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The Los Angeles Dodgers won game 7 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays last night in one of the best baseball games I've ever seen—though, for obvious reasons, not nearly as exciting as game 7 of the World Series in 2016. The Dodgers looked buried early, falling behind 3-0 when a hobbled Bo Bichette took an exhausted Shohei Ohtani deep in the third inning. They seemed finished until the ninth, clawing back within one but never completely erasing the deficit — until Rojas saved the season...

I had a really busy weekend, leading to the first time in years when I went 2 days without posting. The highlight yesterday was the San Diego Padres beating the Chicago White Sox 3-2 at Rate Field. Both of the Sox runs were walked in, highlighting the Padres' stellar defense and hitting and the Padres' dismal pitching: Against San Diego starter Michael King and a Padres' bullpen highlighted by three All-Star relievers, the White Sox totaled five hits and nine walks. But an 0-for-11 day with runners in...

The Cubs beat the Pirates this afternoon, securing them a spot in the post-season for the first time in five years: Four and a half years after the Cubs dismantled their last championship core, they finally made it to the playoffs. The Cubs clinched a postseason berth with a 8-4 win against the Pirates on Wednesday, sweeping the three-game set to officially end a four-year playoff drought. This year, the Cubs boasted one of the best run-scoring offenses in the majors in the first half of the season. And...

This weekend, I expect to finish a major personal (non-technical) project I started on June 15th, walk 20 km (without Cassie), and thanks to the desperation of the minor-league team on the South Side of Chicago, attend a Yankees game. It helps that the forecast looks exactly like one would want for the last weekend of summer: highs in the mid-20s and partly cloudy skies. I might have time to read all of these things as well: Jeff Maurer, who watched (some of) this week's televised cabinet meeting so we...

Chicago Cubs legendary second-baseman Ryne Sandberg has died: Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, a Cubs legend and the architect of the famous “Sandberg Game,” passed away Monday at his home after a battle with cancer. He was 65. Sandberg’s breakout 1984 season couldn’t have come at a better time for the Cubs. The “Sandberg Game,” when that year’s NL MVP went 5-for-6 and hit two game-tying home runs off Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter, served as a turning point in the season. The Cubs would go on to clinch the...

It looks like the temperature peaked at Inner Drive Technology World HQ a few minutes ago, hitting 32.7°C with a heat index of 42.3°C. The 26.4°C dew point is higher than I like the temperature to be. It may cool off later today when the thunderstorms finally start, but as I would like to get home from the office before then, I will have to go back out into this soupy mess soon. The only story of note this afternoon: Wrigley Field will host the 2027 All-Star Game. That's pretty cool, especially for the...

As Crash Davis said to Annie Savoy all those years ago: A player on a streak has to respect the streak. Well, I'm on a coding streak. This week, I've been coding up a storm for my day job, leaving little time to read all of today's stories: Despite (or perhaps because of) his obvious mental illness and dementia, the OAFPOTUS is really a predictable negotiator who our adversaries have figured out how to manipulate easily. Voters may not like the OAFPOTUS, but they don't like us either. Still, the...

The White Sox lost to the Detroit Tigers last night, their 121st loss of the season and the most losses in Major League Baseball history, to become the Greatest Losers of All Time: After enjoying a three-game sweep of the struggling Angels to avoid history in front of their disgruntled home fans, the Sox went back to their losing ways Friday, falling for the 121st time to set a modern-day major-league record on the third-to-last day of the season. The Sox had shared the loss record with the 1962 Mets...

Two of the worst teams in baseball played their last home games of the season yesterday, one of them for the last time in their current home. The Chicago White Sox improbably swept the Los Angeles Angels at home this week, holding their season losses at 120 and their Tragic Number at 1. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Morrissey can't see how this gets better next year: When a franchise sets the modern-era record for losses in a season, which the Sox are on the verge of doing, it’s going to see fans...

Last night, the Chicago White Sox lost their 120th game of the season, tying the record set by the New York Mets in 1962: With their fifth consecutive defeat and 23rd in the last 28 games, the Sox fell to 36-120 to tie the expansion 1962 Mets’ record for most losses in the modern era and break the 2003 Tigers’ AL-record 119 losses. Rookie right-hander Sean Burke pitched six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts, and Korey Lee also homered to give Burke a 2-1 lead, but the Padres (90-66) rallied...

In September, all eyes in baseball turn to the teams likely to win spots in the post-season championship games. You'll see in the standings that some teams have a "magic number:" the combination of their wins and other-team losses that will move them into the playoffs. Today, for instance, the New York Yankees are in first place in the American League. Because of math™, any combination of 14 Yankees wins or Baltimore Orioles losses will mean the Yankees finish first in their division. Chicago's American...

The hot, humid weather we've had for the past couple of weeks has finally broken. I'm in the Loop today, and spent a good 20 minutes outside reading, and would have stayed longer, except I got a little chilly. I dressed today more for the 24°C at home and less for the cooler, breezier air this close to the lake. Elsewhere in the world: I was waiting for Russia expert Julia Ioffe to weigh in on last week's hostage release. The Chicago White Sox failed to set the all-time record for most consecutive...

This shit amused me: The Chicago White Sox have tied the American League record of 21 consecutive losses, with the MLB all-time record of 23 a distinct and shitty possibility. CrowdStrike has taken enough of Delta Airlines' shit, thank you. In addition to all the other shit that Hurricane Debby turned up over the weekend, the storm flushed 25 kilos of cocaine onto a Florida beach. Apparently, this happens all the time. Finally, Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the Dave Matthews Band tour bus...

Lots of stories in the last day: Are we about to see a historic change at the top of the Democratic ticket? What's the connection between vice-president nominee JD Vance (R-OH) and Hulk Hogan? Or between JD Vance and Faust? Or between JD Vance and your menstruation cycle? The City of Chicago has approved tearing down the Eamus Catuli building on Waveland. We actually had 25 tornados on Monday. Twenty five. Finally, comic genius and Chicago native Bob Newhart has died at age 94. He was a national treasure.

Cassie and I just got back from a short walk around the block. We did a 45-minute walk at 7:15, when we both could still tolerate the temperature, but just now my backyard thermometer shows a temperature of 33.1°C with a dewpoint of 23.3°C, which gives us a heat index of 38.5°C (101.4°F). Honestly, I prefer winter to this. The National Weather Service predicts the heat wave could extend through the week. Meanwhile, in the rest of the world: John Heilemann asks, why do we give a crap about who the...

Now that Cassie's poop no longer has Giardia cysts in it, she went back to day camp today, so that I could go to my downtown office for the first time in nearly two weeks. To celebrate, it looks like I'll get to walk home from her day care in a thunderstorm. Before that happens, though: Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar warns that our 2024 election looks eerily like the 1996 Russian election that eventually led to Vladimir Putin becoming dictator. New Republic's Thom Hartman lays out how the "mud-sill...

I took Cassie out at 11am instead of her usual 12:30pm because of this: The storm front passed quickly, but it hit right at 12:30 and continued for half an hour with some intensity. It'll keep raining on and off all day, too. Other things rained down in the past day or so: Robert Wright points out the obvious, warning that the XPOTUS was (and would be again if re-elected) way, way worse than President Biden on Gaza. Jennifer Rubin points out the obvious, echoing the warnings of Republican...

