throw home but Weeks raced past the catcher just before he could tag him. The picture quality is poor, but you get the picture. Get it… HA! I like that you can still see the first basemen in the picture, just laying there, taking a nap. I think the dark objects in the middle bottom are a fan’s hands who rejoiced as Weeks crossed home plate with the go-ahead run.

Axford came on in the ninth, and pitched a perfect 1-2-3 inning, which is good to see. He induced a game ending ground ball, and Rickie threw out Hanley Ramirez to end the game. Final Score: Brewers 6 – Marlins 5.

I’m not looking forward to the heat tomorrow, it’s going to feel like 97 degrees when the first pitch is thrown at 3:10. Luckily the shade comes around 3:30, so I won’t have to be in the sun for long. Only six more games until the four day break. However, if the Brewers keep winning I won’t be ready for the All-Star break just yet.

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My friend Luke joined me for Sunday’s game. His government name is Luke but he’s been called Ozzy since he was 15. He doesn’t mumble as much as he did in his younger days, but that was the reason for the nickname. Sunday was Italian Heritage Day at Miller Park, and it was also Italian sausage bobble head day. His shirt says Birrai, which is Italian for Brewers.

Ozzy met me at my parent’s house, and we left at 11:00 am for the 1:10 pm game. We got to the Braves 2 parking lot at 12:10, and were inside by 12:20. We headed right for section 217, and Ozzy took game photo number 78 for me. It took a little coaching, but the last one he took was perfect. Thanks Oz!

Since my seats in section 221 are in the sun for almost the entire game, we decided to watch from the concourse for a few innings. After getting Polish sausages from the concession stand (sorry Italian) we headed down to section 111, and watched the game from there. This is the view from the concourse. It’s not a bad spot, besides not being able to see much the scoreboard, but hey; less distractions.

The first six batters of the game were retired, and the Brewers came out for the top of the second. They stopped warming up and I noticed that there was a medical cart by the Brewers’ bullpen. From where we were standing we couldn’t see much but I found out via Twitter that it was a non-uniformed employee they were tending to. Apparently they were performing CPR well before the cart arrived. As you can see, all the Brewers walked out to the outfield, but they probably couldn’t see anything either. I was a little shocked and even more so when the music being played was really upbeat. They were showing the Madagascar clip where the animated characters are dancing to the “I like to move it, move it” song. I know they also have to look out for kids getting bored and stuff, but I thought they shouldn’t have played anything. The Brewers website doesn’t give any details on the condition of the employee but my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

After the delay the game started up again. Gallardo got the first two batters out in the top of the second but then Aaron Hill singled on a ground ball up the middle. Rickie Weeks made a great play to even make it close, and I got a picture of him just after he let go of the ball. Hill was safe at first by about a half a step.

Gallardo then walked Lyle Overbay (former Brewer) to put two on with two out. Gallardo bared down and struck out Gerardo Parra looking on a 95 MPH fastball. Here’s Gallardo about to release the 2-2 pitch that struck him out. I didn’t mention it before, but the Brewers were wearing green “Birrai” jerseys for Italian Heritage Day as well.

In the bottom of the fourth inning Norichika Aoki doubled to lead off, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. On the 1-1 pitch Nyjer Morgan grounded out to first, and Aoki raced home to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead. Here’s Aoki as he touches home plate:

In the top of the fifth the Diamondbacks got a one-out single from Parra, but Gallardo worked around it. Maldonado threw to first to get the D-Backs pitcher when he (Collmenter) bunted Parra to second. Gallardo then got Bloomquist to ground out to third, and the side was retired. I took a picture just after Aramis Ramirez let go. Good stuff.

Between the fifth and sixth innings we headed back upstairs to sit in our seats, and caught the tail end of the sausage race. Since it’s a relay race on Sundays and the kids get the second leg of the race, it was unlikely to be fixed for the Italian sausage. I chose Polish because the kid looked fast. He did me proud and pulled away down the home stretch to get the W. Before the seventh inning I had a nearby fan take a picture of me and Ozzy. I’m on the left, he’s on the right. I have to give a shout out to the Brewers, specifically to Nathan, who works in the merchandising department. He notified me on Friday that I had a Birrai shirt waiting for me in the team store (I picked it up on Saturday). I’ll mention Kathy Schwab as well, who helped get the Brewers on board to support my mission, and it led to me getting free tickets and merchandise.

