Baseball Vacation 2006

Cubs vs Astros: July 19, 2006

      While the main purpose of this trip was to enjoy the baseball games with Mitchell, a secondary objective was photography. After the game in Cincy, my new company laptop crashed, and I was forced to buy a new one so that I could store my photos on an external hard drive and reformat my memory cards for the next game. So I did just that at Best Buy in Indianapolis, only to find when I reached Chicago that the demo they had sold me was still locked in "kiosk" mode and I could not install any software, devices, etc. Fortunately the Best Buy in Evansville Illinois was quite understanding and let me upgrade to a new one of a different brand that had better features and a similar price.
      Mitchell's first game in Wrigley Field would turn out to be a classic game for the ages. Two 300 game winners facing off in a night game was quite a surprise. Roger Clemens versus Greg Maddux in Wrigley - wow! I had bought seats up high, on the upper level almost dead center behind home plate and on the front row, not realizing who would be pitching since I bought my seats well in advance. So we stayed on the lower level for the first inning to see some of the action up close and then moved up to our seats to get the grand view.
      The game was outstanding in all aspects. Both pithers thew well, the atmosphere was electric, the game was exciting, and the Astros won. The last game I saw in Wrigley was the Cubs hosting the Mets in September of 1988, in what was a thriller game and one of the early night games at Wrigley.
      I am a fan of both Clemens and Maddux. I have followed Clemens since he pitched for a rival high school when I was in high school. I also have had the opportunity to meet him on a few occasions. Unfortunately I donated all of my autographed baseballs to charity before I had kids and now they want one! I liked Greg Maddux when he came up with the Cubs and invested heavily in his baseball cards. He turned a nice profit for me ... I guess you could say he helped pay for our trip! We rode the train back to our hotel in Evanston and stayed up late due to all of our excitement.

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Craig Biggio warms up as dawn sets at Wrigley Field.
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Greg Maddux plays short toss in the outfield before warming up in the bullpen before the game.
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Greg Maddux stretches out a bit.
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Greg Maddux on the bullpen mound. I do not know what kind of glove he is using, but it is usually golden at the end of the year.
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Greg Maddux shows intensity even while throwing his first few pitches before the game in the bullpen.
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OK, so the glove is a Wilson. The ball is a Rawlings.
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Gotta love that intensity.
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A closeup of Greg Maddux in the bullpen before the game.
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A closeup of Greg Maddux in the bullpen before the game.
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A closeup of Greg Maddux in the bullpen before the game.
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Maddux practices sticking his tongue out at Roger Clemens when Clemens comes up to bat.
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Maddux practices a breaking pitch before the game.
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All eyes are on Greg Maddux as he begins the game.
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Greg Maddux delivers to Craig Biggio to start the game.
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Craig Biggio wastes no time in getting things started with a lead-off home run. He reminds us that Maddux and Clemens are not the only two future Hall of Famers playing this evening.
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Craig Biggio heads to 3rd base.
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Greg Maddux gets ready to deliver a breaking ball.
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Maddux on the hill.
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Greg Maddux shows some of his nice mechanics on a fastball delivery.
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Greg Maddux delivers to Mike Lamb.
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Another Maddux fastball.
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Greg Maddux throws to Chris Burke.
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Former Rice Owl Lance Berkman gets a sign.
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Roger Clemens delivers in the bottom of the first inning with a 1-0 lead.
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Gotta love those Clemens cleats and that classic slightly uphill delivery.
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