Michael James : Hope Springs Eternal
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| Comiskey Park, Chicago, 1990. Photo by Michael James from his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James' Pictures from the Long Haul. |
Hope springs eternal on
opening day at Comiskey Park
By Michael James / The Rag Blog / May 1, 2013
[In this series, Michael James is sharing images from his rich past, accompanied by reflections about -- and inspired by -- those images. This photo will be included in his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James' Pictures from the Long Haul.]
Today is opening day. Yea!
This is opening day 1990, the last year of the wonderful old White Sox park, aka Comiskey Park. Was there for this final opening, and, more sadly, the last day of that season when police on horseback kept the masses from going on the field. Ahh, and again at the new park in 1991. My dislike of the new park has diminished, but I would have preferred keeping the old park and fixing it up.
Having grown up loving the Brooklyn Dodgers, I went to my first White Sox game in the summer of 1966 with Paul Booth. By 1976, the year we opened the Heartland Cafe, I was a dedicated Sox fan.
I loved Bill Veeck (who not only wanted to integrate baseball, but wanted to incorporate the old Negro Leagues into the Majors), the shower in the outfield stands, Harry Caray when he was the Sox announcer, the food, the Southside Hitmen motorcycle club, the activity on 35th street, and... that summer of 1976 that saw both the Sox and the Cubs in first place, for awhile.
Ahh, and let's not forget the White Sox were the World Champions in 2005.
[Michael James is a former SDS national officer, the founder of Rising Up Angry, co-founder of Chicago's Heartland Café (1976 and still going), and co-host of the Saturday morning (9-10 a.m. CDT) Live from the Heartland radio show, here and on YouTube. He is reachable by one and all at michael@heartlandcafe.com. Find more articles by Michael James on The Rag Blog.]
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