My friend Katie, who met up with Alex and me at the game on April 9th, works for Paragon Marketing Group in Chicago. She has a bunch of contacts, and she hooked me up with an MLB Fan Cave tour. David and I left Luke’s place around 9:45 and stopped at Brooklyn Label, a coffee shop in Brooklyn. I paid $5 for fresh squeezed orange juice, and I think it was worth it. I’m always a little skeptical that it’s just Tropicana OJ with a lot of pulp or something.

We had to transfer twice, and almost jumped on a wrong train a few times, but we made it to the Fan Cave by 11, which is when I was asked to arrive. The exterior isn’t too fancy, but the inside doesn’t disappoint. I have three four-part pictures, and they all go clockwise from top left. The first:

1) The exterior of the Fan Cave, located on Broadway and 4th in Manhattan.

2) The floor with the Fan Cave logo as you walk inside.

3) The foyer, if you will, as you enter off the street.

4) The main level of the Fan Cave, as seen from right inside the entrance, the Cave Monster looms in the distance.

I realize that some of you may not know what the MLB Fan Cave is. In short it’s nine people who are watching all 2,430 Major League Baseball games from this very location. The cave dwellers don’t live there, but they do all live together in an apartment building nearby.

The second four parter shows more of the interior:

1) The Pepsi Max wall. Pepsi sponsors Major League Baseball, and they’ve had some cool commercials with old and new ballplayers alike. On the far left you can just make out the edge of something, it’s a cooler stocked with Pepsi Max.

2) Part of the game area, there is also table shuffleboard and a Skee ball game.

3) The Signature Wall. When MLB players come to the Fan Cave they sign the wall, on one of the “baseballs”.

4) Jonathan Lucroy’s signature, who was at the cave on Monday. He’s the Brewers catcher, and it would’ve been cool to be there when he was, but being there without any players was cool in itself.

More of the interior:

1) The basement. Lenny, who was giving me and David the tour, said that last year it had been darker and more dance-club-ish, but now it’s more of a formal meeting area. Major League Baseball was going to be hosting some of the team owners for meetings later in the day.

2) The view from the upper level of the Fan Cave looking back towards the entrance. Those are baseball bats that are suspended from the ceiling (if you couldn’t tell).

3) The slide, David and I went down, because Lenny made us. It’s a little uncomfortable, and I see why they’re made for kids.

4) The Cave Monster. This is how the cave dwellers watch all 2,430 games. You’re looking at fifteen 42-inch HDTVs. As you can see, they’ve watched 530 games to date, and have another 1900 to go.

When the tour was complete I talked for a few minutes and told them all what I was doing and why (many of them had received an email and had already read about me). They asked some questions and I happily answered them to the best of my knowledge. Afterwards I got a picture with all of the cave dwellers. In the back and from left to right you have: Shaun, Gordon, Ricardo, myself, Eddie, and Rickie. In the front you have Ashley, Lindsay, Ben, and Kyle.

Ben has been growing that beard since the 2011 All-Star game. He also has some impressive tattoos, and he let me take a few pictures. As you can see, he’s got the mascot for each major league team, including some that are now defunct, i.e. the Montreal Expos. On his right side he’s got the AL teams, and on his left side the NL teams. He told us why he got the Brewers on the AL side, but I forget. I’m assuming it’s because up to this point the Brewers have spent the majority of their existence in the American League.

Dave and I left the fan cave around 12:30, and we were back at Luke’s by 1:15. Luke, David, Jesse and I went out for lunch at a local lobster joint, located on Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn. I referred to it as a lobster joint, and that happens to be it’s name as well. Going clockwise from top left:

1) The exterior of Lobster Joint. The red “Lobster” sign is the only signage on the exterior.

2) The Lobster Joint menu

3) The bar, complete with some anchors and other miscellaneous items.

4) My lunch; The New England lobster roll. It contained lobster chunks (obviously), celery, and fresh herb mayo on a griddled bun, with coleslaw, a pickle, and house made chips on the side. The meal was $17, but it was so good that I don’t regret it.

After lunch we went back to Luke’s, and I got a start on this blog post while they played some FIFA on the PS3. We left for Citi Field at 5:45, and got off the 7 train at 6:33 pm. We were cutting it a little close, but the dismal attendance made it easy to get in the park and up to the Promenade Level (the upper deck for us regular folk). David took game photo number 36, and it’s crazy to think that we’re exactly 2/9 of the way through the season, yikes.

We got to our seats with about ten minutes to spare, and I was hoping that there wouldn’t be any delays. At times it looked like it was misting, but there was nothing substantial. I definitely have lucked out, but this time was pretty important. Making an unexpected trip back to NYC would’ve been costly to the budget, and could’ve made the remainder of the season nightmarish logistically. My worst fear was a cancelled game that never got made up (possible if both teams aren’t in it at the end). Thankfully both games got played, and now I can just worry about making the last 126 games of the season.

The game got off to a great start for the Brewers, as they plated two runs in the top of the second inning. It remained 2-0 into the top of the fifth, when the Brewers struck again, this time with a solo home run from Travis Ishikawa. In the sixth the Crew put four more on the board. Lucroy drove one in with a single, and Ishikawa went deep again, this time a three run shot. For good measure Weeks homered in the seventh, and that wrapped up the scoring. Final Score: Brewers 8 – Mets 0. Good win for the Crew and hopefully they can take the momentum into Houston, where I’ll be in ten hours.

After the game, the guys wanted to go bowling, and even though Luke offered his keys to go back to his place without them, I went with anyways. The place is called Brooklyn Bowl, and it was a nice place, albeit expensive. Since it was a weekday it was a little cheaper, but it was still $40 an hour per lane. I haven’ t bowled in probably nine months, but I was still able to pull out a 164 in the first game. The second game didn’t go so well, and I only got a 99. It was actually really painful because the left leg is the plant leg, so I probably looked really silly/gimpy out there. In the second game Luke bowled a 164, so we had to settle for a tie in the high score department. There was a live band that was finishing up when we got there, and I think they have live bands most nights. They also have this:

They reminded me of those carnival games so much that I was tempted to find some projectiles and try to knock them all down, but I resisted. This greets you as you come into the area where you get your shoes, and the lanes are directly behind the above wall.

It’s been nice Brooklyn, but I’ve got to dash. I’m leaving Luke’s at 4:20 am to catch my 6:00 am flight out of LaGuardia. I connect at Chicago’s Midway Airport, and then it’s on to Houston, where I should be arriving by 11:45 am.

