Railroaders' Nostalgia > Yard Extra No.1: Evening of the Cubs First Night Game

August 8 was the 38th anniversary of the Chicago Cubs first night game, but technically it wasn't.  More on that later.
I was working an east end lead job at the NKP/N&W/NS Calumet Yard that evening.  Thunderstorms were in the forecast.

Several fellow railroaders from the yard marked off to attend the game.  There was so much hoopla preceding the first night
game, you would think it was the World Series.  It was a routine busy shift on the lead.  As it got dark, we could see the 
approaching storm.  It hit hard and fast, with serious winds.  The Yardmaster got on both radio channels and advised everone
on the ground to take cover.  The best place is in a locomotive cab, and that is where I headed.

Soon after the storm hit, we could hear City of Chicago tornado sirens going off.  We could see boxcars in the yard shaking,
and even the Geep we were in seemed to be rocking as well.  The worst of the storm passed but the rain didn't.  We soon
learned that a boxcar on the west end of the yard was blown off the rails.  No one was injured, and back to work we went.

As for the Cubs game, the storm hit during the 4th inning, and since the rain didn't let up, the game was called and did not
count as a complete or official game.  Thus, the first official night game at Wrigley Field was played the next evening, August 9.

 

Several of my Chicago buddies, most of whom were Catholic, said the storm was God's way of showing his displeasure about night baseball at Wrigley.

Hard for me to argue.

-John (Recoving Catholic myself)

jcaestecker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Several of my Chicago buddies, most of whom were
> Catholic, said the storm was God's way of showing
> his displeasure about night baseball at Wrigley.
>
> Hard for me to argue.
>
> -John (Recoving Catholic myself)


I agree with God.

Have never (and will never) gone to a night game at Wrigley Field.

Regards

Posted from iPhone

Something to keep in mind much of the Midwest was in a historic drought and the storm on 8/8/1988 was the first significant rain the Chicago area experienced in months.

https://www.woodtv.com/weather/bills-blog/the-drought-of-1988/

Yes, I was doing the farming thing then and the entire Midwest and West was in major drought that year. And HOT.
It had been that way since spring.

Regards

Posted from iPhone