Game #44 / Restaurant #30 – Maleo

Game #44 / Restaurant #30 – Maleo
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Ian, Eric, Kevin & Julie

My cousin Ian and his friend Greg were in town from Madison for a conference to help them prep for the Boards, and they decided to blow off the afternoon and go to the Cubs game. (The conference ran from 7 AM – 6 PM Thursday –through Saturday and 7 AM – Noon on Sunday. Yikes! Those doctors don’t have it easy…)

They were staying downtown and took the red line up to meet us at Bernie’s. It’s always funny to hear “tourists” to the city talk about things we just take for granted and don’t even think about. Like how to figure out how to pay for the El. Funny. Quick beer at Bernie’s and into the game for the Battle for the Basement. Ian is originally from St. Louis area and so Cards fan. His friend Eric is Brewers (and Packers) fan.

Game was pretty crowded, but we found seats on the aisle in row 9/10, so not too bad. In the 2nd inning, Luis/Louis Valbuena hit a homer into the basket right below us. This was followed by a text from Ian’s wife Jenny saying we were on TV. We weren’t buying that since we were way up in row 9 and the homer barely made the basket. But she accurately described what Ian was wearing and eventually sent a picture she took on the tv. Ha ha!

Bogusevic also hit a homer to give the Cubs 95 homers at Wrigley, most in the NL. Homer or bust – the more things change, the more they stay the same…

A pitcher named Lim came in during the game (wearing Soriano’s #12, sniff, sniff – I miss him), and a few funny things about him:

• He’s 37 years old making his major league debut!!
• He became the 54th player the Cubs used this season, which is a Cubs record. The previous record was 53. Set last year. 
• He gave up a single to his former teammate from Japan, Aoki.

Ah well. Cubs lose; Eric was happy.

After the game, we went to Bernie’s where Eric had an Old Fashioned. Ha ha. Ian said he had a super sweet tooth when it came to drinks. (He doesn’t drink beer so had a Mai Tai at the game  )

We went to the Jewel to grab some wine and then headed over to Melao at 3941 N. Lincoln, a BYO Colombian restaurant where Wigs met us. We had gone here with JO and Cindy a few months back (pre-blog), and it was yummy. We started with empanadas – 2 of each, spinach, chicken, beef. For dinner:

Ian & Kevin shared the Picada, “a tremendous combination of meats: pork belly, top sirloin, pork ribs, sausage, fried green plantains, yucca, white cheese corn cake and tomatoes. It serves 3, and the two of them couldn’t finish it. The only downside was some of the meats on the “tremendous” platter had bones in them, so they had to be careful. And the platter itself didn’t look that appetizing, but that’s just my thoughts. I’m sure the boys were fine w/it.

Wigs & Eric both ordered the Bandeja Paisa, “our traditional mountain platter; grilled top sirloin, pork belly, white rice, pinto beans, white cheese corn cake, fried egg, colombian sausage, sweet plantains and avocado”

I ordered the Tilapia filets.

There was a ton of food, and even Wigs couldn’t finish his, and was able to take home the leftovers. I think everyone enjoyed their meals.

Recap:

Cubs Lose 5-3

My season record: Visitors 28, Cubs 16

Parking update: No update today

Game #43 / Restaurant #29 – Angelina Ristorante

Game #43 / Restaurant #29 – Angelina Ristorante

Friday, September 6, 2013
Heather & Julie

Not crowded at all today in bleachers, so plenty of room to spread out. Much hotter than I was expecting, but not like last Friday’s game.

Junior Lake Grand Slam in the first inning!! The Cubs scored 5 in the first. Didn’t that happen last Friday when the Cubs were then shut out and lost 6-5?? Luckily no repeat today. This was a fun game. Well, I guess they usually are fun when the Cubs win! In the top of the 1st inning, Rusin struggled, throwing 32 pitches, but didn’t give up any runs. Phew. The Cubs batted a round in the bottom of the first with Lakes GS the highlight. In the bottom of the 3rd with 2 men on, Lake bunted for a single to load the bases. Rusin came up and singled in 2 runs for his first RBI’s. Cub pitchers – 27 RBI’s this year (most in the majors). Aramis Ramirez hit a homer (his 10th – he must’ve been on DL this year??), and Scooter Gennett hit a 3 run pinch hit homer in the 8th. The Cubs did hang on to win 8-5, and Kevin Gregg had his 30th save (3rd time in his career) with a 1-2-3 ninth. (Feel like I haven’t seen a 1-2-3 in a while…) Yea Cubs!!

