With the wife heading to book club on a Friday night, I went to watch the White Sox host the Baltimore Orioles.

Obtaining Tickets
Even though the game was more crowded than usual (it was Mullet Night and Fireworks), I had hoped to find a free ticket. As I got off the train, a scalper had an upper deck ticket (face value $20). I offered him $10, to make my life easier, but he wanted $15 and did not accept my offer.

Next, I went on my “usual” walk past Gate 5 with the plan to continue to the main box office at the front of U.S. Cellular Field. However, as soon as I got to Gate 5, there was a guy with two extra tickets. At that time, another guy who needed a single asked if he had an extra ticket. He said he did and with me also needing a single, he handed us each one ticket. Nothing beats a free ticket to a ballgame.

The Game
In the third straight White Sox game I have attended somebody hit a grand slam. Jim Thome led the White Sox with a grand slam (his first since 2006) and three-run home run to defeat the Orioles 12-8. Thome had a career-high seven RBI, which is also the first time in White Sox history that they had two players have at least two home runs and seven RBI in the same month (Paul Konerko achieved the feat on July 7).

Fireworks Night
One of the most popular promotions for families is fireworks night at the ballpark. The White Sox drew 32,013 people last night which is ahead of their average attendance of 26,265 through 44 home games.