Sunday, October 9, 2005 (18 Innings of Ball)

Today I found 25 cents. . . 2 dime & 5 pennies. I also sat through the longest MLB playoff game in history, 18 innings.

In the fifth inning of the Astros game I decided to move down from the upper deck to the lower section. First I took a trip to my car to drop off my backpack, which I didn’t want to carry around with me for the rest of the game. At that point the Astros were down 5-0, and it was not looking good. Outside the ballpark, at the base of a parking meter, I found a dime (which is now my lucky dime and it will be with me for the rest of the playoffs).

After the game (more on the game in a minute) I stopped at the Hallmark Car Wash and found 15 cents (one dime & five pennies). An assist on the 15 cents goes to Tara, who had joined me for dinner and drove to the car wash with me. She used her car headlights to illuminate the areas that I searched.

For the better part of the game (at least the first nine innings) the Astros did not play well. They were down 6-1 going into the eighth inning. Then Lance Berkman hit a Grand Slam, and with two outs in the ninth Brad Ausmus tied the game with a solo shot. The game remained tied until the 18th inning, when Chris Burke ended the game with a walk off homerun. The game featured quite a bit of history. Besides being the longest game in playoff history it was the first time that both team had grand slams, and it was only the second time in over 20 years that Roger Clemens came in to pitch as a relief pitcher. I would also wager that it was the first time in his career that he was used as a pinch hitter. Anyhow, 18 innings of baseball was fun, but I don’t feel the need to do it again anytime soon.

Totals for the day: 25 cents
Race Totals: $176.50