The game remained 1-0 until the top of the eighth. Francisco Rodriquez came on to try and preserve the lead but the first pitch of the inning was deposited into the Brewers’ bullpen by Jason Kubel. The Brewers failed to score in the eighth and Axford pitched the ninth and it remained a 1-1 game. In the bottom of the ninth Aramis Ramirez led off, and Corbin walked him on five pitches. Carlos Gomez came pinch ran for Ramirez, putting the fastest Brewer on first base with nobody out. Gomez taking his lead:

Corey Hart was up next and during his at bat Corbin threw over to first base EIGHT TIMES to try and keep Gomez close. Hart wound up flying out to center and Gomez couldn’t advance. Weeks came to the plate and Corbin threw over to first base again before delivering the first pitch of the at bat. Gomez took off on said first pitch which was a little low and outside. That made the D-Backs catcher have to throw from his knees. Gomez as he slides headfirst into second:

The ball had bounced right before it got to Aaron Hill and it skipped past him into the outfield. Gomez got up and bolted for third:

Gerardo Parra (playing centerfield) scooped up the ball and tried to throw out Gomez at third. This is Gomez utilizing another headfirst slide. You can see the ball in the upper left, and it’s obvious that Parra should’ve just held the ball because there was no chance he was going to get the speedy Gomez.

The ball wound up ricocheting off Gomez (maybe his helmet?) and it bounced up and over the Diamondbacks dugout. If a ball is thrown out of play, every base runner get to advance one base, meaning that Gomez could walk home. As he neared home plate his teammates were waiting for him. I like that the umpire is pointing at home plate like Gomez doesn’t know where it is.

This is Gomez just after he ceremoniously threw his helmet into the air. I like Nyjer screaming there on the right.

Gomez gave an emphatic foot stomp for the deciding run in the walk-off win.

After touching home you could tell that some shenanigans were about to ensue. I like that Rickie finally let go of his bat, and the picture was taken as it was just inches above the dirt, like it’s just floating there.

Go-Go then got mobbed by his teammates:

They finally decided that he had gotten enough body shots and noogies, and they called it quits. Two things I like about this one. The first is Gomez’s facial expression. He’s looking at Ransom whose hand was on Gomez’s head in the previous picture (above). I also like Randy Wolf just chilling on the right there. I don’t think he wanted any part of the fiasco, and he just waited on the periphery for it to die down a bit before getting a high five from Gomez.

It was a great ending and it shows why Corbin was trying to prevent Gomez from stealing second base. It did take two errors for him to score, but it was his speed that influenced the quick throws and bad decisions. Final Score: Brewers 2 – Diamondbacks 1. I know I usually just do four part pictures for things like walk-offs, but I thought I’d give you a more detailed account of what went down. If for some reason you don’t like pictures; I apologize, you can leave me a nasty comment if you want. I’m just glad they turned out. I was frantically snapping pictures as the above events occurred, and I’m pretty happy with the results.

I’ve got about 18 hours before I have to leave for the game. I’m looking forward to the 3/4 of a day break but I’m also looking forward to heading back to Milwaukee to see game one of the Brewers-Marlins series.

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I went to Saturday’s game with Crandall, who joined me at the games on April 24th and May 8th. We got to Miller Park at 3:45, and waited for some people who we were going to meet up with. A friend who I went to preschool with is getting married in August, and he and his fiancé were having a wedding-party tailgate at the game. Crandall had tickets of his own, and we sold those to donate to Be The Match. We found out that Tim (our friend who’s getting married) had two extra tickets for the suite they were in, so I wound up selling my two tickets as well. All in all a good day for Be The Match (an $80 donation from selling tickets). We tailgated with Tim for an hour or so, and before heading in we had a passerby take a picture for us. I won’t give everyone’s name, because that would be tedious. Tim and Rachel are the ones getting married, and they’re directly behind the “Tying The Knot” sign.

I made it inside at 6:03 for the 6:15 first pitch, and was up in suite 69 with a few minutes to spare. This was the view from the outdoor seating area.

Mike Fiers was on the hill for the Brewers, and he’s been great since he got called up from the minors. Here is Fiers pitching in the top of the third inning.

