The Cubs and White Sox share a common opponent each spring: Chicago weather.
Snow and rain have forced the postponement of home openers for each club going back to at least 1929, but so have strikes, lockouts, travel issues and even a worldwide pandemic.
Here’s a look back at delayed first pitches.
April 24, 1929
Rain postponed the White Sox home opener against the St. Louis Browns by a day. The Browns won 3-2.
April 12, 1940
The Cubs-White Sox game was unofficial, but freezing temperatures forced its postponement by two days. The Cubs won 9-5, but lost the season series that year 7-6.
April 10, 1953
When an exhibition Cubs-White Sox matchup was thwarted again by the cold, the game was moved from Wrigley Field to Comiskey Park. The White Sox won 6-0 a day later.
April 18, 1961
The threat of snow canceled the Sox’s home opener against the Washington Senators.
John F. Kennedy — a politician from Oak Lawn, not Massachusetts — threw out the first pitch when the Sox lost 7-2 the following day.
April 9, 1971
One month before first pitch, Sox officials moved the home opener back a day to avoid potential travel issues.
The extra time may have given the Sox some magic. They beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 in front of more than 44,000 fans, setting an attendance record at Comiskey Park.
1972
The league’s first strike authorized by players resulted in a two-week delay of the season. Strikes also pushed back starts during the 1995 and 2002 seasons, and a lockout delayed the season in 1990.
Just 17,401 fans showed up at Wrigley Field on April 15, 1972, to watch the Philadelphia Phillies add two runs in the ninth inning to beat the Cubs 4-2. Even Cubs manager Leo Durocher missed the game with a throat virus.
New Cub right fielder Jose Cardenal lost a line drive by Tim McCarver in the sun, “while the decisive markers pranced home,” Tribune reporter Bob Logan wrote.
“The sun was in my eyes all the way and the first time I saw the ball it was right in my face,” Cardenal said.
The Sox shut out the relocated Texas Rangers 14-0 on April 18, 1972, in what Tribune reporter George Langford called “like an afternoon at the Roman Colosseum and the Sox obliged with blood.” It was slugger Dick Allen’s Comiskey Park debut.
April 6 and April 9, 1982
Accumulating snow forced not only the postponement of the White Sox’s first home game against the Boston Red Sox, but also the series. The team instead traveled to Minnesota to play a two-game exhibition series against the Toronto Blue Jays. When the Sox hit the road for New York, those two games were postponed due to snow.
The weather affected attendance at Sox games that season. By May 2, 45,000 fewer fans made it to the ballpark than the previous season.
The Cubs’ season debut at Wrigley Field on Good Friday went on without delay — the North Siders beat the New York Mets 5-0 — but an unusual command was broadcast throughout the stadium.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please refrain from throwing snowballs onto the playing field,” said the announcer. “Anyone throwing snowballs onto the playing field will be subject to ejection.”
April 5, 1983
After a 1982 Cubs season that didn’t have a single delay — at home or on the road — due to weather, opening day against the Montreal Expos was rained out. The rain didn’t start until the players had been introduced and singer Debbie Shapiro sang the two national anthems. The tarp was pulled out at 1:10 p.m. — 10 minutes before start time.
The Expos won 3-0 a day later.
April 10, 1990
“It was a day game at Comiskey Park followed by a night game at Wrigley Field, an upside down double-header,” Tribune reporter Phil Hersh wrote. “This was the first time in 90 years Chicago has had two teams that both opened at home the same day, the first time in 115 years of franchise history the Cubs have opened at home at night.”
The White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3, but the Cubs’ nightcap was interrupted by a hard rain. Just two innings and 46 minutes of baseball were played at Wrigley Field before the game was called after a 1-hour 45-minute wait. The “Boys of Zimmer” beat the Phillies 2-1 the following day.
April 7, 2003
Despite the 7 a.m. announcement that Monday’s Cubs-Expos game had been postponed because of the snow, an opening day bash at a bar and grill around the corner was crammed from wall to wall. The Cubs won 6-1 in manager Dusty Baker’s Wrigley Field debut the next day.
April 9, 2018
The Cubs postponed the first game of the 2018 season at Wrigley Field due to snow. White Sox fans will remember, however, the team from the South Side played that day despite two inches of snow falling, which was promptly removed from the field by “The Sodfather.”
July 24, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic delayed the start of the season.
The Cubs opened to an “Empty Confines” in July since no fans were allowed to attend. Kyle Hendricks shut out the Brewers 3-0 on three hits and no walks, needing only 103 pitches. It was the first shutout in an opener by the Cubs since Bill Bonham in 1974, Tribune columnist Paul Sullivan wrote.
The Sox lost 10-5 to the Twins during Luis Robert’s major-league debut at Rate Field that same day.
