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Apryl had some girlfriends over the house tonight, so I got tickets for the only game in town, the Cubs vs. Cardinals. Unfortunately, the game was rained out. Hopefully, I will be able to go when it’s made up in July.

More photos:

White Sox 6, Twins 1

Yesterday on Easter Sunday, I spent the afternoon at the ballpark (along with a relatively small crowd of 25,571) watching the last game of the Sox/Twins series. The temperature was 37 degrees, yet in my seats in the sun, the weather was quite pleasant. As you can see from the photo above, I was a bit further from the action than last game. However, the view from the upper decks still gave me a nice vantage point of the action. And luckily for me (and the team, for that matter) the action was far superior to Thursday’s game against the Royals.

Mark Buehrle, the Sox starting pitcher, had a great day allowing only two hits and striking out five batters. Unfortunately, one of those hits given up by Buehrle was a home run from Delmon Young in the second. But thankfully, the Sox offense came alive in the the fifth inning, and the Sox scored in every inning afterward. Along with the pitching, highlights included a productive day from Dewayne Wise who went 2 for 3, home runs form Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye, and a diving catch in the outfield from Carlos Quentin.

In the 9th, Clayton Richard came on as the Sox closer, and immediately loaded the bases giving the next batter the chance for a home run to cut the lead by 1. And guess who was that next batter? Right, Mr. Joe Crede. There was quite a bit of nervous laughter around me at the thought of Crede hitting that grand slam and being a Twins’ hero. Now, one of the main reasons I wanted to attend the first series against the Twins was to see how Sox fans would react to their once Sox hero taking sides with a rival. As I mentioned in a previous post, the first game back for Crede resulted in a standing ovation from the Sox fans. On Saturday’s game, there wasn’t any standing but still a healthy dose of applause. On Sunday, as Crede was making his way up to the plate for the first time in the second inning, he was once again pleasantly greeted by the fans. The second time up to bat Crede was still applauded but far less enthusiastically. His third time, with the bases loaded, he was applauded by only me and a handful of Twins fans.

Crede didn’t face Richard. After loading the bases, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen took Richard out to put in regular closer, Bobby Jenks. Something about seeing Jenks facing against Crede seemed so odd and wrong. Below, Crede at the plate:

Instead of being the hero for the day for Minnesota, Crede struck out. I never thought I would be pleased to see Crede strike out but there I was cheering for that first out of the inning. Next up, Young (who was responsible for the Twins’ only run) hit into a double play, and the Sox had won!

As for Crede, I think Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said it best, “I love Joe. I’ll never say a bad word about Joe. I wish him all the best. I wish everything for him and his family, but obviously when we’re playing him, we’re trying to get him out. And when I’m up to bat, he’s trying to get me out.”

Below, Sox organist Nancy Faust (who also entertained the fans with her renditions of “I Walk the Line” and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”) leads everyone into “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” for the 7th inning stretch:

Last night, the Sox organization proved that they were a class act with a special video tribute for Mr. Joe Crede, which played before the starting pitch and included Sox’s announcer Hawk Harrelson’s famous line “You can put it on the board… YES!” changed to “Crede, YES!”. The Sox fans also showed a classy move when they gave Crede a standing ovation as he stepped up to the plate for his first time back the Cell (to the tune of Air Supply’s “All Out of Love,” courtesy of a practical joke designed by Brian Anderson). After such love, Crede preceded by thanking his old family with a homer right off of Jose Contreras. Too perfect! Even the Sox fan message board, South Side Sox, a board whose members never hold back their harsh opinions, were surprisingly loving with comments like ” I have never enjoyed an opponents HR more than I did with Crede’s. Atta boy Joe!” and “I think I will surrender 1 run on the season for Mr.Crede.” Welcome back, Joe.

As for the game, the Twins clobbered the Sox 12 – 5.

To read more about Crede’s return, take your pick: Sox version or Twins version.

Comic strip from Carl Skanberg.

White Sox 1, Royals 2

Yesterday, I attended my first Sox game of the season. I had an early corporate job that morning that lasted until about 11:30am, but I was still able to make it over to the South Side right before the first pitch at 1:05pm. I had already had a ticket but while I was making my way over to the park, I purchased a premium lower box ticket for ten bucks! As you can see from the photo above, these were amazing seats! (Also, it’s hard to tell from the picture above, but because of the corporate gig, I was dressed up in a white button down, black pants, and dress shoes. Just like the ole days at the ball park!) Unfortunately, the game itself was far from amazing.

The Sox have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to be competitive in the AL Central Division. On the plus side, the six innings of pitching from John Danks were great. And as relief pitchers, Dotel and Thornton were also impressive. MacDougal was MacDougal. Which means he almost cost us a few runs before being saved by Thornton. The most exciting moments of the game were the Sox getting in trouble, and watching the pitching get us out of the inning.

In the 9th, closer Bobby Jenks gave up two doubles and a winning home run from ex-Red Sox, Coco Crisp. Someone around me was annoyed because as soon as Crisp swung the bat, a person in the crowd yelled, “Lucky Charms!” Baseball fans (and players) are very superstitious. So, of course, it was because someone yelled out something stupid that gave Crisp the power to crank one over the right field wall. Or, more logically, it could be because Big Bobby has a tendency to give up hits and, at times, runs in his attempts for a save. No, it was definitely that pesky leprechaun. Who knew Sir Charms was a Royals fan?

Coming into the bottom of the 9th with only three hits (and I have no idea how we even got those), the Sox actually put up a little rally. And with a fielding error on the Royals, Sox fans were given a glimmer of hope that the game might be tied up or won by Wilson Betemit. The Sox had obtained Betemit from the Yankees during the off season through the Nick Swisher trade. My only problem with Betemit was that he was pitch hitting for Brian Anderson. Anderson had only been brought into the game in the 7th, and had only once at bat. Sure, he struck out, but Anderson has been a hero in clutch time before. For some reason, Anderson is never given much of a chance. So, out goes Anderson and in comes Betemit. What happens? Betemit strikes out. Oh well, if he had hit a game winning double, I wouldn’t have anything to complain about, and Ozzie would have looked like a genius. Baseball is weird.

Though the crowd wasn’t large, it was loud during the critical moments which was nice to see. Next to me were two Cubs fan who said that they were attending the game “undercover”. Which didn’t mean that they were spying but rather not in any Cubs garb, so that they could enjoy watching the game without being harassed. When I told them I was debating wearing my Sox cap to a game at Wrigley next month, they warned me, “I wouldn’t recommend it.”

So, my first game was a bust. Still, I had amazing seats!

And, I had one of these…

Baseball taste good!

Don’t expect my love for Joe Crede to disappear overnight because he’s wearing a Twin’s uniform. Last night, Crede went 1 for 4 with a double and two strike outs. However, the big news for the Twinkies was their dramatic win over Seattle with a 9th inning hit from Alexi Casilla (with two outs, I might add) that brought home the two runs to seal their victory. Because of games like this, baseball is exciting all season long. No really, go back and click on the link. You’ll see what I mean. And, if you look very closely, you will see Crede (No. 24) run out for the celebration. In a Twin’s jersey… sniff sniff.

Will the Sox’s opening game against the Royals go on as scheduled? Not if Mother Nature has her way.

UPDATE – It’s official! Monday’s opening day has been rescheduled for Tuesday due to the highly probable snowfall of 1 – 4 inches. However, more snow is predicted on Tuesday, so we just have to have to wait and see when we can finally get this `09 season started. Here’s hoping for Wednesday, since I have tickets!