Game 3 American League Pennant

My sweetie and I both worked til 3 and rushed home in anticipation. I had found online the place we were going for dinner before the game, and all the reviews said 'get there early'. We fed the dog and let her out, i reminded the Quat to be good; we grabbed an extra long-sleeved shirt and away we sped. There were very few tables with people when we strolled eagerly into Nemos in Corktown. Sports Illustrated had recently named this establishment one of the three top sports bars in the US of A.Not for its food, I can tell you (the burger wasn't bad, it was just the only thing seriously on the menu!), nor for the promptness of the shuttle bus that takes you to and from the game, but for the antiquity of the building and the Detroit sports stories that cover the walls.
We enjoyed conversation with people from all over as the restaurant and tables outside filled up. Busses not unlike the one below, one at a time, filled up with revellers and left, replaced by ones of similar kind and likeness.

We toasted the Tiger's fortune one more time and hopped aboard a bus parked in front on bricked Michigan Avenue that looked not a bit different from the one above and made our way to the park The driver let us off right at Gate B and we were in a festive mood so we walked over to the huge parking lot turned into pre-game party just east of Chelli's Chili bar. We hung out there for a while, listening to the music by some dj right there live and loud and then headed into the park. I tried to give the guy the wrong tickets (whiched caused a bit of stress for us during the Anthem and introductions) but we finally ended up at the highest top of the stadium you could be in, foul territory, right field.
We decided after about 2 innings to take our chances in lower level land and walked miles trying to find a standing room spot where we could actually see the game. We ended up in bleacher land for an inning or two until i got hungry so we went clockwise (our favourite direction) towards first base. Stopped where we could see a little bit of the batting area and infield....right behind the terrace seats behind first base. It was convenient there for several reasons. One, we weren't up in the stratosphere. B, we were within sight of restrooms, pizza, kick ass Italian sausages with mucho aroma, and miller lite vendors. Plus, we were immediately next to a portable refrigerator holding Leinenkugel kegs which served as a table for me to lay my score book on. Plus, plus, the vendors on both sides of us (Leinenkugel and Tiger Gear) were the nicest folks you could ever want to share a Game 3 with.
JV pitched into the 8th, and was relieved due to pitch count, not circumstance. He was not getting the strike calls that he enjoyed in the Oakland series. In fact, he threw 18 pitches in 3 ball counts and did not walk a batter. That set some sort of record or other.
...................................................................intermission..........................................................................

From Elias: Miguel Cabrera has at least one hit in each of his 16 career League Championship Series games, moving out of a tie with Pete Rose (1973-1983) and Manny Ramirez (2003-2007) for the longest hitting streak in LCS history.

Anyways, Phil Coke pulled off the two-inning save, and not one person left that park until the final out in the 9th. Great fans Detroiters are.Everyone was waving the white towels...not in submission mind you, but in revellry...which is where we started this shindig.
Our bus back to Nemos took forever to arrive and I suppose if we would have not been NemoVirgins, we might have enjoyed being downtown enjoying the revelry. We finally loaded and got back to Corktown. We made a final visit inside before piling into the Grape and heading home: Michigan Ave west, right on Rosa Parks, left on I-75 (south) and a quick right onto I-96 (west). 

It was a great outing with my sweetie, and one of the best birthday celebrations i can remember.