08/14 - Move Over Barry...

...and make room for Jacque Jones!!!

No, Jacque didn't suddenly hit 596 homers to take over the career record. But he did hit the second homer to make it all the way out to Sheffield Ave this year at Wrigley. Bonds hit #752 a few weeks ago that barely cleared the back railing in straightaway right. Jones hit a majestic shot to right-center that cleared the street and bounced up against the wrought-iron fences in front of the rooftop buildings. I think the Southwest How Far Did It Fly measured it at 410 feet, but it looked like it went farther. So Jacque Jones is now King of the Sheffield homers, at least so far this year.

After a brief scramble, one of the pickle boys (aka street drummers) ended up with it and then proceeded to offer it up to me for $500. Thanks but no thanks. He spent the rest of the night entertaining offers from fans still inside the bleachers - kinda looked like he had a streetBay auction going. But after the game, he still had the ball. Said he could get $200 for it easy on eBay.

BP was pretty lame, considering the wind. Cubs hit seven out and the Reds did nothing although Dunn did blast a deep foul ball onto Sheffield during the game. And that was it.

Oh, yeah - Cubs lost 6-5, but you'd never know it from the way the fans were dancing in the streets afterwards.

Out of the Ballpark Totals:
Tuesday, August 14: BP-7 [W-3,S-4], HR-1 [W-0,S-1], Foul-1 [W-0,S-1], Roof-0
Season: BP-291 [W-235,S-56], HR-9 [W-7,S-2], Foul-4 [W-3,S-1], Roof-29 [A-18,C-11], Windshield-1 [W-0,S-1]

08/03 - New Team, Same Story

So much for the Mets shaking things up on the street... Didn't happen. But hey, at least they took BP, which is more than I can say for the Cubs. Of course, the Mets only hit four out so it almost didn't matter.

With a righty going for the Cubs, Moises didn't start for the Mets so he didn't take BP . My educated guess tells me that David Wright was the force behind the few that did come out, though someone said Lastings Milledge connected on one.

Maybe Moises will come out and play tomorrow...

Out of the Ballpark Totals:
Friday, August 3: BP-4 [W-3,S-1], HR-0, Foul-0, Roof-0
Season: BP-277 [W-225,S-52], HR-8 [W-7,S-1], Foul-3 [W-3,S-0], Roof-29 [A-18,C-11], Windshield-1 [W-0,S-1]

08/02 - Nothing doing

Day game after a night game means...

Yep, you guessed it - no batting practice.

Wasn't much of anything else going on either. No street homers, no foul balls, and near as I could tell, no roof balls either.

Must have been something going on inside though, as 40,988 paid their way into Wrigley. I think this set another 4-game series attendance record, breaking the record set just a few weeks ago when the Barry Bonds Magical Mystery Tour was in town.

One more day until Moises and the rest of the slugging(?) Mets come to town.

Out of the Ballpark Totals:
Thursday, August 2: No BP, HR-0, Foul-0, Roof-0
Season: BP-273 [W-222,S-51], HR-8 [W-7,S-1], Foul-3 [W-3,S-0], Roof-29 [A-18,C-11], Windshield-1 [W-0,S-1]

07/18 - Seinfeld Comes to the Corner

Remember Seinfeld - the show about nothing? Well, it felt like a Seinfeld episode outside the ballpark today. Nothing happened.

Sure, there probably were a few Kramers and Costanzas walking around and they most likely were either just getting in or out of some weird/funny/crazy situation, but in terms of baseball activity - absolutely nothing. No batting practice, no home runs, no foul balls, no roof balls - nothing.

So we ballhawks did what we do best - sit around the corner and tell stories. And boy, were there some whoppers...


Note: Once again I am woefully behind in my updates. I'll try to catch up over the next few days.

Out of the Ballpark Totals:
Wednesday, July 18: No BP, HR-0, Foul-0, Roof-0, Windshield-0
Season: BP-236 [W-190,S-46], HR-7 [W-7,S-0], Foul-3 [W-3,S-0], Roof-22 [A-13,C-9], Windshield-1 [W-0,S-1]

06/26 - Timing is Everything...

...or not.

Today was the Majestic Michael Barrett 2007 Home Jersey giveaway at Wrigley Field. Only problem is, Michael Barrett was traded to the San Diego Padres last week. But somehow I don't think the 100 random winners were going to refuse their jerseys. Could be interesting on Sunday though when it's the exclusive limited edition Michael Barrett bobblehead doll in home uniform giveaway. This one goes to the first 10,000 fans.

Cubs Marketing Director Jay Blunk was taking this all in stride, quipping during an interview that he had a whole team of interns working on painting all the bobbleheads to look like Mike Fontenot...

No batting practice today as a torrential downpour dumps about 4 inches of rain in a couple hours totally flooding Wrigley Field in the afternoon. Check out this video footage from WMAQ-Channel 5.

Grounds crew did a heckuva job getting the field ready for the night game, which the Cubs won for their fifth in a row.

Out of the Ballpark Totals:
Tuesday, June 26: No BP, HR-0, Foul-0, Roof-0
Season: BP-179 [W-147,S-32], HR-7 [W-7,S-0], Foul-3 [W-3,S-0], Roof-18 [A-9,C-9]

06/20 - Good-Bye Michael

If a picture's worth a thousand words, then maybe this is what Jim Hendry was trying to say. Check out the rub-off area to the right of the ball...




Gonna miss you, Michael. On July 25, 2005, I caught your 10th homer of the season (career #64). On July 20, 2006, I caught your 10th homer of that season (career #80). And seeing as how you're sitting on nine homers this year, I was really looking forward to maybe catching #10 again. But fate (and Jim Hendry) intervened so I guess I'll just be happy with the two I caught and see where you end up playing next year.

In the meantime, welcome to the Cubs, Rob Bowen. That was a nice blast to the left-center bleachers last weekend for your second homer of the year. Now if you can just start pulling it a little more down the line each time, maybe your 10th of the year will make it out to Waveland and into my glove...

Out of the Ballpark Totals:
Season: BP-174 [W-143,S-31], HR-7 [W-7,S-0], Foul-3 [W-3,S-0], Roof-18 [A-9,C-9]

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]