Wainwright and Molina take the Field

Even though it was the most beautiful day in months, it wasn’t a pretty game. Even though Wainwright’s single RBI scored the first run and Molina’s two-run homer eventually tied the game and sent it in to extras, it still turned ugly. In-between there were four Cardinal errors. Wainwright had six good innings, but began to flag in the seventh and all those errors really began to bite. The Giants took the lead, but in the tenth Tyler O’Neill’s walk-off home run won the game. The bench cleared to meet him at the plate and in celebration ripped off his jersey, exposing his rather ripped body.

Rey and Becca took us to the game, our first of the season. Hey, better late than never. We had right field bleacher seats that would have been brutal on any day save this. Cardinal hoody sweatshirts made for pretty nice attendance prizes. It was cool enough that I wore mine for a while. If you read this Dave, one will be coming to you soon and Dan if you want one too, just ask me. They would be perfect for any possible post-season Redbird action that might come our way. I would not suggest wearing them if the Birds ever make it to Boston or NYC.

One of the most interesting aspects of the experience was ease dropping on the conversation from the row behind us. There was a British guy who was out of his league and an American girl who was trying to explain the game to him. He kept referring to Wainwright as the bowler, but was also fascinated by his very English name. He managed to grasp the rudiments of the game, but at the end, after the walk off homer, he had to be told that the game was over.

I cautioned Rey not to interact with this ease dropped conversation, but when the Brit started Googling MLB player’s salaries, he had to act. The first Google target was the right fielder. Martinez. The Brit pegged this player’s annual Salary at $12M. Rey interjected that that Martinez was a pitcher. The one in front of us was only earning the league minimum, half-a-million. “Minimum wage, blimey, what an insult!” As it turned out, the other Martinez, Carlos the pitcher and no relation, was the game’s winner.