County Stadium

With the signing of Octavio Dotel, the Chad Qualls rumour mill and hypothetical Hall of Fame votes being the stories of the day, I am reminded of a story where fans in Milwaukee just couldn’t wait for baseball to begin.

We’ll file this one under pining for baseball:

“As I look around the empty park, almost Greek in its starkness, I feel an awesome inarticulate love for this very stadium and the game it represents.  I am reminded of the story about the baseball fans in Milwaukee, and what they did on a warm fall afternoon, the day it was announced that Milwaukee was to have a major-league team the next season.  According to the story, 10,000 people went to County Stadium that afternoon and sat in the seats and smiled out at the empty playing field – sat in silence, in awe, in wonder, in anticipation, in joy – just knowing that soon the field would come alive with the chatter of infielders, bright as bird chirps.”

– W.P. Kinsella, from Shoeless Joe.