MESA, Ariz. \u2014 White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami and Cubs star Seiya Suzuki are close enough that Suzuki offered his friend some advice about what to expect when he gets to Chicago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked to him in the offseason, talking to him about Chicago, (how) it\u2019s a great city and he\u2019s going to love it,\u201d Suzuki said Friday through an interpreter. \u201cAnd be careful because it does get really cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Suzuki paused for his interpreter to finish before adding: \u201cI really emphasized the cold part.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is very true,\u201d Murakami confirmed through the Sox interpreter.<\/p>\n
Murakami and Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman debuted for their new teams Friday in the Sox\u2019s 8-1 win on a chilly but sunny afternoon that drew 14,419 to Sloan Park for the Cactus League opener.<\/p>\n
The 2026 season, which could be the last one for a while if the owners lock out the players in December, was off and running.<\/p>\n
Enjoy it while it lasts.<\/p>\n
Back in frigid Chicago, fans from both sides of town could take solace in the fact that baseball games will be played from now until at least the end of September, maybe longer. There will be heartaches and heart attacks along the way, but there always will be a tomorrow, the enduring beauty of baseball.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWon\u2019t this season ever end?\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Chicago Sun-Times reporter Joe Goddard traditionally shouted that from his press-box seat after the opening pitch of the first spring training game, alluding to the long, hard grind of a grizzled baseball writer facing 7 1\/2 months of daily deadlines.<\/p>\n
But the truth is no one feels tired when the Cactus League games begin, and meaningless exhibitions serve as an appetizer for the season ahead. It\u2019s a time to celebrate the return of a game that means more to some fans than almost anything else in life, especially in times like these when the world seems to be spinning out of control.<\/p>\n
Life is short and goes by so fast. Twenty-two years ago I told 5-year-old Darren Baker, son of then-Cubs manager Dusty Baker, that I\u2019d cover him someday in a major league game. Darren Baker, now a Sox minor leaguer, came off the bench to play second base Friday and walked and scored a run. The wait was worth it.<\/p>\n
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Friday\u2019s game began like the World Series before morphing into a typical spring training game with unknown players wearing uniform numbers in the 80s and 90s playing out the final innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many spring training games have a flyover?\u201d Cubs starter Jameson Taillon asked. \u201cThat was pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overkill? Maybe, but no one seemed to mind.<\/p>\n
Some veterans, like Taillon, simply were looking to get in their work. Others, like Baker, were looking to turn some heads. Sox second base prospect Sam Antonacci smacked a two-run homer off Taillon in the second inning and tossed his bat 15 feet like a seasoned slugger while watching the ball sail over the right-field wall.<\/p>\n
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\u201cKind of reality hit there,\u201d Antonacci said. \u201cAnd being able to produce for my team felt good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looks can be deceptive, especially on the first day. Antonacci, a 23-year-old who will play for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, has only five home runs in 487 at-bats over two minor league seasons.<\/p>\n
Spring training bat-tossing? It\u2019s the thought that counts.<\/p>\n
Bregman, who signed a five-year, $175 million deal in the offseason, went 0 for 2 in his Cubs debut. But his presence in the lineup has everyone dreaming big, and he was happy to play in front of an adoring crowd that used to boo him vociferously when he was a Houston Astros star.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSuper cool to have all that energy in the ballpark,\u201d Bregman said. \u201cGreat start, let\u2019s keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murakami, perhaps the most important Sox signing since Carlton Fisk, had an eventful day. Manager Will Venable briefly scratched him from the lineup, causing much consternation in the press box.<\/p>\n
Was the new Japanese slugger already ailing? Could the Sox possibly start the season in a more Sox-ian fashion?<\/p>\n
It turned out Murakami was stuck in traffic because of an accident on the highway during his trip from Glendale to Mesa.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, my god! Crash,\u201d he said in English.<\/p>\n
He made it to the ballpark in time to return to the starting lineup and went 2 for 4, including a two-run double that Suzuki, playing center field, lost in the sun.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI loved him,\u201d Suzuki said with a grin. \u201cBut after that pop-up, I hate him.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a thin line between love and hate, but Suzuki was willing to let bygones be bygones.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in Chicago, same city,\u201d he said, turning serious. \u201cHe\u2019s probably going to be there by himself, so if there is anything I can do to support him, I\u2019m more than (willing) to.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Sox leading 7-1 in the eighth, many Cubs fans left to beat the traffic. Rush hour starts at 1 p.m. on Fridays in Phoenix and lasts the rest of the day.<\/p>\n
A \u201cLet\u2019s go, White Sox\u201d chant erupted in Sloan Park and lasted a good minute. It was probably cathartic for Sox fans who spent the last three seasons waiting for a reason to believe \u2014 and a player like \u201cMune\u201d to believe in.<\/p>\n
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No one expects miracles. But some well-played baseball on the South Side would be welcome.<\/p>\n
The Cubs, meanwhile, always talk about making the playoffs this time of year, whether it\u2019s wishful thinking or not. But last year\u2019s playoff experience, and the offseason additions of Bregman and pitcher Edward Cabrera, have supercharged the vibe.<\/p>\n
\u201cSlowly it\u2019s started to feel different here, my first year until now,\u201d said Taillon, who joined the Cubs in 2023. \u201cJust (the) culture. And culture is not necessarily rah-rah. It\u2019s the work, the quiet confidence of the guys, understanding what they have to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt that shift. It definitely feels different adding someone like Bregman. That legitimizes it a little bit. We\u2019ve been building something here now, and then you add a piece like that and Cabrera and those sort of moves, and you definitely feel that shifting.\u201d<\/p>\n
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October madness at Wrigley Field in 2025 was a feeling that lingered into the offseason. The players believe the seeds have been planted for a longer run.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives you an intense desire to want to do it again,\u201d manager Craig Counsell said. \u201cThe moments themselves aren\u2019t biased as to you being young or old. It\u2019s so much fun. It just makes you want it more, if there is such a thing. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve got working for us as much as anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is very true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MESA, Ariz. \u2014 White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami and Cubs star Seiya Suzuki are close enough that Suzuki…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[72,5,2317,5250,138,49,2561,161,44549,4914,54,5173,4,73,105,4563,396,2562,998],"class_list":["post-584478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-white-sox","tag-alex-bregman","tag-baseball","tag-baseball-games","tag-cactus-league","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-chicagowhitesox","tag-cubs","tag-darren-baker","tag-edward-cabrera","tag-houston-astros","tag-jameson-taillon","tag-mlb","tag-munetaka-murakami","tag-seiya-suzuki","tag-sloan-park","tag-white-sox","tag-whitesox","tag-will-venable"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116107692435711412","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}