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Monday started with a 3:00 am alarm, and my friend David and I were on the road by four. We pulled into the $6 parking at General Mitchell at 5:00 am, and were in the airport by 5:07. We got through security a lot faster than I expected and we were the first people waiting at the gate by 5:30. We boarded the plane at 7:03 and were in the air by 7:30. We touched down at 10:17 eastern time and were in a cab shortly thereafter. It was my first experience with a New York City cabbie, and I can see why they get a bad reputation. He was weaving in and out of traffic, staying in exit lanes while we were in really slow traffic so he could cut 15 or so cars, and so on. We made it safely to Luke’s apartment by 11:15. Luke is a friend of David’s, and he’s also a Fort Atkinson grad, but before my time, I graduated in ’05, he in ’98. He lives in Brooklyn and works for Sports Illustrated, primarily SI.com. He’ll be going to London later this summer to cover the Olympics, and he’s a really cool guy.

After dropping our stuff off, David and I decided it was time for lunch. It was mainly because I had eaten breakfast at 3:05 am, and was getting hungry. We went to Calexico, is a mexican restaurant near Luke’s apartment. Going clockwise from top left:

1) Part of the menu. The Brewers had started a “Where’s Chorizo?” campaign on Mother’s Day, and I tweeted at Bernie Brewer and informed him that I found the missing sausage.

2) The cool lights they had hanging above the bar.

3) David’s beer on the left (Sixpoint’s Tiger IPA), and my beer on the left (Sixpoint’s Seasonal offering; “Diesel”). As you can see, Diesel was a fitting name for it, as it was quite heavy, but very flavorful.

4) My lunch; a Baja Fish (fried cod) Torta, which is a mexican style sandwich on grilled ciabatta bread with avocado, tomato, black bean spread, spicy slaw, and chipotle “crack” sauce. It also came with chile-cilantro fries. For $12, I’d say it was worth it.

After lunch David and I returned to Luke’s as he was finishing up an article for SI.com. We went to the roof of his building, and it provides a great view of the Manhattan skyline. This is looking west at downtown Manhattan, the tallest building in the middle is the Empire State Building.

You can also see the Freedom Tower (“One World Trade Center” legally) from the roof. It is under construction and should open in the summer or fall of 2013. The Freedom Tower is the tallest building in the distance, just to the right of the third smokestack (from the left).

We all took a nap (separately), and bummed around until it was time to go to the game. Another Fort Atkinson grad, Jessy, who is going to grad school in Albany, came down for the series as well. We all left for the subway at 5:45, and after transferring to the 7 train we arrived at the Mets/Willits Point stop at 6:25.

From the elevated stop you can see Citi Field, and after getting to the bottom of the staircase, it was about 150 feet to get to the best spot for game photo number 35. The Mets had this Home Run Apple at Shea Stadium (their old ballpark) and now have it on display outside of Citi Field.

I went to the player will call window and got my game ticket, which was in section 121. It just so happened that Luke, Jessy, and two of their friends also had seats in 121. There was some confusion and David thought that I was going to be getting two tickets, but he was able to get a ticket and sit with the other guys. I sat in my seat which was 13 rows behind them, but eventually moved down and caught the last few innings with them. We had also gotten a picture with the four of us in front of the Home Run Apple. From left to right it’s myself, Jessy, Luke, and David.

We went inside, and I took a bunch of pictures. The home plate entrance is called the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, and it’s pretty sweet. They pay homage to the man who broke the color barrier, and they do so (justifiably) in grand fashion. When you walk in you’re greeted with escalators right in front of you, and staircases going up both sides of the rotunda.

Behind the middle escalators there’s a giant number 42, with Jackie’s full name and some defining words in front of it.

Going up both staircases they have pictures and more defining characteristics above them. No need for descriptions on these.

From the top of the escalators, and looking back down and out of the rotunda provides a nice view. The rotunda was made to somewhat resemble Ebbets Field, and they did a good job.

On the way to my seat I made a pit stop at a concession stand, and picked up a Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog. It was $6, but I’ll say it was at least close to being worth it. I got to my seat, and quickly devoured the dog before the national anthem. Before doing so I got the hot dog with the field in the background. They had ketchup, mustard, onions, relish, and jalapeños as condiment offerings. I put on everything but the jalapeños. I like jalapeños, but just wasn’t in the mood for a spicy dog.

The game got underway, and the Brewers quickly had a runner in scoring position. After Nyjer grounded out Lucroy singled, and advanced to second on Braun’s groundout. I had my camera and was zoomed in on Lucroy at second base when I felt a raindrop hit my forehead. Lucroy must’ve had the same thing happen as I was about to take the picture, because Lucroy began looking skyward.

The Brewers failed to score in the first, but the Mets didn’t, singling home a run in the bottom half. The game stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when the Mets added another run on a suicide squeeze. They added another in the eighth to make it 3-0, when Conrad (the Brewers second basemen), came home on a groundout. The runner on third stopped halfway, and got into a pickle, only to see Ramirez fumble away the ball, and the run scored easily. The Brewers made it interesting in the ninth, pushing across one run, and they had guys on first and second with only one out. Conrad struck out looking, and Georgie flew out to right, and the Brewers lost for the second straight day. Final Score: Mets 3 – Brewers 1.

The Mets didn’t hit a home run during the game, but they show the Home Run Apple in action during the seventh inning stretch. It’s certainly iconic, and the fans are happy that they brought the tradition over from Shea Stadium, albeit with a new apple.

We jumped back on the 7 train after the game, and went back to Brooklyn. Before heading back to Luke’s place, we all agreed that stopping for some pizza and beer was in order. Luke and David had told me about a bar (Lulu’s) where if you buy a pint of beer you get a free pizza. I thought they were messing with me but it’s no joke. If you want toppings (other than cheese), you have to pay $1 per selection, but it’s worth it. I had a wheat beer and then paid an extra $2 to get mushrooms and bacon on my pizza. The result was a pizza that I demolished in about five minutes.

We went back to Luke’s at around midnight, and returned to the rooftop because it was still nice out. I had nowhere to set my camera to get a (really) good night shot, but this will do. The green building is once again the Empire State Building.

It’s 3:00 am, and I’ll be up in about six hours to go to the MLB fan cave, so that’s all for now.

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Today is Mother’s Day, and I spent it with my mom (Sue) at Miller Park. When I got home I went and found a picture of us when I was just a little guy. The picture was dated July 4th, 1988. I noticed that my two sisters wanted to be in the picture as well, and you can see their heads in the lower left hand corner.

We left for the game at 11:00, and made a pit stop at Jimmy John’s to get a sub for the game. This idea later backfired as I was eating my sub in the first inning. One of the Cubs fouled a pitch back my way and I wasn’t prepared. It was across the aisle, but there wasn’t anyone in the row where the ball landed, it would’ve been an easy catch. I had told someone that I expected to catch one by the 20th home game. Today was the 18th, and I still haven’t caught one, there have been a bunch of close calls, but no luck.

