Walk it Off

That is basically unbelievable. A walk off home run from a guy who didn’t hit a home run during the entire regular season. The White Sox have defended their home field, which is exactly what you want to see. Now it is off to Houston to see if we can pick up a win or two there and maybe, just maybe, take this entire thing. Unbelievable.

A couple of baseball notes…

1) Yes, there is a reason why you are hearing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” in the background during the game. It has somehow become one of the team’s theme songs. I can’t tell you why. I don’t even want to know why. Personally, I prefer the Go Go White Sox song.
2) I love the fact that we still have the organist at New Comiskey. I don’t care how nice your new retro ballpark is, unless you have Nancy Faust playing songs in between at bats it’s just not a baseball game. Just a wonderful old school touch.
3) I’m not exactly fond of playing God Bless America prior to the seventh inning stretch. That is a New York thing. In Chicago we never play that song, we just go right to Take Me Out to the Ballgame. But, if it is going to be performed, bringing out Liz Phair to sing it is a perfectly Chicago move. The Yankees would bring out some tenor from the Met, the White Sox bring out an indie rocker who doesn’t have much of a voice on a good day. That is style.
4) Something that only a longtime Chicago White Sox fan would appreciate, the appearance of Andy the Clown in the pregame show before Game 1. For the uninitiated, Andy the Clown was a guy who dressed up in a clown costume and went to Sox games. He wasn’t a mascot or anything, just a fan in a clown costume. Incredibly, no one ever questioned this.
5) Oh, and we also got our mandatory replay of Disco Demolition night. The best promotion ever, even if it did result in the field getting set on fire, a riot, and the forfeiture of a second half of a doubleheader.

And some non-baseball notes…
1) I’ve been amiss at not talking about the Pitch awards, which celebrate the absolute best of Kansas City. That’s not an oxymoron. Or at least I don’t think it is. First off, I need to apologize for not winning the “Best Blog” competition. Apparently my rantings just are not up to the award winning level of some of the other people in KC. We’ll work on that for next year. Of course, it would have helped if you guys had filled the ballot box for me.
2) But I have to give props to one of the award winners. The award for best patio bar went to Harry’s, which makes me happy since I spent a huge amount of my summer on that patio. It truly is a great combination of people watching, good drinks, and interesting conversations. Plus, one of my favorite bartenders on the planet worked up there and she definitely deserves an award. I mean, basically anyone who has to put up with me on a regular basis should be honored. Congrats.

The five random CDs of the week
1) Blue Mountain “Homegrown”
2) Loreena McKennitt “The Book of Secrets”
3) The Subdudes “Live at Last”
4) Sarah McLachlan “Surfacing”
5) Veruca Salt “Blow It Out Your Ass, It’s Veruca Salt”