Three Hour Rain Delay: Tigers at White Sox

Once again, I decided to attend a weekday afternoon baseball game. However, this time it rained most of the morning and throughout the afternoon. Since the White Sox were only traveling to Milwaukee for their weekend series and the Tigers were heading to Pittsburgh for their next series, I figured the teams would wait out a lengthy rain delay and play the game in the late afternoon.

Rather than sit in the ballpark for the rain delay, I chose to wait in my house. Usually it takes the grounds crew about 25-30 minutes to prepare the field after a rain delay. Thus, once the tarp was removed from the field, I could leave the house and still make the game on time. I called the White Sox periodically to see when the game would start and each time they had a bad estimate until they said the tarp was being pulled off the field around 3:20 pm.

Obtaining Tickets
I thought I would have to buy tickets from the box office since I was arriving at U.S. Cellular Field three hours after the scheduled first pitch. I had planned to buy a $19.50 upper deck seat since scalpers will not hang around that long. However, as I got off the train, a scalper was standing on 35th St. with three extra tickets. At first I offered him $5 for a $38 ticket, but ended up paying $10 (realizing my other option was to pay $19.50 at the box office).

The Game
With the White Sox taking a 3-1 lead into the 9th inning, it appeared the game would end a long day at the ballpark. However, Curtis Granderson extended the game by hitting a two-run homer in the top of the 9th inning to tie the game 3-3. The White Sox managed to win the game in the bottom of the 9th after Scott Podsednik singled with the bases loaded.