We got to the Cooooooooooooper parking lot at 12:30, and decided to try and get the game number picture taken before the game. The line to get into Miller Park was quite long, because it was somewhat close to first pitch, and it was a sellout for the Yovani Gallardo bobblehead. We opened the boxes and saw that one of them was the retro version (NICE!), but didn’t take them all the way out to inspect. When we got home I took them out, and to my surprise one of them displayed Gallardo in a post-dismemberment fashion. I should’ve checked them right away, and then asked for a replacement, but we were in a hurry. I’m hoping I can exchange it during the next home-stand, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll believe me. I’m a (somewhat) honest person, but there are probably people who accidentally break it, and then come back and claim it was like that when they got it. This was such a clean “break”, that if it came with the arm loose in the box I would’ve probably just glued it back on myself.

Once inside, we headed for section 438, after today I’ll only need two more game number pictures from the upper deck. After that it’s down to the loge level.

As you can see in the picture above, the two panels that would normally be tucked above the stationary one are partially extended. They do this to eliminate the roof-line-shadow from splitting the mound and the batter’s box. It makes it more difficult for the batters, because the pitch will come from the sunlight, and at the halfway point enter the shadows, making it tough to pick-up. They didn’t always do this, and Ben Sheets (a former Brewers pitcher), may have benefited from it during his 18 strikeout performance in May of 2004. The roof-line-shadow would only split the mound and batters box for part of the game, but I guess they want to keep it consistent for the entire game.

After getting the picture taken we went down to our seats, after stopping to say “YOOOOOOO!!!” to the ice man. He hangs out selling beer above section 215 before most games, so if you want to see who I keep referring to, go say hi. At some point I’ll get my picture taken with him, but I keep forgetting. When we made it to our seats I had a nearby fan take a picture of my mom and I. I’ve gotten a little bit bigger than the first picture of this entry.

Bernie Brewer and his mom were up in Bernie’s dugout throughout the game, and I got a picture of them shortly after they finished dancing to Roll Out the Barrel. Bernie’s mom had a cane and was hobbling around up there. I think the cane was just part of the act, but I can’t say for sure.

On Mother’s Day the MLB temporarily allows the use of pink bats to help raise awareness for breast cancer and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization. For some reason, none of the Brewers decided to use a pink bat. Some of the Cubs did, and the picture below shows Starlin Castro at the plate using one and Bryan LaHair in the on deck circle with one as well. Bill Hall, a former Brewer, hit a walk-off home run using a pink bat on Mother’s Day back in 2006, with his mother in the stands. The bat went to auction and Mark Attanosia (the Brewers owner) won the bat with a $25,000 bid, and gave the bat to Hall’s mother. The home run provided a great moment, and Attanasio made it last with the very kind gesture.

Nyjer Morgan, who didn’t get the start, was sporting pink arm bands and some pink cleats. He did wind up making an appearance in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter.

The game itself was close early, but the Cubs blew it open in the later innings. It was tied at two a piece going into the top of the seventh inning, but the Cubs scored 1, 2, and 3 runs in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, respectively. Final Score: Cubs 8 – Brewers 2. I would elaborate further, but there really wasn’t much excitement. The first Brewers run scored on a sacrifice fly, and the second on an infield single by Taylor Green, who had both RBIs for the Crew.

After getting back to town, we decided to hit up Frostie Freeze, Fort Atkinson’s answer to any soft serve ice cream establishment on planet earth. I may be a little biased, but not much. It opened in 1983 and has been providing Fort Atkinson with ice cream and other cold treats for almost three decades now. It’s open during the Spring and Summer months, and if you’re ever in town I suggest you make a visit. The first picture is of the exterior of Frostie Freeze, which is located on Madison Avenue, just across the street from Vos Sentry Foods. The second picture is what I ordered; an Oreo-peanut butter cup Candy Freeze. At $2.50 it’s a steal.

My flight from Milwaukee to New York (LaGuardia), leaves at 7:14 am tomorrow morning, and I’m leaving the house at 3:45 am. I just checked the weather, and the forecast for Monday and Tuesday is looking grim. Monday calls for “showers” (50% chance of rain), and Tuesday calls for “rain” (70%). I’m hoping that it somehow misses us, but it’s not looking too good. I don’t know when games could be made up, and the Brewers are only making the one scheduled visit to NYC this year. A one game (or two game) makeup date is possible, but unlikely. If both teams are way back in the standings towards the end of the season, they could just not play the games. It’s happened before, and the season could end for both teams with only 160 or 161 games played. I know it’s really early, but I always imagine the worst case scenario and then am pleasantly surprised when things don’t go nearly as bad as I thought they might.

The next time you hear from me it should be after a COMPLETED game against the Mets, late Monday night.

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Friday was another long day. I am just starting to write this post at 1:52 am on Saturday morning. I’ll be back at Miller Park in nine hours. I’ll start from the beginning of Friday though. I had two doctor’s appointments scheduled for Friday, one at 9:20 and the other at 10:30. The first was with the orthopedic doctor regarding my knee. We looked at the MRI together and he pointed out the parts of my left leg bones that have dead tissue (bone infarction). They show up as a different shade of gray on the screen, and are “outlined” in black. He said the problem could fix itself, and that they have likely been there for quite a while. He doesn’t think that it’s related to the knee pain, and he prescribed some physical therapy. We’ll see if I can work that into my schedule, but hearing that I can’t really further the damage is a relief. It’s still strange to think that parts of my bones are dead, but can slowly come back to life, if you will.

The other appointment was for my elbow, and the doctor also prescribed physical therapy. There is a Dean clinic in Fort that I may be able to get both done at, so I’ll have to try and work that in. It’ll have to wait until the 21st at the earliest, because I’ll be in New York and Houston this coming week.

I got back to Fort around noon, and began packing stuff up for the game. Victoria had planned a tailgate-date, and were looking forward to the two person tailgate. We met in Johnson Creek, and we arrived at Miller Park just before 4 pm. We had to wait a few minutes for the lots to open, but once they did we got a spot right up towards the front. After a few minutes of heating up, the charcoal was ready.

We had Johnsonville Polish sausages and some Oscar Mayer turkey dogs. I wound up eating two polish and one turkey dog, as well as some cole slaw, fruit salad, some wheat thins, and a few beers. I was quite full when we went in for the game. If we could’ve gotten the front row parking spot this picture would have been much better, as is it contains a stranger just glaring at my camera. The bokeh makes her un-identifiable, but it still diminishes a pretty good photo opportunity. Incased meats and Miller Park, it’s hard to beat that combination.

