05/06 - Foreign Substance From Our Nation's Capital

Well, this bleacher expansion has at least done one good thing - the street value of a bleacher ticket has dropped way down. Second half of last season, fans were giving them away on Waveland but that was understandable with the Cubs in last place and stumbling along in the final throes of Dusty's Death March.

This year, even with the Tribune Co. raising prices and the Cubs on a modest yet impressive winning streak, bleacher tickets are still being obtained at reasonable prices. Got one today for $10 and saw another go for $5. Not bad for a weekend game in halfway decent weather.

So, yes, I went in again. I think I'm already close to a season high for going inside and it's only May. But I did stay outside for BP and was rewarded with one *OFFICIAL* TRAINING BALL by Rawlings, complete with Commissioner Allen H. Selig's signature and PRACTICE stamped under the MLB logo.

In other words, it wasn't a real Rawlings Major League ball - it was one of their low-end versions made in China. Kinda ironic that the Washington Nationals, the team from our nation's capital, are using practice balls made in China. Then again, the MLB official game balls come from a Rawlings factory in Turrialba, Costa Rica, and apparently under less-than-ideal working conditions. I guess all the foreign substance references in the MLB rulebook doesn't apply to the baseball itself...

Out of the Ballpark Totals:
Sunday, May 6: BP-4 [W-3,S-1], HR-0, Foul-0, Roof-1 [A-1,C-0]
Season: BP-51 [W-37,S-14], HR-5 [W-5,S-0], Foul-1 [W-1,S-0], Roof-10 [A-5,C-5]