Baseball

Midweek after being in Vegas we drove to LA and specifically directly to the Angels Stadium. The game was against the Texas Rangers.  It was not a good night for the Angels but a beautiful night for baseball!

I had been to the stadium back in about 2004 with my friend Chad but Darren had never been. 

While in LA we also got to go to Dodger Stadium and see the Dodgers play Tampa Bay.  David Price (from Vanderbilt) was pitching but unfortunately Tampa Ended up blowing it and letting the Dodgers win.  Also going from Angels Stadium to Dodgers Stadium is a little like going from the penthouse tot he outhouse.  Angels Stadium is new feeling and very nice.  Dodgers stadium is old and run down feeling.  A classic I guess!

Neither Darren nor I thought to bring a sweatshirt or anything to LA thinking it wouldn't be "cold" in LA during the summer.  Boy were we wrong. It was getting into the low 60's at night and sitting outside after dark was chilly.  We were not able to stick out the game to the end but it was a nice time.

Andre Dawson

Also before we left our sports memoabilia store at the mall downtown had an Andre Dawson signing.  I was going to get Darren something as a surprise but couldn't contain my excitement and told him. 

Andre wasn't a very chatty fellow but I was able to snap this picture of the two of them.

Got My Mojo (Temporarily) Back

Ever since Europe, life has been crazy and I just didn't have enough motivation to get to scrapbooking the daunting pile of pictures I had on my table.  In the last two weeks I got into a little groove and gotten a few pages knocked out.

First up was our trip to St Louis to see the Cubs take on the Cardinals.

Weekend at Busch Stadium

Over the weekend Darren and I met his parents up in St. Louis for a weekend of baseball games!  The temperature tipped the scales in the upper 90's and both the game Saturday and the one on Sunday were day games.  It was HOT but at least on Sunday we were in the shade the whole day.

Somehow the Cubs pulled of 2 wins.  They tried hard to give the game away on Sunday but somehow did pull it off.  Darren was pleased that they were 3-0 in the games we had seen this year.  His streak did run out when they lost on Tuesday though.  It makes sad but in the last few years I've seen far more Cubs games than Sox games.

On Saturday before we started sweltering in the sun.

Sunday in the shade.

It was my first time at Busch stadium.  Our seats were great and the stadium was beautiful. Great place to watch a game.

Chicago Sports Night

One of the highlights of our summer so far was the Murphy's rooftop game which featured the Blackhawks and Lord Stanley's Cup!  What an experience to be there.  I still can't believe how well my pictures came out being over 500 feet from home plate!

Ouch!

But I do love those 4 winning Chicago sports teams!!

Sox vs Cubs and a Little Blackhawks Thrown In!

Darren's mom bought tickets at a fundraiser for the Walter Payton School and invited Darren and I up to see the Sox take on the Cubs this last weekend at Wrigley.  Oh so coincidentally the Blackhawks had won the Stanley Cup the previous Wednesday and celebrated their finals victory at the Cubs game that night.

The night started out with the Hawks bringing in the Cup.

Joel Quenneville throws out the first pitch.

The Cubs/Sox/Hawks pose for a picture representing three of the city's 5 major sports teams.

Jim Cornelison, the Blackhawks singer, sang the National Anthem.  The Hawks lines up on the baseline with the Cubs and Sox and the Stanley Cup at on home plate!

We had a great view from Murphy's bleachers along with unlimted food and drinks.

Harry Carry must have given the Cubs some good luck because they took the final game of the series and avoided the sweep.  Lilly pitched a great game and held a no-hitter through 8 innings.  It didn't stand but the Cubs did win 1-0.

A very awesome experience!  I would recommend the rooftop at least once in your life!