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, and in the third Braun doubled the lead with a home run to centerfield. Going clockwise from top left:

1) Braun about to make contact with the 1-2 pitch from Wade Miley.

2) Braun as he is about to touch second base.

3) Ed Sedar giving Braun a low target for a congratulatory high five.

4) Braun as he touches home plate, giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth inning the Brewers erupted for six runs. Ransom drove in three (including himself) with a home run to left field. Going clockwise from top left:

1) Ransom following through on his home run swing.

2) A zoomed out look at the field of play, with Hart passing Ed Sedar, Rickie heading towards third base, and Ransom approaching second.

3) Ransom getting a more traditional handshake from Ed Sedar.

4) Ransom getting some love from Weeks and Hart after touching home plate to give the Crew a 5-0 lead.

Maldonado followed Ransom with a single to right field. Fiers sacrificed him to second and Aoki flew out to centerfield. The first pitch Gomez saw was lined to right field, and he wound up at third base with a triple. He had an awesome dive/slide into third base, and I just missed him when he was airborne. The best I could do was capturing him just before he reached third base.

Braun followed Gomez’s triple with another home run, his 22nd of the year, which puts him in first place in the National League. Clockwise from top left.

1) Braun crushing the 1-2 pitch from Miley to left field.

2) Braun making his way towards second base.

3) Rounding third…

4) Braun getting a low five from Aramis Ramirez after he gave the Brewers an 8-0 lead.

In the fifth inning Ransom singled home Weeks, and in the sixth Gomez hit a 442 foot home run to increase the Brewers’ lead to 10-0. In the eighth inning the Diamondbacks spoiled the shutout with an RBI fielder’s choice. In the ninth Miguel Montero cut the deficit to eight runs with a solo home run, but that’s all they got. Final score: Brewers 10 – Diamondbacks 2.

After the game Crandall and I went down to section 218 to get game photo number 77. Since we didn’t get inside early enough to do it before the game we figured after the game was just as good.

I missed two pitches at the game, and they were both due to me looking at my camera and getting distracted. I was hoping to get on a roll, and I still have 8 games left to do so before the All-Star break. In other news; I’m leaving in less than 10 hours for the rubber match of the series, so I need to get some sleep. Go Brewers!

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It was nice that Thursday was an off day, and I used it to do as little as possible. I had a physical therapy appointment at 2:00 pm and didn’t do much else besides that. My knee hasn’t gotten any better, and it’s actually worse than it was five days ago. I think the fast walking on Wednesday didn’t do me any favors. I left Madison at 3:30 on Friday, and made it to the Braves 2 parking lot by 5:00. I walked (slowly) back to the general lot to spread the word. It went well and my message was well received, except for one group. My routine is to ask people if they’ve heard about the guy going to all 162 Brewers games, and then go from there. They hadn’t and I told them that I was doing such a thing and I was raising awareness for Be The Match. This is when I usually start handing out my business cards and giving my spiel. One of the guys I tried handing a card to just refused, and said “nope, this is my last game of the year.” I don’t think he understood what I was talking about, so I tried to get his attention (and maybe make him feel a little guilty for being so harsh). I said “well I’m a Leukemia survivor, I got a bone marrow transplant and I’m raising awareness for the…” He basically just stopped me there and said “no”, and refused the card. I think I just said “wow”, turned my back, and walked away shaking my head. Everyone else I talked to seemed interested, or at least listened to what I had to say. A group of four guys offered me a brat and a Sun Drop, and I graciously accepted. I stayed and chatted with them for a bit but I didn’t get their names. If you guys are reading this; thank you!

I headed inside after about an hour in the parking lot, and was in Miller Park by 6:15. I went to section 219 for my game number photo. After taking a couple practice shots to see where I wanted to stand I spotted my twitter follower (Scott) who was joining me for the game. I had tweeted the day before that my extra ticket was available and Scott said he would join me. He donated $40 to Be The Match, which is $10 more than I requested. Thanks Scott! I walked over to his seat in 221 and had him take game photo number 76 for me. I asked him to get both foul poles in the shot and he got the job done. Nice work!

