Almost Opening Day

The Cubs open at home against Pittsburgh today, but we are still a week away from the start of the four full season minor league franchises. The Iowa Cubs, Tennessee Smokies, Daytona Cubs, and Peoria Chiefs all begin play on April 7th. Oddly enough, they all begin on the road.

Minor league rosters are still getting set, so it will be awhile before we know exactly who will be going where. When the minor league season does take off there will be plenty of coverage on CubbiesCrib.

If you live near a minor league franchise in any organization and haven’t gone to a game yet, you are missing out on a great experience. Look up your local team and head to the ballpark a time or two. When I lived in Nashville I picked up a few Sounds games, including one against the Iowa Cubs. I got to see Felix Pie start a triple play from the warning track, Prince Fielder try to play first base (not a pretty sight), and a Sounds’ grand slam get turned into a three run homer when one player passed another on the base paths because the umpire almost but not quite called time. For one of the games I had front row seats just past first base… and paid about $10 a seat. It really is hard to find a better deal on professional baseball than catching a minor league game.

This season I hope to attend a few Peoria Chiefs games and hopefully see guys like Matt Szczur, Reggie Golden, Ruby Silva, Hayden Simpson, Pierre LePage, Elliot Soto, and Micah Gibbs.

But today is about the Chicago Cubs. If you can’t get to the ballpark in person, grab a radio and be sure to listen to Pat and Keith call the game. Finally, Cubs baseball is back.