Corner of Clark & Addison

In the familiar words of Harry Caray, It's a beautiful day for baseball!

Unfortunately for Chicago, it's a beautiful day for baseball here in Orlando and not so much at 3600 North and 1060 West. I'm watching the Cubs-Houston game and it just got rained out. The grounds crew came out to pull the tarp and I spent a reasonable amount of time watching the crew unroll the tarp, run it across the field and grab it like superman's cape to pull it across the infield. I thought about a lot of things. Like how your feet feel when you're standing in SRO Terrace Reserve with soaked feet. Or the feeling of raindrops pushing the part in your hair until the water streaks into your eyes. The way the pitchers in the bull pen pull their jackets or towels over their heads. WGN started showing the cameramen working in the inclement weather and I wondered if they'd show Val's brother Joe. They did. Then I thought about the seats Joe got for me and my friends one year - in the late Arne Harris' seats and we got on TV (though I was paranoid i'd be shown eating a hot dog on national tv).

I thought, too, about Greg Maddux body surfing on the tarp the year lights came to Wrigley Field. He caused a stink because he had stitches and wasn't off the DL yet. Obviously it did not impair his career in the slightest.

I thought about how the year the Cubs almost went to the series (the Steve Bartman year) that I didn't feel it would be "right" for me to occupy a seat in the park since I hadn't been to a game in so long. Until my sister reminded me of my years of duty when our best pitcher was the incontinent Mike Morgan and I realized I belong there just as much as anyone.

So this afternoon once the Cubs logos appeared and the tarp was full deployed I found myself clapping. Then I heard the crowd clapping. Ahh, yes. A conditioned response I didn't even know I possessed. And I realized that old adage, you can take the girl out of Wrigley Field. But you can't take Wrigely Field out of the girl.

So long, everybody!