Baseball, a game of tradtion

Without launching into a long-winded diatribe - my favorite kind! - it's worth noting that today marks the 20th anniversary of the first scheduled night game at Wrigley Field.

After the first attempt to electrify Wrigley was stymied by that pesky world war in the 40s, when steel was required by the war effort and the Cubs passed on adding lighting, Chicago tried again in 1988. Opposing to the end of an era, some fans protested the addition of lights and neighbors wondered what would happen when the bleacher creatures were set loose on the area after dark.

After the first game on 8/8/88 was rained out, the first night game at Clark and Addison was completed the next day and the earth failed to spin into the sun.

It's just something worth keeping in mind when the arguments flare up over the traditions in the game that purists hold dear, be it the use of body armor at the plate or putting Spiderman's face on the bags.

For Cub fans, the lesson can also be applied to proposed changes to their favorite ballpark, from adding logos to the outfield walls to cleaning the urinals for the first time since man first walked on the moon.

Twenty years later, we have the team's manager making public comments about the need for less day games to help keep his players fresh. So much for sentimentality.