In years past, the first official game of the baseball season--no, I don't count spring training games as real games, nor should you--would fill me with giddy anticipation. It represented hope renewed, lasting until at least the cusp of summer, when it would become clear whether our teams were fading fast or built to last (much more often the former than the latter).
Not so much this year. And maybe that's a good thing.
Both the Cubs and White Sox are in rebuilding phases this year, with new managers and a mix of new faces and old hands on both sides of town. Consequently, not much is expected of either team; most "experts" are picking the Cubs and Sox to finish near the bottoms of their respective divisions.
However, since little good is anticipated from either team, any success they might have--as teams or individual players--will come as a pleasant surprise.
And even if both teams suck it hard (the more likely outcome, truth be told), there are still a couple of tangental feel-good stories to be found.
For one, longtime Cubs third baseman Ron Santo (whose statue outside Wrigley Field is pictured above) was finally elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame this past offseason. It was an honor long overdue for Santo, one of the finest players at his position in the history of the sport, and it was (and is) a genuine shame that this honor could not have come long ago, or at least while Santo was still alive (he died in December of 2010).
For another, there is Jamie Moyer, who started his pitching career with the Cubs way back in 1986 and spent 24 seasons starting for a variety of other teams including the Mariners and the Phillies. He hurt his arm in 2010 and had to have surgery after the season, so most assumed that, at the amazing age of 47, his career had finally come to an end.
In this case, most were wrong.
Moyer attended spring training with the Colorado Rockies this year and won a spot in their starting rotation. If he wins even one game this season, he will be the oldest player to do so--at the age of 49.
Maybe hope springs eternal after all.
1 comment:
As I catch up with the stories your pictures tell, I am so glad to remember that kernel of hopr represented by Ron Santo's HOF selection and Jamie Moyer's amazing run as a starting picture. Thank you.
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