Baseball, Family, More Baseball

I don't blog much, but when I do, it seems to be about baseball. So here's more (with some family stuff tossed in)...

My wife and I had my parents up from Florida for five days. Fun was had by all -- we went to Second City, which was very funny, hung around downtown, etc. (Speaking of baseball, Ryne Sandberg walked right past me as we were leaving where we had lunch on Saturday; unfortunately, my dad and his camera were nowhere to be found.) The highlight, at least for my dad, was going to see the Cubs play the White Sox at "U.S. Cellular Field" on Friday. The Sox, my dad's team, pounded the Cubs, my team, so he was thrilled. Me, not so much, especially since it was about 98 degrees.

We also took a tour of Wrigley Field that day. It was the second time I've done that, first time for him. Unfortunately, they were watering the grass when we were there, so we didn't get roam the outfield or stand on the mound. But being on the on-deck circle was cool. It's amazingly close to home plate.

Actually, the real highlight was that we had about 10 other relatives come over on Saturday. It was the first time any of them had seen our new-ish place, and the first time many of us had been in the same room for quite a while. It was the day of the second game of the Cubs/Sox series, so some of the younger kids were appropriately dressed. The little dude on the right below, my namesake (though not really named after me), obviously has great taste. (These guys are my second cousins.)

Our family, like others, I imagine, has had its share of acrimony over the last few years, so it was good to see everyone putting the petty nonsense aside, at least for a day.

More baseball...I had seats four rows behind the dugout for last night's Cubs victory over the Brewers. It was the second year in a row watching a game from those seats and the second year in a row I regretted not bringing my camera. The view from there is simply outstanding. So was the game...Derrek Lee homered, and Corey Patterson made an incredible game-saving catch. (This just in: He still can't hit as well as we'd like.) The view was great, the beer was cold, the game was well-played...as I've said before, you can't beat fun at the old ballpark. Felt like nirvana after a particularly shitty day at at the office.

I don't think I'm going to another game until mid-July. Maybe I'll post before then, maybe I won't. I turn 40 next month, surely I'll have something to say about that (especially since I'll be at the ballpark that day).