The Comeback
Long, potentially boring post about the most amazing baseball game ever below. If you don't care about baseball, this will undoubtedly be a yawner. So I've cut to spare you.
On Monday night I went to see the White Sox-Orioles game with Julian, Erica, and Tori. This was my first time seeing the Orioles in Chicago since that fateful game when my O's were up 3-1 entering the seventh, then I hugged Southpaw (the White Sox mascotal knockoff of the Philly Phanatic), and then the Sox hit what seemed like 47 consecutive doubles to win. That experience led me to swear off opposing team mascot-hugging, at least before the seventh-inning stretch.
Last night's game, at least as far as I can remember, has to have been the best I ever attended. We took seats in the upper reserve section, so they weren't great, but that wasn't important given the action on the field. In the bottom of the first the Oriole pitcher gave up a lead-off walk, which was almost immediately punished by a monstrous home run by Jim Thome. So we faced an immediate 2-0 deficit -- and yes, I am one of those people who refer to teams who I support as "we." Fortunately, the Orioles recouped both runs on a succession of quick hits in the top of the 3rd. By the bottom of the fifth, we had a tie game, polish sausages, Italian Ices, what more could you ask for on a Monday evening?
However, all that was about to change. Juan Uribe, the White Sox's last hitter in the batting order, hit another home run that cashed in a walk as well, and the next inning Josh Fields, who sounds and looks like a kid in your high school, hit another two-run homer. The seventh inning passed quietly and depressingly, except for the highlight of watching Erica and Tori dancing to "Living on a Prayer," which I'm convinced turn the tide in our favor.
The Orioles entered the eighth inning trailing 6-2. Sucky utility infielder Chris Gomez started the inning with a double, so all seemed auspicious until Nick Markakis struck out and Kevin Millar hit a slow roller to Fields at third base. However, Fields proved himself undeserving of his surname by bobbling the ball about three times, allowing another runner to reach. Then Aubrey Huff flew out.
So there were runners on first and second, two outs when Ozzie Guillen yanked Buerhle. The crowd did not approve at all of this decision, and I can't blame them because Buerhle had been quite effective. Then Ryan Bukvich entered the game, and I knew we had a chance. I mean, if your name is Bukvich, how can you ever hope to be successful at anything? He immediately surrendered a run-scoring double to Ramon Hernandez, cutting the lead to three. Then Jay Payton hit a two-run triple that went all the way to the deepest part of the stadium and had me utterly convinced I was going to see an inside-the-park home run. I didn't, and he got stranded at third, but suddenly a four-run deficit was cut to one.
The White Sox failed to score in the bottom of the eighth, so the the Orioles came to bat in the ninth still trailing by a run. Corey Patterson led off with a leadoff double, and Brian Roberts immediately drove him in with a single to tie the game. The rally was complete! Four runs erased in two innings! I hugged Erica, who had done me the great service of rooting with me for the O's (she's a Cardinals fan by trade). Gomez then put down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move over Roberts to second, then Markakis was intentionally walked. At this point I noticed Markakis taking a pretty good lead at first (the first baseman was shaded back), so I said "man, they should really try a double steal" And then they did it! I was pretty much shrieking by that point. So we had runners on second and third, one out, when Kevin Millar hit a soft single to score Roberts to make it 7-6. We had the lead! The next two batters made outs, so Chris Ray came in to close. He'd blown the last three or four leads he'd been hired to protect, but he struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth in dominant fashion. It was perfect.
On Monday night I went to see the White Sox-Orioles game with Julian, Erica, and Tori. This was my first time seeing the Orioles in Chicago since that fateful game when my O's were up 3-1 entering the seventh, then I hugged Southpaw (the White Sox mascotal knockoff of the Philly Phanatic), and then the Sox hit what seemed like 47 consecutive doubles to win. That experience led me to swear off opposing team mascot-hugging, at least before the seventh-inning stretch.
Last night's game, at least as far as I can remember, has to have been the best I ever attended. We took seats in the upper reserve section, so they weren't great, but that wasn't important given the action on the field. In the bottom of the first the Oriole pitcher gave up a lead-off walk, which was almost immediately punished by a monstrous home run by Jim Thome. So we faced an immediate 2-0 deficit -- and yes, I am one of those people who refer to teams who I support as "we." Fortunately, the Orioles recouped both runs on a succession of quick hits in the top of the 3rd. By the bottom of the fifth, we had a tie game, polish sausages, Italian Ices, what more could you ask for on a Monday evening?
However, all that was about to change. Juan Uribe, the White Sox's last hitter in the batting order, hit another home run that cashed in a walk as well, and the next inning Josh Fields, who sounds and looks like a kid in your high school, hit another two-run homer. The seventh inning passed quietly and depressingly, except for the highlight of watching Erica and Tori dancing to "Living on a Prayer," which I'm convinced turn the tide in our favor.
The Orioles entered the eighth inning trailing 6-2. Sucky utility infielder Chris Gomez started the inning with a double, so all seemed auspicious until Nick Markakis struck out and Kevin Millar hit a slow roller to Fields at third base. However, Fields proved himself undeserving of his surname by bobbling the ball about three times, allowing another runner to reach. Then Aubrey Huff flew out.
So there were runners on first and second, two outs when Ozzie Guillen yanked Buerhle. The crowd did not approve at all of this decision, and I can't blame them because Buerhle had been quite effective. Then Ryan Bukvich entered the game, and I knew we had a chance. I mean, if your name is Bukvich, how can you ever hope to be successful at anything? He immediately surrendered a run-scoring double to Ramon Hernandez, cutting the lead to three. Then Jay Payton hit a two-run triple that went all the way to the deepest part of the stadium and had me utterly convinced I was going to see an inside-the-park home run. I didn't, and he got stranded at third, but suddenly a four-run deficit was cut to one.
The White Sox failed to score in the bottom of the eighth, so the the Orioles came to bat in the ninth still trailing by a run. Corey Patterson led off with a leadoff double, and Brian Roberts immediately drove him in with a single to tie the game. The rally was complete! Four runs erased in two innings! I hugged Erica, who had done me the great service of rooting with me for the O's (she's a Cardinals fan by trade). Gomez then put down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move over Roberts to second, then Markakis was intentionally walked. At this point I noticed Markakis taking a pretty good lead at first (the first baseman was shaded back), so I said "man, they should really try a double steal" And then they did it! I was pretty much shrieking by that point. So we had runners on second and third, one out, when Kevin Millar hit a soft single to score Roberts to make it 7-6. We had the lead! The next two batters made outs, so Chris Ray came in to close. He'd blown the last three or four leads he'd been hired to protect, but he struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth in dominant fashion. It was perfect.