Baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie

Recently Melissa and I went to a Cedar Rapids Kernels game. The Kernels are a Single-A affiliate for the Los Angelos Angels of Anaheim of California of the Western Coast of the United States of America, unipole of the world. The Friday night adversary of the Kernels were the Quad City Swing - a Davenport Single-A affiliate for the St. Louis Cardinals. It was a good time. We paid $9/each for tickets about two rows behind the third base line. We purchased our ballpark food and watched a relaxing and exciting game. The Kernels won late after the Swing broke the scoreless game with two doubles - their only hits of the game at that point - in the 8th. A walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth sealed the game for the Kernels. The team mobbed the player responsible for the game winning home run like they had just won the pennant. It was great.

It's nice to go to a game without any attachments. Kernels v. Swing... I couldn't care less who wins. Unlike going to see the New York Yankees or St. Louis Cardinals (Melissa's team, and my adopted NL team), the loss of the "our" teams won't leave us feeling let down. For the record, I have never seen the team I want to win, win live. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a horrible hex. I have seen the Mets, White Sox, and Royals win at their home stadiums; but my point is that while I wanted them to win because I was at their home stadium, I didn't want them to win.

This was the second Kernels game I have been to this season and ever. Last time I went because the Cubs affiliate - the Peoria Chiefs - were in town. My friend wanted to go see the game because Ryne Sandburg is manager of the Chiefs. I was happy to obligue. Of course I rooted for the Kernels, despite sitting on the vistors side because I really dispise the Cubs. I have the Chicago-land students at the University of Iowa to thank for that. I don't even pay that much attention to the NL outside of how the Cards did, but man do those Cubs fans vex me - I am terribly vexed. My newfound annoyance with the Cubs creates a problem when going back to my "hometown" team of the Iowa Cubs. Solution: go when they are playing Memphis, the Cardinals Triple-A affiliate.