...Leading off and playing centerfield...

"What the ...?", I mouthed silently. "Griffey doesn't lead off!"

Of course, it was NOT Ken Griffey Jr. leading off, but it was Adam Freel, or Joe Bob Freel, or something Freel, like anyone really cares. I couldn't believe that on a night where history could have been made, with one player hitting his 500th home run and another hitting his 400th, that he could not play. If it weren't for the possibility of Thome hitting his 400th career home run, I think I might have left before the first pitch was thrown. To make a long (very long) story short, Big Jim did in fact hit the historic number 400 in his very first at-bat. It landed in centerfield, just a stones (or balls) throw away. At this point, the sports gods conferred and decided that the Philadelphia fans were indeed having too much fun and good fortune, so the heavens opened up and caused a 150 minute rain delay. The game, only 2 1/2 innings old, was still not an official game. Only once before had a historic home run been erased from the record books due to an incomplete game. With this in mind, the umpires and both teams did their best to make sure this game and the historic achievement contained therein did not become a sick and twisted memory in the minds of Philly sports fans. Once the 5th inning was complete, the game became official according to MLB rules, and so it was... Jim Thome had smacked his 400th career homerun, and now the Phils could concentrate on winning the game. After a couple more rain delays, the game was finally called at 2:06 AM, and the Phillies were declared 10-7 winners over the Reds. As I followed the remaining 200 or so happy and mostly drunk fans out of the ballpark, the rains started to come down even harder, impossible as that may seem. So I shuffled my way ever so slowly down Pattison Ave., and as I did I wondered if my car would still be there. I wondered if it would still contain a radio. Alas, a few minutes later, it appeared. As I got closer, I noticed there were no broken windows or locks. I almost didn't believe it.