We tailgated until 6:10 and then headed inside so we could get game photo number 32 without having too many people in the way. It worked out well as the row I was in had people on both aisles, but none where I was standing; nice! I forgot to mention in Wednesday’s post, but Kathy Schwab, the Brewers Senior Director of Marketing, who is my main point of contact, stopped by and gave me two new shirts. Thanks Kathy! I wore one for Friday’s game, thus the mention.

After getting the game number picture out of the way, we met up with Alex and Jess. I stayed with them at their apartment in Chicago from April 9th to April 13th, when the Brewers had a four game series with the Cubs. Alex was born and raised in a Chicago suburb, so he’s a Cubs fan. Jess was born and raised in Wisconsin, so she is a Brewers fan. They both aren’t too serious of fans, so it works for them, I don’t know I could do the same. Jess and her family were at the game, and she has told me recently that her dad is a huge fan of the blog, and actually has it as his homepage. So I have to give a shout out to Dave, a Wisconsinite through and through, thanks for the support and the loyalty. We had a picture taken while we were in the upper deck of the six of us. The back row is myself, Victoria, Alex, Jess, and Matt (Jess’ brother). In front is Jess’ dad, Dave, he’s holding up eight fingers for Ryan Braun’s number (at least that’s what he told us). I hope this also doesn’t double as a gang sign, because then Dave, and myself (by association), might be in trouble.

We got down to our seats in section 221 just in time. I ran to the bathroom quick before the game started as Victoria went to the seats. When I came back down the staircase I saw Victoria sitting in seat 13, as usual, and sat next to her. In the first inning someone came down and said: “we have the five on the aisle”. I came back with “wrong row, this is row six”. The guy said it wasn’t, and I even pointed to the side of the chair and said “it says row six right here” (without actually looking at it myself). It was then that we realized Victoria had sat down in row eight, and we actually were in their seats. I felt like a complete moron for trying to tell the guy off. I blame myself for not double checking when I came down the aisle, but a little blame has to go to Victoria for sitting in the wrong seats in the first place. I’ll cut her some slack though because I’m usually leading the way to our seats.

The game was a marathon. Sixteen pitchers between the two teams were used, and four hundred sixty six pitches were thrown, yes I said 466! The game started at 7:10 and lasted until 12:14 am. The Brewers got on the board early with a run in the first, but they should have gotten more. Aramis Ramirez grounded into a double play with the bases loaded, and the run that scored on the play was the lone run until the seventh inning. The Brewers’ Jose Veras loaded the bases with only one out, and Kameron Loe was brought in to try and induce an inning ending double play. Instead, on the first pitch he threw, David DeJesus took him deep for a grand slam, and the Cubs had a 4-1 lead, just like that.

The Brewers got two quick outs in the bottom of the seventh but Bruan walked and Aramis Ramirez doubled him home. An infield single and a walk followed, which gave the pinch-hitting Lucroy a chance with the bases loaded. Almost everyone was on their feet, including Mr. Baseball himself, Bob Uecker.

Lucroy hit a scorching double to the right field corner, and the Brewers took a 5-4 lead heading into the eighth inning. K-Rod got the job done in the eighth, but Axford blew the save, and ended his streak of 49 consecutive “saves”. I put it in quotes because like I said before, I’m not a big fan of the created statistic. The Brewers still had a chance in the ninth, even though a lot of Brewers fans didn’t think so, and many headed for the exits after the Cubs took the 7-5 lead. Braun flied out, Ramirez walked, which brought Chart (yes, I mean Chart: C+Hart=Chart) to the plate as the tying run. That is all you can really hope for in those situations; bring up the tying run and hope for the best. Chart had a great at bat, and on the 10th pitch he sent one deep to left that tied it up at seven.

Both bullpens did a great job of keeping it tied, but in the 13th, the Brewers prevailed. After loading the bases with nobody out, Chart came to the plate again, and this time sent a bouncer up the middle that reached the outfield, and Rickie came home as the winning run. Final Score: Brewers 8 – Cubs 7. All the players mobbed Chart after he got to first. It’s hard to beat a walk-off, especially when it’s at 12:14 am.

I’m leaving Fort at 10 am for the game, and since it’s 3 am now, I should probably get some sleep.

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Sleeping until 11:00 am on Tuesday may not have been the best idea. I didn’t fall asleep until after 3:30 am on Wednesday morning, with the day game just nine hours away. I got up at 9:20, and was on the road by 10:10. I pulled into the Cooper lot at 11:15, and made my way into Miller Park. I went up to section 432 and got game photo number 31 out of the way. A couple was sitting nearby and I had the woman take the picture. After saying what I was doing the guy said that he had heard about it, and took a picture as she was taking the picture of me; good stuff.

I got to my seat and was anticipating a pitchers’ duel, with Greinke on the mound for the Crew, and Cueto for the Reds. The two pitchers did not disappoint, and it was scoreless entering the ninth inning. The Brewers had a great scoring opportunity in the third, when they loaded the bases with two outs. Ramirez, however, ended the rally with a groundout to short. Greinke gave up a single and double in eight innings of work, while striking out 11 and walking none. Cueto gave up five hits over seven innings, while  striking out five and walking one. Axford came in for the ninth inning, and retired the first two batters via the strikeout. Stubbs then reached on a broken bat single to center, and Votto followed with an RBI double. I don’t know what the cutoff guys were doing, because they weren’t lined up to throw the runner out at home, I think the third base coach saw this and sent Stubbs home. The relay was in line to go to second, and not home. Stubbs scored easily without a throw and the Reds had the first run of the game. Brandon Phillips followed with an RBI bloop single, and the Reds took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

The Brewers didn’t go quietly, and Braun led off with a solo home run that just cleared the left-centerfield fence. Braun as he nears home plate after his home run trot.

Ramirez followed Braun with a strikeout, then Hart flew out to deep centerfield. He hit it 396 feet and it was caught right in front of the 400 foot sign, ugh. If he hit it to almost anywhere else in the ballpark it would’ve been gone. Lucroy and Aoki each recorded two-out singles, and after a pitching change Kottaras took a five pitch walk. That set the stage for Travis Ishikawa, where a single would’ve likely won the game, but he flew out to left field to end the game. Final Score: Reds 2 – Brewers 1.

