GAME 5: PIT @ STL

Date: Wednesday, 5/14/08

Time: 7:15 PM (CST)
Time of Game: 2:48.

Attendance: 38,720.
Weather: 66° F, Wind 6mph in from Leftfield, Cloudy, No Precipitation.

Winner: STL, 5-1

Comments: Wellemeyer pitched one great ball game, LaRussa sadly tainting a beautiful 1-hit performance by leaving him in one batter too long, leaving the pitcher with 2 hits and 1 earned run for the game. That would be the whole story for the aching pirates, if the Cards had not seen fit to add insult to injury with Ankiel's brilliant catch in center field, stealing away LaRoche's home run smash for the Pirates in the 2nd inning. First legitimate "web gem" of the trip, it was awesome. In other news, Pujols continues to get on base with scary frequency (.479).

A red brick masterpiece, Busch Stadium is a new classic. The new stadium offers a gorgeous view of downtown St. Louis, and the perfect weather gave this ballpark an unfair sway over my favors. My friend Spencer and I got $30 tickets for a paltry $10 from a friendly Mother who's son had extra tickets from involvement with a nearby "battle-of-the-bands." Thats the other thing, the minimum priced ticket is $30. OK, so they won the world series the first year this park was open, WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO PAY FOR IT THE REST OF MY LIFE!? Seriously, thats a little rediculous. Everything is over-priced, this has to be the most expensive stadium I've seen.

The city is cheap yet still full of culture and opportunities. It has jobs and good university. It attracts young people, and it has some off-beat culture to it. In short it has all the ingredients to be way to expensive to enjoy living there, but it isn't. It's dirt cheap to live here! I met up my friend Matt and his girlfriend at their dirt cheap apartment, and we all went and had dirt cheap hot dogs, all of which were impressive mind you, all were worth MUCH more than the dirt we paid for them.

Matt, Spence and I are all grad students now, all wasting the best years of our lives being way too stressed out for it to be any good for any of us. At the same time none of us would be who we are without being in that situation: people who are just too damn nerdy for their own good. The real world shuns people like us. It makes us go to grad school to find acceptance through expertise, rather than charming personality.

Unlike us, "The Loop," the portion of St. Louis that boasts a hip, eclectic buzz, finds IT'S acceptance through charming personality alone. It has the St. Louis walk of fame showcasing such St. Louis luminaries as Nelly and Scott Joplin. Live there, chill there, and eat hot dogs there, its an awesome place to hang in "The Lou."

Lastly, bad news can be prepared for, and it can take us by surprise. Each time though, we can never truly deal with it without some amount of grief/trepidation/or feeling of hopelessness. I admire those who face challenges with optimism. I admire those that say "everything's going to be alright." They're all strong and those reactions are important. I just hope we all have enough strength sometimes to reach out to friends and make sure we acknowledge the uncertainty and ambiguousness of our emotions. Acknowledging that small bit of doubt or fear can really sometimes take the weight off of your shoulders. This is for you, you know who you are, my thoughts are with you as you go through this challenge.