MESA, Ariz. — The early forecast for opening day at Wrigley Field on Thursday calls for cloudy skies and balmy temperatures in the low 50s.
After one of the coolest spring training stretches in Arizona, the Chicago Cubs should be well prepared for a day like that.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” manager David Ross said Sunday of the unseasonable spring weather. “We’ve only had a couple warm days, right? We say it prepares us for (Chicago), but we’d be begging for this some days in Chicago.”
A sunny, 70-degree Sunday at Sloan Park was about as good as it gets.
The Cubs wound up with a 5-0 win over the Kansas City Royals before 15,261 in what technically was the final spring game. The final two home games against the White Sox on Monday and Tuesday were added late and won’t count in the Cactus League standings.
Cold and rainy weather could play a factor for the Cubs early this season. Thirty-one of their first 56 games through Memorial Day will be played at home.
MLB schedule makers did the Cubs no favors, almost ensuring the team will have to deal with substandard weather conditions for much of the first two months.
“The good Lord is going to take care of that weather for us,” Ross predicted. “I’m going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for some nice stuff.”
Good luck with that.
Opening day at Wrigley seldom coincides with good weather, but at least no snow is in the forecast like the storm that forced the Cubs to postpone their 2018 opener. Of course they can always look back on Theo Epstein’s first opener as Cubs president in 2012, which saw ivy blooming on the outfield wall — a rarity for Wrigley Field that early in the season.
“That was impressive,” Epstein said before the game. “I was telling someone I hope that’s a good omen.”
It was not. The Cubs lost 101 games in 2012 and finished last in the National League Central. But “hope” is what opening day is all about.
Ross wasn’t upset with MLB for packing so many home games into the two worst months, weather-wise. He pointed to an early West Coast trip to Los Angeles and Oakland in mid-April. The Cubs also play a three-game series in Miami on April 28-30. They can keep their Arizona tans from fading, though they could be shivering in Chicago.
“I look at it two ways,” Ross said. “Some of these warm-weather people have got to come to us, too. There are advantages or disadvantages, however you want to look at it. We all want great weather all the time. It’s just not possible in our game.”
The 2023 Cubs are built on pitching and defense, so perhaps the lack of warm weather could play to their advantage. Either way, with the last breath of spring training being drawn, new players were anxious to experience their first Wrigley Field opener as Cubs.
“It’s a great place to play, one of the most historic ballparks and one of the most historic sports sites in the world,” starting pitcher Jameson Taillon said. “I’m really excited. I’ve been on the other side and it’s a cool place to play as a visitor. I can’t wait to call it home.”
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First baseman Eric Hosmer said a return to the Midwest suits him perfectly.
“The way the fans are, it reminds me a lot of Kansas City and the Midwest love they give their team and the appreciation they have for their players,” he said. “There are a lot of similarities. Seems like it’s going to be a lot of fun and we definitely have a lot of support from the fans.”
Some players have already been warned what to expect by old friends who spent time at Wrigley. Trey Mancini recalled a text he received when he signed from Brandon Hyde, his former Baltimore Orioles manager and a former Cubs coach.
“‘Hyder’ couldn’t say enough great things about Chicago,” he said. “He said he was so happy for me and he was right. It’s a really cool field and a special place. It’s a team that was on national TV all the time when I was a kid. Cubs games at Wrigley Field — it’s reputation precedes itself. So it’s pretty cool to get to play there.”
Reliever Michael Fulmer recalled looking around the ballpark before an at-bat during a Detroit Tigers series on Fourth of July weekend in 2017.
“It was an all-time high, standing on deck and chatting with Cubs fans,” Fulmer said. “Everybody was nice and we were cracking jokes. You hear Wrigley and you think of the history, the atmosphere and all the fans, how they pack it out. That’s one of the most exciting things, playing in front of a packed crowd.
“I think opening day is going to be one for the ages.”
