Opening Day: Brewers almost Fukudome!

Only separated by a stretch of about 1 hour and 15 minutes on I-94, the Cubs and Brewers for a long time were split between the National and American leagues, so it gave me two teams to watch and root for. To top it off, my house in Arizona is 1 mile from the Cubs Spring Training facility and about 20 minutes from where the Brewers play. Needless to say this year provided a dream Opener and one I wish I could have made!

Before the game even began there was a statue unveiling of Ernie Banks and to add the icing to the cake Hank Aaron was also there to congratualte his friend as well. These two legends are the true athletes that have helped me look past baseball's low points like the 1994 baseball strike and the current day steriod debacle. I found a picture of the two in 1970, after Aaron was presented with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.



Opening Day 2008: Now on to the actual game
Aside from battling some challenging weather conditions these two teams put on quite a great performance. I'll save you the explanation of the first 8 full innings as the box score read 0-0, but the ninth inning was exciting. Braun singles in the ninth which brings in the first run, then Cory Hart drives in two more on his double. So going into the bottom of the 9th with Eric Gagne on the mound, you should feel comfortable...until Fukudome comes to the plate and jacks a 3 run homer. Who is Fukudome? Don't know yet, but I am sure we'll hear more about him in the months to come. So after retiring 3 out of the next 4 batters we move to the 10th. Up to bat comes big Tony Gywnn Jr. who to this point has been having a phenomenal day. Not only does he put the winning RBI on his box score with a sac fly to score Counsell, but also manages to make a sliding catch to end the game and give the Brewers a 4-3 victory in 10 innings at Wrigley.

Oh how I wish I was there, but instead captured my real live scoring and pitch by pitch on mlb.com.