I'm still thinking about propaganda in the Gaza war, but I'm not done thinking yet. Or, at least, not at a stopping point where a Daily Parker post would make sense. That said, Julia Ioffe sent this in the introduction to her semi-weekly column; unfortunately I can't link to it: The absolutely poisonous discourse around this war, though, has taken all of that to a whole other level. The rage, the screaming, and the disinformation, ahistoricity, the anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, the propaganda—all of...

A rainy cold front passed over Inner Drive Technology WHQ just after noon, taking us from 15°C down to just above 10°C in two hours. The sun has come back out but we won't get a lot warmer until next week. I've had a lot of coding today, and I have a rehearsal in about two hours, so this list of things to read will have to do: Mother Jones's Russ Choma thinks the XPOTUS doesn't really want to win his fraud trial. Robert Wright interviewed Brown University professor Lyle Goldstein, late of the US Naval...

United Airlines flight 2546 avoided traffic getting from O'Hare to Midway on Monday by taking the shortest route possible for an airplane its size: The 13-minute flight got all the way up to 4,800 feet MSL to reposition an Airbus A320 the White Sox needed to get to New York later that day. The Sun-Times explains: Although the flight did happen, it was merely the airline repositioning a charter plane, according to United spokesman Charles Hobart. And although the flights have no passengers, they still...

I love this chart from Twitter user Jay Cuda: Location of MLB ballparks in relation to downtown / city center pic.twitter.com/b9vq519NiC — Jay Cuda (@JayCuda) January 19, 2023 If you don't want to click through to Twitter, here's Jay's chart: The chart doesn't tell the whole story, does it? For example, both Chicago teams, both New York teams, Boston, DC, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Oakland are all about the same distance from downtown, but easily accessible by train. (Chicago's are both on the same El...

I've spent the morning playing matchmaker between disparate time-streams of data, trying to see what relationships (if any) exist between them. They all seem pretty cool to each other at the moment, which is sub-optimal from my perspective. If I can get a couple to get together amicably, then I can get baby time streams to analyze, which I need desperately. Speaking of sub-optimal: One more voice reminding people that "we" don't have a violence problem; Republicans do. One more beautiful old...

This. Is. Amazing: Chicago Public Media explains how they made it: The viral video was shot earlier this summer, with the help of a Minneapolis-based production studio. With a “lean crew” of just three people, Sky Candy Studios paid a visit to the Windy City in late July, the company’s founder Michael Welsh said. Over the course of a Saturday and a Sunday, Welsh piloted an FPV-style drone with a GoPro attached through the nooks and crannies of Wrigleyville. The “high-precision drone,” which weighs under...

I'm heading to North Carolina this afternoon, so I probably won't post much this weekend. The forecast for Durham looks even better than for Chicago. I had hoped to (finally!) take in a Bulls game tomorrow, but it appears they will be in Gwinnett, Ga., which is a bit of a drive.

Just a few before I take a brick to my laptop for taking a damned half-hour to reformat a JSON file: The King has a long history of meddling in architecture and urban planning, with the divisive planned community of Poundbury, Dorset, his largest project to date. Meanwhile, in the US, architect Adam Paul Susaneck argues that cities need to remove highways that segregate communities. (Plus they're ugly and they cause the traffic they're built to alleviate, but that's another argument.) The Queen's death...

I went to a Cubs game today for the first time since 6 June 2019, mainly because they have made a quest of finding imaginative ways to lose. Today they lost because of a new rule imported from kickball, where they put a man on second base at the start of extra innings. They want the game to end sooner, you see, but with the wind blowing in like this: Then you get a 1-1 ballgame going into the 11th. The next run will win the game, because hitting really sucks with a 20-knot wind coming from center field....

Even though I feel like I have a moderate cold (stuffy, sneezy, and an occasional cough), I recognize that Covid-19 poses a real danger to people who haven't gotten vaccinations or who have other comorbidities. So I'm staying home today except to walk Cassie. It's 18°C and perfectly sunny, so Cassie might get a lot of walks. Meanwhile, I have a couple of things to occupy my time: Arthur Rizer draws a straight line from the militarization of police to them becoming "LARPing half-trained, half-formed kids...

Chicago's two baseball teams gave up a combined 36 runs yesterday, with the Cubs losing to the Reds 20-5 and the Sox losing to the Red Sox 16-7. Perhaps the bullpens could use a little work, hmm? In other news: US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has taken more money from gun lobbyists since taking office than anyone else in the Senate, and did not like a British reporter asking him about it yesterday. The local police in Uvalde, Texas, bungled basic policing during the school shooting Tuesday in ways that just...

Yesterday we had summer-like temperatures and autumn-like winds in Chicago, with 60 km/h wind gusts from the south. That may have had something to do with this insanity: Yes, the Cubs won 21-0 yesterday on 23 hits, their biggest shutout in over 120 years: Nico Hoerner was one of five Cubs to record three or more hits, finishing with three RBIs on a career-high four hits. After a three-hit performance Friday, it also marked the first back-to-back three-hit games of his career. Rivas, Seiya Suzuki, Ian...

First, continuing the thread from this morning, (Republican) columnist Jennifer Rubin neatly sums up how the Republican justices on the Supreme Court seem poised to undo Republican Party gains by over-reaching: We are, in short, on the verge of a constitutional and political tsunami. What was settled, predictable law on which millions of people relied will likely be tossed aside. The blowback likely will be ferocious. It may not be what Republicans intended. But it is coming. Next up, Washington Post...

As of June 11th, the Cubs were tied for first place. That turned out to have been the high point of 2021. The nadir arrived over the weekend when the organization perpetrated the "biggest 24-hour roster dump in franchise history," according to the Chicago Tribune: The Cubs entered the Brewers series hitting .186 in June, the fourth-lowest average of any team in any calendar month. After beating the Cubs 13-2 in the opening game of the homestand, again with Sogard pitching in relief, the...

In Pittsburgh yesterday, Cubs player Javier Báez drew the first baseman into a rundown between home and first, allowing another player to score, and then capitalized on the catcher's error to advance to second: The Tribune: With Willson Contreras on second, Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Erik González fielded Báez’s grounder and threw to first, but Will Craig caught the ball off the bag. Craig, instead of just trotting back and touching the base, advanced to try to tag Báez — and then Báez’s...

Even though Parker has consumed my thoughts since the election, there are a few other things going on in the world: Epidemiologists estimate that yesterday we passed 250,000 Covid-19 deaths in the US. The original Morton's Steakhouse on State Street, opened in 1978, closed permanently Tuesday, ending my tradition of going there on my birthday each year. In a little bit of good news, the National Register of Historic Places designated Wrigley Field a National Historic Landmark today. And as I sit in my...

Just a few of the things that crossed my desktop this morning: Astronomers have detected phosphine gas in the clouds on Venus, which is a strong indicator of life. Astronomers have also detected a ping-pong-ball-sized black hole orbiting the sun, getting as close as 133 kAUs in its orbit. An aircraft made a precautionary landing on an Interstate in Tennessee, and got a full police escort on take-off. No one was hurt. Car manufacturers are teaming up with insurance companies to share data on almost every...

– He lollygags around the Rose Garden. He lollygags on his way to the Hill. He lollygags in and out of the Oval. Do you know what that makes him? Larry? – A lollygagger! – A lollygagger. What's his record, Larry? – Won in '16! – Won in '16. How'd he ever win one? – It's a miracle! – It's a miracle. This is a simple game. You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. You got it? Now we have got a global pandemic raging for months. Hearing's at 8 in the morning. – Ball, catch, throw, elephant...

