Listing Through Life

I drove down with three coworkers. A business associate paid for the tickets and our in-stadium supper, then left halfway through the game. We stuck around to the end.

Our seats were behind home plate, 15 rows up in the upper deck. That’s high. Very high. Our view of the field looked like the camera shot from a blimp. I spent much of the evening watching a flock of Common Nighthawks circling overhead. We were closer to the birds than we were to the game.

The game was pretty good too. Jason Bere had 13 strikeouts in eight innings, a Sox’ rookie record. The White Sox won 8-1.

My wife and I spent the day in Chicago with another couple. We went to Shedd Aquarium to see the new Oceanarium in the morning, then headed for Wrigley Field. After buying lunch at Yum-Yum Donuts, we entered the park. Our tickets included a parking pass for the lot right across the street by the fire station. The seats were behind the Braves’ dugout a row in front of the first aisle. When the game began, ushers blocked off the aisle, so we didn’t have anybody walking behind us either. Bill Cosby (below) threw out the first pitch.

The game was a good one until it got upstaged by the Chicago Air and Water Show. Along about the fifth inning, we began seeing a variety of planes flying past the park. Most of the crowd was watching the show rather than the game. That’s Ryne Sandberg batting below.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Cubs had a one-run lead. The Braves had one man on and Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff at the plate. Cubs’ manager Jim Lefebvre brought in Dan Plesac to pitch. He was just winding up to throw the ball when BOOOOOM!!! A jet from the air show flew over the field just above roof level. It had come from behind the grandstand, so the immensely-loud sound arrived without warning. I was watching Mark Grace at the time and saw him jump about three feet to his left. My wife and I both jumped three feet to our left. In fact, I think every person in the park jumped three feet to the left. It was so loud, so sudden, so startling that it came as a physical shock.

Plesac’s next pitch was hit for a two-run home run. Another out, another pitcher, this time Shawn Boskie. His second pitch to Terry Pendleton was hit for another two-run home run. The Braves won 6-3. I blame it on the planes.

My family and I drove into the city with my niece. We ate a pizza supper at Comiskey Park and relaxed. Our seats were behind the visitors’ dugout, just beyond first base. The weather was perfect and the game was exciting. It was the first time I’d ever seen the Angels. I have now seen every American League team in person.

I was teasing my niece about hanging with her aunt and uncle because she couldn’t find a date on a Saturday night. She replied that she felt more comfortable with us, but I didn’t believe her because before the night was over, she had picked up one of the peanut vendors. He even came and sat with her during the post-game fireworks. (Actually, he was a friend of hers from college.)

The White Sox won 6-4 on the strength of two home runs by Ron Karkovice.

We drove from Fort Wayne to South Bend this morning. An hour before the South Bend White Sox game began, my friend went to the will-call window and got our free tickets that were left by Matt Donahue of the Cougars.

These seats weren’t hard benches way down the left-field line — they were box seats directly behind home plate. It was a very hot, humid day, and if I had been forced to sit in the sun, I might have died. But it just so happened that there were about 20 seats in the park that were in the shade, and we had six of them. It was still hot, but it could have been worse.

Stanley Coveleski Stadium was attractive, comfortable and perhaps the best Minor League stadium I’ve been in. The game wasn’t terribly exciting, but again, it was free. I figure you could get into any minor league game by approaching a member of the visiting team, telling him you were from the team’s home town and asking for passes. Or you could just bring my friend along.

During the game I wandered out to the grassy area that ringed the outfield. There weren’t a lot of people sitting on the grass, but I think it would be fun during a night game.

The White Sox won 7-1.

After the game, we went to Bonnie Doon, a popular South Bend ice-cream parlor. It was in a run-down neighborhood, but the ice cream was good and it was air conditioned. My friend performed one last bit of wizardry. A sign on the door advertised Pepsi for .05 with the purchase of food. He convinced the waitress that ice cream was food, so we got Pepsis. When we paid on the way out, the cashier disagreed, but My friend stood firm and we got our discount.

One of life’s joys is watching a master working at his craft. The master in question was one of my friends. His craft — saving money. my wife and I took a weekend trip to Indiana with him and his wife and another couple. We left home early in the morning and stopped at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Auburn just before lunch.

After touring the museum, we looked for somewhere to eat lunch. Somebody spotted a Subway, so we parked in the lot of a burger joint next door. We walked over to Subway, and my friend pulled out coupons that allowed all of us to buy our sandwiches for half price. He had filled a cooler with pop so we wouldn’t have to buy any on the trip. We sat in the van in the burger joint parking lot while we ate, then walked across the road to a Dairy Queen for dessert.

We drove to Fort Wayne and stopped at a Plaza Inn because my friend could get a room for half price with his entertainment card. He had encouraged the rest of us to borrow cards from someone, but we were unable to do so. No problem. My friend simply convinced the desk clerk to allow him to register all three rooms under his name and get the discount on all three.

The main purpose of the trip was to see a Fort Wayne Wizard game at their new stadium. We drove to the stadium mid-afternoon to buy our tickets. We asked for the best tickets they had. Nope. The game was sold out. We asked for standing-room-only tickets. Nope. We asked if we could get in if season ticket holders didn’t show up. Nope. We explained that we had come the whole way from Chicago to see the game. Nope.

We left the park and visited Fort Wayne (the fort, not the city). We were making alternative plans for the evening, but my thrifty friend wasn’t about to give up. He requested that we head back to the park.

We sat in the van while the he and his wife walked off toward the stadium. They wandered around asking everybody they ran into for tickets. Nope. They found a vendors’ entrance that was opened and walked into the park, intending to find the main office and ask there or, failing that, take some pictures of the park to say they’d been there.

It just so happened that the Wizards were playing the Kane County Cougars, whose games the my friend and his wife attend on a regular basis. The Cougars were taking batting practice, so they sat down and watched for a while. Then my friend called to Brian Peterson, Cougar pitching coach, and motioned him to come over. He told him our tale of woe and asked if there might be any player passes available. Brian said sure, he’d be glad to help out. He told us to call at the will-call window half an hour before game time and the tickets would be waiting — and free.

We had two hours to kill, so we went back to the hotel and rested. Back at the stadium, we were surprised to discover that we had to pay to park — even my friend can’t do it all. But Brian Peterson had kept his promise. We were ushered to a side gate and told we could sit anywhere in the general admission seats. The park was jammed, and the only seats we could find were way down the left-field line by the Cougars’ bullpen, just a few feet from the outside wall.

And there the fun ended. The game was dull. the benches had no back and were made of ribbed metal that gave me numb-butt, and the view was lousy. But it was free.

My friend had one more moment in store. We were planning on driving to South Bend on Sunday to see the Cougars play the South Bend White Sox. With one out in the bottom of the ninth, he went down and stood by the fence near the Cougars’ bullpen.

As soon as the game ended, the pitchers took off for the infield, but my friend was quicker. He called one of the pitchers — Matt Donahue — over and said, “Brian Peterson gave us passes for tonight’s game. We are going to be in South Bend tomorrow. Do you think you could get us tickets?” Donahue looked trapped, but he took our names and said he would do it.

The Wizards lost 4-2.