To Bernie’s after the game, where we met up with Lyletta, Wigs, Trish, John, Kristen and Kevin. Trish & John’s drinking ban apparently lasted only 5 hours (from her email at Noon today indicating they were on a ban). Ha ha : )

A couple beers at Bernie’s and then we headed to Angelina’s (on Broadway) for dinner. It’s been a year or so since we’ve been here and they were able to take us (Heather, Wigs, KD, Kev & me). For appetizers, we shared calamari and antipasti. For dinner, Heather had the the insalata bosco and the Fusilli con Pollo. She said it was good, but a little light on the chicken. Wigs had the short ribs, which he said were very good, and Kevin had the risotto with chicken which he also said was good. I had the pasta pomodoro (angel hair pasta with fresh tomato basil sauce). Very fresh and very good. With enough for leftovers!

Recap:

Cubs Win 8-5

My season record: Visitors 27, Cubs 16

Parking update: No update today

Game #42 - Cubs vs. Marlins

Game #42

Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Randy & Julie

I had a meeting cancelled this afternoon, which ended up freeing up my day. Then I got a text from evil Randy about going to the game, and I was in. I got there in the 3rd inning, missing a monster home run by Logan Morrison (according to Randy). I would have been there sooner, but was being frisked by the little-man-complex dude at the bleacher entrance. I friggin hate that guy. I will usually go to another gate to avoid him, but was in a rush. So of course he has to look through every zippered compartment in my bag. I hope he got off while fishing through my tampons. Jackwad - I really do hate him.

Anyways (sorry for the rant), I went in bleacher entrance and then headed over to section 16 (behind Cubs on-deck circle) to sit with Randy. The park was really, really empty. Randy counted 30 people in the bleacher section where we normally sit. Section 16 seats are awesome, and it’s fun to see the players up close.

Fernandez, the Marlin’s young stud pitcher, was supposed to be going for the Fish, but it turned out to be some guy named Flynn making his ML debut. Oh well. I did see Fernandez pitch against the Pirates in Pittsburgh last month.

Smardz on the mound for the Cubs. He struck out 9 more today, giving him 190 on the season, putting him in 3rd for the NL (7th overall) behind Kershaw (Dodgers w/201) and Harvey (Mets w/191). Darvish w/Texas is still leading the majors with 240. Wow. Lots of hits and home runs in today’s game. 11 hits for each team. 4 HR’s for the Cubs. They are tied with the Orioles for most HR’s by a team at home (94).

Scary moment: with Stanton at the plate, he lost control of his bat and it went flying into the 2nd row, hitting a little boy. OMG – that was the scariest thing ever. To me, it looked like it hit him across the chest, with each end of the bat at each of his shoulders. His Dad picked him up and the whole family ran out of the seats so fast with security right there to guide them. The boy was crying as they went by, so that was encouraging (e.g. he was breathing). I was shaking after seeing this; I can’t imagine how his Mom & Dad were feeling. I read later that he got hit in the chin, and returned to the seats (although I didn’t see them return). Remember early on in the season when the girl choked in the bleachers? Security said she was fine too. I’ll have to check w/Peplansky.

Randy left game at 3:30 to go get his hair cut, and I wandered back out to the bleachers to get some last rays of summer sun. It was hot! Donnie Murphy came through with a 2-run homer to give the Cubs the lead in the 8th. They managed to hang on and win one from the lowly Marlins. Boy are we bad.

Recap:

Cubs Win 9-7

My season record: Visitors 27, Cubs 15

Parking update: No update today

Game 41 - Cubs vs. Marlins

Game #41

Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Heather, Wigs, Kevin & Julie

This was one of those “I haven’t been out of the house all day, but it was sunny out so it must be a warm night”. Wigs texted that they parked near us, so met them on the way to game. I had on shorts & t-shirt. Wigs & Heather had jeans. Uh-oh. It was a little cool, but not bad. Weird – it’s like the weather thought, “Oh, it’s September, so I have to cool down at night.” It sure did. I had brought a jacket, so was fine.

Kevin had his fantasy draft at Bernie’s so he showed up in the 5th inning. Which for scoring no runs through 4, the game seemed to take a really long time. I think it was 9:15 when he got there. There were 5 runs scored in the 5th (to make it 3-2 Marlins), so that was part of it. (There were 12 Marlin hits in the game vs. 4 for the Cubs.) The Marlins added on 3 more in the 8th making it 6-2. We stayed through the bottom of the 8th and then headed home (was 10:20 by then). By the time we got home, the game had ended and no additional Cub runs. Boo.

Some tidbits (courtesy of Carrie M.):

• Edwin Jackson was the loser; he hasn’t won a game since July 31 (6 starts). 
• He’s given up 21 earned runs over 33 2/3 innings. 
• Oh, and he’s 1-7 against the Marlins in his career.

