Monday, October 30, 2006
Pinch Me
We got to the stadium early enough to see some warm ups. Our seats were along the third base line and Verlander was doing some long toss in front of our section. He bounced a ball during long toss. Maybe this won’t be terrible, I thought. Then the players take the field. And I start freaking out all over again: can’t sit, can’t stand. And then Jeff Weaver strikes out two in the first inning. I feel a bit better. The fact that Verlander couldn’t find the strike zone with the help of a neon sign encouraged my serenity.
After the Cardinals scored, Duncan pooped in his pants and on Edmonds’ shoes, which was promptly followed by a Casey home run, the Tigers’ fans in the suites behind our seats started to make some noise. Well, good for them, it was awfully cute. They had the lead for all of five at bats. After than, well, things get hazy. I looked at the scoreboard and, suddenly, it was the middle of the seventh inning. I looked at the Proxy, and he said, “Don’t say it. Just don’t.” The eighth inning went by in a flash; I think every player just wanted to get it over with. And then, Wainwright was pitching. And I was holding my breath. Even though Casey got another freaking hit and Polanco walked (Hey Placido, this is first base, does it look familiar? I kid. I kid because I love.), I never got nervous. This is Adam Wainwright. I didn’t really see the strike out call, I just saw Molina jump up. So I did too. I was jumping up and down on my seat – I have no idea how that happened. We stayed through the trophy presentations, but left before the players came back out. We spent about an hour wandering the streets of St. Louis high-fiving and whoo-hooing while trying to remember where we parked. Then it was on to more celebrating.
So yeah, lots of screaming and jumping and hugging and clapping and “What just happened?” For those who have never been to a World Series game, much less a WS winner at home, when you get the chance this is what will happen: You will dance to songs you hate, you will hurt your shoulders clapping and waving rally towels (something else you never ever do), you will cry, you will say something along the lines of, “I’m going to get a Cardinals tattoo if they win,” you will lose your voice.
As for the parade, we were in the stadium so I can’t really say anything about the parade itself. Tony got a huge ovation. It was nice to be able to cheer this team one last time. I hope to have all the pictures from the game and rally together tonight. I’ll put them up as soon as I can.
I hope that everyone, like me, got to celebrate with who they most wanted to be with.
And now, it’s time to buy merchandise. Mel Brooks was right; I want everything that has a World Series logo.
After the Cardinals scored, Duncan pooped in his pants and on Edmonds’ shoes, which was promptly followed by a Casey home run, the Tigers’ fans in the suites behind our seats started to make some noise. Well, good for them, it was awfully cute. They had the lead for all of five at bats. After than, well, things get hazy. I looked at the scoreboard and, suddenly, it was the middle of the seventh inning. I looked at the Proxy, and he said, “Don’t say it. Just don’t.” The eighth inning went by in a flash; I think every player just wanted to get it over with. And then, Wainwright was pitching. And I was holding my breath. Even though Casey got another freaking hit and Polanco walked (Hey Placido, this is first base, does it look familiar? I kid. I kid because I love.), I never got nervous. This is Adam Wainwright. I didn’t really see the strike out call, I just saw Molina jump up. So I did too. I was jumping up and down on my seat – I have no idea how that happened. We stayed through the trophy presentations, but left before the players came back out. We spent about an hour wandering the streets of St. Louis high-fiving and whoo-hooing while trying to remember where we parked. Then it was on to more celebrating.
So yeah, lots of screaming and jumping and hugging and clapping and “What just happened?” For those who have never been to a World Series game, much less a WS winner at home, when you get the chance this is what will happen: You will dance to songs you hate, you will hurt your shoulders clapping and waving rally towels (something else you never ever do), you will cry, you will say something along the lines of, “I’m going to get a Cardinals tattoo if they win,” you will lose your voice.
As for the parade, we were in the stadium so I can’t really say anything about the parade itself. Tony got a huge ovation. It was nice to be able to cheer this team one last time. I hope to have all the pictures from the game and rally together tonight. I’ll put them up as soon as I can.
I hope that everyone, like me, got to celebrate with who they most wanted to be with.
And now, it’s time to buy merchandise. Mel Brooks was right; I want everything that has a World Series logo.
