Make the most of a bad situation: Reds at Cubs

On May 19, 2008 I had planned to attend the Chicago Rush game at the Allstate Arena. However, I was able to leave work early so decided to drive home rather than wait for the game to start. While driving home that day, a man rear ended me while merging and I ended up with a “Failure to Merge” ticket. After some shifting of court dates, my final traffic court date was yesterday afternoon. Knowing that the Cubs game was also yesterday afternoon, I bought a ticket to the game in advance with the hopes I would be able to attend the game if court went quickly.

After talking with a man at the Cubs game Wednesday night, he mentioned to be first in line at traffic court so they call your case sooner. Not knowing if that would actually affect anything; I made sure I was the 3rd person in line. My case was called early and I was out of court before 2 pm. I drove down to Wrigley Field and was able to get into the game during the 5th inning (the minimum amount of time for the game to “count”). In the end, I traded attending a Rush game for a Cubs game – always a good trade, but not necessarily under these circumstances.

As for the game, the Cubs beat the Reds 3-2 in a 2 hour and 14 minute game (I obviously had hoped for a slower game). Carlos Zambrano hit a home run in the 3rd inning. He is the first starting pitcher since Johnny Sain in 1947 to have a 12 game hitting streak as a starting pitcher. He also tied Wes Ferrell’s MLB record with an RBI in seven consecutive games for a pitcher.