Sara’s Diary: Day 19 without baseball

Yesterday was supposed to be the Cubs home opener. I took a walk by Wrigley Field about 30 minutes before what would have been game time.

The silence was striking as I approached the corner of Sheffield and Addison . I saw one other person taking pictures with a much better camera than my little phone camera. I can only guess he had the same idea I did yesterday:

Sara Sanchez

The statues of Billy Williams and Ron Santo both looked even more stoic and alone than normal:

Sara Sanchez

Sara Sanchez

There were hints that we are not in normal times all over the neighborhood. Sports World would normally be trying to pull in as many customers as possible on what is surely one of their busiest days of the year, instead the shop directly across from the main gate had these messages:

Sara Sanchez

They also had a message of thanks for the healthcare workers in our community.

At about this time I ran into Bleacher Jeff who was walking around periscoping the neighborhood. It was both awesome to see him and a reminder of how much everything has changed that I saw an old friend for the first time in months and couldn’t give him a hug or even shake his hand. We stayed six feet apart while we talked about how strange it all was.

Ernie Banks didn’t have any more company than Santo or Williams, in fact he looked even more lonely with the vast expanse of Gallagher Way behind him:

Sara Sanchezs

As I turned towards Waveland Avenue to head home I walked by the Marquee Studio Experience in the lower part of the triangle building. Like every other retailer on the street it was empty and closed, but there was something striking about the abandoned chair and the hand sanitizer in the window:

Sara Sanchez

I think the temporarily closed Murphy’s Bleachers speaks for all of us right now:

Sara Sanchez