After getting the picture taken we sat in our seats and talked baseball until the game started at 7:10. Randy Wolf was on the mound for the Brewers, and he’s been struggling this year. He gave up a one-out double in the first, but got out of the inning unscathed. In the bottom half of the first the Brewers got back-to-back singles from Aoki and Morgan. Braun flew out to right, Aoki advanced to third and then Ramirez grounded out weakly to third. It was hit slow enough to prevent the D-Backs from turning a double play, and it allowed Aoki to score. As you can see, Ramirez didn’t get much behind the swing, but it got the job done.

The Diamondbacks tied it in the second and then erupted for five runs in the third inning to take a commanding 6-1 lead. The last three runs of the third came on a three-run home run off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt. He got some love at home plate from the guys he drove in.

The D-Backs added two more in the fourth and another in the sixth. The run in the sixth was driven in by Aaron Hill, who tripled to right centerfield. Hill had already doubled in the first, singled in the third, and homered in the fourth. This meant that the triple completed a cycle, the SECOND cycle of the month for Aaron Hill! Unbelievable. I had never attended a game where a cycle had been achieved, so it was *kind of* cool to see. I’ve now been in attendance for a no hitter (Justin Verlander vs. the Brewers in June 2007), a 5-4-3 triple play (Aaron Rowand groundout vs. the Brewers in September 2009), and now a cycle. The ball was thrown back to the infield, and then thrown towards the Diamondbacks dugout as a keepsake. Instead of bouncing to one of the guys at the top step of the dugout it went over their heads and into the stands. You can see a bunch of D-Backs players and coaches pleading for the ball back, and Aaron Hill chilling at third base. Eventually the fan gave the ball back and someone threw a different (meaningless) ball back to the fan.

The sausage race takes place between the top and bottom of the sixth inning, and it was the most competitive thing all night. I decide who I’m picking by looking at the contestant’s legs. I couldn’t see the Bratwurst’s legs, so I chose the Italian even though I dislike the sausage for taste reasons. Once the race started and the Bratwurst’s legs were visible I could see she was wearing pink shoe laces. I’m guessing it’s the same girl who had pink laces before, and she won both times I’ve seen her. It was a photo finish (they dropped the tape early; BOOOO) and the Bratwurst got the win.

In the bottom of the sixth the Brewers scored two runs, and with another single they could’ve cut the lead to four. Taylor Green flew out to centerfield with runners on second and third, and the Brewers’ two runs in the frame concluded the scoring. Final Score: Diamondbacks 9 – Brewers 3. After the sixth inning I had a fan a few rows in front of us take a picture of Scott and myself. I’m on the left, Scott’s on the right.

At one point I saw an airplane flying dangerously close to the waxing-gibbous moon and I thought it was picture-worthy. What was the pilot thinking!?!?

That’s all for now, tomorrow (well, today now) is a new day. If the Crew can win the last 9 games before the break they’ll be a game over .500. Never say never!

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Wednesday was getaway day, so another afternoon game was on the schedule. The Reds schedule their weekday afternoon games at 12:35, and it’s a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. It’s good because you can get out of the city before rush hour, and it’s bad because there is 30 less minutes between the game the night before and the day game.

Victoria had asked me to pick up some Skyline Chili, so on my way to the game on Wednesday I stopped at a Kroger and picked up two cans. $3.69 for a can of chili seems ridiculous, but it is delicious. I pulled into the lot next to Paul Brown Stadium, paid the $10, and made my way towards Great American Ballpark. I got to the will call window to pick up my Brewers-provided ticket, only to realize I didn’t have my wallet. When I took it out to pay for parking I must have just set it on the passenger seat. I was still able to get my ticket (by saying my name, how many tickets were there, and who was leaving it), but I didn’t want to leave my wallet [visible] in my car for four hours. It was 11:50 at this point, and I was supposed to meet Niko at 12:00 inside the ballpark. I decided I would walk back and get it (it’s about 8/10 of a mile roundtrip). I walked as fast as I could and it probably wasn’t the best for my knee, but I made it back and was inside by 12:02.

I met with Niko and Julia who were going to escort me down to the field so I could deliver the game ball and rosin bag to the mound. This was my field access pass:

As you can see, the person who filled it out just put “Lucky Fan” in the name field. I know what I’m doing is pretty cool, and some people might be envious, but I don’t consider myself “lucky” in the sense. I worked really hard to put myself in position to make this dream come true, and luck doesn’t have much to do with it. I feel lucky to be alive, because at times I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. I also feel blessed and grateful that the Brewers are backing me in this endeavor, but not lucky, because I don’t think luck was involved.