A couple of things got to be during the game, one bad, one good. The first occurred when third base coach Ed Sedar gave Aramis Ramirez the stop sign at 3rd on Lucroy’s single in the third inning. Stubbs, the Red’s center fielder, had the ball in his glove before Ramirez even touched third base. The ten fans seated two rows in front of me were all yelling and complaining that he didn’t wave him home. It got worse when Taylor Green grounded into an inning ending double play, and they were yelling at Sedar for “costing the Brewers a run”. When an outfielder (playing at normal depth) has the ball before the runner touches third, he’s going to be out more often than not, especially when said runner is slow-footed Aramis Ramirez. Yes, I want runs just as much as the next guy, but when a coach makes the right call percentage-wise, I’m never going second guess it, even with the luxory of hindsight.

Now the funny story. In the top of the sixth inning a beer vendor was walking up my aisle, asking if people needed beer. The same people two rows in front of me ordered six Miller Lites. After paying and giving the Beer vendor a four dollar tip, the guy who paid for them (jokingly) said: “you should be tipping me!”. The beer vendor said that he would be back in the seventh inning for last call so they wouldn’t be without a beer, and that was his tip. The customer asked the vendor if it was a slow day. The Vendor replied without something along the lines of: “yes, when you ordered six it was like an orgasm for me.” Everyone was pretty surprised by that comment, and it’s definitely the first time I’ve heard that from a vendor. I hope there weren’t any children nearby asking what he was talking about, because that may have been a little awkward.

During the discussion between the fans and the vendor I mentioned above, I think I missed a pitch. Since it was taking place right in front of me, and I had to keep shifting to see the field (because the vendor was in the way), I had to have missed at least one. It may have been more than one pitch, but it also could have been zero. I’ll (reluctantly) record it as the first pitch to Cozart, for streak purposes.

I’m sitting on Victoria’s couch at our place in Madison as I type this, and this off day came at the right time. I don’t know if I’ll post about today, because I’m not really going to do anything. I’m not sure doing laundry is blog worthy, so I’ll be posting about Friday’s game early Saturday morning.

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Tuesday allowed me to rest for a bit. I slept until about 11:00, and it felt great. After getting up I ate breakfast, wrote the blog post for Monday’s game, finalized the business card and placed my order. I was hoping to have them in time for the trip to New York on Monday, but I found out it wasn’t doable anymore. I shouldn’t have waited as long as I did, so I have no one to blame but myself.

I went to the game with Crandall, whom I went to the game with on April 24th. I picked him up at 4:25 from his place in Fort, and made it to Miller Park by 5:38. We went to section 430 in the upper deck, for game photo number 30.

After looking at this picture, I don’t know if I can make it the full season without shaving. That was the original plan, but seeing this picture makes me doubt that I can put up with looking like this (and it will get worse) for another five months.

Crandall and I walked down to section 115, because I was going to be meeting up with a few people. We didn’t see them, and as we were walking in the cross aisle we crossed paths with Jill Aronoff, the Brewers director of merchandising. I’ve mentioned her before, and she has helped pass along the licensed merchandise that the Brewers are providing. She showed me her phone and said the Brewers now have an etching machine to engrave cell phone cases. She asked if I wanted one and I was really skeptical, since I’m completely satisfied with my iPhone 4 “bumper”. Since we didn’t see the guys I was meeting up with, I agreed to head to the team store with her and Daniel, who works for Coveroo, the company that makes the engraving machine/software. It’s not just for iPhones, and there are many phone models that are available, I chose the ball and glove logo, and had Go Brewers! engraved in the bottom part. This picture below shows the machine in action.

You can’t see it, but it’s using a laser to burn off the top layer, which exposes the silver layer underneath. You can see the little bit of smoke on the far right of the case, as the laser works its way down. It takes about three minutes, and the finished product is pretty sweet. So if you’re interested in getting a custom made cell phone case, stop by the team store by Friday’s front row, and take a look for yourself. They cost $30, and after seeing the quality of the engraving and the case itself, I think it’s worth it.

After thanking Jill and Daniel, Crandall and I went back to section 115, to see if the guys were there yet. I was meeting with Eric, Eric, and Larry. Eric McLean is also a leukemia survivor, and is battling for the seventh time now, after countless relapses. He was originally diagnosed at 18 with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, and has received three stem cell transplants. If you want to read about his story, you can CLICK HERE. He’s one hell of a fighter, and he’ll be in my thoughts for the remainder of the season. I chatted with him and Larry Hisle, who played for the Brewers over parts of five seasons. Injuries prevented him from finishing his career the way he would have liked, and he only played in 79 games over his final four seasons in the majors. He’s got two World Series rings, as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays coaching staff, when they won in 1992 and 1993.

The five of us got a picture together, and from left to right you have Crandall, myself, Larry Hisle, Eric, and Eric Mclean. Crandall isn’t the most photogenic, but after showing him the picture he said he was just glad that his eyes were open.

Larry and the two Erics had seats in 115, and after we said our goodbyes Crandall and I headed up to section 221, and got situated for the game. The Brewers got off to a great start when Lucroy laced a two run single to center in the first inning. They added one in the second, when Braun hit a ground rule double to left. There had been runners on first and second, and Weeks would’ve scored easily from first since he was on the move with two outs. Aramis followed with a pop out, but made up for it when he tripled in the fourth and drove in three runs. I think Uecker once said that the bases clearing triple is the most exciting play in baseball, and it’s hard to argue. You’ve got four guys sprinting around the bags, and a fielder racing to try and limit the damage, good stuff all around.

The Brewers added a run in the fifth, the Reds two in the sixth, and the Brewers got one back in the seventh on a César Izturis home run. Earlier in the game when he came to the plate I had jokingly said to Crandall; “here comes a power threat.” We wondered how many career home runs he had, Crandall guessed 14, me 9. After a quick search on the web I learned that he had 15 at the time (in 4,083 at bats!). That’s one in every 272 at bats. I’m guessing that he had heard our discussion (from 200 feet away), and in the seventh inning he wanted to make us eat our words. The Reds added a meaningless run in the 8th and the Brewers won going away. Final Score: Brewers 8 – Reds 3.

I’ll be at Miller park in ten hours for the 12:10 rubber match. I’m hoping that Greinke and the Brewers can get a win tomorrow to secure a series win, something they’ve only done 3 out of 9 times thus far.

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Monday was another long day, and it definitely didn’t go as planned. On Sunday night we arrived at the San Francisco Airport around 10:00 pm for a scheduled departure time of 11:45. The flight was headed to Chicago’s O’hare Airport, where we would have a fifty minute layover. We were then supposed to take the 6:35 am flight to St. Louis, where we left Victoria’s car after the Cardinals series. In hindsight, I should’ve planned the trip differently. I should have scheduled the original flight to San Francisco out of Milwaukee and not St. Louis. Instead of staying that Sunday night in St. Louis, we would have driven back to Wisconsin, and caught a morning flight from MKE to SFO on Monday, April 30th. It would have made it more tiring on the front end, but much easier on the backend.

