Carole & Ernie's Wedding

Last night, we traveled out to Wheaton to see our dear friends Carole & Ernie get married.

You know, everyone in love should have such a gorgeous setting for their wedding. Danada House is an old country home that now hosts events like this. The ceremony was held in the outdoor garden -- and don't think they weren't counting their blessings that it was yesterday, when it was about 75 degrees, rather than Thursday, when it was 95. In fact, the minister even made light of this fact. He was a hoot -- cracking jokes about the love both of them have for baseball, and Ernie's love of horse racing. Everyone was smiling and laughing.

The reception was held in a huge tent connected to the building by a corridor that reminded me of a jetway, it was so long. But the tent didn't feel tent-like at all; it was cozy and intimate for the approximately 75 family and friends who were there last night -- it was great to meet many of Carole & Ernie's relatives, who are all terrific people, including his mother's four brothers, who entertained themselves and the rest of us by dancing together to the music the DJ's brought. They had travel-themed tables, and themed (Asian & Mexican) buffet stations, and all in all, through all of Carole's hard work (she must have burned a hole in her ear with all the time she spent on her cellphone making arrangements).

It was perfect.

And, last night, Carlos Zambrano was almost perfect, too.

Carole had said she'd try to find a TV where we could sneak away to watch. Unfortunately, this didn't happen, so I was elected to stay in touch with the game and give everyone updates, via my web-enabled cellphone.

So I started. And after Sammy Sosa's first-inning HR, everyone was excited, especially after we learned of the Astros' and Cardinals' losses.

And every few minutes I kept looking at the linescore. And that "0" stayed there under the hits column.

OK, I released myself. I realized that I wouldn't be able to see even one pitch of this game, though since it was on WGN, I know most of you did get to see it.

I didn't mention the word. I did call a few people over and silently pointed to the "0" on my cellphone screen. Everyone got it.

Well, as you know, Carlos lost the perfect game in the fifth with a walk, and the no-hitter was broken up by a controversial close-play call on Shea Hillenbrand's infield grounder with two out in the 8th. Frankly, this is the fault of the rookie umpire, Kevin Kelley. An experienced umpire would have realized the game situation (4-0 Cubs) and the import of the no-hitter, and that would have ended the 8th inning, and created an entirely different dynamic in the 9th.

Nevertheless, the Cubs won the game 4-1, which is, after all, the reason they play the games, and the most important thing, since it put them back where they were two days ago, half a game behind the Astros, and in second place ahead of the Cardinals.

Since August 10, when Sammy hit two homers against the Dodgers, I've been waiting for him to start one of his patented late-summer hot streaks. It didn't happen at home -- last night's two homers, which gave him his ninth 30-homer season, were the first ones since then. He has always hit well in Arizona, so perhaps this time it really will start one of those streaks. The club could use one.

The Cardinals attempted to bolster their pitching staff by picking up Mike DeJean from Milwaukee and Sterling Hitchcock from the Yankees yesterday. Hitchcock will go into their starting rotation. If this is the best they can do, the Cubs are in good shape. DeJean started the year as the Brewers' closer but has been awful in the second half, and Hitchcock is yet another player that the Yankees have attempted to fool other teams into thinking he's better than he really is, now for the second time. I hope the Cubs get to face him (though since he's a lefty, that means Doug Glanville in the starting lineup again -- groan!).

I apologize for the lateness of this post, but it was a late night last night and a lazy morning this morning as a result! And, there's another game to watch in just two hours, and I'll post on that one this evening.

And if you really want to be jealous, take a look at where Carole & Ernie are spending their honeymoon. Truly, I hope they enjoy. They're wonderful people, and I know they'll be very happy together.