Take me out to the ball game

CHICAGO -- What happens when you accomplish a childhood dream when you're only 20 years old? I'm not sure myself. But I've been put in that situation after witnessing last Sunday's game between the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers from the Wrigley Field press box.\nOK, so maybe I'm letting my flair for the dramatic show through on that description. My childhood dream was to be actually playing for the Cubs when I was 20 years old. But about the time that I reached the "coach pitch" level of Little League, it became painfully obvious that my golden bat would not be bringing home the bacon.\nThough I had been to Wrigley many times in the past, I had never seen the innards of the stadium, the behind-the-scenes nooks and crannies where all the action is. That would change.\nRight now, you are probably wondering, "who does this guy know?" I don't know anybody -- it's all a part of my summer internship, which I earned due to my stellar reporting skills. (You can stop laughing now).\nWhen I got to the ballpark, I signed in at the front gate and got a press pass that gave me access to pretty much anywhere I wanted to go -- the home and visiting clubhouses, the field, the press box and most importantly, the media dining room.\nThe first stop on my tour was the Cubs clubhouse. Since it was two hours before the game was scheduled to start, most of the players were just lounging around watching ESPN. Starting pitcher Jon Lieber paced around in gym shorts and a t-shirt looking pretty similar to something I would wear on any given Sunday morning.\nAs I headed down the hall towards the dugout with a couple of my superiors, Sammy Sosa walked past and gave us a "Hey." (I don't think that is enough to qualify myself as a name-dropper, yet).\nWe then checked out the Brewers clubhouse, which is located about as far away from their dugout as humanly possible. (The visitors' clubhouse is actually located above the main concourse, so fans can hear the cleats of the visiting team clink on the cement as they head down the stairs toward the dugout). \nI couldn't help but notice that Milwaukee had an interesting selection of post-game beverages in their cooler: two shelves of beer, and one shelf of bottled water. They aren't called the Brewers for nothing.\nDue to non-stop rain, the game itself was delayed by nearly two hours. Fortunately, this gave me plenty of down-time to eat and meet the likes of Ron Santo and Mr. Baseball himself, Bob Uecker. \nIn addition, Joe Carter and Chip Caray ate brunch at the table next to mine. You have no idea how strange it is to hear voices that you associate with being on radio or TV, and then turn around and actually see the person talking. (Or using language that probably wouldn't be heard on a broadcast).\nUnfortunately for the Cubs, the game was only rain delayed rather than rained out. In fact, it was appropriate Uecker was in the house, as the Cubs quality of play looked like something out of Major League. \n"Highlights" included Cubs centerfielder Corey Patterson pulling a Willy "Mays" Hayes move, overrunning third base and getting tagged out to kill a rally in the bottom of the first. Or the fact that the Cubs surrendered not one, but two grand slams to the Brew Crew -- the first time Milwaukee has accomplished that feat since 1980.\nOne of the grand slams was hit by none other than Raul Cassanova. No, not the legendary lover, but a utility catcher for the Brewers who was batting a Uecker-esque .190 heading into the game.\nStill, the funniest play of the game occurred when Cubs reliever Ron Mahay tried to throw a ball to first and air-mailed it into the Milwaukee bullpen. This established the precedent that while there is no cheering in the press box, laughter is perfectly acceptable.\nAfter the game, it was down to the interview room for manager Don Baylor's press conference. Interestingly enough, the interview room is located directly across the hall from where they store the fertilizer, and is about the size of my bedroom. \nI can only anticipate the pungent odor that promises to coincide with the arrival of summer.\nAfter that, I got to stick a microphone in the faces of the likes of Joe Girardi, Lieber, and Sosa -- none of which was very happy.\nAnd while it promises to be a long summer, even for the team that invented the long summer, I am pretty confident that my job will be better than any involving a cubicle.