5) The one wearing the Piniella jersey. I’ve never seen anyone with a custom manager’s jersey before.
4) The one wearing the Kyle Farnsworth jersey. Look, Ambiorix Burgos can throw 100 mph too. That doesn’t mean I’d get a custom Mets jersey of his.
3) The one wearing the Yankees Soriano shirt and Cubs hat. The only explanation is that this guy has been following Soriano around since he left New York.
2) The one wearing the Cubs jersey and Red Sox hat. This guy has no soul but doesn’t realize it, thus thinks he’s better than #3.
1) The one wearing the Cubs jersey and White Sox 2005 World Series hat. No comment.

Bonus: The most vocal heckler in our section who decided not to stay for extra innings.

Super Bonus!: The one who took a picture of first base coach Ivan DeJesus. Do you think she (A) thought he was a player (B) collects pictures of first base coaches or (C) wanted a picture of the man the Cubs traded away to get Ryne Sandberg?

I got of CTA at 6:45 pm to meet Odie before Pirates/Cubs game at Wrigley.

Five hours, four errors, 27 runners left on base, 41 players used, one stolen base by a catcher, one catcher caught stealing, two starting pitchers used as pinch hitters, three plays at the plate, two double plays with the bases loaded, an ejection, a blown save, two singings of “Take Me Out To the Ball Game,” two hot dogs, a few hecklers, 15 innings, and four scoresheets later, this was the scene:

Mercifully, after all that, Aramis Ramirez (former Pirate) struck out to end the game.

Give the game ball to Jonah Bayliss, who pitched the 12th, 13th, and 14th innings for the Bucs, only allowing one baserunner and notching four strikeouts. This was a welcome bit of sanity in an otherwise ridiculous exposition of NL Central baseball.

Coming soon: Top Five Cubs fans of the night!

You know about Brad Lidge and Aaron Heilman in the majors right now. Jeff Samardzija earned the headlines with his decision to play baseball instead of football. But keep an eye on Jeff Manship (Class of 2006), currently at Beloit (low-A) in the Minnesota organization. Twins pro-blogger Aaron Gleeman says:

Perhaps even more so than Slowey’s fantastic start at Triple-A, No. 12 prospect Jeff Manship’s first month at low Single-A sticks out as the organization’s best April performance. Manship posted a 0.84 ERA, 36-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and .147 opponent’s batting average in 32 innings spread over five starts. Equally as impressive, he had a 4.6-to-1 ground ball-to-fly ball ratio, which sticks out like a sore thumb in the Twins’ fly-ball heavy system and is a tremendous indicator for future success. [link]

Manship’s ND bio from 2006 and pro stats from MiLB.com