They took me down into the bowels of the stadium and we stopped outside the hallway that leads to the field. There was a cameraman there from WCPO Channel 9 Cincinnati and he wanted to do a short interview. I got mic’d up and the four of us walked down the hallway and into the camera well. We did the interview with my back to the Brewers dugout, and I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out. I think I did a good job answering the questions, but I was really hot from the speed walking I had just done and the fact that it was almost 90 degrees. A few times I had to wipe my face to prevent sweat from dripping into my eye.

After the interview I stood on the warning track and had Julia take my game number photo for me. I like that you can see a kid throwing out a ceremonial first pitch as the picture is being taken.

We then walked around towards home plate and Tim Dillard said “Don’t bounce it” as I walked past the Brewers dugout. I didn’t have time to stop and explain that I wasn’t throwing out the first pitch, but I laughed and waved. When we got to the backstop I was handed the game ball and rosin bag. I just realized that the ball may not have even been used for the first pitch, because if the pitcher threw one in the dirt while warming up the ump switches it with a clean one, and the original one is discarded.

We stood up against the backstop as the national anthem was sung, and then it was go time. Kathryn Braun (no relation to Ryan) was directing people on the field, and told me where to stand and what to do. There was a cameraman right in front of me as I faced the stands on the first base side. When he started rolling (and I was on the jumbotron) I was instructed to start waving. That’s Rosie Red (sometimes referred to as Mrs. Redlegs) next to me. It is uncertain if Rosie Red and Mr. Redlegs are a couple, I’m sure TMZ has a story if you’re interested.

I always think it’s weird when the person is just waving for an extended period of time. I even looked at Kathryn at one point and asked if I could stop waving. As I was standing there the public address announcer was informing the fans of what I was doing and why. They plugged Be The Match and at one point I think he said “you could possibly save someone’s life, like Ben’s”. That may have turned people off because what Reds fan would want to save a Brewers fan’s life? I’m kidding of course. I was then instructed to deliver the ball and rosin bag. As I was placing the ball on the mound one of their photographers got a picture.

I included the picture of me walking back from the mound below. I glanced towards the Brewers dugout to see if Dillard was on the top step, but I couldn’t see him. I was going to give a Shooter McGavin point if I saw him. I’m wearing the ankle brace to try and get my foot to pronate better. As you can see my left foot is supinating, and I roll off onto the lateral (outside) side of the foot. My big toe doesn’t touch the ground and we think the supination may be leading to the knee problems.

I have to give a shout out to Jarrod, who works for the Reds and forwarded these pictures to me yesterday afternoon. Now, I had asked if maybe I could just go up into the seating bowl right from the field, because I was afraid I would miss the first few pitches if I went up through the tunnels. They had said they might be able to do that, but we wound up just going back the way we came. I was walking pretty fast, as I had a pitch streak going that I was trying to extend. I took two steps at a time when we went up a staircase, something that I haven’t done for months now because stairs are what causes the most pain. I thought it was worth it, and I made it to the field level concourse and then to the top of a section where I could see the field. I saw that Homer Bailey’s pitch count was at one, and I had missed the first pitch by about 10 seconds. Norichika Aoki had popped out to the shortstop on the first pitch of the game. It was a little frustrating, but if one person joins the registry or makes a donation because of the exposure I got while delivering the ball and rosin bag, it’s worth it.

I went to my seat in section 112 after the top of the first, and this was the view.

In the top of the second Corey Hart tripled to lead off the inning and Ricke Weeks followed with a home run to straight-away center, just narrowly missing Chris Heisey’s glove as he reached over the wall. Here’s Rickie giving Ed Sedar a forearm shiver as he makes his way towards home plate.

In the third inning the Brewers increased their lead to 3-0 when Aramis Ramirez drove in Aoki with a single to left. The Reds got that run back in the bottom half when Phillips’ single scored Heisey. Ransom hit a two run home run in the top of the fourth inning to increase the lead to 5-1. As he touched home Chart was there to thank him for driving him in.