Here’s his quote: "As a starter, you really can't worry about runs," What?! Followed by "If you're not scoring a lot, then the pitching and defense has to be there.” Oh, ok, this is all the offenses fault. I’m not saying they aren’t culpable, but way to throw them under the bus Edwin! Yep, 3 more years of this to look forward to. (4 year $52 million contract by the way.)

Some more tidbits.

• Cubs have lost 12 of their last 17 and 19 of their last 24 at home.
• Lefty Zach Rosscup made his major league debut in the 6th. 
• He struck out the first batter he faced. The ball was thrown into the dugout. 
• Cubs left 6 men on and went 0 for 5 RISP.
• Castro lined a ball to pitcher’s leg and he went down. He was on the ground for a while, but did eventually recover and stay in game.
• Next batter was Valbuena, fresh off the DL who was hit in the leg with a pitch and went down. He also got up and stayed in game.

Recap:

Cubs Lose 6-2

My season record: Visitors 27, Cubs 14 (My winning percentage is .350….)

Parking update: No update today

GAME 40!!!!

Game #40 - Cubs vs. Marlins

Monday, September 2, 2013
Heather, Wigs, Randy, Kevin & Julie

GAME 40 – we did it! Now we just need to get our restaurant count up! Beautiful Labor Day in Chicago – sunny, warm, but not overly hot. Just lovely. Not overly crowded and we had lots of space to spread out. The long slow slog to the end of the season begins with the lowly Marlins…

Check out Wigs missing a home run in the 1st inning off Christian Yelich:
http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/recap?id=330902116

Also check out me and Heather trying to stay away from the ball. Yikes. I was like “oh crap, oh crap…”. The last thing I want is a HR ball anywhere near me. Thank goodness it wasn’t crowded so there weren’t jerks from all over right field trying to get it. Wigs had a bruise on his thumb/palm, and we determined that exactly 3 of our friends were watching the game based on the texts we received. Ha ha.

Cubs scored 3 in the bottom of the 1st to take the lead, and then the Marlins came right back with 3 in the top of the 2nd to take a 4-3 lead. This is where it stayed and ended. 5 guys left on base and 2 for 6 with RISP.

Cubs are 27-44 at home, which is a .380 winning percentage, bottom 2 in the majors. Sigh. After the game, we went to Bernie’s and met Erin since she’s getting in their Confidence Pool this year. Fun! Then headed home after long, busy weekend.

Yep, end of the season. Posts are getting shorter : )

Recap:

Cubs Lose 4-3

My season record: Visitors 26, Cubs 14 (My winning percentage is .350….)

Parking update: No update today

Game #39 / Restaurant #28 – Café Orchid

Game #39 / Restaurant #28 – Café Orchid

Saturday, August 31, 2013
Heather, Wigs, Kristen, Trish, OB, Shelly, Joe, Kevin & Julie

A little cooler today, but still warm. Good crowd – it’s been a while since we’ve had this many. Fun times! Poor Joe just landed from Argentina around 1:00 and needed to re-pack for their trip to Hawaii tomorrow. Yea, poor thing.

This was a good back and forth game:

PHI   0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0     3 6 1
CHC 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 x    4 11 1

Once again, we left a lot of guys on base – 11 hits but only 4 runs. Some game highlights/stats:

• Castro hit his first HR in over a month
• The Cubs have 89 home runs at Wrigley, second most by a team at home in the Majors behind the Orioles, who have 94.
• Castro also has career high 111 strikeouts with a month still left
• Cubs are 5-14 in one-run games
• Phillies pitcher was Cliff Lee. He was the fourth Cy Young Award winner the Cubs have faced in five games -- and the only one to get a win was the Dodgers' Zack Greinke on Monday.
• Cubs pitcher was Rusin. In the 3rd, with 2 outs (after 8 pitches), an error by Rizzo led to another 16 pitches to finish the inning. 
• Cole Gillespie had 2 RBI’s and a diving catch to prevent a base hit in the 8th.

After the game, to Bernie’s for a couple and then down to Café Orchid on Addison for some Turkish food. (Trish, JO & KD took a pass, so just the 6 of us.) This place has been here a while and we finally tried it. BYO, which is always a bonus, and we sat outside in a really cute outdoor café with plants and lights.

We started with a bunch of appetizers, including hummus (super fresh), babaganush (which is just fun to say in addition to being super fresh), lentil fingers (red lentil, onion, red pepper, cumin, parsley, scallion, white pepper, cracked wheat served over fresh romaine lettuce & lemon, mild spicy) and falafil. Everything was really, really good.

