Another Double for Grace
Tony Lombard is getting ready to go to a baseball game. He has just finished taking a shower. He lifts up his mattress and picks out a pair of shorts he put there the night before to "Press". He also puts on a collared, casual, short sleeve shirt, and Bulls hat. He gets his house keys, puts on his fanny pack, and leaves his apartment. He walks down his Rogers Park neighborhood block and heads for the Loyola Avenue elevated train stop where he meets his best friend Ray.
The following audio is heard as TONY gets ready, meets his friend, and goes to the game:
CHORUS: Go Cubs go, Go Cubs go, Hey Chicago what do say, the Cubs are gonna win today, Go Cubs go, Go Cubs go, Hey Chicago what do you say, the Cubs are gonna win today...
VINCE (Cubs Broadcaster): Welcome everyone to another beautiful day at Wrigley field, where the Cubs are out on the field, getting ready to play the Pittsburgh Pirates. Good matchup today huh, Lou.
LOU (Also a Cubs Broadcaster): Ooooh, you betcha Vince. the Cubs are sending Julio Gonzalez on the mound today against twenty game winner Jamie Stoudelmayier, and even though the Cubs are already twenty games out at the all-star break, this is still an important game for both teams.
VINCE: That eighteen to six shellacking the Cubs took yesterday, do you think that will play any part in the Cubs outlook on today's game?
LOU: No, I don't think so Vince, these players are professionals, and they'll go out on the field today with a positive attitude that they can win today's game, which they can if they cut down on their mistakes.
VINCE: How 'bout the fact they haven't beaten the Pirates in ten meetings this year?
LOU: I think that gives them an even more incentive to go out there and win one today, especially in front of the home folks.
VINCE: Tell me Lou, does the fact that the Cubs combined ERA this summer is 6.50bother you at all?
LOU: It's been a cold early summer so far this year, Vince, and I'm sure that as the summer heats up, so will the Cubs pitching.
VINCE: Lou, would you consider yourself an optimist?
LOU: Vince, you know me, I'm an eternal optimist, as all good Cub fans are.
VINCE: I'm with you Lou. We'll be back with the opening pitch, after these messages...
CHORUS: Go Cubs go, Go Cubs go, Hey Chicago, whatdya say, The Cubs are gonna win today. Go Cubs go, Go Cubs go, Hey Chicago, whatdya say, the Cubs are gonna win today...
Tony finally meets Ray at the CTA train station.
RAY: Got everything you need?
Tony nods yes. They go to the train platform and hop on the next train. Shot of them riding the train into the city. Beautiful blue skies overhead, people milling around the city streets in summer clothes, and finally a shot of Wrigley Field from the El train approached from the north. The flags are waving in the wind, the stadium is half filled, and the train stops at the Addison El stop. The young men exit the train.
TONY: Looks like it's blowing out today.
Ray nods his approval. They put on their sun glasses. Scenes outside the ballpark. Vendors selling their wears, heavy car traffic, bars with open windows, people milling about, scalpers. Tony and Ray enter the ballpark, buy themselves programs and beers, and take their seats. Shots of the field, players taking their places, and the umpire yelling, "Play Ball!"
CUT to: Later in the game. HARRY CAREY is singing the 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' during the seventh inning stretch.
CUT to: Tony and Ray standing at their seats.
TONY: Doesn't it seem like sports is replacing religion in our society? Here it is, a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and we've skipped church to go to a baseball game.
RAY: Cubs, Cardinals. God will understand.
TONY: You know, it might not be such a bad idea. We could have each religion represented by a sports team. And each player on the team could represent a different religious figure. The Bulls, for instance, would be a perfect replacement for Catholicism. Ron Harper could be St. Peter, because like St. Peter, he's good at defense, guarding the gates of heaven. Dennis Rodman could be St. Paul, because like St. Paul, he once persecuted the Catholics, then underwent a conversion and became a saint. And of course, we all know who Jesus Christ would be.
RAY: Of course.
TONY: This way, we wouldn't have a need for religious wars any more, because unlike the way it is now, where one side loses, and spends the next century devising a plan to get back at the other side, if sports replaced religion, if you lose a game or a World Series for instance, the losing side can just say, "Wait 'till next year."
RAY: I'd hate to be the team represented by the Cubs.
TONY: Ah, maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea after all. If the Bulls were Catholics, they'd probably feel guilty about winning so much that they'd purposely begin losing.
Cutting back to the action, a Cubs player hits one against the outfield wall.
RAY: Another double for Grace!
