Asked if he had ever played in colder conditions, Cubs center-fielder Brian McRae didn’t need much time to answer.
“This tops it,” he said of Thursday’s game, where the wind-chill dipped to 12 degrees, followed by intermittent drizzle and snow flurries. “This was miserable.”
Had it been up to McRae, the game wouldn’t have been played. Too dangerous.
“We probably shouldn’t have been out there in the first place,” he said. “It’s a good way to get somebody hurt.”
Rest easy: After lasting just five innings and throwing only 70 pitches Wednesday, Frank Castillo is scheduled to start again on three days’ rest against the Dodgers.
He isn’t the only one whose schedule has been altered. Barring a last-minute change, Kevin Foster, who pitched Thursday, will start Monday’s game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.
Castillo and Foster were chosen for the quick turnaround for three reasons: Manager Jim Riggleman wanted to avoid pitching No. 1 starter Jaime Navarro on five or six days’ rest (rather than the usual four); Castillo pitched on three days’ rest once last year and Foster has a history of bouncing back on short rest.
How cold was it Thursday? Cold enough that longtime Dodgers play-by-play announcer Vin Scully walked around the Wrigley Field press box humming, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”
