It is sunny, warm and humid here in New Jersey on this Sunday morning, punctuated by thunderstorms as I continue to write this installation of the blog. A far cry from the sterling blue skies which, except for one brief afternoon, enveloped our trip to the Midwest.
I will get to that in a moment. For there are other sports stories to talk about during the past week. I don’t want to talk about Aaron Judge’s torn tendon or the pathetic bats of the Yankees. I will give a shout out to the determination of Max Scherzer. He has turned his anger into some heady pitching for the Mets.
Let’s start with the suddenly relevant Cincinnati Reds. When the team’s management decided to call up prized rookie Elly De La Cruz, the balance of the NL Central shifted dramatically. It didn’t hurt that the Pirates finally tailed off from their inexplicably good start to the season. Nor did it make it difficult for another team to rise, given the way the Cardinals were cemented in the basement, the Cubs were playing so so baseball, and the Brewers resided at the top after sweeping Pittsburgh.
De La Cruz became a one man wrecking crew, leading the Reds to win after win. Twelve in a row until NL East-leading Atlanta finally squeaked by the nascent Redlegs in a second tight tussle in two days. The return of Joey Votto, their mainstay, to the lineup added even more punch.
It has reignited the fan base. The crowds are swelling at the Great American Ballpark, as Reds fever has struck the Queen City. And the young Reds are giving the fans much to cheer about.
De La Cruz hit for the cycle on Friday night—the youngest to do such in eons. He rallied the team back against the Braves, although the final score on Saturday favor of Atlanta was 8-7. His speed and enthusiasm are infectious.
No one expected this surge. Maybe the Reds and their young star will be privy to reality setting in for the rest of the season. But for now, the baseball world is awash with a new version of the Big Red Machine.
Saturday night was not just another game for the Angels. Already above .500 and in the playoff chase, the team erupted in the thin air of Denver, thrashing the Rockies by a score of 25-1. After four innings, the score was a football-like 23-0.
Yes, this team is still led by Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is having another M.V.P. caliber season, smashing home runs, and is among the leaders in pitching. But for once, the Halos are in the hunt, perhaps squashing, at least for the moment, the rumors about where the two-way threat Japanese superstar will play next season.
In basketball, the NBA world was stunned with deals that sent Bradley Beal to Phoenix, Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, Marcus Smart to Memphis and Chris Paul made his way from Phoenix to Washington to Golden State, as the Warriors are in the midst of trying to redevelop the team for one more run—which may or may not include free agent Draymond Green.
The Webmanyana era has begun in San Antonio. The French youngster, awash with such promise, landed in the Southwest, ready to lead the Spurs back to the top. So many comparisons have been made to Spurs Hall of Fame big men David Robinson and Tim Duncan. That’s a lot of pressure on the gangly kid.
So my wife and I revived my quest to see big league baseball in every city with a trip to Milwaukee and then to see the White Sox and Red Sox battle at Guaranteed Rate Field. After seeing these games, I would only need to go to Kansas City, St. Louis and Boston.
I should have known that when our plane was delayed in its arrival from the Dominican Republic that this was going to be a different kind of trip. Then when the pilot landed too hard at O’Hare International Airport, veering left, then right, before recapturing the plane, I should have recognized the omens.
We had been promised a sedan by Budget, but the plethora of SUV’s left us in a quandry—take a new model which would show our bags while we were inside the stadium in Milwaukee or wait for a car with a trunk. We opted for the latter. It was a big mistake.
Our drive to Wisconsin was uneventful. The highways in and around Chicago are toll roads. So I hope that my E-Z Pass transponder worked.
We learned that the Homewood Suites would keep our luggage while we attended the game. So we drove to the stadium worry-free.
The place formerly know as Miller Park remains a beautiful edifice. On this sunshine-laden day, the roof at American Family Field was open. Which I wished I had thought twice about and that the seating diagram had informed me that the seats I chose would be in the sun for the entire game. For we now have very crimson coloring on our faces, necks and arms.
