06/01 - Birthday Bash

Oh man, where to begin...

Well for starters, today was Carlos Zambrano's 26th birthday - and boy was there a party at Wrigley, complete with fireworks! Bottom of the 5th inning, Big Z and Michael Barrett did a little finger-pointing in the dugout after Michael's two errors in the top of the inning. Carlos pointed at his own head, as if to say Michael should play a little smarter. Michael returned the favor by pointing at the scoreboard, as if to say Carlos should pitch a little better. A scuffle ensued, players and coaches stepped in, and Carlos was sent to the clubhouse. Michael soon followed and big surprise, they started fighting again. Although Round 2 was out of sight of the TV cameras, post-game comments revealed Michael suffered a pretty bad cut lip and went to the hospital for some stiches.

Somewhere, AJ Pierzynski is smiling...


Elsewhere:
- There was a Rex Grossman sighting at the 7-11 before the game.
- "Kite-man" makes an appearance - he's this older fellow that shows up every now and then and proceeds to fly a kite on Waveland, near the firehouse. Don't ask me why - he just does.
- Found out that on July 20, 1969, Ron Santo hit a home run in Philadelphia at almost exactly the same time Neil Armstrong was taking the first steps on the moon.
- BP was uneventful - only five came out. Legendary ballhawk Rich Bhurke got three of them, including one that bounced off of Waveland, landing in the second floor balcony of the Beyond the Ivy rooftop building.
- The new Klondike NASCAR ice cream bar was easily the most popular giveaway outside the park today.

And finally, on the slim chance that us Ballhawks ever get an inflated opinion of ourselves, I got this little reminder about where we fit in the grand scheme of things. Late in the game, a man and his two kids are walking down Waveland. As they pass by, Dad points at me, Rich, Dave etc., and tells his kids in an almost reverent tone "Look - these are the guys that catch the home run balls." But he was interrupted by his kids who kept telling him "Look Dad, free ice cream. Free ice cream."


Out of the Ballpark Totals:
Friday, June 1: BP-5 [W-5,S-0], HR-0, Foul-0, Roof-0
Season: BP-141 [W-120,S-21], HR-5 [W-5,S-0], Foul-2 [W-2,S-0], Roof-14 [A-8,C-6]