After waiting at our gate for about an hour, the guy who works at the gate said that because of the weather in Chicago, our crew hadn’t arrived yet. They were flying in from Chicago, and that flight had gotten delayed. American Airlines changed the departure time to 12:30 am, and even that would’ve caused us to miss the 6:35 am connecting flight to STL because of the four hour flight, and the two hour time difference. I changed our flight to the 9:00 am flight out of O’hare, and then started debating my options. If that flight was on time, we would probably would have left St. Louis around 11:00 am. My aunt still had to pick us up from the airport, and take us back to the car, which as at her house in St. Charles. Our flight leaving San Francisco didn’t take off until 1:30 am local time, and I continued to weigh my options. As we were nearing Chicago, this was the view from my window.

When we got into Chicago, I decided that I didn’t want to risk missing the game in Milwaukee. Victoria and I had talked about this months before, and knew that this was possible. She didn’t prefer it, but she agreed to fly solo to St. Louis to get her car, and drive back to Wisconsin. I took a bus to Janesville, where my mom picked me up from the Van Galder bus stop. I was home by 11:18, and went to sleep shortly thereafter. It turned out that I could’ve made it work if I had gone with Victoria to get the car. She drove through Janesville on I-39/90 around 4:30, even though her flight to St. Louis was delayed 30 minutes as well. She’s a trooper and I’m extremely appreciative of how she handled everything.

If I had gone with her to St. Louis, I’m not sure how it would have turned out for me at the game, or driving home from the game. While Victoria was able to get some sleep on the flight from San Francisco, I was working on the blog for Sunday, and still doing so on the bus ride to Janesville. Without the nap that I got in Fort, it would’ve been rough going to and from the game. I didn’t set an alarm when I took the nap, and when I woke up I had absolutely no idea what time it was. I was terrified that I was going to look at the time and 6:30 pm was going to be glaring back at me. Thankfully it was only 4:04, and I got ready for the game in a hurry. I stopped at Jimmy John’s in Fort for a sub, which I ate once I pulled into the Braves 1 parking lot at 5:55.

After finishing my sub, I went inside (at 6:14) and returned to the upper deck. I asked the nearest fan to take game photo number 29, and he got it done with one take. Besides the opening day photo, I think this was the first one that only required one attempt, so kudos to you, unnamed Brewers fan.

I exchanged the designated-driver-parking-pass-tear-off  for a soda voucher, then killed some time in the loge level concourse. Early in the year when I went down the staircase to the right of section 216, I had asked the usher to remember my face. I said that I would be there for all of the home games, and I didn’t want to take my ticket out every time. That last sentence may have come off as arrogant, but I said it in a friendly/joking manner. I also told him about my initiative, and he seemed intrigued. Now every time I go down that staircase, he always shakes my hand and asks me how I’m doing.

I was in my seat with 30 minutes to spare, and I was ready for the Crew to start a winning streak. It looked good early as Braun hit a solo home run to center in the first inning. Marco Estrada got the start, as Yovani Gallardo was a late scratch. He retired the first nine men that came to the plate, but then it got ugly. The first five at bats for the Reds in fourth inning went as follows; leadoff home run, double, RBI double, single, 3-run MONSTER home run (estimated at 442 feet). Just like that, in a span of six or seven minutes, the Reds had a 5-1 lead. The Reds added a run in the ninth, and that was it. Final Score: Reds 6 – Brewers 1.

There was a funny fan moment at this game, and it occurred during Joey Votto’s at bat in the fifth inning. A fan three rows behind me was yelling stuff towards Votto (even though he probably didn’t hear it), and one of the lines was “VOTTO: YOU’RE OVERPAID!!!” One of the guy’s friends was laughing at his antics, and added (not nearly as loud): “and you smell like poopy!” Even though it was shortly after the Brewers gave up five runs in an inning, I couldn’t help but to laugh.

The five run inning was impressive by the Reds, but I pulled off an equally impressive feat of my own. I was able to get a soda from a concession stand, go to the bathroom (and wash my hands), all while being out of my seat for just one pitch. I asked the two guys in front of me if they would watch my stuff, because I was going to try and go to the bathroom. I told them my mission, and that I didn’t want to miss any pitches, so I’d be going up to the concourse with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. They agreed and I dashed up the steps after Izturis was called out on strikes. I then watched Kottaras single on the first pitch of his at bat from above section 223 (my seat is in 221). No one was in the concession stand line at the time, so I  walked over and gave them my voucher, said “Diet Pepsi” and “I’ll be right back”. I went back to the standing room above section 223 so I could see the field, and saw that the Reds were making a pitching change; beautiful! I went back to the stand, got the soda, went to the bathroom, washed my hands, and was back in my seat before the first pitch from Ondrusek to Aoki. Whew!

After all that work to not miss a pitch, I still managed to mess up a “perfect game” at the last second. To sum it up, I’m pretty mad at myself. I saw the first 282 pitches of the game but then got caught looking at my phone and missed the second-to-last pitch of the game. I was texting a few friends to see who wanted to join me for Tuesday night’s game, and got distracted. I looked up as the ump was signaling a strikeout of the Brewers’ Brooks Conrad in the bottom of the ninth. I really wanted to not report it since I saw the umpire make the call, but I can’t.

That’s all for now, it’s 1:45 pm, and I’ll be leaving in about three hours for game number two of the series.

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Sunday started off early, as Allison was going to take me and Victoria to Pixar for a quick tour. Allison has a zip car, where she pays a $20 yearly fee, and then can use one of four cars for $8 an hour. As we were driving towards Emeryville, where Pixar Studios are located, I was asking about how insurance works, and paying for gas, and all that good stuff. When we were halfway over the Bay Bridge, cars in front of us flashed their brake lights, and we saw a loose tire just flopping in one of the lanes. Allison wound up slamming on the brakes and we were able to stop a few feet from the car in front of us. The car behind us wasn’t so lucky, and we got rear ended. The bridge was busy as usual and we took the Treasure Island exit, which is about the halfway point of the bridge. Allison pulled over and the culprits were mormon missionaries from Idaho who were in town to bless a baby. Everyone was OK, I had a little bit of a headache, and Victoria said her neck hurt a little, but overall we think we’re fine. The damage to the car wasn’t too bad, but it’s probably a hassle for the zip car company, because it takes a car out of their fleet for a little while.

Where we pulled off presented me the opportunity to get a picture of the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco skyline (I’m always looking for the positives).

