Yesterday, the
temperature broke 50 degrees for the first time all year, and Clare finally got
to go outside for practice. She could do
it again on Friday, when there’s another 50 in the forecast. Too bad they’re also predicting anywhere from
4-16 inches of snow tomorrow. Welcome to
the world of spring sports in the Midwest.
Many years ago,
before Clare was born, I had the good fortune to meet Hall of Famer Luke
Appling at a memorabilia show; Appling played shortstop for the White Sox from
1930 to 1950. “You had to dig the snow
out of your neck” playing the infield in Chicago in April, he told me. Ballparks come and go, ballplayers, too, but
the misery of a Chicago spring endures. That
holds especially true for softball in March.
I make a habit of wearing long underwear and have, on one occasion, helped
shovel snow out of dugouts.
Chicagoans on both
sides of town choose to ignore the weather on Opening Day; optimism rather than wind chill
is what matters, if for just that one game.
When the White Sox beat the Twins 3-0 for their home opener in 1971, I was
all of eighteen; the long johns stayed at home.
Not anymore.
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