Game #99-Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Los Angeles Lakers

Quicken Loans Arena

12/14/2017

Another work trip, another game. This time instead of driving to and from Cleveland I decided to buy a plane ticket so I could go directly back to San Diego. Also, it’s the middle of winter and I never know what the weather is going to be like. In fact, areas in Ohio got over 6 inches of snow and the last thing I want to do is get stuck in the middle of no where. So after a long 3.5 hour trip (driving on a good day takes about 5) I landed in chilly Cleveland. I love walking off the plane in shorts and flip flops this time of year. Everyone looks at me like I am nuts. They are in huge parkas, boots, gloves, etc. but the Midwest and northeast has a huge problem, they over compensate for the cold weather. Cars, office buildings, hotel rooms, even the basketball arena last night were way too hot. So the clothes I wear are actually more suitable. I hit up my hotel to change, grab some food, and then head to the game. I got an amazing upgrade this time to one of the corner suites, the room was huge, mostly useless to me for one night, but I’ll take it. 

On the way to the game because I was right at the city center I stopped by the main square to check out the holiday lights, Christmas tree, outdoor ice rink, and the Hanukkah parade before trekking over to the arena. 

Quicken Loans is fairly new, but as always I was expecting so much more for the fans. The Cavs won the cities first championship in 52 years and the only sign that they did this is a banner on the outside of the building. No team history, no glass cases with player memorabilia, just some life size pictures and the fairly standard basketball with a players hand size and shoe size on the ground. One day I hope these building designers cater more to the real fans.  

I came to the Cavs game because the Lakers happened to be in town. They are still horrible this year, but at least are not the laughing stock of the league as in the past two years. They have some good young talent as well lead by Brandon Ingram and I guess the second pick in last years draft Lonzo Ball (he shows flashes of skill, but his shot is UGLY!). Also, it doesn’t hurt to watch the star studded Cabs team. Even with Derrick Rose and Isiah Thomas out with injuries, they still have Kevin Love, JR Smith, and the best player in the world Lebron James. 

The first half the Lakers were player pretty well. The young legs pushed the ball, fought for rebounds, and hustled to loose balls giving them the lead. But early and often they were shooting and missing soooo many 3’s where as the Cavs had sure shot Kyle Corver draining from downtown over and over. In the second Cleveland started to take over, James was simply too strong with his triple double (tied Larry Bird for 6th all time), Jose Calderon hit 5 three’s, and Love added 28 to seal their 16th win in 17 games with a  score of 121-112. 

Funny part of today’s game...Brook Lopez. Not only did he get rejected by the rim on an easy ally-oop (easy for a dude that’s 7 feet tall), but he air balled two free throw shots in a row!  A professional basketball player, who is in his 10 year in the NBA, can’t shoot a ball from more than 5 feet from the rim. Amazing...

Well that was game 99!  Wonder what 100 will be.

2017 World Series- Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Houston Astros

• 2017 World Series- Game 7
  Los Angeles Dodgers vs Houston Astros
  Dodger Stadium
  11/1/2017
  
  
  What a wild year.  The Dodgers started off a bit slow, then quickly went on an absolute tear this year.  I think at one point they won 45 of 50 games, it was nuts.  Then the end of July/August hit and it was as if the walls came crumbling down.  They lost 14 games in a row if I am not mistaken (they weren’t in jeopardy of losing the NL west, but it looked bad) and other teams around the league started to catch up like the Astros and Indians. As a Dodger fan I obviously wanted them to have the best record in the league so they could have home field advantage throughout the playoffs (not that they got rid of that ridiculous rule that the division winner of the all-star game dictated home field advantage.  Luckily the boys in blue pulled things together the end of the regular season and finished with the best record, and all they could do is wait to see who they would play after the one game wild card game. 
  