Major League Baseball will start a short (60-game) season tomorrow, with weird rules (including universal DH and starting extra innings with a runner on second). The games will have piped-in audience sounds because they won't actually have audiences: MLB is also launching an interactive website feature called "Cheer at the Ballpark" that will allow fans to cheer, clap or boo virtually, from home. The idea is that audio engineers at the ballparks can then adjust the recorded crowd sounds to reflect the...

Who could forget? Rolling Stone explains: Forty [one] years ago this evening, a doubleheader at Chicago’s Comiskey Park devolved into a fiery riot when crazed fans stormed the field as part of anti-disco promotional event dubbed Disco Demolition Night. The whole thing was the brainchild of disc jockey Steve Dahl, who dressed up like the general of an anti-disco army and called his followers “The Insane Coho Lips.” Dahl thought the demonstration would consist of simply blowing up some disco records on...

I'm David Braverman, this is my blog, and Parker is my 14-year-old mutt. I last updated this About... page in May 2019, and the world has changed. So here's the update. The Daily Parker is about: Parker, my dog, whom I adopted on 1 September 2006. Politics. I'm a moderate-lefty by international standards, which makes me a radical left-winger in today's United States. The weather. I've operated a weather website for more than 20 years. That site deals with raw data and objective observations. Many...

In just one more example of the president slipping his leash, thanks to the Republican trolls in the Senate giving him permission to do so, the Justice Department said it found prosecutors recommendations for Roger Stone's sentence "shocking." Three Assistant US Attorneys immediately quit the case: Jonathan Kravis, one of the prosecutors, wrote in a court filing he had resigned as an assistant U.S. attorney, leaving government entirely. Aaron S.J. Zelinsky, a former member of special counsel Robert S....

"You'll never guess where I am," he said archly. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm here to see the last team on my list play a home game. More on that tomorrow, as I probably won't blog about it after the game tonight. I'm killing time and not wandering the streets of a city I don't really like in 33°C heat. Downtown St Louis has very little life that I can see. As I walked from the train to the hotel, I kept thinking it was Saturday afternoon, explaining why no one was around. Nope; no one was around...

This is my official post, with photos, of the penultimate park in the 30-Park Geas. Friday I attended the Kansas City Royals–Toronto Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. As mentioned, I arrived well into the 5th inning and didn't get my seat until the beginning of the 6th. No matter; the Jays got all 4 of their runs in the last 3 innings. The park did not inspire me. It's a big dome, covering a meh field, with surrounding meh stands and meh food and drink concessions. It had more...

My plan for an 8-hour drive from Chicago to Toronto yesterday did not survived contact with the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). It turns out, coming into Toronto from the west during rush hour on Friday before a three-day weekend may involve traffic. So it was, in fact, a 10½-hour drive. So the secondary plan of wandering around the Rogers Centre, getting a bunch of photos, hearing both "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "O Canada," and then watching the Blue Jays beat the Royals, didn't quite work out. I...

I'm David Braverman, this is my blog, and Parker is my 13-year-old mutt. I last updated this About... page in May 2017, and a couple have things have changed. So here's the update. The Daily Parker is about: Parker, my dog, whom I adopted on 1 September 2006. Politics. I'm a moderate-lefty by international standards, which makes me a radical left-winger in today's United States. The weather. I've operated a weather website for more than 16 years. That site deals with raw data and objective observations....

Sunday night I visited my 30th park. I have to say, Coors Field is better than Coors Beer. The Phillies won, because apparently I am a curse on all the ballparks I visit. But that's OK. Being in Denver on 4/20, and having walked past the 4/20 Festival earlier in the day, I really didn't mind all that much. It's hard to tell, but while I had a really great seat, the foul screen meant my photos weren't perfect: The weather nearly was, though. And it was a fun game. Just two parks left: Toronto on June...

Friday night I got to my 29th (out of 32 planned) baseball park: Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. I didn't realize until I got there that they're tearing it down at the end of this season. (That might affect the Geas if I don't get to both Toronto and St. Louis this season.) It was too busy at the start of the game to get the front-gate photo I always try for. But here's the view from my seat: And the whole park: Things didn't go well for the (then) last-place Rangers. Their in-state division rivals...

My official post, with photos, will appear Sunday. I just want to put a marker in the sand that tonight I went to what passed for a baseball game at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. I didn't realize that they're tearing the park down after this season because it's—wait for it—25 years old. Really? Twenty-five years? You know Wrigley and Fenway are both over 100, right? Whatever. This was Park #29, and apparently the Geas won't end this year because I'll have to go to Globe Life Field next year. Or...

When I started the 30-Park Geas in 2008, I didn't expect it would take more than 11 years. Yet here we are. And in that time, both of New York's baseball teams got new stadia, making the 30-Park Geas a 32-Park Geas before I got halfway done. Well, this season, I'm finishing it. And wow, it's off to an inauspicious start. Today's game between the Orioles and Yankees at *New* Yankee Stadium didn't start for 3 hours and 15 minutes past its scheduled first pitch because it's March. A cold front pushed...

When you book through a discounter, you get what you pay for. After my spectacular view Friday, and my meh view yesterday, this is what I got today: Once the rain stops (in about an hour or so), I'm going to head up to Park #28, restarting the Geas after a two-season hiatus. Photos this evening.

Just a quick update on the 30-Park Geas. It happens that I'll be in New York on 31st March for an unrelated reason, but as the Yankees will be in town that day, I can knock off my 28th park. Which means I'll have 4 left. So today I booked a trip to Arlington, Texas, and Denver in April (yes, I'll be in Denver on 4/20), and plan to catch the last two parks in June. The last one, of course, will be the Cubs at St. Louis. Updates as conditions warrant.

Major League Baseball is contemplating going straight to the Bad Place: Major League Baseball and its union have had substantive discussions in recent days over a series of proposals, among the most drastic proposed changes in years, that could bring significant rule changes to the sport in 2019 and beyond, according to two sources familiar with those talks. The discussions have included both on-field rule changes, pushed by Commissioner Rob Manfred, and proposals from the union to improve competitive...

The Cubs tied with the Brewers this season for the best record in the National League, with 94 wins each. Unfortunately they're in the same division, so they had to play a one-game tiebreaker on Monday to determine who actually won the division. You will be shocked to learn it was Milwaukee. Now, normally, the 4th-place team in the league gets the Wild Card, but this year the West Division also had a tie, between the Colorado Rockies and L.A. Dodgers. Which meant that last night, the loser of that game...

This year, Major League Baseball had more weather-related postponements than ever before recorded: In the 2018 season, 53 games have been postponed because of weather, tied for the second most since Major League Baseball began keeping track in 1986. It wasn't just rain-outs that disrupted the schedule but a lingering April cold snap in the Midwest and Northeast that resulted in 28 games postponed that month — an all-time high. Although the baseball season got off to its earliest start ever to give...

On 8 August 1988, the Chicago Cubs played their first night game at Wrigley Field. The Tribune rounds up memories from people who supported and opposed the installation of lights at the park: Ryne Sandberg, Cubs second baseman, 1982-1997: Leading up to ’88, the talk within the organization was that lights were necessary to create a schedule more conducive to resting the home team, getting us out of the sun. Before that, with some of those 10-day homestands with all day games (it was) in 90-plus...

