NIGHT GAMES AND AFROS

As the first game of the Cubs/Reds series in Chicago revs up, I've learned that tonight is 70s night at Wrigley Field. They're also celebrating the 17th anniversary of Wrigley night games, a concept that was still controversial when I moved to Chicago in 1990. I wasn't a baseball fan during my 7 years in Chicago. I lived all of those years no more than four blocks from Wrigley, walked by that park thousands of times, and marveled at the night lights whenever standing on the Sheridan El platform, or whisking by the park on the red line. Not once, however, did I ever step foot inside the stadium. No, friends, my baseball awareness came only after moving, three years after I left the midwest.

I like the idea of 70s night at the ball field. Right now, it's 7:14PM CT and apparently it feels like 86 degrees (50% humidity—ugh!). I see more fros in the stands than I'd like to think exist in all the world. They stand, defiantly, against the heat.

After reading Erik's and Daniel's most recent posts, I have to say: I don't think the Cubs are doing any worse than I expected them to. It's actually more likely that you'll see some interesting plays and a break from the predictable from the Cubs than from the Giants or Nationals. The latter two teams are trapped in some sort of Mordor torpor, while the Cubs, obsessed incessantly with greatness, are more like happy, shiny people.

I still can't pull myself away from Cubbies games now that Nomar is back (and apparently not yet fully awake).