  
  Fast forward to blowing by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 3 games and had a hard fought series vs last years champs, the Chicago Cubs, it was either going to be the Yankees or Astros in the series.  I along with most of the LA fan base was hoping for the Yankees.  Yes they are a storied franchise, yes they are the winningest team in World Series history, but their line up is not as intimidating.  They have flashes of brilliance but Houston won over 100 games for a reason.  So when the ‘Stros came out with the victory I had a sick feeling in my stomach. 
  Game one was amazing, we looked confident behind Kershaw and came away with the win.  Game 2…heartbreak.  Houston came away with lest second heroics getting a homer in the 9^th to tie it up, and then LA losing 6-7. Game 3 the Astros took the lead in the series winning 5-3.  Game 4 the Dodgers lit them up in the 9^th for a 6-2 crushing.  Game 5…even more heartbreak.  This time even worse than game 2 because we came back so many times to lose in extra innings 12-13.  A must win game six had the Dodgers outplaying Justin Verlander for a 3-1 win.  It all came down to game seven, one that set me back $1400!
  
  
  I’ll say this, there really was no way I was going to miss a possible world series clinching game for the Dodgers.  I was 10 when they last won, but I have been listening/watching games since I was a tot.  My grandfather use to religiously watch the Dodgers and I don’t remember a time I went into his garage in the summer without the game on and Vin Scully’s voice floating in the air.  I planned the games according to possibilities.  Meaning, I bought plane tickets and got hotel rooms for Houston for games 4 and 5 (no tickets purchased).  I knew if we couldn’t clinch I had a bit of time to cancel each.  So slowly I got rid of a flight, then a room, then the rest of the trip as the Dodgers had no chance to clinch in Houston.  I didn’t buy game six tickets, just hoping while I watch from my seat at home I could get a chance to see them win on November 1^st.  My dreams came true and next thing I knew I was on the freeway at 1pm trying to beat San Diego, Orange County, and LA traffic to get to the game on time.  I showed up around 4:45 with a game time start of 5:20.  It was weird, I have been to several championship games and there was a buzz in the air like this is ours!  At the Kings, people were excited.  At the Galaxy, it was if we knew we were going to win.  I didn’t get that feeling at Dodgers stadium.  It was a bit subdued, the fans were antsy, and for good reason…Darvish was on the mound.  He was obtained from the Rangers as a playoff pitcher but was spotty at best in the regular season and sucked in the post season.  In fact he only lasted 2 innings in his previous start.  But what are you going to do, our aces were on rest and he was up next.  What a fatal flaw…
  
  
  I don’t know much about pitching.  I realize there are split minute decisions for the hitters to see the ball coming at them, but the pitchers control everything.  I never heard of a pitchers tell like poker, but apparently Darvish has one and the Astros knew it.  Apparently he held his hand in place in the mitt for fastballs, and moved it around for curves.  The first few batters knew this an capitalized fast.  In fact Springer got a hit and was immediately on 2^nd.  Within 2 innings that Dodgers were down 5!  The entire stadium was in shock.  We cheered, but halfheartedly.  We screamed, but without passion.  If we got a run or two in the first 3 innings I think the attitude would have been completely different, but LA stranded so many people on base.  In fact, we have the bases loaded and got nothing from it.  I could go into the hits from the Astros and the lone HR, I could talk about how Kershaw came in and didn’t allow a run, but really it all came down to Darvish.  Blowing the game in the first inning set the tone for the night and the Dodgers never recovered.  A single run brought a little life into the stadium but not enough.  When the final out was pitched and the Astros ran onto the field, it was as if everyone was relieved.  We just sat through 3 hours of misery, paid tons of money to be at this game, and our team failed us.  Not by a little, by a lot.  No one hit, no big plays, nothing…  I stuck around the stadium for about an hour afterward to get pictures of the winning team, tried to find a ticket stub (no way, apparently the dodgers made season ticket holders pay a ransom for printed tickets so no one got them), but mainly I was trying to avoid traffic getting out of the stadium.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I will say this, I am glad I went because it was an experience.  Not one I want to see or feel again, but you can’t win them all.  Also, if I can take any positive away from the game I saw a team win the World Series and that knocked off the third championship from my fantasy list.  Now I just have basketball and the Super Bow to go.  But man, it would have been amazing to see the Boys in Blue win at home…
  Fun part of the day.  This is true Dodger fans at their finest.  I brought a couple of beers to possibly tailgate with fellow fans.  I noticed no one was hanging around their cars and cops all over the place, so I figured it was banned.  But just in case I asked this gangster looking dude if we could tailgate and his response, “Na man, not after that fat fuck got his ass kicked”.  Pretty much sums us up…ha!  By the way, Dodgers lost 5-1…
  