The 30-Park Geas (only 5 to go!) may be in hiatus this year, but for next year, the Post has a guide to all of them: The experience at Wrigley begins far before you set foot inside, maybe the moment you order your first Old Style at Murphy’s or attack a gargantuan sandwich at Lucky’s. The ivy on the brick outfield walls remains one of the most identifiable, and gorgeous, features in baseball. Recent updates made it more comfortable and modern, without robbing Wrigley of its inherent charm. It’s cramped...

The Cubs' World Series Game 7 tonight in Cleveland may be "the biggest game in Chicago sports history," according to Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. I agree. But still, I'm trying to maintain perspective: This is the only the second time in franchise history they've played in November. Last night was the first. They won the National League pennant after a 71-year drought. That's not trivial. If Cleveland wins, maybe they'll be so happy there it will tip Ohio into Hillary Clinton's column. They have...

The Cubs won last night's game so they get to play Game 6 tomorrow night in Cleveland. Whew! Last night also set a few records: It was the latest Cubs home game ever (October 30th). It ended the longest period in Major League Baseball that a team went between World Series home-game wins (25,955 days). It set the record for highest attendance at Wrigley Field in a season (3,232,420). The Cubs are still favored to win the series, but it'll be tough. I'll be watching.

All of these articles look interesting, and I hope I get to read them: 538 explains how the Cubs beat Cleveland last night, and how they might do it 3 more times. Richard Florida explains how the class divide in the US is only getting worse. The DNC is suing the RNC over voter intimidation tactics. London's Heathrow is one step closer to getting a third runway. Trying to get to Wrigleyville this weekend? The Tribune has a guide for you. There's new data about what happens in your brain when you lie....

Until yesterday, 25,951 days had passed since the last time the Cubs won a game in the World Series. And tomorrow night, it will have been 25,951 days since the last time a World Series game has been played at Wrigley Field. More than that, as of today, 39,460 days have passed since the last time the Cubs won the whole thing. Let's keep that last number under 39,467, OK? Eamus Catuli!

It's only one game out of a best-of-seven series, but last night the Cubs did not look like the same team they've been all year. Some highlights: Corey Kluber pitched neatly into the seventh inning, Roberto Perez hit two home runs and the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 tonight in the World Series opener. In a matchup between the teams with baseball's longest championship droughts, the Indians scored twice in the first inning off October ace Jon Lester and were on their way. 7:15 p.m. Dexter...

This is not the way I'd hoped the World Series would open. Update, bottom of the 8th: Really, really, really not the way.

The guys over at 538 have proved the Cubs really are the unluckiest team in baseball—but they still give them a 48% chance of winning the World Series: [A]ny ballclub that appears in the postseason often enough — no matter how mediocre its teams are — should eventually be guaranteed a World Series win. But for more than a century’s worth of Cubs squads, no level of greatness has been able to get them over the hump. I determined just how unlucky each franchise has been over its postseason history by...

It's really real: Now all they need to do is update this sign:

Why am I not super-excited about the Cubs being in the playoffs? Well, take tonight's game, for example. Right towards the end, Fox Sports' color guy pointed out that in 200 postseason appearances, the Dodgers have never had back-to-back shutouts. Until tonight. You know what? Call me when the Cubs win their third game in this series.  

Last night the Cubs came back from a 3-run deficit to beat the Giants 6-5 and win the National League Division Series. This puts them in the National League Championship Series for the first time since 2008—4 wins away from their first pennant in 73 years and 8 wins from their first World Series win in 108. I haven't let myself get excited about these possibilities until now, because I've been a Cubs fan for a very long time. But Saturday they're at Wrigley in the playoffs. And two weeks from Saturday...

Wow, my blogging velocity has been crap this month. And here I go, doing it crappier: The U.S. invaded Afghanistan 15 years ago today. How's that working out for us? The Chicago Cubs offered 10 tickets to tonight's game to each member of the city council a while ago. Yesterday an ethics panel ruled that aldermen who took the tickets must attend the game, and the Cubs must announce their presence. Oh, the humanity. Josh Marshall is freaking out over the coming anti-Semitic storm from the Republican...

Today is the last day of the Cubs' regular season, and what a season it's been. Regardless of the outcome of today's game the Cubs will have lost fewer than 60 games for the first time since 1945—the last time the Cubs went to the World Series. They've also won over 100 games, and will finish with either 102 or 103 wins, the most since 1910. (The last time they won 100 games was in 1935.) Keep in mind, just four years ago they lost 101 games. And then on Thursday, this happened: As the Pirates and Cubs...

I took a personal day yesterday to get my teeth cleaned (still no cavities, ever!) and to fork over a ton of cash to Parker's vet (five shots, three routine tests, heartworm pills, one biopsy, $843.49). That and other distractions made it a full personal day. So as I start another work day with the half-day of stuff I planned to do yesterday right in front of me, I'm queuing up some articles again: Then and Now, Armitage-Bissell Programming is Hard The Founding Fathers' Power Grab The Chicago Tribune...

I'm going to my last Cubs game of the season tonight, and it could be historic. If the Cubs win against the Brewers, or if St. Louis loses their game, then the Cubs will be going to the post-season. Even without clinching the division tonight, they're still the top team in baseball right now with 93 wins and 52 losses. Stay tuned.

Last night's Sox game was more fun than I think I could have there. First, the Sox got 7 runs in the 6th, which kept me in my seat until the game anded. Second, the Sox set the Guinness World Record for most dogs at a sporting event, with 1,122 in attendance: The Sox needed a minimum of 1,000 dogs in attendance for the record, and the dogs had to remain in their outfield seats for a period of 10 minutes, starting at the top of the third inning, in order for the record to count. A clock in the outfield...

So...I hate to admit this, but I'm going to US Cellular Field tonight, because my trivia team won a bunch of Sox tickets. This will make me 0-for-3 on paying to get into the place, which I like. And tonight, in a very literal way, the park will go to the dogs: The White Sox will receive an attendance boost from some canine fans Tuesday when the team hosts its annual “Bark at the Park” event, and they hope it’s enough to set a new Guinness World Record. The Sox are attempting to set a record for the most...

The Cubs actually won, and it was a great night for a ballgame: Also, I'm digging my new LG G5. That kind of photo is not what I'd expect from a mobile phone.

Last week I posted a quick snap of Target Field from my mobile phone. I've finally had time to go through photos I took with my real camera; here are two. First, the park itself: And I caught this shot of center field when the sun was setting:

We had nearly-perfect weather this past weekend, so I'm just dumping a bunch of links right now while I catch up with work: Foursquare reports that Trump's presidential campaign is really, really hurting his businesses. Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field (the minor-league park on the South Side) will be getting more events now they've worked out a deal with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. Wired reports on how scary-easy it is to hack electronic voting machines. Paul Krugman puts out the economic...

Wow. For the first time since August 2014, I just saw the Cubs win a baseball game at Wrigley. Astounding. And with back-to-back home runs in the 5th. I can report they still play "Go Cubs Go!"

Last night, the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park 17-7, scoring 13 runs on 9 hits in the 5th: For 37 long minutes in one-half inning Thursday, the Rockies sent 17 batters to the plate against the Giants at AT&T Park, starting with Trevor Story's home run and ending with DJ LeMahieu's groundout in the top of the fifth. In between, the Rockies collected four doubles, five singles, two errors, one walk, one hit-by-pitch — and 13 runs. They shattered records. Nevermind Coors Field....