The Reds got a solo home run in their half of the fourth, and another run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI groundout from Cairo. In the top of the ninth the Brewers scored three more runs, one coming on an Ishikawa RBI single, the other two by bases loaded walks from Ramirez and Chart. The Reds got a leadoff home run in the bottom of the ninth, and the second batter was retired on a flyout to Nyjer Morgan. Here he is preparing to make the catch as Carlos Gomez backs him up.

The solo home run is all the Reds could muster in the ninth inning. Final Score: Brewers 8 – Reds 4. Livan Hernandez, who the Brewers recently acquired, pitched the ninth inning and got a high five from Maldonado after retiring the last batter of the game.

I almost forgot to mention Zack Greinke, who pitched six solid innings, giving up two runs on five hits, while walking one and striking out three. He’s our stopper and helped prevent the Brewers from surpassing their longest losing streak of the season. Here he is in the fourth inning, and the pitch resulted in a strikeout of Homer Bailey to end the inning.

Right after the game I jumped in my car and drove back to Madison. I made it in 7 hours and 9 minutes, averaging 64.9 miles per hour, which includes the one 10 minute stop that I made. The fastest I ever hit was 80, and that was just briefly, so it was a leisurely drive through parts of four states. It’s an off day today, and then I’m right back at it tomorrow for the first game of a three game set with the Diamondbacks. Ten games in ten days and then it’s the All-Star break! I’m looking forward to the break, and being able to watch a baseball game on TV in it’s entirety.

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I’ll start with the radio interview I did on Monday morning. Tom Kief of the Tom and Emily show on 95 WIIL ROCK tweeted me the link to the audio, and I’ve included it below. I talk about the mission and clear up some misconceptions that he even had about the registration and donor processes..

Tuesday, due to my Grandpa’s recommendation, I visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. I left Prince’s place at 1:25, and was parked by Paul Brown Stadium by 1:40. I hadn’t had lunch yet, so I walked up to the Skyline Chili on East 4th street. I ordered the 5-way extreme, which consisted of a bed of spaghetti noodles, their traditional secret-recipe chili, red beans, diced onions and habanero cheese. I just looked at the nutritional information online, and it’s about what I expected: 870 calories, 42 grams of fat (23 saturated), 1,790 mg of sodium, 70 grams of carbs, and 52 grams of proteins. Seeing as a I haven’t gained any weight since the season started, I think I can handle it. It was delicious, and I will likely be returning when I’m in Cincinnati about three weeks from now.

I got done with lunch around 2:35 and walked back to the Freedom Center. It’s $12 for an adult, and with the amount of stuff you can see in there, it’s worth it. I thought over two hours would be enough (they close at 5 pm) but it wasn’t. I could’ve spent at least another hour in there. This is the Freedom Center as seen from Second Street.

The main entrance is on the other side of the building, facing the river. Just inside the doors there is a cool sculpture of two arms grasping one another.

I basically got kicked out at 5:00 pm (they come around and inform people they’ll be closing in three minutes/and then tell you they’re closed). It was really interesting, but also frustrating, because of how those of European descent treated African-Americans. I’m just going to post two other pictures from my visit. This first one is of the reconstructed “slave pen” that is standing on the second floor of the Freedom Center. This slave pen belonged to John W. Anderson, and this is where he would keep “his” slaves between deals with other buyers.

Next to the slave pen they have a letter that he had written to an acquaintance that detailed what type of slaves he wanted and what he’d be willing to pay for them. The letter is dated 1832, and shows how the internal slave trade persisted after Americans could no longer import slaves from other countries. You can click the image if you’d like to get a closer look.

The few pictures I’ve included don’t do the Freedom Center justice, you should really check it out if you’re ever in Cincinnati. I love history, even if this is an ugly side to our country’s past. It happened, and the only way to move on is to understand what happened and honor those who risked their lives to help get others to freedom.

I walked around outside for a bit and then walked over to Great American Ballpark where I met up with Barry. We were inside right after the gates opened, and went to the upper deck to try and get game photo number 74. Most of the field was still sunny, but because it was 5:40 the seats were all in the shade and it made getting a good picture almost impossible. I also had one taken down by the field, but I’ll stick with the one from the upper deck for the time being. Mainly because I’ll be going on the field tomorrow to deliver the game ball and rosin bag to the mound, and I’m going to try and get a picture while on the field.

