Temperatures in Chicago hit 35°C yesterday, tying the record set in 1983, and only the seventh temperature that high ever recorded in Chicago this late in the season.
And then, because it's Chicago, the forecast calls for a 14°C temperature difference by Friday.
In all, summer hasn't sucked too badly this year. I still wish it were already over. I guess I can hold out one more day...
For only the third time this season, I got to see the Cubs win at home. They started strong and...well, that was all that they needed to do, because the Brewers are just as bad as the Cubs this year. Both teams are now tied for last place with 60-80 records. Whoever wins the next two games will be solidly in fourth place.
It was a fun game, though. And really great weather. I think I have only two or three more games on my list this season, and I hope this starts a trend.
Chicago's answer to the New York Highline is the Bloomingdale Trail (now renamed the 606, a 5 km stretch of abandoned railroad on Chicago's near-west side. After much delay, the city broke ground yesterday:
Complete with shovels and dirt, the ceremony took place 16-feet above the ground, on the section of the trail adjacent to ''Park 567'' at 1805 N. Milwaukee Ave., just north of Milwaukee Avenue and Leavitt Street in Bucktown.
The park is one of five ground-level neighborhood parks that will link up to the 2.7-mile, multi-use path, which is named for Bloomingdale Avenue, the street the path runs along between Ridgeway and Ashland avenues.
The Bloomingdale Trail will serve as the centerpiece to a larger system that organizers have coined ''The 606'' due to the first three numerals of the zip code all Chicago residents share.
The 606 is scheduled to open next fall.
After lunch I thought Parker and I could pop around to my second-favorite bar in Chicago, Bucktown Pub, which is about 3 km away. It's a little warm (31°C), so by the time we got there, I was looking forward to cooling off with air conditioning and a gin & tonic.
We left home around 1:15 and got there at 2.
They open at 3.
Oops.
I will now take a shower, and Parker has installed himself directly below the air conditioner.
Chicago has recently rolled out a several hundred DIVVY bike sharing stations, similar to the Citi Bike scheme in New York. For a small annual fee, or a moderate per-hour charge, you can take a bike from any DIVVY bike station and ride it to any other station within two hours. (The two-hour time limit keeps the bikes in circulation.) The city has a hundred or so stations now, with a couple thousand bikes.
Of course, not everyone is happy about the bikes, which help cut pollution, reduce traffic and noise, and are greenhouse-negative. A three-unit condo association near Wrigley Field sued the city yesterday because they don't want Those People on their block:
David Kolin and his wife, Jeannine Cordero, learned Tuesday that the area in front of their North Side condo building soon would be home to a Divvy bike-sharing station, one of hundreds the Chicago Department of Transportation is installing across the city.
"We don't think it's appropriate in a residential area to have this thing set up," said Kolin, an attorney. "It's not a very attractive thing to have. It's led to crowds already."
"It's hideous," added Cordero, also a lawyer. "It's less than 20 steps from our front door."
"We are aware of the request from a few residents to relocate the Divvy station away from their building on Pine Grove Avenue near Addison Street," CDOT spokesman Pete Scales said in a statement. "This residential street location was determined to be the safest for customers near the busy intersection of Addison and Lake Shore Drive. It is located in the public way, close to the curb on the street, and not on any private property."
It would have to be a pair of attorneys, wouldn't it? You don't like the bike rack on the city street in front of your house...why?
All I can say is, Mr Kolin and Ms Cordero: STFU.
Yesterday the Cardinals spanked the Boys in Blue 6-1, and I got to see the whole thing. Here's Edwin Jackson:
I'll give him one thing, boy: he threw 117 pitches, the 113th at 160 km/h. Impressive.
Also, I got to sit in a different section than usual, because my cousin and I got our signals crossed on which games to sell. Apparently we broke even—including the extra fee for the better (section 430) seats.
After fending off the Brewers for 8 weeks, the Cubs finally slipped into last place last night by losing to the Cardinals 0-4:
I'm going to today's game. I am not optimistic.
After dropping 12 of their last 15 games, the Cubs are now tied with the Brewers for 4th (last) place. There are 42 games left in the season; the Cubs have to win 10 of them to avoid a 100-loss season. It's not going well.
At least they can't lose today—but they can drop into 5th place if Milwaukee beats the Reds tonight. This, by the way, is unlikely, since the Reds are doing just fine, and are tied for the National League Wild Card with St. Louis.
I'm going to the Cubs-Cards game Sunday to watch the Cubs lose again.
Today is the 25th anniversary of the first official night game at Wrigley Field. The night before, on 8/8/88, the Cubs turned on the lights—and got rained out:
Cubs right-hander Rick Sutcliffe threw the first pitch. Phillies left fielder Phil Bradley hit the first home run. Cubs second baseman and future Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg stole the first base.
Officially, of course, none of that happened. Heavy rain interrupted play after 3 1/2 innings and the game was called after a delay of two hours and 10 minutes. Technically, the first night game came the following evening, when the Cubs defeated the first-place Mets, 6-4.
Details, details. Anybody who was there on 8-8-88 will tell you that's the date that counts. And they're probably right. Because that just might have been the most publicized, scrutinized, highly-anticipated, talked-about and written-about regular-season game ever. Especially for a dog-days matchup between a pair of second-division teams.
The theory was, of course, that night games would help the club. How have the Cubs done since? Well...they've played more night games, at least. They've probably helped make the neighborhood a party zone, too. It's hard to remember the Wrigleyville of the 1980s, which looked a little like Detroit does today.
The Cubs' next night game at Wrigley is next Monday. They have, at this writing, a 40% chance of winning.
...and the Cubs still haven't won 50. With a 49-63 record going into tonight's game, after having lost 8 of the last 10, the team still has the mathematical possibility of losing 100 games this year.
Here's the chart:
Sad.