SAN FRANCISO -- Ocean waves batter the banks just outside the confines of Candlestick Park in San Francisco as a strong, relentless breeze rolls in from center.  Above, gulls soar beneath a sparkling, translucent sky.  The seats are bright and orange inside this bowl stadium as fans wave gigantic San Francisco Giants flags.  They are ready for opening day!

 

The atmosphere is exciting here in San Francisco despite the Giants poor prospects this season.  Panning to the press box: an announcer pours a Coca-Cola onto a cup filled with ice.  It sizzles.  Announcers shake hands, steady their microphones.

 

Far away in Chicago, Cubs fans hope for a first game victory.

 

Sunny and windy here in San Fran as the Giants announcer proclaims the starting lineup:

 

Dan Gladden, CF

Bob Brenly, 1B

Chili Davis, RF

Jeff Leonard, LF

Steve Nicosia, C

Manny Trillo, 2B

Joel Youngblood, 3B

Johnnie LeMaster, SS

Bill Laskey, P

 

The Magic of the Game

Baseball at Wrigley is back, '84 style!  And all around the streets of Wrigley you can feel the hype!  Take the ol' train on down to Wrigleyville and what'll ya see?  O'er on the streets below, you'll see springtime in bloom: flowers emerge, next to the stoops, from the dead earth, inaugurating our beloved annual event!  Oh, and too, there are the crack heads, smoking bricks in old Cadillacs and 84 Oldesmobiles.  Boom boxes, gold chains, the voices in the streets, oh the clatter!  Niggers on street corners rhyming, squeezing out their daily anxieties into this new "rap music."  President Reagan has cut off all social programs, leaving the youth to suffer in silence and succor crack cocaine.  On the Southside, in the housing projects, a young latina girl loses her virginity in a bedroom while Michael Jackson's "Thriller" plays in the background.  An old mama brews lemonade while cussing out the white folk who prey on her hood.

In the uptown offices, the views are panoramic.  The clouds are heavy and blurred from the corporate offices.  Traders at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange make heavy profits, the retailers quick on their tails!  In the cozy residential hoods, young white kids watch MTV videos while talking to their friends on their bedroom phones.  Chicago Cubs pennants cover the walls as young kids pray their Cubs finally pull a crown!

Yes, this is Chicago, beloved Chicago in all its diverse glory!  Go Cubs, go Cubs, the spirit of the city rises and falls with the trajectory of the Cubs.  Yes, Cubbies!