Day three of the Great Baseball Road trip began by dropping off Taco at the airport. He was supposed to catch the airport shuttle, but there was some sort of miscommunication on par with the infamous Seinfeld episode (taking vs. keeping a reservation). We followed with a drive from Milwaukee to Chicago that might have set a GBRT record for actually mature conversation. We're fairly sure we agreed upon -- if not fixed -- everything that was wrong with both sports and the world economy in the roughly two hour door-to-door drive from Milwaukee to U.S. Cellular Field. Of course, it was interspersed with the usual immaturity. Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. It was an afternoon affair at U.S. Cellular between the White Sox and the Braves. We had been to The Cell one other time, in 1996. It was a rain-shortened game, and we threw water all over people in the outfield. Good times. But since that time, a billion new "modern-retro" parks have opened up. The Cell has felt the brunt of this, and it is now known as the last of the old-style bowl-type ballparks. For this reason, and because the 2000s have taught Minnesotans to have a certain distaste for the White Sox, we were not expecting much from our experience. As such, we're not sure if it was diminished expectations, the absolutely gorgeous day, the crisp pace of the game or what, but we thoroughly enjoyed the White Sox game. The fans were knowledgeable. The parking and traffic were far less of a nightmare than envisioned. The concession stand options on the top level were plentiful. Ozzie Guillen and Bobby Cox both came out to argue about the same play. Chicago won when Paul Konerko broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the eighth inning. The White Sox are now just 2.5 games behind the Twins, who were simultaneously getting torn asunder again in Milwaukee. Watching the out of town scoreboard, we knew we had made the right choice by skipping the series finale. (Update on our all-time record when seeing the Twins on the GBRT: In yesterday's post, we forgot the 1-1 split in K.C. in 2008. So that means we're 3-12, not 2-11. Still).

Post-game, we headed down to Lake Michigan for a while before settling into a cozy spot in Wrigleyville to watch the NBA draft. When we asked the bartender to put the volume on the draft TV, he laughed. "OK, for a little while," he conceded. "But this is the most boring thing ever." Obviously he was not anticipating Wesley Johnson's pants. We weren't sold on Johnson initially, but the more we thought about it going into the draft he made sense. He'll fill a need. And while you can't glean everything from a 1-minute post-pick interview, he seems like a good dude. For a predictably different take, please see Bill Simmons, who must have had a dog run over by David Kahn at some point in his life.

By Road Trip standards, and certainly Chicago standards, we called it a night pretty early. Our hotel was out in the burbs and we are DRIVING (yes, Muxhut, you mocked us yesterday but you forgot the Chicago rule: 2 or fewer, fly; 3 or more, drive) to Quad Cities in a few minutes to catch a couple of minor league games tonight and tomorrow to round out our road trip experience. Great seats both nights (obviously). Golf is possibly in play today and definitely on the agenda tomorrow. We're TOLD there are casinos in Quad Cities. Further investigation is mandatory. USA vs. Ghana could not come at a better time Saturday for viewing purposes. We will see if Quad Cities has World Cup fever and file a full report to finish out the GBRT on Monday. So far, a great trip. We've even managed to squeeze in a run three times in four days. All progress has been offset by frozen custard. Holding steady, as always. Subpoenaed in Moline, sequestered in Bettendorf.