The Wait Continues, This Time at Target Field

The last 9 days have felt like months. There is a strange feeling knowing that at anytime Steph is going to say "Darek, it's time", but not knowing when that moment is, that's punishment. Steph was having contractions throughout the day again, some major and minor. The nurse said that it could be today and that I should stay close, so instead of waiting at work, I just waited at home. I actually worked from home, which was probably a nice break for my team and coworkers. I think I've been driving them crazy with all my baby talk and what the plans are while I am out. I have some great coworkers that are going to help me out and I have a pretty awesome team that will probably perform better without me there.

My mom, sister (Em) & EZ (my new nickname for Zeker, which is also a nickname I came up for him) stopped over this afternoon. It was the first time I've seen EZ awake in quite a while. The last three times I've seen him he's been out like a light. He's such a good baby. He's very alert and aware to what is going on around him. I'm still working on my baby thing. I held him (and I got plenty of tips from Steph and Kayla).  Em thought the presence of EZ would help our little guy come out, but to this point it hasn't worked.

My dad gave me 2 Twins tickets to sell because he is currently working on a major project in Winona. I tried Stubhub & Craigslist, but was unable to sell them. At 5:15 I had a decision to make, so I called Steph and offered the tickets to her and her mom. Kayla's never been to Target Field and even though it was 113F heat index, I thought it would be fun for the two of them. They could of walked around, gone to the Metropolitan Club, but Kayla declined and suggested that I go (naturally, I'm in). Steph and I raced home, I threw 5 hand towel under water and into the freezer. We also packed two mini fans, a "Joe on a Stick" (it was a give away in 2009) some grapes and a quick change of clothes and we were off. We arrived just a few minutes before the first pitch. The frozen hand towels worked beautifully for Steph. They definitely made the heat tolerable for a woman over her due date.

As for the game, the only thing to be said was that the Twins were lucky to only be trailing by 1 after 8 innings. Masterson was dominate and Liriano was erratic. Cleveland was one hit away from breaking the game open (several times tonight), but Liriano got Cleveland to chase at bad pitches and was able to do good damage control. Everything changed in the bottom of the 9th. Joe started things by taking an one walk. In this case Perez should of known that even if Joe made good contact it was only going to be a single (unlike the commercial, Joe can't turn on a pitch and put it in the overlook in right). Cuddy doubled because Cleveland was playing a no doubles defense. Cuddy dumped his pitch in shallow left field, but alertly took second (it reminded me of when Gladden did it in game 7). The walk to Thome was expected, you weren't going to let him beat you, but then Danny did what he has done all year, clutch hitting in the late innings. My only thought with the hit was the left fielder had to of seen that Cuddy was already at third as the ball was dropping. The only shot the he had was to dive, catch it and double Cuddy up.

Either way it was a wonderful night at the ballpark, we only hope that the excitement of the game gets the baby to come out. Then it would be a "Beautiful Day"