  

Game #98-Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers vs Los Angeles Dodgers

Comerica Park

August 20, 2018

Headed back to Indianapolis again, but this is the first time for a new client in about 2 years.  I guess I should be excited about the fact that I will be in a great viewing area for the total eclipse that is going to take place on Monday the 21^st (Indy should be at about 91% vs 58% back in San Diego), but honestly I just wanted to take advantage of my proximity to Detroit so I could knock off my final team in that city…also they just so happen to be playing my Dodgers.  On paper 300 miles seems bad, the 4.5 hour estimated drive on google maps is worse, but the actual drive is fairly mind numbing.  Todays technology is great, I set up my phone in the car with my map app on and was on my way, but seeing the miles s-l-o-w-l-y tick away is rough.  At one point I needed to just turn off the screen because I knew I had 96 miles to go on one freeway but all I was doing was looking at the screen every 5 minutes.  “How can I still have 92 miles to go!!!!”.  But after a while I got into a groove, put on some Kevin and Bean podcasts, had the cruise control set for 79mph, and the radar detector was in the right position to spot cops.  By the time I entered the parking lot it was after 9pm and I was wiped.  Mind you, I was up at 4:30am PST so this was a 13.5 hour travel day.  I got to my room, went out for a drink at the Whiskey Parlor, and headed to bed around midnight.  I didn’t move all night until the alarm at 9:30am…

Game day I initially had big plans.  I was going to drive to the University of Michigan to check out the campus and then maybe go for a run along the board walk to look across the river to Canada, but I had no energy for that.  Instead I had breakfast, went to the gym, took a nice long shower and then packed so I could go straight from the game to the car and back on the road to Indy. 

I was just in Detroit a year ago for the Lions game so I had an opportunity to check out Comerica (Tigers Field) before.  They have awesome statues around the park, banners on the poles, and an old timey feel to the building.  The stadium is 17 years old now but the architects didn’t miss a beat for the fans.  Tigers were everywhere.  Be it statues, pictures, even a carousel in the Tigers Den, they really did it up.  I was also really glad to see that they paid homage to the old teams.  This franchise has been around since 1901 and although they have only won the world series 4 times (1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984), there is a lot of history.  So in each section of the park the builders put up these cool displays with mitts, banners, player pics, championship trophies while underneath where display cases with notable players like Ty Cobb and their jerseys, gloves and bats.  Not to mention in the outfield the statues of all the players who have had their numbers retired is a great addition (Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Hal Newhouser, Willie Horton, Hank Greenburg and Ty Cobb).

As for the game, it was a pitchers duel for most of the afternoon.  Kenda Maeda looked sharp until the 6^th inning when the Tigers put on a hitting clinic getting 5 hits and 4 runs to take a 4-1 lead into the 7^th.  To that point, new Dodgers outfielder Curtis Granderson knock a ball off the foul pole for his first homer in the uniform but that was not enough vs all-star Justin Verlander.  Once the Tigers got the lead they only extended it in the 8^th with a two run homer from Miguel Cabrera and there was no looking back.  Normally I would stay to the end of the game, especially since this was a day game and the Dodgers ability to come back this year, but with the 300 mile drive back to Indy I called it quits the bottom of the 9^th hoping to avoid any additional traffic.  I didn’t miss anything as the Tigers won 6-1 ending LA’s six game win streak holding them to 87-35 for the year. 

Most notable thing about the game were the people around me.  All were very friendly, I had great conversations about the history of the Tigers, the old stadium, the upswing of the Detroit area, and the father/son behind me were awesome.  They clearly loved being with each other and I gave the kid a bit of strife when I found out he was a Giants fan (as well as Tigers follower).  He likes Buster Posey, can’t fault him cause the guy is a great player, but I let the kid know that I boo’ed BP at the world baseball classic even with him being on my team.  Too funny.