We got to Pixar at around 10:15, and I was pretty excited. Going clockwise from top left, the four part picture below contains stuff that can be found outside the buildings at their campus.

1) The entrance to Pixar Animation Studios. There is an attendant at the booth below the R in the picture.

2) Victoria and I had to show the attendant identification and we were given visitor labels. “A stranger from the outside!” is printed at the bottom. This picture is now black because Pixar was having problems with counterfeit badge issues and I was asked to remove the image. Hopefully I didn’t cause any problems.

3) The Cars 2 logo on the driveway as you get past the security checkpoint.

4) The Pixar lamp as well as the “Luxo Ball”, which has appeared in many Pixar films, including Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles, and Finding Nemo.

Behind where I took the picture of the Pixar lamp and Luxo Ball is the entrance to the main building on the campus, and it houses most of the offices. Clockwise from top left:

1) The cafeteria and a place for informal gatherings.

2) The game room.

3) The Ben Rouse Toy Story 3 action figure (doing a bad Heisman Trophy impression)

4) Pixar’s trophy case, it’s right inside the front door. There is a bunch of Oscar’s in there, and I think it contains just the best picture awards, but I’m not 100% on that.

There’s a bunch of other cool stuff, but some of it I couldn’t photograph as per Pixar policy. I didn’t want to get my gracious host fired, so I reluctantly followed the rules. Again, going clockwise from top left.

1) Sulley and Mike Wazowski, the two main monster characters in Monsters, Inc.

2) Buzz Lightyear and Woody, from the Toy Story movies.

3) Two of the cars from the Cars movies.

4) A giant piece of wall art for their upcoming movie; Brave. Upstairs they had renderings and clay sculptures of the animals and characters, but I couldn’t take pictures of those.

Allison showed us some other things around the campus, including one of the screen rooms, the swimming pool, basketball court, soccer field, and the on-site fitness center. It’s about what I expected from a company that has come out with amazing animated movies over the past decade, but it was still cool to see. I’m a big Apple fan, and the Steve Jobs – Pixar connection is evident at their Animation Studios, seeing that he helped design the campus.

Allison drove us to AT&T Park after we were done at Pixar, and we got there with plenty of time to spare. I left the two tickets that I had originally purchased at will call for Adam’s sister, because my sister’s friend Kathleen got us better seats. After doing so we circled the stadium and I took some pictures.

There are three statues outside of AT&T Park. There’s actually a fourth, Willie McCovey, but it’s on the other side of the cove, and I forgot to get a picture of it. From left to right you’ve got Orlando Cepeda, who played for the Giants from 1958-1966, Juan Marichal (1960-1973), and Willie Mays (’51, ’52, 1954-1972).

Victoria and I walked out onto the pier that is beyond centerfield, sat out there for a bit and took in the scenery, and the great weather. When towards the end of the pier, we couldn’t help but notice some of the names of the boats that were docked. I thought these three were kind of funny.

I took more pictures, and four of them are below, going clockwise from top left:

1) The view of AT&T Park from beyond centerfield, out on the pier.

2) You may have noticed the blimp in the top right corner of picture #1. This is a close up. I’ve seen Goodyear blimps, a Snoopy blimp, and a Conan blimp, but never one that advertised Vodka. I thought it was interesting, but they did they’re job, as I had never heard of that brand before.

3) A close up of the giant Coca-Cola bottle and baseball glove from outside of the stadium.

4) One of the decorative handles for the ballpark gates.

We were inside the park by 12:06, and had an hour before the game started. We walked around in search of something that sounded good for lunch. I figured that I should have something more healthy than a half pound polish again, and I settled on the Chicken Apple Sausage. Bad decision. It may look good below, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I don’t know if it was all the toppings combined with the unique taste that made it taste bad, but I considered not eating the rest of it. Since it had cost me $6.50, I finished it, but I wasn’t happy. Victoria had a pretzel, which is also shown below, but they put on WAY too much salt, so she brushed off a lot of it before eating.

We had seen someone with lemonade, and tracked down the stand that offered it. Nearby there was a cool piece of artwork that was made to honor Willie Mays and “the catch”. Willie Mays made a great over the head/shoulder catch in game one of the 1954 World Series, at the Polo Grounds in New York. Since there is video footage of the catch, it will always be available to reassure anyone who’s skeptical about how good the “Say Hey Kid” was.

It also happened to be Willie Mays’ 81^st birthday, and they celebrated by having everyone sing Happy Birthday to him. He was presented a cake in the press box, alongside Jon Miller, and they showed him on the jumbotron. It was a special moment.

It was kind of weird how we got to our seats. We went down one of the aisles, and then when we got down far enough someone checked our tickets, and we went up a tunnel. In the lower level concourse, we saw the people that were going to be doing something on the field. It just didn’t seem like we were supposed to be down there. They also built this into the stadium, it’s the visiting team’s batting cages, I’m not sure if they have the same thing on the third base side for the Giants. I know the picture quality is kind of bad, despite how bright the lights look, it was kind of dim, and the windows were very reflective. Brooks Conrad was taking some hacks off of a tee. Rickie Weeks was in there as well, but I don’t think he’s visible in the  below picture.

After the game, we had to come back into the concourse, and I crossed paths with the Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin. We were walking in opposite directions and I patted him on the back (gently) as I walked past, and said “Hey Doug”. He quickly said Hi back and smiled. I wonder if he’s heard about my story yet, my guess is no. We also saw Bill Schroeder in the concourse right after the game, there must be a direct elevator from the press box down to that level, because he got there pretty quick.

Back to the game. It got off to a good start for the Brewers, and they took a 1-0 lead after the first half inning. The Giants answered quickly and scored two in the bottom half. It was a little disheartening because I was pumped that we got a run off Matt Cain (a Cy Young candidate) so early, but then had a let down when we gave two runs right back. The Giants extended the lead to 3-1 in the fourth on a single by Ryan Theriot. The Crew was able to cut the deficit back to one after Aramis Ramirez hit a fly ball just deep enough to score Weeks. If the throw would’ve been somewhat decent, I think Weeks would have been toast at the plate.

It was looking bleak for the Brewers as they entered the top of the ninth trailing 3-2. Hart reached on an error to lead off the frame, Lucroy subsequently struck out swinging, and Taylor green followed with a pop out to shortstop. Travis Ishikawa pinch hit for Cesar Izturis, and he delivered a game tying RBI double, that I thought was going to be caught. The game stayed 3-3 heading into the bottom of the 11^th, that’s when the Giants got busy. Leadoff single, sacrifice bunt, intentional walk, an unintentional walk, and the Giants were in a great spot to win the game, which they did on Hector Sanchez’s RBI single. Final Score: Giants 4 – Brewers 3.

