by Sean Chercover
It is snowing outside as I type this. 21 degrees, heading down to a low of 16. That’s minus 9, for those of you in Metric Land. And that’s not very cold, by Chicago standards, but it’s still cold enough to freeze my tired ass.
And of course Marcus and I (being, perhaps, not the sharpest knives in the drawer) just spent the better part of February driving around the Midwest to promote our debut novels.
But you know what? Spring training has begun, and the Cubs just earned their first win of the 2007 campaign. Granted, the Cubs play in Arizona during spring training, but let’s not pick nits. The point is, the boys of summer are back, and if spring is not yet in the Chicago air, it is once again spring in my heart.
And baseball makes everything good again. This summer, my apartment is walking distance to Wrigley Field. My six-month-old son is already decked out in Cubs gear, and I will take him to his first ballgame this year. There will be hot dogs and peanuts and the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd.
There will be baseball.
And Chicago will again be hot and humid, as Chicago is prone to be in summertime. Tom Skilling (as reliable a weatherman as you will ever meet) says that we’re but three weeks from our first 70-degree day. Come mid-season, the temperature will reach triple digits, which is fine by me.
Speaking of triple digits. . . the last time the Cubs won the world series was 1908. Yes, 99 years ago. Will the Cubbies go into triple digits without a championship? Or will Lou Piniella, Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Kerry Wood and the gang put up triple digits in the wins column and restore dignity to a franchise so long mired in mediocrity?
It’s that time of year again, and hope springs eternal in the heart of this long-suffering Cubs fan.
Play Ball!
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9 comments:
This. Is. The. Year.
As much as I'm not a Lou fan, as much as I miss Steve Stone, as much as I'm fearful of relying in any way on Prior and Wood, and as much as I want to know better than to give my heart over to an untrustworthy mistress yet again...
Go Cubbies!
oh, we cub fans--we're like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football! Even though we know she's going to pull it away we prepare to suit up anyway.
Duofolds suck.
Go Cards!
You aren't the only one who sees spring traing as the first sign of spring. My husband, a confirmed Red Sox fan since childhood, has said that for years. Then he has the gaul to laugh in my face when I point out my first sign of spring a few weeks later~the river willows yellowing up. Sheesh. Boys and Baseball!
Actually, don't lose heart. This could be the Cubbies year! The Red Sox broke their curse 2 years and now the monkey is off Cliff's back. I hope the little primate leave Chicago forever, soon, and peace will reign...until the next season.
D.A. Davenport
I love The Outfit, love the blog, but this native Pittsburgh has to break it to you quick, like ripping off a Band-Aid: The Pirates will win a World Series before the Cubs do. Take it to the bank.
If my beloved Detroit Tigers can make it to the World Series, any team can.
Actually, being a Cubs fan is much better grounding for the artist's life than rooting for the Yankees, or even the cardinals, because it's well known that great art is built on suffering.
Duofolds rock. Watermans suck. So there.
The Pirates were great. Willie Stargell, and "We are a family," and all that jazz. That was 1979. Nowadays, the best thing I can say about the Pirates is, they play in a really nice ballpark. But I'll bet you ten bucks that the Cubs end this season higher in the NL Central than the Pirates.
Thanks Bryon, that's the attitude I need to adopt.
And Sara, I agree. In the words of Joe E. Lewis, "Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for US Steel."
On the other hand, rooting for the Cubs is like. . .well, like. . .like rooting for the Cubs.
Go Cubs!
(I'm incurable)
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