Here we go: Sam the Dog is missing after being launched into the stratosphere; an English primary school is sad. You really can have too much grit. Chicagoist is trying to find the best beer brewed in Chicago. The American Public Transportation Association has decided that public transit agencies can be friends with Lyft and Uber. Via Bruce Schneier, what does the game Werewolf tell us about security? The Ricketts family bought Brixen Ivy last month, so they now own 10 of 16 Wrigley rooftops. Bastards....

I really love my camera:

Why would anyone go to Arizona in July? A geas. On Friday I visited Park #26: The trip also gave me a chance to take my 7D Mark II for a spin. Sitting 18 rows behind the Diamondbacks' dugout, I was able to get photos like this, no problem: Let's take a closer look, yes? This is at ISO-3200, 1/500 at f/5.6, from about 100 meters away: Cool, right? More photos of the game and of my field trip to Tempe later.

Someimes—rarely—I disconnect for a couple of days. This past weekend I basically just hung out, walked my dog, went shopping, and had a perfectly nice absence from the Web. Unfortunately that meant I had something like 200 RSS articles to plough through, and I just couldn't bring myself to stop dealing with (most) emails. And I have a few articles to read: Everything you know about the British burning Washington 100 years ago yesterday is wrong. Why are Web-special airfares so rare in the U.S.? There is...

The Wall Street Journal explains why the Cubs can sell 38,000 seats and only get 19,000 asses in them: Since 2009, ticket sales are down almost 6,500 a game. Where have all the Cub fans gone? The answer may be that they've in effect awakened from a beer-soaked party. Over the first four years of Ricketts ownership, attendance sank 13.7%. It is flat so far this year versus 2013, but the figures don't include the legions of no-shows. "I have plenty of friends with tickets who can't get rid of them," said...

From yesterday's game—with its 22,000 paid attendance: Progressive Field holds 43,500 people (compared with Wrigley's 41,100) and yet has worse attendance this year. The Cubs are averaging 32,000 fans per game, with no game coming in under 25,000 paid; Cleveland is getting 18,600 per game with some early spring games pulling in fewer than 10,000. This, despite the Cubs holding onto last place like they're afraid to fall off the chart, and the Indians actually being the wild card at the moment....

Score one for the client. We got to go to tonight's Indians game at Progressive Field. Nice seats, too. Sadly, the Reds won 9-2, and we got rained on. And the Indians kind of played like Cubs. Nice client, though.

Since the Cubs' 8-4 win over the Giants on Monday, they haven't gotten a run in 20 innings. That may have something to do with them being the worst team in the MLB today. Yes, at 19-32, they're behind Arizona (23-33), Houston (23-32), and Tampa Bay (23-31), and 26 other teams. Hully gee. Only 105 games left to play this year...

I went to yesterday's Cubs-Yankees game at Wrigley and was very happy in the middle of it that our seats are under the awning. The Cubs won 6-1 while a nearby thunderstorm dumped a centimeter of rain on the park in the top of the 9th: Maybe rain is Tanaka's Kryptonite. As rain started to fall at Wrigley, the Cubs were able to total as many hits in the third inning as they did against Tanaka last month. Baker singled to lead off the third, moved up on Hammel's sacrifice, and scored on Bonifacio's single....

I'm David Braverman, this is my blog, and Parker is my 7½-year-old mutt. I last updated this About... page in September 2011, more than 1,300 posts back, so it's time for a refresh. The Daily Parker is about: Parker, my dog, whom I adopted on 1 September 2006. Politics. I'm a moderate-lefty by international standards, which makes me a radical left-winger in today's United States. The weather. I've operated a weather website for more than 13 years. That site deals with raw data and objective...

The Cubs announced their 2014 schedule a few days ago. Assuming it holds up, it looks like the 30-park Geas will next year take me to Cubs away games in Phoenix in July, Denver in August, and Toronto in September. That will leave just four parks (Minneapolis, St. Louis, Texas, and New Yankee) to finish the Geas in 2015.

After dropping 12 of their last 15 games, the Cubs are now tied with the Brewers for 4th (last) place. There are 42 games left in the season; the Cubs have to win 10 of them to avoid a 100-loss season. It's not going well. At least they can't lose today—but they can drop into 5th place if Milwaukee beats the Reds tonight. This, by the way, is unlikely, since the Reds are doing just fine, and are tied for the National League Wild Card with St. Louis. I'm going to the Cubs-Cards game Sunday to watch the...

Via Microsoft's Raymond Chen, a real-life example of how a batter can get three strikes on one pitch: Chen explains: During his plate appearance, Vinnie Catricala was not pleased with the strike call on the first pitch he received. He exchanged words with the umpire, then stepped out of the batter's box to adjust his equipment. He did this without requesting or receiving a time-out. The umpire repeatedly instructed Catricala to take his position in the batter's box, which he refused to do. The umpire...

The Chicago White Sox gave up 28 runs yesterday, losing both games of a double-header with the Indians, 19-10 and 9-8. While that went on, Philadelphia beat the Dodgers 16-1, and Milwaukee got spanked 10-3 by the Pirates. In total, there were 171 runs in Major League Baseball yesterday. I don't know if that's a record, but an average of 11.4 runs per game seems a little high, doesn't it? But, wow. Twenty-eight runs in one day against one team. That's the super-special kind of baseball they play on the...

A couple of days ago at work, we were talking about stupid things sports commentators say. In any sport, but much more so in baseball and U.S. football than others, you hear some commentator say "Well, Bob, with runners on first and third on a night with a 10-knot breeze out of the northeast, when the pitcher's name starts with 'M', there's only a 1-in-65 chance a left-handed batter with six toes on his right foot will fly out to center." Who cares, right? But being in Chicago, there is a huge question...

The Tribune just foisted two news alerts on me that I already knew. First, the Cubs lost their 100th game, which, it turns out, has only happened three times in the last 140 freaking years. The Trib's lede is beautiful: Fifty years ago this week, only 595 fans showed up at Wrigley Field for the opener of the Cubs-Mets series, the last time two teams with 100-plus losses faced each other. The '62 Cubs — with future Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Lou Brock, Billy Williams and Ron Santo on the roster — wound...

Just two more photos from last weekend in Cincinnati, though to be precise, I took both from Kentucky. I love repurposed obsolete infrastructure, like the New York Highline and the coming Bloomingdale Trail. In Cincinnati, they have the Purple People Bridge, which one imagines used to rain soot and cinders down on what has become, since the bridge was built in 1999, a beautiful riverfront. Here's the bridge from the Newport, Ky., side: Closer to Ohio—Kentucky owns the entire river, almost up to the...

Monday's SSD crash took an annoying, but reasonable, amount of time to fix. Otherwise I would have posted this photo of Great American Ball Park yesterday: And, of course, an obligatory photo of Cincinnati's most recognized landmark: I'll have a couple more in days to come.

Yesterday afternoon, I saw this happen: That's the Cincinnati Reds just after they beat Los Angeles to become the National League Central Division champions this year. And because they beat L.A., they helped San Francisco clinch the West, making it an all-around fun afternoon. (N.B.: I wore a Giants hat to the game.) More Cincinnati and Great American Ball Park photos when I get back to Chicago.

