LIVING F Sunday, April 5, 2015

Features department: 217-351-5220; features@news-gazette.com

Jeff Roberson/AP

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

DEEP-ROOTED FUNWhat’s more American than hitting the ballpark for opening day? With a new baseball season upon us, 12 area fans shared their

favorite fi rst-day experiences with staff writer PAUL WOOD.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

CHICAGO CUBS

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Wild card:TAMPA BAY

RAYS

Charles Caviness, ChampaignCharles Caviness, ChampaignWrigley in spring, the

Cubs vs. the Cards is always a great game. Last year, I had an especially great game because I’m a Cardinals fan, and the Cards won.

Lance Graves, UrbanaLance Graves, UrbanaWhen I

was a kid, I got to see the Cardinals opening-day ceremony, and I try to watch it every year. I love that tradi-tion. It is a highlight of the year for me. The play-ers and Hall of Famers all do a lap around the stadium in convertible cars. When I was young, the Cardinals’ owner, Augie Busch, would ride around with a Dalmatian dog in the beer wagon pulled by a team of Clydesdales. That was pretty cool. I still hum the Clydes-dale theme song (“Here Comes The King”) to myself all day on opening day.

Lori Spencer, PhiloLori Spencer, PhiloIn 2008, my husband and I took our moms

to day 2 at Wrigley. We are lifelong Cubs fans. It was a gorgeous day, but we were under the overhang in the shade and nearly froze. The fans on the fi rst-base line probably got their fi rst sunburn of the season!

In 2004, we took our kids to their fi rst game. My grandpa was a huge Cubs fan, and my son loves baseball, so when we visited Great-Grandpa in the nursing home, they would chat about the Cubs. My grandpa bought my son his fi rst Cubs cap. We had been telling him for weeks we were going to the game, and he made me promise to bring him a picture. My phone rang around 7 a.m. that day. It was my mom; my grandpa died overnight. I wasn’t sure what to do. She told me we needed to go to the game. We entered Wrigley at the left-fi eld entrance. When the fi eld came into sight, the kids were in awe! We missed batting practice but were early enough that they let us down by the dugout for pictures. Our seats were behind home plate, fi rst-base side. A man passing by stopped and said, “This is what baseball is all about: family,” and handed my son a baseball he caught during batting prac-tice. My son was beyond thrilled. I believe the Cubs actually won, too!

Greg Knott, St. JosephGreg Knott, St. JosephI went to the open-

ing-day game in 1992 — Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals. It was a cold, windy day sit-ting in the outfi eld at Wrigley. But the crowd was excited for opening day, and the Old Style beer vendors were busy. It was a great game, but the Cubs lost 2-1 to the Cards. I think all the fans were already thinking “maybe next year.”

Don Hansen, ChampaignIn 2006, we went to

opening day the year af ter the White Sox won the World Series. It was a ball, lots of energy. The high point came on the second day, when they handed out the rings.

I am planning to attend the Tampa Bay Rays’ opening day this spring.

Brendan McGinty, PhiloWhen I was a stu -

dent at Illinois, a friend and I programmed a computer game simu-lating Major League Baseball — real player names and stats. One great guy helped us test it and played from Tennessee. He loved it so much that he sent us four tickets to opening day at Comiskey Park, as we were all good Sox fans. He even added a case of beer. We drove up on a miserable day, and the game got rained out. So it was not consumed, but the beer ...

Bruce Meissner, ChampaignI guess one of my most memorable opening days was in 1973.

Opening day was on the weekend, I believe Saturday. We got to the bullpen at Comiskey, and Wilbur Wood, the winning pitcher that day, gave us all autographs. This alone was pretty cool, but that evening at my work — D’Fillipo’s Italian Restaurant, 37th and Ashland — who walks in? None other than Bill Melton and Dick Allen. I’d met Melton several times before at my work and twice at the park, but that was the fi rst time I was up close and personal with Allen. The only thing that could have made it better for a diehard 15-year-old White Sox fan would have been if Wil-bur wood (pun intended) have been with them.

Caleb Carr, ChampaignI and other play-

ers from my team got the privilege to attend a White Sox game to help honor Mr. (Ernie) Westfi eld, who played in the Negro Leagues. When we got to the park, there was just a feeling of amazement as we walked to the entrance, espe-cially for kids like me who dream to one day play in the big leagues. The White Sox were playing the Detroit Tigers. While waiting for the game to begin, my teammates and I got to see (Tigers starting pitcher) Justin Verlander throw in the bull-pen. It was an amazing thing to see, especially since we got to see a 90 mph fastball up close. It was just great to see how the players played, worked as a team and seemed to always keep a positive attitude. It was just a great sight to see how the pros played the game that I have come to love today.

Dan and Jennifer Bechtel, Dan and Jennifer Bechtel, ChampaignChampaign

About 10 years ago (pre-children), my wife and I bought tickets to the Cubs home opener at Wrigley Field. By this time, we were both veterans of the Wrigley experi-ence, but it was clear once we arrived at Wrigley that our expertise, and our choice of clothing, was better applied to the boys of summer and not the boys of spring.

Temps at fi rst pitch were a balmy 38 degrees, and they continued to fall over the course of the game. By the end of the third inning, fl urries were whipping around the infi eld, and our pride broke. We shelled out over $100 for extra clothes and stadium blankets to fi ght the cold seeping into our bones. Unfortunately, the Cubs did not pull out the win that day, but we stayed until the last out and have great memories (and a bunch of expensive souvenirs) to commemorate the experience!

Jeannie Cooke, DanvilleJeannie Cooke, DanvilleIt was early April, and the sun was shin-

ing on Wrigley Field. It was the kind of day that you just knew summer had arrived. By the fourth inning, the sky turned cloudy, and the wind shifted from the lake to the fi eld. The temperature dropped by about 30 degrees in less than an hour. People were standing in line to buy sweatshirts and jackets. The hooded friends around me were wrapped in blankets, and any thoughts of summer had fl ed. Still, Cub fans know all about hope — and that thing about tomorrow being another day (or there’s always next year). So, we stayed until the last of the ninth waiting for the wind to blow out instead of in, which it didn’t. But the Cubs won.

Tricia Johnson, Urbana The most electric opening-day memory I have is that of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays home opener. In the off sea-

son, the organization launched a new logo and name change, from Tampa Bay Devil Rays to Tampa Bay Rays.There was so much excitement in the air from the new uniforms and colors throughout the stadium; it

seemed to say, “We are a new team and done with the losing records of the past.” As an employee, it was such a buildup to opening day, and when that countdown was done, it was go time. From helping get giveaways staged at entrances to hosting VIP fans for a once-in-a-lifetime on-fi eld opening-day-experience package, it was a hectic, chaotic day. The players even had such a sense of pride beyond any other opening day, and as they joked and interacted with guests/fans, it really exemplifi ed an opening day with a fresh slate. Looking back, it was so symbolic, as that was the year the Rays went to the World Series.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

Nam Y. Huh/AP