Fall brings the turning of the leaves, pumpkin spice lattes and all of that. But consider the plight of Chicago baseball fans, trying to gin up interest in watching some other cities’ teams in dramatic postseason contests while our teams are well into their monthslong vacations.
There’s a way to do that this year, as unfortunately there is most years. And that’s to follow beloved players for whom you used to root as a Cub or White Sox, now wearing another team’s uniform.
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MLB’s two championship series feature several of those, and top of the list has to be Kyle Schwarber. Cubs fans loved Schwarbs when he was here — he was a true inspiration returning from a gruesome early-season injury for the 2016 World Series — but the team let him leave after 2020, getting nothing in return. Boo!
Since then, he’s already become something of a legend in Philadelphia; fans and his teammates love him. Tuesday night, he led off the game with a first-pitch bomb to right and then jacked another a few innings later. In two games (he hit a dinger in the first one too), Cubs fans could be forgiven as they cheered for thinking, hey, our team could have used that kind of power as it limped to the end of the season and missed the playoffs.
But there’s more! Nick Castellanos was a Cub for less than half a season in 2019, but he left an impression even in that short a span, hitting 16 home runs in 51 games. Lots of Cubs fans would have loved to see the team try to keep him. Now he’s smacking line drives all over the field for the Phillies.
Last but not least for fans on the other side of town is ex-White Sox Jose Abreu, who’s giving the Houston Astros typical Abreu performances. Wednesday night, that meant stellar first-base defense and a double rocketed into the gap.
Game 3 for the Phillies is yet to be as we write, but it sure looks like they’re heading for the World Series. So it’s more than likely Chicago fans can follow the exploits of Schwarber and Castellanos for the next two weeks and, of course, rue what could have been.
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