Pujoles and Busch (Stadium)

Hi all - just updating from Midway Airport where I'm about to fly to DC to meet up with Hannah and start the East Coast leg of this journey. Just time to update quickly...

I know that title sounds very rude, but it isn't. All will become clear. Earlir in the week I got 4 tickets to the ball game from a dodgy bloke on eBay and on Thursday we went to see the St. Louis Cardinals (go Cards!) play the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium (there ya go!).

Now as all the world knows, baseball is an excuse to turn up on a warm evening and drink weak beer and eat hot dogs (or foot-long brats) in the company of other Americans.

Any sport based around eating and drinking is right up my street as you know by now.

So, we had a blast at the game. The dodgy bloke came through and we had a great view of 3rd base and the rest of the action. The expensive seats go up to $250 per ticket.

That's a lot to pay for the risk involved - sit too close to the 'batter' and you run a good chance of getting a baseball straight in the face if the guy lets go by accident.

And indeed that's what did happen, smacking a poor spectator right in the chops. The crowd stood up, presumably hoping to get a view of some blood, and over rushed a bunch of medics. I jested that they were followed closely by an army of litigators.

Steve, Pam's husband assures me that the disclaimer on the tickets (not our fault if you get killed by a bat) is water tight.

Perhaps there is a movie plot there, someone deliberately tries to kill an audience member (say, an unloved relative) by releasing the bat at the right moment. The twist would be that they'd miss and kill their wife instead.

Anyway, great times were had and the Cards won 3-1, with the local star, Albert Pujoles (pronounced poo-holes) getting not just a 'homer' but also a 'double' I'm reliably informed.

Pictures to follow!