Barry and I then went down to the field level and headed to our seats. Inside the home plate entrance they have two nice pieces of artwork that are made of tiles. The first is of the “First Nine”, Cincinnati had the first professional team in 1869, and this piece commemorates that team.

In the 1970’s the Reds had the Big Red Machine which consisted of Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Tony Pérez. They were supported by four other players (Dave Concepción, George Foster, César Gerøonimo, and Ken Griffey, Sr.) and the other piece of artwork honors “The Great Eight” of 1975.

Barry and I got to our seats with about 30-40 minutes before first pitch, talked baseball and waited for the game to start. This was our view from section 115 when Bronson Arroyo delivered the first pitch of the game to Aoki.

Arroyo was pitching great, and I have to include a picture of him for his efforts and to point out his extremely high leg kick.

Marco Estrada, who had just been activated from the disabled list after a couple of minor league rehab starts, was on the hill for the Brewers. He also pitched well, and struck out 12 over six innings, meaning that 2/3 of the outs he recorded were via the strikeout.

In the third inning, Zack Cozart (the Reds shortstop), hit one deep to centerfield. Nyjer Morgan retreated and made a nice catch as he crashed into the left-centerfield fence. Where he hit the fence was actually a gate, and he hit it so hard that it swung open. As he was nearing the dugout I got a picture of him getting ready to high-five César Izturis. I like that you can see Cozart in the background looking out towards where Morgan made the catch, still in disbelief.

In the sixth the Reds got back to back one-out hits from Votto and Phillips and Jay Bruce stepped to the plate with two runners aboard. Estrada tried a 77 MPH curveball to start off the at bat and Bruce thanked him kindly by putting it over the centerfield fence to give the Reds a 3-0 lead.

Arroyo had a no-hitter going, and luckily my tweet finally posted that said “Bronson Arroyo has a (cough) no-hitter (cough) through 7 innings. Jinx jinx jinx!!!” It worked, but maybe it was because I screamed something at the start of the eighth inning. Everyone knows that you’re not supposed to talk about the no-hitter and whatnot. Understanding this I waited until the music stopped right before Travis Ishikawa’s at bat was set to begin. I then put my hands around my mouth (to amplify my voice) and yelled “HEY BRONSON, DID YOU KNOW YOU HAVEN’T GIVEN UP A HIT YET?!?!?” A guy in front of me was kind of upset and gave a half-hearted “come on, man.” I was really hoping Ishikawa would get a base hit, but he didn’t, and was called out on strikes. Right after he was rung up a lady in front of us turned around and yelled “HA!!!” really loud. She had some hate in her eyes and I was a little alarmed but I just laughed it off. I laughed even louder and gave my own “HA!” when Taylor Green doubled following a George Kottaras walk. Corey Hart pinch hit for Izturis, and lined one off the centerfield fence to cut the lead to 3-2. After Rickie Weeks popped out, Aoki came to the plate and hit the full count offering through the left side to drive in Hart, who slid home with the tying run. Check out Morgan getting down to let Hart know to slide, and also him screaming when he sees Hart is safe.

Axford came out for the bottom of the eighth inning in a tie game, and I’m not sure why. It wasn’t a save situation, but the Reds did have the meat of their order coming up. Stubbs led off for the Reds, and the first pitch he saw (a 95 MPH fastball) was crushed off the batter’s eye in straight-away centerfield to give the reds the lead. The Brewers failed to score in the top of the ninth, and that was that. Final Score: Reds 4 – Brewers 3. This losing thing is getting a little old.

I haven’t missed a pitch since Wednesday vs. Toronto, and I’m hoping to keep it up. Since I’ll be delivering the game ball and rosin bag to the mound for today’s game, I’m hoping I don’t have to exit into one of the tunnels by the dugouts. If I do I will surely miss the first few pitches of the game since I’ll be leaving the field so close to first pitch. I’ll try to negotiate, and we’ll see how it goes.

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Monday morning started with a 8:30 alarm so I could be awake for the rescheduled on-air interview. Tom Kief of the Tom & Emily Morning Show on 95 WIIL ROCK gave me a call at 9:40, and I talked on air about the mission to attend all 162 Brewers games. More importantly we discussed Be The Match and how easy it is to join the registry. I was on the show for about ten minutes, and afterwards I finished up the post for Sunday. I decided I was going to get lunch at Zip’s Cafe, which is just a few blocks from Prince’s apartment. The four parter below details Zip’s Cafe, and goes clockwise from top left.

