Tour of Hope Day #9
Sponsored in part by
Baseball Seams Co.
Chicago is the 3rd largest city in the US with a population around 2.7 million, roughly 16 times the size of Springfield. Thanks to remarkable Metra drivers and bus drivers, I didn’t have to attempt navigating through the throngs of people. And thanks to a little early morning luck, my family caught an express train and got to Millennium Park almost exactly when we planned to arrive with some sight-seeing along Madison Avenue as we walked.
Today, the park played host to the Chicago Gospel Music Festival, which was fantastic background music for a game of catch with Shane and Shaun on the lawn of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.
Born on the 23rd day of the month, Shane’s older by five minutes, they are both true Chicago sports fans. Shane’s favorite player is Ryne Sandberg who wore #23 for the Cubs; Shaun’s favorite player is Michael Jordan, who wore #23 for the Bulls (and #45 for the Birmingham Barons / Chicago White Sox, but those days are rather forgettable).
Both Shane and Shaun have accomplished major dreams this year. Shane recently spent time with Ryne Sandberg and procured his autograph on his officially documented 90th MLB home run ball. Shaun shot around pre-game on the court of the United Center with his two kids and even made a few three-pointers.
We met at “Cloud Gate,” more popularly known as The Bean, and the twins introduced themselves — Shane in the Cubs hat, Shaun in the Reds. We walked to the grass field in the open-air amphitheater to play catch. They had received two thumbs up from one of the security guards before I got there.
There were no shortage of obstacles, people and hanging speakers being the primary two to avoid. We found great space at the back of the park, with wonderful throwing lanes. There were only a couple of occasions we had to wait as unobservant patrons walked in the middle of our game of catch.
I was incredibly impressed by Shane’s forkball. It had the same knuckleball look and rotation as The Rookie’s change-up. I loved watching it wiggle and dive into my glove and am proud to say I only dropped one. While Shane worked on his forkball, Shaun backed up and we played long toss, successfully avoiding beams and speakers, though he came a little too close for comfort on one throw. At about 150 feet or so, he held targets out for me to hit. I came close on a couple, not so close on several.
We swapped stories of baseball and kids and the wonders of transportation in and around Chicago.
“Baseball is a universal language,” Shaun said, “You can pick up a glove and ball with a complete stranger, not even able to speak to each other, and still be able to start a game of catch.”
I wore my “Wanna Play Catch?” t-shirt today and, later in the day, as my family was getting off the bus a young man nudged me, “I’d love to play catch!”
I only had one glove in my backpack, trusting Shane and Shaun would bring theirs.
“If you’ve got a glove, I’ve got mine.”
“Maybe next time,” he smiled.
“One thing I tell my boys all the time,” Shane said, “is that baseball players need to have a short memory. You’re always going to have another chance. And anyone really can play, it doesn’t matter what size you are — from Jose Altuve to Aaron Judge.”
When Shaun first emailed me back in January, I laughed at the prospect of heading to Chicago to play catch. When this Tour of Hope started coming together within the last couple of weeks, Shane followed up on Shaun’s message and I knew that I had found kindred spirits.
So, Shane and Shaun, Springfield’s “only” 8 hours away. You’ve got six months to plan a road trip for our second game of catch. It will be impossible to beat today’s venue, but I bet we can still have a blast. Dr Pepper and donuts are on me.
Photo credit: Kaylea Bryan
SIDE NOTE:
Congrats to Nathan and Micaela on the birth of a healthy baby girl!
SIDE, SIDE NOTE:
Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza is amazing!
