Reaching out for a turn of luck at Busch Stadium
By LARRY PETERSON - CNA assistant managing editor lpeterson@crestonnews.com
A lot of times when our family tries to go to major sporting events, you hear a groan followed by the phrase, "Ahhh, the Peterson luck."
We seem to be cursed, to a certain degree. For example, growing up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, our oldest son Brett was a big Atlanta Braves fan. And, as a lefthanded pitcher, his idol was the unflappable Tom Glavine.
So, since Deb has a sister living in Denver, we had the great idea of making a trip to Coors Field when Glavine was pitching against the Rockies. Well, this was before the Rockies management began using the famed humidor.
That's a chamber where they store game balls used at their home park, in an attempt to negate the high-flying effects of Denver's altitude and arid climate on baseballs. Since starting that practice in 2002, it hasn't been quite the launching pad it was in its early days.
So, when we were there on a warm, sunny afternoon, Glavine got lit up by the Rockies in one of those Coors Field slugfests. He was knocked out early. Not exactly what a 10-year-old starstruck boy had in mind when seeing his hero for the first time.
Not long after that, our youngest son Keith, a White Sox fan, wanted to see his idol, Frank Thomas, in Kansas City.
Again, the best-laid plans ... The Sox didn't play Thomas that day. We went extra early to see him take batting practice, and he wasn't there, either. The same thing happened when I went to see Mark McGwire and the Cardinals play in Kauffman Stadium against the Royals during his steroid-induced home run heyday. He sat that day.
The boys' misguided mother is a Cubs fan, and she got swept up in the same fortune. She goes ga-ga over Ryne Sandberg — a trip to Principal Park to watch him in the third-base coaching box is forthcoming — and prior to a family outing to Wrigley Field for a game, Sandberg, much to Deb's dismay, had already retired in the middle of the season. And, Harry Caray wasn't broadcasting after suffering a severe fall during spring training. We had planned to drop a note by the booth for him so we could be one of the many attending fans he read on the air for WGN during the game.
We've even had mixed results attending Iowa Hawkeye games. I don't know how many times our tickets happened to be for the Northwestern game, only to end on a sour note, including last year when quarterback Ricky Stanzi broke his ankle. We also froze atop the east bleachers when mighty Western Michigan knocked Iowa out of bowl contention in 2007.
When Brett was attending the University of Utah as a freshman in 2004, he went all the way down to Arizona State to meet up with buddies, seemingly to witness a Hawkeye rout. Well, it was lopsided alright, to the tune of Wildcats 44, Hawks 7. It was a long night surrounded by lubricated ASU fans.
So, we're all a little gun-shy when we get tickets to a game.
Last weekend was Keith's 22nd birthday, so he and I hooked up a couple of sweet tickets behind home plate at Busch Stadium through a friend of CNA Publisher Rich Paulsen. Keith's not a Cardinal fan, but to sit that close and see Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez sounded intriguing.
We woke up on game day Sunday to the sound of rain splattered against the glass of our window at the Airport Drury Inn, as violent winds carried a dark thunderstorm through the area. Radar showed it to be hanging around until early afternoon. First pitch was scheduled 1:15 p.m.
Our Peterson luck kicked in again when we saw the lineups posted on the scoreboard in center field. Seven of the 16 position players would be substitutes from the regular day-to-day lineups.
Absent from the Dodgers lineup were first baseman James Loney, catcher Russell Martin, third baseman Casey Blake and left fielder Manny Ramirez. Sitting out from the Cardinal lineup Sunday were center fielder Colby Rasmus, catcher Yadier Molina and, you guessed it, first baseman Albert Pujols.
But, the skies lightened, and the rain stopped as the sun peeked through the clouds. It was about 1 p.m., and we settled into our seats in section 151, row 14, seats 5 and 6. Just 25 yards or so behind home plate, the searing sun and humidity left over from the storm was pretty punishing.
We made a decision that turned out pretty good, for a change. Scooting a few rows back into the shade, we plopped down in two unoccupied seats next to the aisle.
About an hour into the game, right after L.A. manager Joe Torre waved to the crowd when his 70th birthday was announced, Dodger second baseman Blake DeWitt fouled off a pitch against Cardinal starter Jeff Suppan.
Keith and I had just talked about how many foul balls were landing off to our left, behind third base, at about the same row as ours. With the screen set up behind home plate, we would need a high foul pop to have a chance at a ball.
Well, DeWitt launched a major league popup straight up in the air, drifting back toward us.
The guy across the aisle reached up for it, but the ball dropped instead right into Keith's waiting right hand. CNA News Editor Tyler Ellyson said he once caught a home run ball at the College World Series, and it stung pretty good. Keith would concur, but he didn't feel it right away, because he was so excited that he had it.
Then we heard the sarcastic voice behind us.
"Figures, a White Sox fan would get it," he said.
Keith couldn't resist wearing a White Sox shirt to the game. Former CNA writer Scott Levine, of the Creston Levine White Sox clan, texted back to me that he was proud of him for representing "the right team."
It was interesting to see a major league ball up close for the first time. It has the official logo and Commissioner Bud Selig' stamped autograph. On the side was a big black smudge, presumably where the ball skidded off DeWitt's pine tar-laden bat.
The ball was a little "rougher" than I expected, I guess. I had forgotten that clubhouse assistants apply a commercially-produced rubbing mud to remove the gloss from game balls. That is done on 10 to 12 dozen balls for each game.
So, we brought home a free souvenir. And, some pretty good memories. (At least for me, as Matt Holliday's walk-off double gave St. Louis a 5-4 win in the ninth after trailing 4-0 in the eighth.)
Now, we'll see if we can give Brett some payback for that Colorado trip. When we visit him in Nashville next month, we're planning to head down to Atlanta for a Braves game on the day when Glavine's number is being retired.
Surely, he'll show, won't he?
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