I recently came across a photo of the 1946 Cubs standing in front of Wrigley Field’s famous marquee just before they departed for spring training.  What struck me most was not the cool fashions of the day with the players in their top-coats and stylish hats, or the fact they actually got the whole team, or most of it, all together in one place in what was technically the off-season.  I guess they all gathered in Chicago before hopping on a train headed south (a different world, indeed).

No, what really grabbed my attention were the words on the marquee: ‘Cubs home opener April 20.’  Yes, April 20^th.  Sensible, rational, sane.  April 20^th.

The Cubs’ home opener this season is March 31, which is Opening Day around the league in 2008, according to a calendar of important dates on the MLB Web site.  Well, except that the Nationals host the Braves in their new ballpark on March 30 in what MLB calls Opening Night.  And of course there are those lucky Red Sox and A’s who traveled to the other side of the globe to face each other on March 25-26 in what that same MLB calendar also calls Opening Day.

I could go on about the absurdity of that schedule but I want to stick to my initial thought, that March 31^st opener at Wrigley.  Talk about absurd.  I’m a lifelong Cubs fan and attend the home opener every year with a great crew who treat it like the holiday it should be.  We gather early at Murphy’s Bleachers across the street from the Friendly Confines for some morning brew and make a day of it.  There is the game, of course, and after that a Wrigleyville bar or two, a meal if we can get that organized, and maybe some pool or bowling. 

It’s one of my favorite days of the year, with one giant drawback: I have to wear long underwear and generally dress like a fucking Eskimo.  I love baseball and the Cubs and attending games at the best ballpark anywhere, but as anyone with even a passing knowledge of Chicago should realize, winter here often creeps well into April.  So what has been MLB’s response over the years?  Make Opening Day earlier and earlier, so that now we’re at March 31^st, a full three weeks before those lucky fans of 1946 gathered to celebrate the start of ‘next year.’

As a fan, and a Web site dedicated to fans and their concerns, I find this trend incredibly annoying and ridiculous.  I don’t want to attend baseball games (or pay top dollar for tickets) when you can see your breathe, when the beer gets colder after you order it, when even the most dedicated fans wonder when the damn game’s going to end so they can head to a warm bar. 

As I write this it’s 10 days to that home opener, and I’m wondering if I need to go out and shovel the walk for a second time.  Yes, Chicago got slammed by a snowstorm on the first day of spring that dropped several inches on the area.  Above and here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fansherpa/2352162534/in/set-72157600217855545/) are some photos of Wrigley on this lovely day. In one of them the grounds-crew works to clear the stuff from the field.  Not sure why they bothered; they’ve got 10 days and it could well snow again.

Rather than simply sit around and gripe, I called MLB and was directed to Katy Feeney, Senior Vice President of Scheduling and Club Relations.  I left Katy a voicemail and she called me back from spring training in Florida.  She said the early start is necessary so you’re not playing World Series games in November.

“If we were to wait to the following Monday you will be into November for the post-season,” she said, and then quickly added: “Not to say we won’t do that.”

Of course they’ll do that, and kind of already have.  If last season’s Series had gone the distance, Game 7 would have been on Nov. 1.  Baseball is far from alone in this trend.  The Super Bowl is in February, basketball and hockey don’t end until June, ‘March Madness’ culminates on April 7^th this year.  In the mad grab for dollars all the seasons have been extended. 

But baseball, alone among those major sports, is at the mercy of the elements (except for those teams that play in mostly ugly retractable roof stadiums and always ugly domes).  So I had a couple of suggestions for Katy: go back to a 154-game schedule and start playing double-headers again.  She was buying neither.

“We have a 26-week season and at the moment there are no plans to shorten that,” she said.  “The reality is they’re not gong to cut back on games.”

Yea, I didn’t think so.  So, how ‘bout we give fans from the Midwest and Northeast a break and schedule early-season games in warmer climes?  No go on that either.  “You can’t schedule all the eastern and northern teams on the road for the entire month of April,” Feeney said. 

I explained the dilemma to her, the excitement and hope we all feel at the start of a new baseball season, tempered by the misery of sitting for three hours in bitter cold trying to appreciate the subtleties of this slow-moving game.  And I pointed out that Cubs’ fans will likely do some extra suffering this season because the team plays more home games in April and May than they do in June and July. 

“April weather is back and forth,” she conceded.  “It’s a very iffy month.”  I thought I was starting to win her over.

But then she started to tell me they’ve started the season in March before, so this wasn’t entirely new.  Which, of course, is absolutely no consolation.  Then: “I’m more uncomfortable when it’s stiflingly hot outside,” she said.  Guess her sympathy came and went pretty fast.

So I tried a different tack.  “Well, then I’d like to invite Bud to come to Opening Day with us at Wrigley,” I said.

She didn’t hesitate.  “Oh, Bud Selig knows what cold can be,” she said, pointing out that as the owner of the pre-retractable roof Brewers, he attended plenty of frigid openers.  “He was at every single one of their openers.”

Long underwear and all?

______________________________________________________________________

Andy Buchanan is the principal writer and editor for Wise Guides and Fan Sherpa after spending several years as a journalist working for the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune and other outlets. When not reporting, he was often at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs or planning his next visit to a ballpark or stadium. And yes, the title of the column is literal, as he has season tickets in the last row of the south end zone at Soldier Field.

  Posted On Sat Mar 22 , 2008
Email It