Day 9: Cincinnati

First, a quick addition from the Day 8: Chicago (NL) post. The 7th inning stretch in Wrigley Field traditionally has one of the best renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the Major Leagues. Last night was no exception, as Notre Dame football coach, Charlie Weiss, led the crowd in singing the classic song. Everyone was on their feet, singing at the top of their lungs, and it truly was an amazing experience to see in person.

Another 20 hour day, another extra-inning, walk-off home-run affair. The Great American Ballpark was the scene of a classic pitcher's duel as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 in 11 innings. Elizardo Ramirez led the way for the Reds, with 8 shutout innings and 10 strikeouts. Adam Dunn's 3-run homer in the 11th sealed the deal, and since I had the Reds today, I take a 4-3 in the contest for picking games with Ben.



The Reds were not the only winner when Adam Dunn hit his home-run today. At the beginning of the game, a local pizza establishment had a contest where a kid got to spin a wheel, and whichever Red came up, if that player hit a home-run that day, the kid would win free pizza for a year. So Dunn's home-run gave some Cincinnati youngster a year's supply of pizza.

Our seats today were courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds themselves, as we sent letters to all 30 teams prior to our trip. We had nice seats, in the upper deck, but directly behind home plate, the 1st time we have sat from that vantage point all trip. Our vantage point also enabled us to have a good view of a spectacular catch by rightfielder Ryan Freel in the top of the 8th inning. He lept and slammed into the wall, before crashing to the ground, all while still holding onto the ball. After just seeing the end of Baseball Tonight on ESPN, we found out that his catch was the #1 "Web Gem" of the night.



We left Chicago at 5:30am CST, and made it to Cincy about an hour and a half before the game. We grabbed lunch at "The Red Squirrel Double Decker," a very nice sandwhich shop downtown. We found our way onto the highway, after taking a quick jaunt into Kentucky, and after navigating through some rush hour traffic, were on our way to Pittsburgh. After grabbing dinner at Taco Bell, my 1st time eating at this fine fast-food establishment, we made it to Jackie's apartment on the Duquesne University campus at 9:38 EST.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 19,983
2-miles traveled today: 611
3-miles traveled total: 3,340
4-states traveled in today: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky (oops!), Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania