Play ball! Spring training a season for optimism

Major league baseball spring training is in full swing. I don’t have to read the Internet, pick up a newspaper, watch TV or listen to a radio talk show to know.

It is that time of the year.
My good friend Ron Swoboda suddenly faces a bout of delusional thinking. He spouts off a list of about 20 things. And, if all of those things happen, his beloved New York Mets might somehow be in contention.

Cox Sports TV’s Eric Richey is spotted at a prep basketball game attired in his Cincinnati Reds jacket. The Reds are perennial underachievers. I don’t have the heart to tell him it is 2014, not 1974.

Robert O’Shields of WGNO sports is brimming with optimism. In spare moments at the office, he’s searching You Tube videos of great moments in Atlanta Braves history. His search doesn’t take long.

In March, April and May, Robert is doing the baseball version of strutting like a peacock. The Braves always start fast, and then … well, you know what happens in September.

Former WGNO news director Bob Noonan is like most Yankees fans. He believes that the Pinstripers should win every year. I remind him, in the last 10 years, the Red Sox have three World Series crowns to the Yankees’ one. He reminds me that two of those titles were at the expense of my beloved St. Louis Cardinals.

Ouch.

As a kid, my heroes were Lou Brock and Bob Gibson. When the Cardinals were on the NBC Saturday game of the week, my life came to a stop.

As a college student, I would get the States-Item newspaper in the afternoon. The so-called “green sheet” final edition would have all the box scores from the previous day. When spring arrived, so did the box scores.

In October, I would skip a few days of school. The World Series was on television (during the day!). Thank God my mother understood.

This spring, even the Cubs fans have come out of hiding. Local radio talk show host Gus Kattengell is speaking with guarded optimism. I tell him my favorite Cub is Steve Bartman and my favorite Dodger is James Loney.

If you are a Cubs fan, there is no explanation necessary.

WGNO director Scott Andrews is a huge Cubs fan. He is convinced the north siders will be in contention, until Memorial Day. Laugh out loud.

This summer, I will be missing my all-time favorite Cub fan. Linda Vangilder, mother of Lenny and wife of J.L., passed recently. For years, J.L. has served as the official scorer for Pacific Coast League games played at Zephyr Field. Linda would come to many games with her world-famous cookies.

I would take a few verbal shots at the Cubs. J.L. would quickly tell me, no more cookies for you. Linda’s cookies were legendary.

Her memory will live on. And, for you Linda, I will say something I never thought imaginable. Go Cubs!

Ed Daniels is sports director at ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].