By The River

Baseball on a pleasant summer night. Two great teams, a nice breeze blowing in from Lake Michigan, and reasonably-priced beer and sandwiches. What could be better? Well, if the Detroit Tigers hadn't thought it was 2005, when they lost many, many games. They were shut out 5-0 by the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Tigers have the best record in baseball this season, but you wouldn't have known it last night. They played like losers, while the Sox played like the 2005 World Series champs that they were. I've been a Tigers fan all my life but wondered for the last several years if they ever would be in playoff contention, let alone World Series contention again. This season they have won, and won, and won, but of course I go to see them on a really off night.

We rode the subway to the game, and it was packed with White Sox fans, many wearing the black and white pinstripes of the team. My daughters insisted on getting White Sox jerseys of their own, and cheered lustily for the team their father didn't support. But it was all good fun. The game was a near sell-out. Attendance was a shade over 39,000, and I didn't spot many empty seats, even in the upperest portions of the upper decks. There were a few in the right field bleachers, but that was all. It was Elvis Night at the game, so the place was overrun with Elvis impersonators and men wearing fake sideburns. All in all quite a show. We left after the Tigers went down in the 8th inning and the outcome seemed certain, hoping to beat the rush to the subway.

Chicago has been fun, although very expensive. I find it much moreso than New York, although perhaps that's because I know New York better. We drive up to Michigan today, where we have a cottage rented along Lake Michigan near Holland for the week. My uncle and his family are coming out from California to a nearby cottage, and some other relatives are coming for the day on Wednesday. On to the beach!