Yesterday I showed Alfonso Soriano stealing third. Here's the result: Man, those were great seats. $80 at Petco; $251 at Wrigley; $450 at New Yankee. My last one this morning is the last one I took of Petco Park: Now if only the Cubs had won...

The 30-Park Geas took me to Petco Park last night, where the 4th-place Padres beat the 4th-place Cubs: I thought the park was OK. Like some of the other 21st-century parks, it seemed to lack character. It felt more corporate than, say, Camden Yards or even AT&T Park. The fans seemed to agree, as only about 27,000 showed up (out of a capacity of over 42,000. But the lack of demand for seats let me get an 8th-row field box for under $80. And that, in turn, let me get photos like this one of Alfonso...

The 30-park geas continues apace. Here's my progress so far: City Team Park Built First visit Last visit Next visit Chicago Cubs NL Wrigley Field 1914 1977 Jul 24 2014 Sep 24 Los Angeles Dodgers NL Dodger Stadium 1962 1980 Jul 28? 2001 May 12 New York Mets NL Shea Stadium§ Citi Field 19662009 1988 Sep 15† 2012 Jul 6† 1997 Apr 19† 2012 Jul 6† Houston Astros NL Enron Field Minute Maid Park‡ 2000 2001 May 9 2009 Apr 7† Milwaukee Brewers NL Miller Park 2001 2006 Jul 29 2008 Aug 11 Kansas City Royals AL...

I had a visceral, negative reaction to Marlins Ballpark, which I have tried to figure out since Thursday's game. Going to Tropicana Field the next evening, and driving through Florida for six hours or so from Miami to Tampa Bay to Orlando, gave me some perspective. According to my camera, Marlins Ballpark's playing field had a full stop more light than Tropicana's. That means the playing field in Miami had twice as much light falling on it as the field in St. Petersburg. Yet Miami's stadium seemed...

Home, finally, after a pretty relaxing day of traveling and reading, with some help from American Airlines getting me home four hours earlier than expected. I hadn't planned to post tonight, but then I heard about this: That's the 21st time in Major League history: It was baseball's 21st perfect game and first since Philadelphia's Roy Halladay threw one against the Florida Marlins on May 29, 2010. It was the third in White Sox's history, joining Mark Buehrle against Tampa Bay on July 23, 2009, and...

The Atlantic Cities today examines the retro ballpark trend, of interest to anyone following my 30 Park Geas: The retro style quickly split into two schools; one, like Camden Yards, that strictly embraced classical design elements and the other that used more progressive forms (i.e. curtain walls, retractable roofs) while still implementing postmodern idiosyncrasies. The historical references and unique site configuration that makes Camden Yards successful was eventually re-imagined in other cities...

I don't mean the tax is stupid; I mean a tax on stupidity. As in, mine. I'm planning two baseball trips this year, the first to Florida to see the Cubs play the Marlins on April 19th, and the Twins at the Rays on the 20th. So far, I've got my flights, the Rays ticket, and a car reservation. Marlins tickets went on sale this morning. This is when I discovered I have to pay a stupid tax. Because, when I checked out the Marlins' schedule a couple of weeks ago, they were planning on a night game on the...

Despite the teams involved, I must (begrudgingly) accept that yesterday's bottom-of-the 11th, two-out, two-strike World Series home run was pretty damn cool. (So was the bottom-of-the 9th, two-out, two-strike game-tying triple that the same guy hit a few minutes earlier.) And yes, I would say the same thing if the American League team had done it. For readers outside the U.S.: The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals have a baseball rivalry going back over a century. Think Arsenal and Chelsea, only...

I'm David Braverman, this is my blog, and Parker is my 5-year-old mutt. I last updated this About... page in February, but some things have changed. In the interest of enlightened laziness I'm starting with the most powerful keystroke combination in the universe: Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V. Twice. Thus, the "point one" in the title. The Daily Parker is about: Parker, my dog, whom I adopted on 1 September 2006. Politics. I'm a moderate-lefty by international standards, which makes me a radical left-winger in today's...

Yesterday I flew to California to continue the 30-Ballpark Geas, arriving at my first-row seat in Angel Stadium just in time for the first pitch. A short time later, the Angels got a grand slam, which ultimately devolved into the pitcher's duel you see here: Yes, with 16 runs and 23 hits, most of the 8 guys who pitched in the game saw their ERAs rise a bit—more than a full point in winning pitcher Jered Weaver's case. At one point during the game I counted four beach balls tossed around. Occasionally...

This evening at Angel Stadium in California: Canon 7D at ISO-800, 1/250 at f/8, 18mm, here. The home team won, which I always like to see when I'm not someplace the Cubs are visiting. More photos and game info tomorrow night. Right now my body thinks it's midnight.

I'm traveling today and tomorrow, so I may not have time to post much until Monday. Tonight I'll be at Angel Stadium watching a game that may not matter, except for being 18th in the 30-park Geas.

Via Raymond Chen, on Monday the Nashville Sounds, Milwaukee's farm team, turned a triple play against the Omaha Storm Chasers: For those who don't know baseball's rules, a few things happened. First, a ball is "caught" (for an out) if the fielder making the catch gains full control over the ball before it touches the ground or another player, even if it touches a part of his own body—or his cap, as happened here. In the video above, this put the batter out. Second, if a fielder catches a fly ball, all...

Three years ago today, I was in Atlanta: Canon 20D at ISO-1600, 1/125 at f/5.6, 18mm, here.

This evening I found myself getting off the El here [1]: A friend, you see—an old, old friend—brought her son and his friend to Chicago this week, and they got tickets to what passes for baseball south of Madison St. Fortunately, the Yankees were in town, and even with Jeter sitting tonight out, the Sox were darned. The home team got both their runs from this fourth-inning homer by Alexei Ramirez: The Yankees still beat them 3-2. The Cubs won tonight, lifting themselves back above .400 (ouch), while the...

Yet another view of PNC Park, from the Warhol Bridge, after the fireworks: 9 July 2011, ISO-1600, 1/30 sec. at f/5.6, 29mm, here.

Continuing the Pittsburgh theme, a view of PNC Park as the groundskeepers set up for the .38 Special concert: ISO-3200, 1/15 at f/2, 50mm, here.

The Roberto Clamente Bridge in Pittsburgh, after Saturday night's fireworks, from the Andy Warhol Bridge: 9 July 2011, ISO-6400, 1/4 sec. at f/5, here.

After almost almost a year hiatus, the 30-Park Geas resumed yesterday in Pittsburgh: Not only did I see a Cubs 6-3 win and a surprise, game-ending double play, but also a .38 Special concert complete with fireworks: (My theory, not shared by the people around me, was that the fireworks were to celebrate the Cubs win.) More photos today and tomorrow.

The 30-park Geas added only one notch this year: Fenway Park, last Saturday. I figure, if I only go to one baseball game this year, I might as well go somewhere I really want to go. Until Saturday I hadn't gone to a baseball game in a while—I've missed it. The game. Sigh. Both teams, Toronto and Boston, played like Cubs, for 11 innings. The Sox finally won 5-4, which is always good when they get out of the second inning up 4-1. Great B&B, too: the Newbury Guest House on Newbury Street just a few blocks...