For dinner, I’m not sure I remember everyone’s but this is what I have (yea, end of season….):

Wigs – Iskender with Adana and spicy butter sauce. Adana served over pan-fried bread with butter, yogurt with mild spicy butter sauce. I have no idea what Adana is, so of course went to wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adana_kebab%C4%B1

Kevin – Sultan Delight - char-grilled eggplant puree sauteed with mozzarella cheese & topped with lamb cubes cooked with onion, red & green bell peppers, olive served with rice or bulgur





Julie, Shelly & Heather – Chicken Shish Kebobs - chicken cubes marinated with veg oil, lemon juice, milk, paprika, garlic, oregano, black pepper

Although I think Heather & I had the kebobs and Shelly had the skewers.  I'm not sure of the difference, other than the presentation.   

Joe – no idea. Maybe it was the Uskudar?? - lamb cubes sauteed with onion, tomatoes, mushroom, red & green peppers, garlic wrapped with sliced eggplant served with rice.


Everything was really good. Shelly declared this her new favorite place to go after Cub games. Not too pricey, easy to walk to after game, nice patio, BYO. Definitely on the list!!

Recap:

Cubs Win 4-3

My season record: Visitors 25, Cubs 14

Parking update: No update today

Game #38 / Restaurant #27 – Cantina Pasadita

Game #38 / Restaurant #27 – Cantina Pasadita
Friday, August 30, 2013
Heather, Kathleen, Danielle, Craig & Julie

HOLY HOTNESS! This was easily the hottest day of the year. Sunny, very humid and heat index near or over 100. Yowza. My niece and her step-brother from Nebraska came down to the game with my sister, so fun to see them. And another surprise: the Curylo crew (sans Jim & Laura) - Mike Curylo, Johnny Erdman and Party Marty made an appearance. It was awesome that Mike sat right behind me so I could hear him bitch about the Cubs all day. Yeesh. It wasn’t very crowded and there was plenty of room in the bleachers. It still felt really loud to me though. For some reasons on Fridays, I feel like the noise level is super-high. Even when it’s empty, like today.

Sandberg’s first game as a full-fledged Manager. He got nice applause when he brought out the lineup cards. Way to go Ryno.

This game was so Cubs. Five run lead through 5 innings (off Roy Halladay!), and then Philly comes back to score 4 in the 6th and then 1 in the 7th to tie, and one in the 9th to win. Boo. Lots of hits in the game and the Cubs had lots of chances (9 guys left on base and 3 for 10 RISP), but of course we love our HR’s. Rizzo and Schierholtz both homered, and they are neck and neck with team lead in homers (21 and 20 respectively). From my gal Carrie (Muskat):

The Cubs now have two left-handed hitters with 20-plus home runs in the same season for the first time since Rick Monday and Billy Williams in 1973.

Funny game thing that I didn’t see until the next morning since it was below where we were sitting: Chase Utley hit a triple to right and the ball hit the ivy/wall and popped out. Along with another ball. So there were actually 2 balls. Ha. He picked the right one up to throw in.

http://wapc.mlb.com/cutfour/2013/08/30/59024796/chase-utley-hits-triple-into-wrigley-ivy-two-balls-come-out

After the game, guess where? Yep. Cindy was there waiting for us – she was supposed to go to the game, but was running late from her bike ride. Wigs also came to meet us. The skies started darkening, and we shipped my sis/niece/Craig into a cab to get back to the Metra station. Once it starts raining, it would be really hard to get a cab and I didn’t want them to miss their train! Then Wigs, Heather & I grabbed a cab and headed to Cantina Pasadita. This was the place we tried to go to on a Sunday a few weeks ago, but it didn’t open until 4. Kevin had a hockey outing, so didn’t join us. Trish & JO texted, but maybe they didn’t want to go that far during the storm?? And Cindy was tuckered and headed home, so just us 3.

We spent about 45 minutes going 4 miles (?? maybe less?) due to the crazy rain storm. Our driver was clueless; I honestly think he must have just arrived in Chicago yesterday. The good news is the storm was over by the time we got to restaurant and we didn’t get wet.

Heather & I started with Sangria – they were huge!

Wigs had a Corona and tequila shot (on special). We also started with ceviche and guacamole. The ceviche was weird – like tuna salad vs. big pieces of fish. I wouldn’t order this again. Guac was good.

I had chicken tacos – I didn’t use the word “dinner”, so didn’t get any rice, beans. Just 2 chicken tacos. Which was fine. They were OK. Wigs had the tampiquena and Heather had enchiladas (?I think?).

Overall, it was pretty good. Not great. I would probably go back again, but definitely not get the ceviche.

Recap:
Cubs Lose 6-5

My season record: Visitors 25, Cubs 13

Parking update: No update today