Comerica is an awesome park.  But there is no fanbase filled with more self-loathing than the Cubs.  And yes, I see the irony in a Red Sox fan saying that another teams’ fanbase complains too much, but wow.

I sat with two Cubs fans out in left field just behind the fair pole.  I believe I heard at least nine different variations on the old standby joke of “Remember when (Player X on the Cubs) was good?  Yeah, me either…”  when I asked them about Aramis Ramirez, the first guy was totally serious when he said “He’s resuming baseball related activities,” and the other guy beat him to the punch when he followed up with “Well, he’s resuming Cubs-related activities; sitting on the bench, swinging and missing, not playing any defense and collecting a paycheck for doing nothing…”  Have to admit, I got a laugh out of that.

From the “You can’t make this shit up” department… I made unbelievable time from Milwaukee to Detroit, leaving at just before 9am and getting to my impending crime scene hotel just after 3pm.  I didn’t even realize I’d crossed into Illinois until I had almost reached Chicago.  So anyway, I unpacked some stuff in my room, hopped on the web and typed up yesterday’s recap post.  I figured I’d leave the hotel at about 5:20 to get to the park just after 6, walk around, grab a bite and catch the game for the 7:05 start time.  So imagine my surprise when I walked in at 6:25 after looking for parking for almost twenty minutes and the game was in the top of the second inning… You see, I never knew that Detroit was in the Eastern timezone, and there was no sign on the drive from Milwaukee to tell me I had crossed the timeline.  So… chalk that one up to a poor general knowledge of American geography…

I impressed the hell out of myself at the game in Detroit…  They have one of those “How hard can you throw” booths setup behind the left field bleachers.  Well, being a former pitcher I figured “Eh, it’s worth the $3 for four tosses…”  So, I stepped up and threw a blazing… 63.  That didn’t seem right – I mean, I threw 70 when I was 12 years old.  Second throw… 66.  OK, well, at least I’m getting there.  Third toss, 54.  I tried to snap off a curve – think I snapped a ligament in my elbow instead.  And the final toss, with my shoulder hanging from the last shred of a rotator cuff… 67.  Well, as we’ve seen, the guns in the stadium are all way off.  I’m sure they knocked this one down at least 20 or 30mph…

Once again, I had a hotel room without an alarm clock last night in Detroit, leading to a late wake-up this morning when I had to make a nine-hour drive just to get to DC in time for the game…  And once again I made ridiculous time, getting from D-Town to just the 270/495 split just outside DC (about 12 miles from my hotel) in eight hours… then took almost two full hours to get the final 12 miles.  Made it to the park just after first pitch.  Very nice ballpark, but absolutely nothing to do around it.  Too bad the area hasn’t filled in yet.  Kind of a lousy game from a Red Sox’ fan perspective too.  They got smoked.  60/40 Sox/Nats fans though, and we set a record for attendance in Washington at just under 42k.  I went 1-3 on the trip with the teams I was rooting for – Sox, Cubs & Brewers all lost.  Rockies held on for the only win.  Almost like my football picks started early…

And on the way out… leave it to a bunch of Boston drivers to make two lanes (and try for a third) in a one-lane side street.  Yeah, we’re psycho.

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