Polman: Go west to Wrigleyville, young man
From SABR member Jeff Polman at Chicago Side Sports on September 4, 2012:
Born and raised in New England, I was a Fenway Park madboy and madman since May of 1963, when I sat with my dad and brother and watched the Maris and Mantle Yanks outlast the Red Sox in extra innings. Now it was the summer of ’79, and I suddenly felt a new baseball hole in my life that only Wrigley Field could fill.
At 24 years old, I was the Arts Editor of an ambitious “alternative weekly” called the Vanguard Press in Burlington, Vt. Two hours away from Stade Olympique in Montreal, my buddies and I were adopted diehard Expos fans, or “Exponents” as some called us. While I enjoyed rooting for Carter, Valentine, Dawson, Rogers, Cromartie, and their ex-“Impossible Dream” skipper Dick Williams, the two-hour jaunts over the border just past Goose Bay and across Indiana-like Quebec farmland were more notable for our post-game, Molson-fueled romps down St. Catherine Street than any acute baseball memories in that massive, half-open concrete bidet off the Pie IX Metro station. Olympic Stadium had zero charm, even less history, and you could barely see the ball when it was hit. As much as I liked the Expos, I thirsted to see them play in a real outdoor ballpark.
Read the full article here: http://chicagosidesports.com/go-west-to-wrigleyville-young-man/
Originally published: September 4, 2012. Last Updated: September 4, 2012.