SB Nation User Blog: Ghost of Fred Merkle

Cubs' Hotel in St. Louis?

Ghost of Fred Merkle — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:28:44 -0000

Sorry to take up a whole fanpost with this, but....

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHICH HOTEL THE CUBS PLAYERS STAY AT IN ST. LOUIS?????

(A few months ago, I expected the Cubs trip to St. Louis to be a huge series. I purchased weekend tickets and a plane ticket from TN to StL. Unfortunately, the Cubs didn't hold up their end of the bargain. I think my friends and I will still make the most of it, but grrrrrrr....it might be tough to stomach if the Cards clinch that weekend)

Thanks in advance. --Ghost

Vow to Self: Believe

Ghost of Fred Merkle — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:34:21 -0000

Playoffs normally stress me out, but I vow to myself to thoroughly enjoy the playoffs this year. I vow to myself to cheer AS IF THE DREAM IS THE REALITY. I vow to myself to shed the “cautiously optimistic” crap.

I used to always believe. I don’t know exactly when “I believe” was scarred over with “cautiously optimistic”. I always believed when I was younger. I chanted JO-DEE as if he hit homers every at-bat (he only hit 19 in ’84). I knew Sutcliffe was going to win every game that he pitched. I really believed that Mitch Williams was going to somehow get out of the mess that he created. I even knew that punchless Dave Owen would beat the Cardinals in the Sandberg Game.

But yes, that also meant that I knew Jerome Walton would have a dozen more years like his first. I knew that the Cubs got a huge break when they were left with Mark Prior rather than Joe Mauer. I thought Jeff Pico, Drew Hall, and Lance Dickson were for real. I believed in Billy Hatcher, Kevin Orie, Gary Scott and the can't-miss Earl Cunningham.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m still a HUGE fan, but I almost know too much about the team. I’m more critical. My heart is totally invested in this….but my sanity is kept together by being either cautious or doubtful. I...or I should say "we"...have all been burned before.

NOW that we’re in the post-season, I want to enjoy it all. I want to believe.

I VOW TO:

...not panic after a Game 1 loss.

…not worry about getting the cart before the horse. That’s what fans do.

…not think about hexes, curses or jinxes....and howry's.

…not say “double play” when Lee comes to bat with the bases loaded.

…not say “here we go again” when Wood goes 2-0 on a batter.

…not worry about Theriot’s range, but instead honor his consistency

…not panic when Zambrano starts talking to himself on the mound.

…not repeatedly say “don’t hop” until the fly ball is safe in Soriano’s glove.

…not mutter “Jacque Fukudome” when he weakly grounds out.

…not say “bounce a curve ball and he’ll chase it” when Soriano is batting.

Nope…this year I am going to cheer loudly and positively every bit of the way. IF this is not the year, does “cautiously optimistic” really save me any heart ache? IF this really IS the year, I want to enjoy every pitch of it. I will cheer AS IF THE DREAM IS THE REALITY. I want to LIVE the dream rather than DOUBT the dream.

I may be drinking the blue koolaid…but it is starting to taste like champagne!

Where did the Cubs stay in Cinci?

Ghost of Fred Merkle — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:50:17 -0000

Does anyone know which hotel the Cubs stayed at in Cincinatti last week? They often stay in the Westin, but I just wanted to double-check. I am making plans for a future series. Thanks in advance.

Does anybody else have any recommendations for good cities to road trip to? Atlanta? Philly? Arizona? Pittsburgh? I was really hoping for a Cubs / Red Sox matchup this year (although the availability for those tickets would be absolutely crazy).

Go Cubs Go!

Road trip to Cinci -- Top 10 List

Ghost of Fred Merkle — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:52:49 -0000

My family (wife and boy/girl twin 5-year-olds) made a road trip from Tennessee to Cincinnati to watch the Cubs battle the Reds. It turned out that we were staying in the same hotel as the Cubs. As previously mentioned, I sat next to S.H.E. for the Friday game. On Saturday, I took my kids to their first MLB game. Loads of fun to share:

Here are my Top Ten moments from the weekend:

On Friday night, the aforementioned KissCam zoomed in on Glendon Rusch and Derrek Lee in the dugout. It was funny. I'm sure it was embarrassing for all involved. Yet, with Glendon's man-boobs, who can blame the camera man for an innocent mistake!?!?
Seeing Bob Brenly shopping at T.J. Maxx. Dadadadadada TJ Maxx! Proving once again: "it's never, ever the same place twice".
Watching Adam Dunn fake a bunt to try to pull the Cubs out of their Shift defense. Yeah, that worked...
Sticking with the Great American Ballpark Promos: Sarah wrote about the 4 cheerleaders on an earlier post. Actually, one of the four seems to be pretty cute (from 50 rows back, anyway). One of their many responsibilities is to host a Let's Make a Deal game. Here's a tip to fans: The dud prize always seems to be behind the cute cheerleader's door...yet the male contestants always pick her door anyway! We're such a predictable species.
The Flex 'Em Camera on the scoreboard, giving fat bald guys the opportunity to flex their muscles in front of thousands of fans. BTW, Sarah's muscular biceps would make AJ Pierzynski think twice about retrieving his own helmet!
Riding the hotel elevator with Roberto Novoa and Freddie Bynum following Friday's win. I said "whew...the ninth inning got a little scary". Freddie responded with "But we won and that's alllllll that matters." I didn't ask for autographs. Given their respective ERA's and BA's, I kinda thought that they should be asking for mine instead. <rimshot>
Meeting the Queen of the Queen City. No, I'm not talking about Marge Schott...I'm talking about BCB's own Sarah (and her father). It was a lot of fun sitting next to true, knowledgeable Cub fans. It takes the right mix of optimism and sarcasm to sit next to me for a full game. Sarah is as full of energy as she projects in her posts. And props to her father who apparently showed her the way of Cub-dom, despite branches of Cardinals-dom in her family tree.
Seeing Michael Barrett in the hotel lobby. He is my 5-year-old son's favorite player. We were waiting in the lobby for him to walk by on the way to Saturday's game. Barrett apparently noticed my son's amazed eyes so Barrett nicely waved to him as he walked by (most players look straight down and listen to their ipods). That wave alone made my son's weekend. And something can be said for Good Kharma (see # 1).
As we checked out on Sunday, we rode the elevator down with Matt Murton (my daughter's favorite player...I think because she likes yelling "Orange Guy"). Murton was EXTREMELY nice and cordial. He was actually chatty with all of us. He asked where we were from, etc.; and he talked about his upcoming wedding in November ("past the post-season"). He said that he was having a blast playing baseball, but it has been even more fun now that they are winning. He signed a ball for my awe-struck twins. Good Karma struck again as he got two hits later that day.
With good kharma on his side, Michael Barrett hit his grand slam on Saturday night. With my kids jumping up and down with joy, I knew that I forever had them sucked into the exciting and tormenting life of a cubs fan. Gotcha! There's no turning back now.

Cubs AT Cinci, June 9th

Ghost of Fred Merkle — Fri, 26 May 2006 01:14:48 -0000

I don't see a diary that is already set up for AWAY game tickets, so I'll start one here.

I have two tickets for the Friday night game AT Cincinnati on June 9th. They are in section 132 in row 00. It looks like these seats are about even with 1st base along the lower level.

Right now, I have these tix posted on StubHub, but if they don't sell i'd be willing to sell them here to some trusy cub fans that are transplanted in Ohio (Sarah?). Maybe the Great American Ballpark can awaken the Cubs' bats.

If interested, write me at arcleven -at- yahoo -dt- com.

Thanks.