Mike at the Cards vs. Marlins

I was in attendance for both of the first two games of this four game series, and although the Cards were able to win the first one, the second left a lot to be desired.

On Monday night, I had field level seats, right behind the tarp in the first row down the third base line.  Third base coach Jose Oquendo was literally ten feet away.  The view from there was awesome, especially on ground balls to the left side of the infield.  I had a shot at several foul grounders, and a bat that got away from Albert Pujols on one of his three strikeouts.  If I was a little taller, I’d have a handful of souvenirs.  Interesting side note:  A friend of a friend was sitting in the section next to us, and is good pals with Rick Ankiel, and they chatted for a couple of minutes before the game.  I found out that he was even at Rick’s wedding.  Okay, maybe that’s not that interesting after all.  Anyway, there were quite a few Cards fans at the game, including a couple that sat next to us.  They were from St. Louis, but now live in Naples.  It was fun to talk baseball with them, because most people here in Florida don’t even like the sport, which should have been evident from the abundance of empty seats in the park.  Travelers tip:  If you get the opportunity to sit at field level, order your second beer as soon as the server drops off your first one.  Keep that pattern going, because they take forever.  They should know better when the Cards are in town.  As far as the rest of the action, I was really surprised to see Tony La Russa call on the youngsters Kyle McClellan and Chris Perez to finish the game.  Good call, and good results.  Keep it up Tony!

Last night, I had infield box seats, in the thirteenth row, behind home plate.  I bought them from the stadium ticket office, about thirty minutes before game time.  Pathetic huh?  I actually could have sat much closer, but I wanted an isle seat, so I had to settle for thirteen rows back.  The seats were good, but I didn’t really like looking through the screen.  Lesson learned.  It was awesome seeing the offense come out swinging in the first.  The look on Oquendo’s face when Pujols ran through his stop sign was hilarious.  I don’t know what happened to the offense for the rest of the game.  I wandered around during the rain delay, but they wouldn’t let me in the club level.  Bastards!

Tonight’s tickets are free, but I have no idea where we’re sitting.  I don’t care though. Just being at a Cardinal game is good enough for me.  I’ll post my pictures from all the games after the series, so check back.

Here’s the links to the box scores:  08/11  W 4-2, 08/12  L 4-1.

The Cards are in desperate need of a winning streak.  The Cubs and Brewers just won’t stop winning, and the Redbirds have fallen of the pace, and are now four games out of the Wild Card race.  There’s no reason why the streak can’t start tonight with Braden Looper on the mound.  Just in case, though, I’m going to wear the same stuff to the game that I wore on Monday!  Go Cards!