Arizona Diamondbacks at Chicago Cubs 5-10-08

Well, we finally visited the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. It's a grand old stadium right in the middle of a residential area. Parking was very interesting. I pulled into a personal lot and the guy said $60 for easy out, $50 for regular parking. I said, "too much," and started to back out. He said, "How about $40?" I continued to back out. He said, "$35!". I said, "Make it $30 and we'll park here." and so we did.

At Wrigley. we sat in the first deck, in the second section of seats (under the 2nd deck). We could see the field, but not the scoreboard. Second base was blocked by a post. My seats reminded me of the seats I sat in with my father at old Yankee Stadium for a World Series game in 1964 when Mickey Mantle hit a homerun off Barney Schultz to win the game. Our son, Rob, joined us at the game as did his friends from college Don and Yuki. It was a typical Chicago day ... cold and windy. Thankfully, Nancy brought the blankets we got at the Astros game. They kept us warm.

The game was a pitchers duel until the 7th inning. The Cubs scored 6 runs, highlighted by a Fukudome homerun, to break it open. Alfonso Soriano had 4 hits and scored 2 runs, both on close plays at home. Here's a link to the boxscore:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_05_10_arimlb_chnmlb_1&mode=wrap

A few other things to note about Wrigley:
1) The 7th inning singing of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" is an event. I knew it would be, but it was great to experience it. Absolutely everyone in the stadium stands up and sings.
2) The crowd at the stadium comes to experience the game rather than watch it. Everyone knows everyone. There's lots of talking and drinking. It felt like a typical Saturday morning temple service.
3) A Cubs win leads to a rousing rendition of the song "Go, Cubs, Go", again sung by the whole crowd.

My bottom line ... Wrigley was a great experience

Here's a link to the pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14772189@N03/sets/

The Hot Dogs --- Very Good ... Foot Long Dogs with every possible topping (chili, cheese, kraut, relish, pickles, tomatoes, relish, onions). Hot and very messy. One point off for a soggy bun ... an "8"