Top 10 Baseball games I ever attended: #10

July 1st, 1997: Royals vs. Cubs

T1: Goodwin 4-3, J. Bell F9, J. Damon K
B1: Glanville 1B, McRae 2B, Grace 1B, Sosa 2B, Dunston 1B, Sandberg SF-7, Hernandez 6-4-3.
(Cubs 4, Royals 0)

In Dolberry's opinion the three best things about Chicago are how pretty Lake Michigan looks on a crisp summer day, Giordano's pizza, and Wrigley Field. So, in our last month in Chicagoland it was time to drag APD out to the Friendly Confines.

T2: J King 6-3, J. Dye 4-3, C. Paquette K
B2: Hubbard F9, F. Castillo 3-1, Glanville PO-2
(Cubs 4, Royals 0)

Remember thinking at the time that it was weird that APD's first game would be an interleague matchup. It seems like there's been interleague play for forever, but 1997 was the first year for it. I remember thinking it was a bad idea at the time, but in retrospect I have to grudgingly admit error on that one. I kind of enjoy interleague games now. From a fantasy baseball perspective, it's nice to have 15 games to track instead of 8.

T3: Fasano K, Howard 1B, Rusch E5, Goodwin 2B, Bell BB, Damon P6, King P5.
B3: McRae F8, Grace 1B, Sosa K, Dunston 1B, Sandberg 2B, Hernandez 6-3
(Cubs 5, Royals 1)

We were excited that Glendon Rusch was pitching for the Royals, because we had "seen" him pitch a no-hitter a few seasons earlier at a Single A game against the Kane County Cougars. It still is the only no-hitter I've ever "seen". Seen is in quotation marks because we were in the standing room section of a huge Sunday crowd for that little ballpark and I actually couldn't see Rusch from where we were, but it was cool to be there. Glendon did not fare as well in this one, lasting only 6 innings.

T4: Dye L5, Paquette 5-3, Fasano 5-3
B4: Hubbard F7, Castillo F9, Glanville HR, McRae F8
(Cubs 6, Royals 1)

Doug Glanville had to be one of the smartest players in MLB. He's one of only 5 Penn graduates to play in the bigs. Seemed like a nice guy.

T5: Howard 1B, Rusch K, Goodwin F9, Bell 6-3
B5: Grace F8, Sosa 6-3, Dunston 1B, Sandberg F8
(Cubs 6, Royals 1)

I remember it being a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Our scorecard says 80 degrees yet there were only 18,745 in attendance. Nowadays, that's a sure sellout for the Cubs. Attendance in 1997 was 2.1 million. The next year was the steroid-fueled run on Maris' record and no year since 1997 has drawn less than 2.6 mil at Wrigley. The last 5 seasons have all been over 3 million.

T6: Damon 1B, King F9, Dye 3U (DP)
B6: Hernandez BB, Hubbard 4-6-3, Castillo 4-3
(Cubs 6, Royals 1)

You may or may not know this but President Obama is a big White Sox fan. I think this can only help the SouthSiders, although I'm not sure how. Maybe there's money for another starter in the stimulus package.

T7: Paquette 5-3, Fasano K, Howard 2B, S. Cooper P5
B7: Glanville BB, McRae P3, Grace 3-6-1
(Cubs 6, Royals 1)

While this was APD's first baseball game, it was not his first sporting event. He had watched Marquette win the Conference USA basketball tournament that March in St. Louis. As parents of a newborn, I remember we were scared that the loud noise of the bands might hurt his little eardrums.

T8: Goodwin K, Bell K, Damon P6
B8: Sosa 1B, Dunston F9, Sandberg P6, Hernandez 6-3
(Cubs 6, Royals 1)

I can't really remember if APD enjoyed the game or not. As far as games go, there'll be others to come in the countdown that were more interesting from a baseball perspective. Both of these teams went on to lose 94 games this year. But this one will always be special as the first one as the Dolberry family. I'm sure the drive back home to Naperville was traffic-crazy, but it was worth it.

T9: King BB, Dye K, Paquette F8, Nunnally BB, Howard 4-3

Final: Cubs 6, Royals 1