I mentioned yesterday that I've had the most difficult time imaginable figuring out what makes people born after 1980 tick. Via reader JM, who teaches junior high school, Beloit College has released their annual Mindset List putting the Class of 2014 in context: Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992. For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks and Tony Perkins have always been dead. 1. Few in the class know how to write in...

Three things encourage me to resume the 30-Park Geas this season. First, I haven't seen a baseball game in almost a year; second, three weeks from now I'll be done with all the CCMBA travel; and third, American Airlines is running a triple-miles promotion this summer from Chicago to New York and Boston. So: my options are Boston on August 21st or New York on August 28th. Boston would cost $40 more for the airfare; New York would cost about that much more for a hotel room. (And no, I wouldn't stay in...

From the "I can't watch, it's too embarrassing" department, the other day I said there were no 100-game losers in baseball this year. I was wrong. The Washington Nationals lost their 100th game on September 24th, and kept on losing until the 27th, reaching 103 losses. Then...they finished the season with a 7-game winning streak, finishing the season 59-103. Apologies to the Nationals for the oversight.

The Twins hadn't even polished off the Tigers yesterday before Major League Baseball unanimously approved Tribune's sale of the Cubs to the Ricketts: The vote was made during a conference call. Tom Ricketts, who has headed the sale for his family, could take day-to-day control of the Cubs by the end of the month. Commissioner Bud Selig says the Ricketts family will be "great owners and custodians" of the storied franchise perhaps best known for a World Series championship drought that now stands at 101...

Baseball season ends today for Chicago, making it 101 years since the Cubs last won the World Series. Last year they had to add another digit to the sign on Waveland Street. This year, they only have to increment the numbers: AC 01 64 101. ("AC" means "Anno Catuli" or "Year of the Cub;" the numbers refer to the years since they last won the division, the Pennant, and the World Series, respectively.) Here's the sign at the beginning of this season for comparison: The one encouraging thing from this...

No, really. I am not making this up. They won their fourth in a row today, and St. Louis dropped their last two, so the Cubs are a half-game up. Too bad the National Weather Service doesn't report from hell. That would be interesting today... Update: It turns out, they do, but it doesn't seem to be snowing there. Hmmm.

Lots to do for the next, oh, 17 months, so I thought I'd get started. My first Duke box arrived today, containing 6 kg of books, course packets, handouts, and more books, all of which have to be read by August 15th. Fortunately I have a few extra hours each day to do all this (I use them to sleep right now, so they're kind of wasted). Just a couple news stories of note today: President Obama gave an hour-long press conference yesterday in which he spent 50 minutes discussing the single most important...

Heaven knows some teams need it. With baseball taking a three-day break for the All-Star Game (tomorrow night in St. Louis), we take a moment to reflect on how much worse things could be for the Cubs. They wound up exactly at .500, with 43 wins and 43 losses, tied with Houston and 3.5 games behind St. Louis (49-42). The real story, though, has to be how the Washington Nationals haved lost 61 games so far, the second time in a row they've dropped 60 before the break, putting them on course to lose120...

My cousin turned a very large round number on Wednesday, so, being cruel, I took him to the Cubs game in Detroit. I'll have a rare back-dated entry about that in a little bit, with some kvetching about Amtrak; for now, just some pictures of the game. But first, a non-sequitur: via Paul Krugman, today is the 35th anniversary of the UPC bar code. Anyway. The game. Yeah, we didn't see this coming: Unfortunately, that's what happens when you strand 13 baserunners and go 1-for-15 with runners in scoring...

Via my college friend D.M., the New York Mets and Yankees have discovered the Intro to Microeconomics lesson of the effect of higher prices on quantity demanded, a.k.a. "overcharging:" OK, so neither the new Yankee Stadium nor its counterpart in Flushing can handle the capacity of their predecessors. Fine. But where are the 53,070 people who came nightly to the old Yankee Stadium in 2008, and where are the 49,902 who showed up every night in the final season of Shea Stadium? So far, the Yankees are...

While in San Francisco for the weekend, I decided to continue the 30-Park Geas by seeing what the Oakland A's were up to. Last place, it turned out; but then, so were their opponents, the Tampa Bay Rays. From the moment you get off the BART, you know you're not going to the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field. Wrigley, for example, has less concrete and barbed wire: Of course, Wrigley has fewer "World Champions" banners, too, but we'll skip that for now. Not a bad game, on balance. The home team won, it...

I'm returning from San Francisco this afternoon, so tomorrow I'll have photos from Saturday's A's game and, if I get my very own YouTube account, a video of my sister's dog. I'll leave that for now. This morning, just a link: TheExpiredMeter.com, of interest to anyone who deals with the Chicago parking system. I found it because I discovered only yesterday that, sometime today, my car will get a parking ticket. I discovered this when my alderman's office sent a notice of street sweeping yesterday saying...

(Mudville is that $1.5 billion park just over the Harlem River in the Bronx.) The Yankees had a disappointing 2nd inning hosting the Indians yesterday as Cleveland set a new Major League record: A 37-minute top of the second at Yankee Stadium saw the Tribe put up 14 runs on 13 hits off right-handers Chien-Ming Wang and Anthony Claggett. The big inning, which set the Tribe on course for its eventual 22-4 victory, tied for the most productive inning in Indians history and set a record for the most...

Quick update: The Titanic dinner at Mint Julep Bistro was wonderful. Rich's wine pairings especially rocked—as did his beef tournedos in port reduction. Mmm. Not so much fun was Metra's return schedule (featuring a 3-hour gap between 21:25 and 0:35), nor my reading of it (I did not remember this three-hour gap). The fine for taking public transit out to the suburbs (because driving to a 10-course, 9-wine-plus-apertif dinner seemed irresponsible) was $80, paid to the All-Star Taxi Service. I did, in...

One more park on the 30-Park Geas is complete. Yes, I have been to the park before, but it doesn't count. Last night's Astros-Cubs game does. Maybe it shouldn't, though. The Cubs got through I think their entire pitching staff, and six broken bats (plus one flung into the stands by an Astro). Game Over indeed:

No, I'm not talking about those annoying smelly birds that take airplanes out of the sky. I mean the 30-Ballpark Geas, which resumes today in Houston. The last game I attended really showcased the Cubs ability to blow a game, but at least were in first place; so they are today after beating Houston last night 4-2. I'm looking forward to either a 2-0 season opening, or at least having enough beer that it doesn't matter. Photos and results tomorrow afternoon.

My 30-ballpark Geas continues into its second season. Just booked: Houston, April 7th, against the Cubs (of course). Astute observers will note that I've visited the Houston ballpark before, when I was on a consulting assignment for a well-known energy trading company that no longer has naming rights to the park. But I decided at the beginning of the Geas that parks I visited before the Geas started didn't count. (This makes New Yankee Stadium and Citi Field problematic, so I split the difference: Old...

Stuff that makes you say "huh:" The Cubs and Houston will play two of their postponed games at 7:05 p.m. Sunday and 1:05 p.m. Monday at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Major League Baseball announced late Saturday night. The third postponed game will be played only if it affects the postseason situation, and not until the day after the end of the regular season. Brewers officials said they encourage fans heading to the games in Milwaukee to purchase tickets online and use the print at home feature to expedite...

