August 14, 2014 – Brewers 6, Cubs 2 – Wrigley Field

Fiers away 

Umpires: HP: Tim Timmons. 1B: Tim Welke. 2B: Todd Tichenor. 3B: Clint Fagan.

Weather: 67 degrees, sunny.

Wind: 5 mph, In from CF.

T: 3:06.

Att: 38,157.

I was glad the Cubbies won last night, because Edwin Jackson was pitching for them this afternoon, which is almost always bad news for the Wrigley faithful. Jackson has been consistently mediocre throughout his career, including 2012 with the Nats, but degenerated to truly terrible after signing a long-term contract with Chicago after that season, leading the NL with 18 losses in 2013 and carrying a 5+ ERA for most of 2014. He certainly lived down to his reputation today, starting with two first-inning walks followed by a two-run Scooter Gennett double. Things didn’t improve thereafter, until he was mercifully lifted with 2 outs in the fifth, after 93 pitches and 5 runs allowed, despite the absence of Braun, Ramirez, and Segura from the Milwaukee lineup.

Meanwhile, Brewers starter Mike Fiers, who is only modestly endowed stuff-wise, completely baffled the Cubs during his six shutout innings, allowing only three hits and one walk while fanning 14 of the 22 batters he faced. For comparison purposes, the only other pitchers with 14 or more Ks in a game this season are Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez, Jon Lester, Jose Fernandez, and Max Scherzer – quite heady company for a guy who was exiled to AAA for much of the season.

After some effective long relief by recent Cubs pickup Jacob Turner, the home team did make things somewhat interesting in the bottom of the seventh, plating two unearned runs off Zach Duke on a Chris Valaika pinch single. But Mark Reynolds hit one out in the eighth off Kyuji Fujikawa, and the Cubs went down 1-2-3 in both the eighth and ninth.

Nobody parachuted onto the field today, but there was plenty of non-baseball activity in the middle innings, as jets practicing for an upcoming air show were regularly buzzing over the ballpark. Since Jackson had pretty much ended the competitive part of the afternoon by then, this proved to be a welcome diversion for both fans and photographers alike.

Was almost on the field today – Club Box Infield, Aisle 33, Row 1, Seat 106, just beyond first base. Just past the visiting team dugout is an area three rows deep with about 10 folding chairs, mainly for press photographers. My seat was just behind and beyond this section, meaning that close attention to every pitch was a must to avoid potentially great bodily harm. We did notice that the security guy who was in the reserved area near us along with the photographers was wearing a batting helmet. On the other hand, a couple of the photographers sitting in the very front of that area had laptops on which they were frequently typing. Since the sun would have made it nearly impossible to see the screen, they draped what looked like large towels over both the laptop screens and their heads to do their work, leaving them with no view at all of any possible flying objects heading towards them. You could not pay me enough to be in that position.

While fortunately there weren’t any liners into the section, it did finally turn out to be a great place for getting baseballs. In the bottom of the seventh, Brewers shortstop Elian Herrera fielded a grounder and threw it past first base near the Brewers dugout. At the end of the play, Cubs first base coach Eric Hinske got the ball and tossed it into our section, where it was caught by the guy sitting right next to me. (After a bit of gentle prodding, he then generously gave it to a young woman nearby who had also been trying to get it.) A batter or two later saw a foul pop find its way near us. Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo tossed another ball our way after finishing warmups an inning later, and someone else tossed a fourth ball in before the game was over.

I got a bargain for lunch at Wrigley’s Decade Diner. When I ordered the blackened tilapia po’ boy sandwhich, the cashier asked whether I had a MasterCard. Although I didn’t, she apparently still gave me the MasterCard discount, which meant I got the sandwich, fries (which I didn’t expect and didn’t especially want), and two pickle spears for $8.65, rather than the listed price of $11.50. Although the sandwich was messy and not very quick to arrive (15 minutes), it was quite good, and tables were still available. Also wound up getting a $7.00 souvenir soda – it is the 100^th anniversary of Wrigley, after all – and a $4.50 lemon chill, an item which is much easier to find at Wrigley than it is in Washington.