The Bud Black Blues

In a rare occurrence I actually got the day off on Wednesday. The reason I took the day off was to attend the Padres-Reds game in the 'Nasty. (It was an afternoon game).

We were very fortunate (and many thanks to my sister) to score 4 tickets to the game from Greg Maddux's mom and sister (and no I'm not making that up). Boom's got a good relationship with Linda (Greg's mom) . I know that we were very appreciative of the good will gesture.

But anyway I was joined by Boom, Andy and Dirty. (Jenny was unable to get off of work...thus unable to go).

The game itself was typical of the kind of year Maddux and the Padres were having. Maddux exited the game in the sixth with a lead of 3-2 (and a runner at third). The reliever, Cla Meredith, enters the game and on THE VERY FIRST PITCH that he delivers...Edwin Encarnacion of the Reds smashes a two run homer. Again...for the 14th straight time...Maddux doesn't get the win. In that stretch he has exited with the lead nine times only to see it evaporate by the ineffectiveness of the Padres bullpen. In all honestly, I wasn't as frustrated as I should have been. This has been going on all year and it's becoming pretty numb.

But anyway...the result of the game stunk but not the experience. Our seats were awesome...hands down the best seat that I've ever had at a game. They were behind the visiting dugout...and when I mean behind the dugout...I mean directly behind the dugout. We were in the first row behind the dugout. It was incredible.

And to top it off I actually got a foul ball. I should clarify that it wasn't one hit into the stands...Bronson Arroyo was batting and squibbed a foul ball off the plate. The Padres batboy got the ball and was looking to throw it into the stands and I believe I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was wearing a Padres shirt so maybe that helped. But I'm pretty sure he was looking for a chick to throw the ball to but all he got was us (Boom missed out as she was getting something to drink). So that really cool to have a ball that Maddux pitched. That's something I'll always remember.

So even though the Padres blew it...we all had a great time. Maddux pitched well enough to win. Our seats were tremendous...it was just a really fun time. Plus I had some Skyline so one can't complain about that.