I took in my second Brewers game of the season Saturday night, a 12-6 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs.  Here’s a recap of the days events, beginning bright and early, at about 8:00 AM.

Approximately 8:30 AM – The beauty of working a job in which you normally wake up at 2 AM, means sleeping in never lasts longer than about 7.  So naturally, I was up well before 8:30, but still laid in bed until about then when Megan finally woke up.  She knew I was going to the game with our friend Adam (who has a 9-pack), and that we’d be leaving around 2.  Now our friend Brittany (Megan’s college roommate) is getting married in Mexico in about two weeks, so Megan and I both had tanning appointments at 11 and 12, but before those we decided to drive from Sheboygan to Grafton (about a half hour) to go to Kohl’s.

8:45 AM - We take off for Grafton, and get there about a half hour later, right around 9:15-9:20.  Grafton has just built a recent shopping center, which includes places like Kohl’s (for Megan) and Dick’s Sporting Goods and Best Buy (for me).  The reason I went along is because even though I have plenty of Brewers garb, there’s always room for more in my closet.  So I joined Megan’s journey to see if I could find something new that I would want.  Unfortunately, my trip to Grafton ended empty handed.

10:45 AM – We got back to Sheboygan and headed to Cost Cutters, where Megan had a tanning appointment at 11.  We got a bit lucky and were both able to go at that time to save us a second trip back at noon.  After we were done, we went to TJ Maxx, and what did I find there, some Brewers apparel I needed to have.  So finally I got home and could get everything together that I needed to get together for the game at around 12:15.  Adam and I were meeting our friend Zach (who had seats in Sec 115) at a park-and-ride at 1:30.  I packed up my car with what I needed, picked up Adam and we were at the park-and-ride at 1:35.

2:00 PM – Another stop in Grafton for me as it was quite the cold one outside and Zach didn’t have a long sleeve shirt along.  He did have a Detroit Tigers (his team) Therma Base fleece pullover along, but was looking for something for the game.  We went to Dick’s again, and what did Zach buy?  A Cubs shirt (just to spite the Crew).  Anyways, we were to Miller Park and parked by about 3:10 or so, and the people we were meeting there to tailgate with happened to have parked just 4 cars away, which made the commute much nicer.

3:15-6:00 PM – Despite a short rain, the tailgate was a good one.  It began with six of us, and grew to nine at it’s peak.  For the nine of us there, we were sitting in four different sections, Adam and I in 411, Zach and Kim in 115, Katie and Curtis in 217, and Nate, Kara, and Nick in 120 (or somewhere thereabouts).  We had all polished away our fair share of beer (Coors Light being the choice), so we were having a pretty good time when we got in the stadium.

1st Inning – Adam and I got to our seats just in time to see Ryan Braun’s RBI double in the first, and his subsequent steal of 3rd and score on the throwing error by Soto.  Zach and I are in a heated Fantasy Baseball battle this week, and going into Saturday’s action, Zach led by about 41 points.  (We finished the day tied, largely in part to Braun)  So seeing Braun racking up fantasy points helped me to a much more enjoyable experience.

3rd Inning – First beer in the park for us, $15 cool, crisp hard-earned dollars.  We got a text from our friend Katie (in Sec 217) about there being some open seats right by them.  Now, I’m all for moving to a better seat if the park is half-full, but it was a Saturday Cubs-Brewers came, well over capacity.  Section 217 also happens to be the Kohl’s Family Section, so no alcohol allowed.  I sent her a text back saying we would finish out beers and then maybe head down.

End of the 6th - We milked our beers for all they were worth (when it’s $7.50 a pop, you tend to keep the purchases to a minimum), and asked Katie again if some seats were open.  There were two right behind them that were open so we quick ran down to the second level.  We talked with Katie for a bit behind the section before we decided we’d try and hop into the seats.

Top of the 7th – At this point in the game, it’s 3-2 Brewers, the Cubs have the bases loaded, there’s two outs, and it’s a 3-2 pitch.  What did I do at this point in the game?  I stood up, along with the other 44,000 fans in attendance, cheering for a big pitch.  Out of the 44,428 in attendance, I guess only 44, 427 wanted to stand, as the guy sitting right behind me yelled out he would get the usher if Adam and I didn’t leave because he knew those weren’t our seats. 

I know at games there are a lot of drunk fans who are loud and annoying and obnoxious.  I understand someone in the family section not wanting those people around (that’s why they’re sitting in that section), but Adam and I had simply walked down, shown tickets to the usher (Katie and Curtis’) and then watched the game.  We stood up and cheered with everyone else for the big pitch, and sat down during the half inning after Carlo Villanueva enticed a grounder to third to end the threat.  We didn’t yell, scream, or swear at all.  Yet once the inning was over, there he went to get the usher, who then came down and asked to see our tickets.  We played dumb (Adam “I think we threw them away”) and were kicked back up to the 4th deck.  I let the usher know that I didn’t appreciate what happened, but I went back to my seat anyway.

Now, if the guy sitting behind me was a Brewers fan (he had a light green jacket on), I’m ashamed to be associated with him.  The only thing I was guilty of was sitting in a seat that had been vacant for a majority of the game.  I cheered like a fan should, and sat down to avoid blocking his view once the play was over.  Oh well I suppose, some people just don’t belong at a baseball game I guess.

8th Inning – It’s 9-5 Brewers now after a 6-run 7th for the Crew and then Jorge Julio proceeded to give the game right back to Chicago.  The only good thing was this meant there might possibly be a Trevor Hoffman siting.  I was hoping to hear “Hell’s Bells”, and after the Cubs closed it to 9-6 and made it a save situation, I’ll admit, I got excited.  But despite having to wait through the “Light’s Out!” happening, the bottom of the 8th showed how poor the Cubs bullpen can be.  It was like watching a Little League team that has no one who can throw the ball over the plate, and the other team just stands and watches.  So after the Crew pushed three more runs across to make it 12-6, that meant no save and no Hoffman. (I guess you can’t get everything you want)

Also during the inning, some Cubs fans had moved behind us in Section 411 (In fact, when Adam and I got back to our seats after being booted from 217, someone was in ours!)  We just sat down in a couple of open ones and I started chatting with a couple of kids who were rocking Cubs gear.  I tried to get some high fives and a “Go Brewers!” cheer out of them, but they stuck to their guns, with one of them letting me know the “Brewers Suck!” (His dad made him say it!)

But with Jason Kendall up in the 8th, I decided to bet the little guys a dollar each that he would get a hit. Kendall gets a hit, I get a high five from both and a “Go Brewers!” cheer.  He gets out, they each get a buck (which is like, 1/5 the cost of a giant pretzel).  Needless to say, JK flew out to right, and I forked out a dollar each.  But in
an astonishing act, showing the Brewers and Cubs fans can get along and the game of baseball is more about having fun and interacting with people, one of the kids still gave me a high five and a “Go Brewers!” any way.

After the game, Zach’s car was borrowed to jump another, and after we got our wheels back it was a quick drive back to Sheboygan, and after dropping off Adam, I was able to crash by about midnight.  (Not bad for having to work at 5:30 the next morning)

An eventful day, a Brewers win, some new friends (both Brewers and Cubs fans), a couple of lost bets (although I feel I won), and a great time watching a great game with some great people!  The beauty of baseball.