1st MLB Playoff Game - Cubs vs Cards

The regular visitors to my blog are well aware that I am a huge fan of going to concerts. They also might know that I try to get to a get to a couple Cubs game each year. This year was different with me seeing a couple games in Milwaukee and none at Wrigley. It was a great experience, and I accepted the fact it would be the only two Cubs game I was to see live this year.

Last week as the Cubs headed into the 1-game wildcard race, my brother tossed out an idea that never crossed my mind. Tom spearheaded a small group of us obtaining tickets in hopes of seeing a Cubs vs Cards game at Busch Stadium... ONLY IF the Cubs could be the Pirates in the wildcard game.

If you live under a rock or don't follow sports, the Cubs shutout the Pirates on Wednesday, and our group of 4 very eager Cubs fans headed South on Saturday for the 3-hour drive to St. Louis.

As we got stuck in crawling traffic on I-55 for no reason other than hundreds of barrels blocking off a lane, my hero came along. The truck in the right hand lane solely stopped the super-speedy, my destination is more important than yours drivers from flying by and causing even more of a bottleneck.

Despite the random construction barrels, we made pretty good time and found a nicely priced parking deck just a few blocks from the stadium. On our short walk, we came across the must have pic. I too was in awe of the state of St. Louis' water system. Red water can't be healthy for anyone. They should really have that looked into.

Tom got a pic of us in front of the fountain that is behind my head. Don't ask me why I didn't just tuck in over his right shoulder, or why I didn't ask someone to take our photo. You can't even see all of Vince's head. Photo Fail.

We headed into the stadium and were kindly offered Cardinal rally towels as the giveaway. I can only imagine the look I gave the gal that asked if I wanted one. The boys searched for food and I headed to our seats to scope it out. With a good ole ballpark hot dog and soft pretzel, I waited for the pregame festivities to begin.

Since it was the 2nd game of the National League Division Series, the Budweiser Clydesdales made 2 laps around the stadium. Just out of frame was the trailing utility vehicle with the pooper-scooper crew, two shovels, and a ginormous garbage can. It was cool to see, but 2 laps takes quite some time. I'd feel really sorry for the horses if it was game 7 and 7 laps!

Here's the Cubs starting lineup for game two of the NLDS. If you can't tell from the pictures, we were in the top deck of the stadium down the 1st base line. I'd venture to say there really isn't a bad seat in the house. Compared to the previous game on Friday night, there were so many more Cubs fans. We definitely gave the Cards fans a run for their money in the nosebleed seats.

During one of the breaks from cheering LETS GO CUBBIES!!! clap-clap, clap-clap-clap. I noticed the mix of a cotton candy / sherbet sky. We could not have asked for better weather. There were some moments were I got a little cool... those darn rally flags really can stir up a breeze. But ya just gotta put on your sleeves and let the Cards fans enjoy their cheering for getting 2 strikes on a Cubs batter.

Here's a pic of Tom and I around the 7th inning stretch. At this point the Cubs were up and I was feeling comfortable with our lead (not confident, just comfortable), and Tom was still a bit on edge counting down the outs the Cubs needed to win the game. 

The Cubs pulled out a victory and everyone in our party exploded in jubilation. Jim whipped out his Cubs W flag and all of us nosebleed Cubs fans started singing Go Cubs Go. It was such a magical moment. I don't ever recall fist pumping and yelling at the top of my lungs quite like that. Those empty seats around us were the Cardinal fans. I've never seen people leave an event so fast. Guess our singing wasn't quite on key.

Jim with a few more celebratory woo-hoos! His W flag became famous and was used in half a dozen different Cub fan photos. It was fantastic to see such excitement and wanting to capture the moment of the Cubs taking a game from the Cardinals on their home turf.

Here's me shedding a tear for the Cardinals fans. I learned this by watching a guy with 2 rally towels, doing a double sob in our neighboring section. I would not have had the guts to do this if their were still Cardinal fans in our section. Little did I know there was actually a Cardinal fan seated in front of Vince and Jim that yelled at the Cubs fans behind us. "Would you shut up already, I'm trying to watch the bleepity-bleep game!" is close to what she barked. Guess she didn't like our quirky cheers... Hip-hip Jorge and the likes. I dedicate this photo to her.

I'm still amazed everything played out as well as they did. From us taking a chance on buying tickets to a game that could have been Pirates vs Cards to us potentially being the the only Cubs fans in our section or spending the time and money to watch the Cubs get hammered by the Cards. Somehow it all worked out just right for us. It never would have happened if Tom hadn't cooked up that idea. Thanks for helping start what turned out be a magical and unforgettable chain of events.

Had to include a picture of Sparky who spent the day with my parents. This isn't him hiding his eyes during a stressful point during the Cubs game. It's his way of crashing when he got home today.