There, they've said what I only hinted at: the Cubs are on track to win 100 games this season, and their current record (81-50) is not only the best in baseball right now, but also the Cubs' best since 1969: Perhaps it would be fitting for the Cubs to win 100 games on the 100th anniversary of their 1908 world championship. After Monday's 12-3 romp over Pittsburgh at PNC Park, they were on pace to finish with that nice round number, a mark the Cubs haven't reached since 1935. ...[Yesterday] the Cubs...

I wrote this post on my flight to Dallas listening to the Indigo Girls. Fitting, because having an extra day to spend in Atlanta, my cousin and I went out to Decatur to have lunch with one of my oldest surviving friends and her wife. As my cousin said while we were poking around the interesting kitsch in Blue Moon (below), "Ah, here's the Community." My Decatur friend suggested the most appropriate (and, in fact, tastiest) place to have lunch in these circumstances: Watershed, which the Indigo Girls'...

My cousin and I are in Atlanta, which works well with the 30-Park Geas because we saw the Cubs play. Tuesday's game got rained out so we got to Turner Field for the second half of a double-header. The first game went to Chicago 10-2; ours, 8-0. We're going back again tonight to see what should, by averages, be a 9-1 Cubs victory. From our seats we had a great view of the field: Including the gilded dome of the Georgia State Capitol and what the hell is that cow in the baseball hat? Oh. It's a Chik-Fil-A...

The 30-Park Geas continued yesterday with a trip up to Milwaukee, the charming and colorful city only 90 minutes away from Chicago by train: All right, it's not that bad everywhere—just in the road-contstruction hell near the Amtrak station that made me walk nearly a mile out of my way. Downtown Milwaukee has improved in the past few years, and even appears to have something like a skyline: Of course, I've been to Milwaukee many times, and I have even gone to Miller Park. But, because of the rules I put...

My four-game sprint through part of the 30-Park Geas ended last night, with another home-team loss. Here's what that looked like at 9:40 (yes, the game was that short): Mid-game, instead of the customary sausage race, they had a president's race. Apparently Teddy hasn't won yet—possibly because of things like this, where he's being sacked by Screech the Eagle: Obligatory home-plate shot of the star player: And, finally, obligatory shot of the main gate, but this time from a different angle than usual:

Apparently, I'm anathema to home teams. I've just attended another home-team loss, this time the Phillies beating the Nationals 2-1. I will say, however, that when it's 2-1 at the top of the 8th, it looks really bad for the park to empty out. Yes, the 8th: guys, one run in the 9th is not unheard of. Sheesh. With fans like that, it's hard to feel sympathy. Photos tomorrow morning (probably). Quick update: The Cubs are 7-0 over the Brewers in the top of the 9th at this writing, which more than makes up...

All right. I'm caught up now. Herewith, Yankee Stadium, where they lost last night against the last-place Orioles: And this, boys and girls, is what a grand slam looks like before it's a grand slam: Finally—and I promise this is the last one, only because I don't know where Washington's city hall is (or even if it has one)—here is New York City Hall: Now, in a little while, I'm off to the Sena–er, Nationals game, at brand-spanking-new Nationals Park.

Since I went to the Philadelphia game two nights ago, a lot has happened—most of it in the last few hours: Republican Alaska U.S. Senator Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens got himself indicted for, among other things, allegedly accepting over $400,000 in bribes (that is, undisclosed "gifts") from constituents; Bennigans filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection; The Cubs beat Milwaukee thus re-establishing their lead in the standings, which had slipped to a dead tie, to two games; and Scientists discovered...

Ooh, wow. I'll have photos of my once-and-only trip to Yankee Stadium once I get to DC, but man! In Chicago, we call that "playing like Cubs." To add injury to insult, I couldn't find a slice anywhere in the East 50s after the game. Waah, waah, waah.

Baltimore did not prevail against Los Angeles last night, which, being typical, explains the two-thirds of seats at Camden Yards without people in them. I've pushed on to Philadelphia where the game starting in two hours may coincide with thunderstorms, also forecast to start in two hours, even now forming ranks just east of Harrisburg like the Bears' defensive line. As a practical result of this, I will not be taking my 20D to the game, so I won't have the same quality of photos from Citizens Bank Park...

The Indians snapped their 10-game losing streak, and it was a hell of a game. I love when the lead-off batter in the inning gets to go again, especially when he led off by hitting a home run. Photos and a write-up Saturday.

As of this morning, the Cleveland Indians (my next stop on the 30-park geas ) have dropped their last 9, putting them two games out of next-to-last place in the American League Central. In fairness, four teams (Seattle, Washington, Colorado, and San Diego) are doing worse. Right now, though, the tension mounts: will they drop their 10th today? Will I see them win tomorrow? Stay tuned. Oh, right, forgot: the Cubs are still in first place, as they've been since April, and are the second-best in all of...

Shows you how much I keep up with the news. It turns out, this is Shea Stadium's final season. I first went to Shea when I started school in New York in 1988, but I haven't been back since 1990. I hate Shea. It's uncomfortable, ugly, and the Mutts play there. Only, I just found out they're tearing it down after this season, so next season the Mets will play in their brand-new Citi Field next door. Now, I already knew about the new Yankee Stadium, and I'd decided that visiting the old one would count for...

Just jiggled the 30-Park Geas schedule a little. After discussing with my cousing the pros and cons of visiting Miami in August, we decided to hit two Cubs games in Atlanta, whereupon I'll pop out to San Francisco to see Dad and catch the A's-White Sucks series. (Sox. White Sox. My mistake. Sorry, I live north of Madison.) So, with eight parks down, and seven scheduled, we go into the bottom of 2008. National League 9, American 6.

Here's my current progress through the 30-park geas: City Team Park First visit Last visit Next visit Chicago Cubs Wrigley Field 1977 Jul ? 2009 Sep 14 Los Angeles Dodgers Dodger Stadium 1980 Jul ? 2001 May 12 [3] New York Mets Shea StadiumCiti Field [4] 1988 Sep ? [1] 1997 Apr 19 [3] 2011 Season Houston Astros Enron FieldMinute Maid Park [2] 2001 May 9 [3] 2009 Apr 7 [1] Milwaukee Brewers Miller Park 2006 Jul 29 [3] 2008 Aug 11 Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium 2008 May 28 2008 May 28 San Francisco...

I started my 30-baseball-park geas with Kansas City, which definitely fits the model of saving the best for last. First, there's beautiful (ahem) Kauffman Stadium, on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by picturesque fields of asphalt and dandelions. My sense of foreboding, stoked by checking the previous day's standings, increased when I saw the lines outside the box-office windows: Actually, the game was kind of fun. As they went into the 9th inning, the Royals were up by 5, everyone in the park...

I have a little time before I go off in search of a slab of ribs to explain why I'm in Kansas City. One of my friends decries people who say "I've always wanted to [insert relatively accessible activity here]..." but who haven't actually done [activity]. For example, on more than one inauspicious first date the guy has said, "You lived in Europe? I've always wanted to go there!" Since she's dating single men who are over 30 and over the poverty line, "always wanted" is obviously not true, becuase they...

...baseball! The Cubs and the other team are both in first place, causing the Tribune to froth about a—wait for it—Subway Series in Chicago this year: It has been 102 years since both teams were in the playoffs at the same time, with the White Sox winning the only all-Chicago World Series in 1906. If the Cubs hold off St. Louis for another few days, this could be the first time in 31 seasons the Cubs and White Sox have both been in first place at the end of May. This, however, might not be the greatest...