Say, Do You Know The Way to Wrigley Field?
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Okay, I know this isn’t necessarily NASCAR- or motorsports-related, but I’m really looking forward to Thursday afternoon.
No, I’m not heading to the airport so I can fly to Sonoma for this weekend’s NASCAR race.
In fact, I’m not doing anything that even comes close to racing, for that matter.
Rather, I’ll be covering my first Major League Baseball game in well over a decade (for ESPNChicago.com).
And what better game to see than the Crosstown Classic match-up between the two teams from my hometown of Chicago: the Cubs vs. White Sox.
I can’t help but marvel at how Major League Baseball has managed to weather the current global economic downturn. Sure, like all sports, MLB is hurting, but the pain level is maybe a 2 or 3 on a 10 scale, while NASCAR is closer to a 7 or 8.
Granted, MLB ballparks are feeling the pinch, but from everything I’ve seen and heard, not nearly as badly as NASCAR is.
I know I’m going to feel odd and maybe a bit out of place, watching the slow pace of baseball after watching hundreds of races over the last decade.
But at the same time, and as much as it pains me to say this, given how much I really love racing, I guess it’s kind of healthy to realize that there’s more to life than just NASCAR.
Instead of breathing exhaust fumes from a stock car, I’ll be admiring the Wrigley Field ivy.
Instead of looking at NASCAR’s multi-color paint and firesuit schemes, I’ll be looking at the more basic Cubby blue (baseball’s answer to Petty blue, I guess) and the Sox’ dastardly grey and black road uniforms.
And instead of listening to Mike Helton or Brian France, I’ll be listening to Cubs manager Lou Piniella and White Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen, who I used to cover while he was a player for the team many, many decades ago (okay, so it only seems that way).
I used to love everything about baseball. I was born and raised on it, just like motorsports. But somewhere along the way, I lost that warm fuzzy feeling for the game and replaced it with a fix for gasoline and rubber.
Thursday, I’m back to full-circle. I wonder if I’ll ever look at NASCAR the same ever again. I guess time will tell. Let’s just hope the game doesn’t get rained out like Tuesday night’s opener of the three-game series did (by the way, the Sox beat up on the Cubs Wednesday).
Now excuse me while I loosen up my vocal chords a bit as I get ready to sing “Take Me Out To the Ballgame.”
Catch you Friday.
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