Wednesday must have been Chip Day at Wrigley Field, for each of the 34,984 fans seemed to have one on their shoulder.
After a true-to-form Cubs’ loss, Major League Baseball limped out of town Wednesday afternoon and, because of a Friday strike deadline set by the players, likely won’t return for some time.
During the game, anger and bitterness moved through the stands like The Wave.
“Pure greed, pure greed,” hissed Mike Orangia, 38, who works in a McDonalds in Kentucky. “It’s all money, money, money. And money ain’t fun.”
“A bunch of crybabies,” chimed in his son, Mike Orangia Jr., 16.
Some fans blame the owners. Some blame the players. But all agree that they, the paying customers, are bearing the burden.
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“I really don’t have sympathy for someone who makes that much money,” said Chad Brown. “Personally, I’d be happy to make that much.”
Chad, by the way, is 13 years old.
For fans like him, part of the tragedy at hand is the inevitable, obnoxious asterisk which will forever befoul the 1994 season.
Baseball’s many poets wax eloquent about the crisp crack of the bat and the green, green grass. But they seem to miss the numbers, the all-important numbers. And this was proving to be a marvelous numbers year.
“People are having great years,” said Chad, who then rattled off some of those numbers. “Jeff Bagwell, he’s got 39 home runs.
“Matt Williams, 43 home runs and probably a Gold Glove at third base. (Ken) Griffey Jr., he has about 40 (home runs).
“It’s a shame,” he said. “If I were a player, I wouldn’t strike. I would be defending the fans.”
On the South Side, White Sox fans had to watch their team on television. And Sox fans, who claimed to have nothing in common with Cub fans, voiced a similar anger and bitterness toward the owners and players.
Kevin Conners of Evergreen Park wasn’t very happy, because he said the strike will alter his honeymoon plans. After his wedding Aug. 19, Conners said he and his bride are scheduled to travel to the San Francisco Bay area. They planned to attend the Oakland Athletics’ game against the Cleveland Indians, the top threat to the White Sox in the American League Central.
“This is going to be the last game of baseball for the year,” said Conner, watching as he worked at the Reilly’s Daughter Pub in Oak Lawn. “That is why I hope the Sox win today: they can clinch their division.”
At Little Richie’s in neighboring Chicago Ridge, Sox fans poured in after work, mainly to throw insults at those threatening to take away their pastime.
“I think it’s a joke,” said Michael Zuber, an aircraft refueler from Worth, who said he can only attend about a dozen games a year because the ticket prices are too high. He said he spends about $50 per game, including parking and a few beers. “They are dealing in figures that we can’t comprehend. What kind of crap is that? How can they expect to get sympathy from us with the salaries they are making?”
And then there are those who advocate a strike, though not one by players.
“I wish the fans would have taken a harder stand and boycott, and it would have shown unity of the fans,” said Joe Guerro of Chicago, a White Sox season ticket holder who watched the game in Catchers Inn, a Chicago bar down the street from Comiskey Park.
“They are using the fans,” Jud Keller, 42, said at Wrigley on Wednesday. “If the fans would wise up and not come out again and fill the stands, they’d get the message.”