So, I went to my last game at Busch Stadium (well, the original Busch Stadium, anyway) last night. I think it was my first game at Busch in about seven years. I’m sure I’ve told you how every time I actually attended a game in the past, the Cardinals (bless their souls) lost. Even when I went with my dad on Father’s Day and got to sit in the Post-Dispatch box, they lost. It was sad. And then when I stopped going to the games (because they stopped giving me free tickets for getting straight A’s…ah, the days of high school when I actually got straight A’s…) and just occasionally watched the games on tv, they lost. It got to be that I just didn’t want to pay attention. It was like if I ignored the games, then they’d wiin. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. Though of course last year when they went to the World Series and majorly flopped against the Red Sox (wonder how that movie Fever Pitch is selling in our town, since it’s got the ignoble loss of our Cards to said Sox in it) and I was paying attention…see, they lost.
So, last night I went with my parents, they’d gotten some free tickets for the terrace (read: highest level) along the left field line. Good seats, as it turned out, because it rained a little last night during the game but since we were so high up, we were underneath the distinctive arches so we didn’t get rained on at all. Yay! I got to see two home runs (Edmonds in the 1st and Molina [Yadier? His first name is really Yadier?] in the 2nd), which was glorious, but unfortunately there were no fireworks, since I think they’re trying to save money. Oh well. The Cards were winning until the 7th inning even though they had only gotten 5 hits (vs the Pirates’ 17 or something like that) when the Pirates tied up the game. Boo! The Cards went through three pitchers that inning, and alas that Chris Carpenter didn’t get his 22nd win. He pitched well until that inning though, so go him. Finally the Cards got some hits in the 8th but no runs…so onto the 9th with a tie. We held ’em til it was our turn, then Hector Luna gets on base and steals 2nd, to be in scoring position…and then Eckstein made a nice base hit that ESPN termed a ‘bloop’ but allowed Luna to score, so yay! We won! And I was there! Yahoo! :hehe: I just hope they can keep winning.
The magic number is down to two. If the Cards win today they’ll have a tie on the division championship…if Houston loses they’ll be the champs! Go Cards! I would really love to see you be able to play the World Series at Busch one more time (and make a better showing than last year!)…
So, softball stuff and biking stuff now.

The softball tournament was last weekend, but it was rather shorter than last year’s marathon. We won one, we lost one. I don’t even know what the scores were other than we won the first by at least 10 and we lost the second by at least that much, since both games ended in the 5th inning because one team was ahead by at least 10. Let’s hear it for odd little league rules. The first game we figured was a lock, since we’d played the Thursday night version of the team, and they weren’t very good, and yes, we won. Nothing spectacular, I did get to cross homeplate a few times, and the lady ump was almost hit by a couple of bats (by someone on the other team) and she wasn’t too happy about that. I can’t remember if it was a shut-out or not. Bad Jen, not keeping track of scoring. [Side note: I looked at the scorecard for that game and was utterly bewildered. It’s been a long time since I’ve scored a ball game, and I don’t remember any of the little conventions.]
The second game was against a team that we’ve never beat (except, my teammates told me, last year in the tournament when we barely won and royally pissed them off. So I guess this was payback). They really shouldn’t be in this league. They’re way too competitive for the rest of the teams that they play against, and they’ve obviously got people who play softball for actual teams (or at least more than just one night a week during the summer). They win a lot of games because of that 10-run rule, and it just seems like they should find another league that actually tests their skills instead of letting them beat up on other teams. Not bitter I am, no. Anyway, we weren’t getting any breaks against them…neither of the fields had been dragged (or mowed) so there was grass all over the infield. Two grounders came my way and they hit a patch of grass and bounced clear over my head. It didn’t help that it had been pretty dry and hot so the ground was hard as a rock. Stupid field. I really don’t like SB7. If you’re ever at Tower Grove Park and you want to play a ball game, use BB1 instead. Usually. Unfortunately both fields were in dire need of dragging and mowing, but since I don’t even know if we actually scored a run at SB7 I suppose I can’t lay it all on the field. Oh well. We figured we would lose that one. Luckily we had already had our end-of-season bbq (with yellow jackets and mosquitos, natch) and we were prepared for a long one, so it was nice to be able to go home and sleep, which I did.
On Sunday, I helped Kate relearn how to ride a bike, since she wants to have the proper experience for her practicum. Go Kate! I’m proud of you! She’s a little bit shorter than I am, though, so we had to adjust several things so she could ride. But ride she did, all along the nice flat parts of the Forest Park trail, and I rollerbladed with her. So yay for working out. Then later that night we watched Hello, Dolly! (well hello, Dolly!) and saw the Anheiser Busch clydesdales (which never meant much to California-girl Kate before, lol) and I saw Almost Famous for the first time. Good stuff! I’m hopeful for Elizabethtown, since it’s the same director and in a similar style. I’ve read some bad reviews on it, but of course I’ll still see it, because Orlando rocks my socks and I don’t care what you think about that 😉 The week ETown comes out will be a good one, Orli-wise, since Kingdom of Heaven comes out on DVD the tuesday before the movie opens.
Wish me luck on the Anatomy & Physiology class. Looks like it will be interesting to take but not easy to learn.
Go Cards!