Our seats were in the seventh row, which was four rows behind the visiting team dugout. Great seats, despite the harsh sun. I could easily see the strike zone and we could hear the chatter from the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, the NL West leaders. Since it was a Senior Citizen’s Day at the ballpark, I saw the largest amount of sunburned old folks in one place since South Florida.
Arizona broke open a tight pitching due to win 5-1. Starter Zac Gallen was great, going seven innings, allowing a single, a double and a homer, the last two struck by Brewers who had previously hit well against the right-hander. Gallen is among the NL leaders in many categories, and he raised his season record to 9-2 with the win. Also impressive was reliever Scott Mc Gough. Both pitchers struck out 4 batters, as both threw strikes (Gallen 51 of 92 pitches and Mc Gough 17 of 22 pitches were strikes).
Milwaukee failed to impress me, while Arizona looked like a legitimate for a playoff spot. The D-backs left Wisconsin for a make up game in D.C., then chartered cross-country to San Francisco where they promptly lost the first two games to a very good Giants squad. I think they will get their bearings back once back in Phoenix. The NL West could be a four team race if San Diego gets its act together.
Thursday was our travel day. I had mapped out a journey to the University of Illinois to get another Big Ten school under my belt, continuing on to the state capital of Springfield to see the dome and Supreme Court, as well as where my first Rabbi at Temple Sha’arey Shalom started his career.
Alas, our Honda Civic died at the Mile Square Rest area on Interstate 57 South, about 40 miles north of Champaign. We waited on Budget to do something for us. They did—they removed the vehicle and told us they would arrange a ride for us to Bloomington, Illinois to retrieve a car.
Except they didn’t get us a ride. We had to rely on the generosity of an Illinois State trooper who took us to the Champaign airport (think that might happen in New Jersey?) where we somehow secured a Nissan pickup truck to drive back. Two firsts I never thought I would undertake—riding in the back of a State Police car and driving a real truck. We missed lunch and quickly had subs at Jersey Mike’s before hitting the road around 7:00 p.m.
On Friday, the truck was exchanged for a Toyota Camry SE and we went to Guaranteed Rate Field. Boston, winners of 8 of 10, defeated the White Sox 3-1, sending Chicago to its 10th loss in its last 13 games. The White Sox ace, Lucas Giotlito, pitched well, surrendering 3 hits and 3 unearned runs, including a 434 foot blast off the bat of Rafael Devers. Watching Devers before the game and during it, I have a greater appreciation of how good he is; he is an All Star-caliber third baseman and a clutch hitter.
In our wanderings around the metro area, we saw the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago State University and a place called Harper College in addition to the University of. Illinois. In Milwaukee we passed Marquette University, adding a Big East school to my record. Other places of interest included the law schools at Illinois and Marquette; Weber Grill HQ in Palantine; and the American Academy of Pediatrics. There is probably so much other stuff we saw that I forgot. Sadly, we did not make it to Springfield or Bloomington, where I would have seen Illinois State University.
Our final day was hellish. We endured a 3.5 hour delay at O’Hare, which included deplaning. People watching I observed men wearing a Augustana College, West Liberty University and North Central baseball shirts (the last guy had put on some years and pounds); a man wearing a sharp North Carolina State sweatshirt; a woman decked out in yellow and purple for LSU, including hot yellow sneakers—with her husband in an LSU white polo trailing behind with two suitcases; a CSKA Moscow assistant basketball coach with his wife; a Kansas City Royals fan wearing a Mike Moustakas jersey on the day he was traded by Colorado to the Angels; and a soccer club waiting to catch a flight to Zurich.
The plane ride was good, as I saw SportsCenter four times (I had it memorized) and watched the thrilling end to the extra innings Game 1 of the College World Series, won by LSU over Florida. We landed at Newark, sat on the tarmac for 15 minutes until a gate was ready, and stepped over and around people who were on cots, sleeping everywhere or in line at the United Customer Service area to ostensibly rebook canceled flights. The airport inside and outside was an utter mess.
We had mostly great times and some not so good ones. And oh yeah, for good measure, I saw a woman wearing a Swarthmore basketball shirt at Shop Rite, taunting my bleary eyes.
In the end, everything evened out.
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