Charlie Brown: Winning May Not Be Everything But Losing Isn't Anything

While there may be no crying in baseball, to borrow another quote, these are sad days in Wrigleyville as Jude's youthful Cubbies face elimination from the NLCS, tonight and every night henceforth, at the hands of the Metropolitans.

Back on September 30th Lou and I attended the Reds-Cubs tilt down at the ol' GABP Tiltyard, sitting in the Scout Seats compliments of my sister-in-law Alison's corporate employer.  Herewith are a few photos from that evening's ballgame:

Above, Cubs first baseman Frank Chance Anthony Rizzo bats.  There is no truth to the rumor that Tony Rizzo is named for Coop's cat.  Did somebody axe, Marty, for a close-up of Rizzo?

Among the half-dozen or so rookies that populate the Cubs 25-man roster these days is a native of Middletown, Ohio named Charlie Root Kyle Schwarber.

Kyle played his college ball at some college in Bloomington, Indiana.  His coach there was Tracy Smith, formerly of Miami University and a close personal friend of The Incomparable Joe Wilhelm.  Schwarber hits some prodigious blasts.  I have nicknamed Kyle The Middletown Masher. 

I had tickets to the following afternoon's 12:35pm Business Day Special and invited Jude to go but he big-timed me, his natural instinct to evade me being so strong that it eclipses his desire to watch his club play in person.

Going further back in time, I also had tickets for the September 11th game marking the 30th anniversary of the night Peter Edward Rose broke Ty Cobb's all-time record for lifetime hits.

And look who graced the Reds season tickets that night, the Hit King hizzelf!  Jude was at that record-breaking game, 30 years ago.  Joe was not. 

I brought along with me to that night's game my lucky garden gnome:

Before the evening turned dreary with drizzle, I caught glimpse of a type of watercraft rarely seen on these parts of the mighty Ohio River:

 

That's a WW2-vintage LST landing craft.  Pretty cool.  I valiantly resisted thinking back to the days when our beloved Delta Queen would moor at Cincinnati's public landing, just beyond the ballpark's Sun Deck, and merrily toot its calliope.  OK, I'm getting choked up now.

The weather and Reds were lousy that Friday night, so me and the garden gnome split when the game was halted for a rain delay that ultimately turned into a postponement.  By the time the game was officially postponed, we were enjoying a post-game milkshake:

I've stopped going to the Steak and Shake in Kuertz' neighborhood for my ritual post-game milkshake, the wait for service is interminable around midnight.  And as good as they are at Sn'S, Graeter's makes a shake that is unsurpassable.

In the parking lot at Graeter's that rainy night, I snapped a photo that is, I think, appropriately evocative of the Reds 2015 rain-delay and loss-filled season, as well as being imminently suggestive of what's going to transpire in the Friendly Confines this week.

An overhead security light in the Graeter's parking lot illuminated the cascade of rain drops slipping down the Jeep Main Battle Tank's windshield, painting an ever-shifting portrait of sky-born tears onto the dashboard and upon my parking pass to that night's postponement.    

Roll the credits!