1) The exterior of Zip’s Cafe, which is located on Delta Avenue, east of downtown Cincinnati.

2) The interior of the restaurant.

3) The back of the menu, as you can see, not much has changed, which is a good thing. I’m not sure how old the photograph is, but the restaurant opened in 1926.

4) My lunch, I had a cup of Zip’s “Famous” Chili, and a chicken salad sandwich. I should’ve gotten the bowl of chili because it was delicious, and I was still hungry after finishing both parts of my meal.

After lunch I walked back to Prince’s place and took it easy for an hour or so and then got ready for the game. Barry, a Brewers fan from Milwaukee who now lives in Cincinnati, had tickets for the first two games of the series. He works in the Bengals ticket offices, and I met him just before five to grab my ticket for the game. He had to stay a little longer at work and joined me later. I parked and walked from Paul Brown Stadium towards Great American Ballpark, and the Reds’ home is hard to miss. You can see one of the exterior stadium signs on the right, as well as some of the light towers.

As you get closer to the stadium you come across the John G. and Phyllis W. Smale Riverfront Park. It has some nice water features, and seems like a relaxing place to pass the time.

Once I got closer to the park I turned around and got a picture of the John A Roebling Suspension Bridge.

I then walked up to the stadium to get my game number picture taken. I had a Brewers fan take the picture at first, and I liked the last one he took, after having him re-take it three times. I didn’t like all the people in the background, so I waited until they opened the gates and had one of those fan-photo camera guys take a picture with my camera. I wound up not really liking those either, but I dislike this one the least.

I went inside at 5:50 and walked around and took some pictures, while also taking in some of the Brewers batting practice. This is a close up look at the white light towers that are used at the park. There aren’t any other parks that use as much white as the Reds do, and I kind of like it. I’m also someone who would just wear white t-shirts all the time if that was socially acceptable.

I went to the top row of the “bleachers” in right field. I put bleachers in parentheses because they’re actually seats. The only bleachers are in the second level of seating beyond the left field wall. This is the view looking back at home plate. Great American Insurance Group bought the naming rights to the park, and you can see one of their buildings in the upper right of the picture below.

The picture below is of the scoreboard and the smoke stacks that they shoot fireworks out of before games and after home runs. The structure is supposed to resemble a riverboat, and it’s a pretty cool feature at Great American Ballpark. The white baseball bats add a nice touch to the top of the smoke stacks.

After batting practice I walked around a little, and noticed this guy signing a bunch of baseballs.

They had some NASCAR cars in the ballpark, and I was pretty sure it was Richard Petty. I overheard some other people talking and they confirmed my assumption. This coming weekend’s NASCAR race is near Cincinnati, so I’m guessing they were trying some cross promotion. There was a current driver signing baseballs as well, but I don’t remember his name. The two of them threw out ceremonial first pitches, and Petty’s was a 45 footer. I wasn’t impressed.

I found my seat, and Barry met me before the game got underway. His friend Will (a Reds fan) was joining us as well, but he didn’t arrive until the fourth inning. This was the scene as Mat Latos delivered the game’s opening pitch to Aoki. The first inning turned out to be the Brewers best chance to score. They had runners on first and second with no one out and Braun at the plate, Ramirez on deck, and Chart in the hole. They managed to score zero runs.

Gallardo was on the mound for the Brewers, and I got him as he was about to release the first pitch in the bottom half of the opening frame.

Pretty much right when Will showed up the Reds pushed two runs across. They both scored in the fourth when Jay Bruce lined a double to left field. The Brewers avoided a second straight shutout when Aoki homered to lead off the bottom of the sixth. I like the Brewers fans standing and cheering in the upper left.

The Reds added a run in the eighth inning, and that concluded the scoring. Final Score: Reds 3 – Brewers 1. Mat Latos pitched a complete game four-hitter, giving up the one run, while walking two and striking out 13. Kroger gives ticket holders free pizza and ice cream if the team strikes out at least 11. When the eleventh Brewer struck out the crowd erupted, louder than when they scored the two runs in the fourth. You have to exchange your ticket stub to get the freebies so I will not be partaking in the giveaway, and probably wouldn’t have done it anyways.

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