This is what bugs me about baseball; basing how you use your players on a created statistic; the save. The Brewers had Tim Dillard pitching, and John Axford in the bullpen, waiting for a “save situation” (up by three runs or less in the ninth inning or later). Clearly, the bases loaded jam is more important, because if the Giants score in the 11^th, there will be no 12^th inning or save situation to speak of. I would’ve been in favor of bringing Axford in to try and get out of the jam, but he was left in the bullpen until the (in this case; nonexistent) save situation presented itself.

That’s enough ranting. As I’m typing this, it’s 5:58 am central time, I haven’t slept in 20 hours, I’m on a plane that is somewhere between San Francisco and Chicago, and I need some sleep.

One last thing, when K-Rod struck out Nate Schierholtz to end the bottom of the ninth, Lucroy tossed me the ball as he was entering the dugout. As you can see from the picture, I had first row seats, right behind the Brewers dugout! Thanks again Kathleen!!! A Brewers fan she works with, Grant, had bought four tickets off of StubHub, and then sold two of them at a reduced price, so both get props for the hookup.

I also have to give a shout out to Adam and Sam, whom I met up with on Friday before the game. After we got back to Allison’s place after the game, we packed up, and took a bus over to Adam’s place, which is only a mile or so. Sam cooked us dinner (bell peppers stuffed with ground turkey, rice, and corn). They were delicious. Thanks Guys! Adam gave us a rid to the BART station, and we got to the airport at 10:00 pm, with a scheduled departure of 11:45pm. Even though I (obviously) know what happens next, I’ll leave it as a surprise for the next post.

Hopefully some home cooking is just what the doctor ordered for the Brewers. They’ve got to get on a winning streak at some point if we they want to get anywhere this season.

Oops, I posted this without the game number 28 picture. Here it is:

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This is actually a quick note about Friday, because I forgot to mention it. As Victoria and I were walking to the Bubble Lounge after the game, she spotted someone try to hail a cab, but it was three lanes away. She laughed a little and knew the cab couldn’t have gotten over because it was busy. Then she says, “Wait, isn’t that Nyjer, oh, and Telly?” I think Telly kind of heard her, and I said his name again. Telly said; “Hey Nyjer, come here, this was the guy I was telling you about.” I shook both their hands and Nyjer said “So you’re really doing it”. I said “yes, all 162, we’re 26 in now”. He wished me luck and they kept trying to catch a cab back to the hotel. I would’ve thought there would’ve been a team bus, but maybe they just missed it, who knows. Nonetheless, it was pretty cool.

Back to today; with the day game on Saturday, and the fact that I didn’t get home until midnight, I got up early and wrote the blog post for Friday. I finished just in time to leave for the game. Allison, Victoria and I jumped on the 12 bus and headed towards AT&T Park. We got to the park by 12:15, and headed to the upper deck to get game photo number 27.

We are now one sixth of the way through the season, and the Brewers are on pace for a 72 – 90 record. I’m really hoping for a turnaround, but as of right now I’m not the most optimistic person. I know it’s early still (kind of), but as you’ll read later, the injury bug has taken a pretty big bite out of our lineup.

We had some time before the game, so we got some lunch. As we were out in the concourse, Victoria pointed out a stand that had a half pound polish kielbasa. Yes, you read that correctly, a HALF POUND! I ordered it with everything on it, which is grilled peppers and onions, and sauerkraut. I added ketchup and some spicy brown mustard, and the whole thing had to be approaching a full pound.

I’m not sure that picture does it justice. As a frame of reference, I have slightly larger hands than the average male.

It was Sergio Romo bobble head day, but only for the first 20,000 fans. We all got one, but we think Victoria left it next to a seat when she was taking the game number picture. So you’re welcome, random fan. I’ll probably try to sell mine tomorrow, because there will be less fans that have it than if I tried selling it today. I would consider keeping it, but since it was a seven day trip, and I don’t check bags, my suitcase is completely maxed out.

As for the game; the Brewers got on the board early with an RBI single by Gonzalez in the second. Gonzalez stole second when Kottaras was batting, but slid awkwardly into second, and was injured. I haven’t gotten a chance to see a replay, but it sounds like he’ll be on the disabled list for quite a while. Gamel, Gomez, and now Gonzalez are all going to be on the DL, and Gamel and Gonzalez could miss the rest of the season. I know every team has injuries, but this stretch of four games has been rough.

Where we were sitting provided a great view of the entire field, and I took some pictures of the action. This is Wolf pitching during the fifth inning. I think this pitch wound up as a double, so maybe I should stop taking pictures.

The Brewers clung to the 1-0 lead, and squandered a bunch of great opportunities to tack on runs. In the fifth the Giants tied it up on Bumgarner’s RBI double. The Giants added three more in the sixth and took a 4-1 lead. The Brewers got one back in the eighth on Braun’s solo home run, but the Giants got it right back in the bottom half, and that was the game. Final score: Giants 5 – Brewers 2. With Matt Cain on the hill tomorrow, it’s going to be tough to win the series. I’m holding out hope that Marcum can match him pitch for pitch, and the Brewers can squeak one out.

After the game the three of us walked halfway back to Allison’s, and then took a cab the rest of the way. The second half was all up hill, and Allison picked up the bill because she hates walking up hills. After resting for a bit we went out for some mexican food since it was Cinco de Mayo. Allison said there was a place called Nick’s Crispy Tacos, and we walked the few blocks to get there. Clockwise from top left:

1) The ceiling decorations for Cinco de Mayo. The place also doubles as a dance club at night, called “Rouge”, thus the chandeliers.

2) Pescado, Nick’s fish tacos. Only one of them was mine, the other was Victoria’s.

3) A carne asado taco and a pollo asado taco. I had the steak, and Victoria the chicken. We didn’t order it “Nick’s Way”, which is when they add guacamole, cheese, and make one of the corn tortilla shells crispy. They messed up the order, and instead of having them make new tacos we just accepted the free guacamole.

Allison has three full size couches in her flat, Victoria and I are sleeping on two of them. This was where I slept last night, and yes, that is Winnie the Pooh.

I had brought up having “business” cards made so I could hand something out when I talk to people on the road and at home. I sent this to Be The Match for approval and they thought it looked good. I just have to place the order online somewhere. If you see me at some point during the season, stop and say hi. I’ll hook you up with a momento, and something to show your friends to help spread the word. I’m still debating on if I should put something on the back. I was thinking of using the quote: “Never regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many.” I know it’s not the most professional, but I put some thought into it and am pretty happy with how it turned out.

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