{"id":644487,"date":"2026-03-26T12:36:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/644487\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T12:36:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:36:25","slug":"opening-day-arrives-for-cubs-and-white-sox-chicago-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/644487\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening day arrives for Cubs and White Sox \u2013 Chicago Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, Chicago.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Tribune report on the Cubs\u2019 first home game of the 1876 season noted a crowd of around 5,000-6,000 went through \u201call sorts of troubles to get tickets and seats for Chicago\u2019s opening game of the centennial year.\u201d But the Cubs lucked out, the report added, as \u201cthe weather encouraged the attendance, for a finer day for a game was hardly ever seen.\u201d The Cubs, then named the White Stockings, wound up with a 6-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds in the first season of the National League, spurring optimism for local fans and media.<\/p>\n

150 years later, they\u2019ll open the 2026 season today at Wrigley Field with similar optimism and a forecast that rivals the one for the 1876 home opener, albeit with a chance of storms.<\/p>\n

Everything changes in Chicago, but the spirit of opening day remains the same. It\u2019s traditionally the best time of the year to exude hope, and no one can extinguish that flame until at least the first loss.<\/p>\n

Up the road in Milwaukee, the White Sox open their 126th American League season\u00a0Thursday under the Brewers\u2019 retractable dome, with lower expectations than their North Side peers but growing confidence that their painful rebuild finally has turned the corner.<\/p>\n

Read the full column<\/a> from the Tribune\u2019s Paul Sullivan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including when to expect thunderstorms this week<\/a>, how a Chicago snowplow came to have \u201cAbolish ICE\u201d emblazoned<\/a> on its side\u00a0and why stationery is booming<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s eNewspaper edition<\/a> | Subscribe to more newsletters<\/a> | Asking Eric<\/a>\u00a0| Horoscopes<\/a> | Puzzles & Games<\/a> | Today in History<\/a><\/p>\n

\"PassengersPassengers wait in a security checkpoint line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, March 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip)
\nTSA boss warns of airport shutdowns, but no deal yet on day 40 of Homeland Security funding fight<\/a><\/p>\n

The Transportation Security Administration may have to shut down operations at some airports if the budget impasse drags on, the agency\u2019s acting head said yesterday, even as record wait times for travelers did little to end the standoff over the funding fight in Congress.<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor Brandon Johnson signs a veto of an ordinance pausing a phaseout of the subminimum tipped wage as he\u2019s joined by supporters, on March 25, 2026, at Let’s Eat to Live restaurant in Chicago\u2019s Woodlawn neighborhood. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)
\nChicago Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoes tipped wage freeze, setting up City Council showdown<\/a><\/p>\n

When Mayor Brandon Johnson pulled out his silver veto pen once again yesterday \u2014 this time to strike down the City Council\u2019s plan to freeze scheduled minimum wage pay raises for tipped workers \u2014 he promised a fight.<\/p>\n

Standing before supporters inside a restaurant in the Woodlawn neighborhood less than a year before his expected run for a second term, Johnson sounded like a candidate as he not only urged residents to call aldermen, relatives and even the governor to back him up but also cast himself in stark political terms as the city\u2019s \u201corganizer-in-chief\u201d and a defender of working-class Chicagoans.<\/p>\n

\"AA driver gets out of the \u201cAbolish ICE\u201d snowplow that won the naming contest, on March 25, 2026, at a Streets and Sanitation facility in the West Town neighborhood. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)
\nChicago\u2019s \u2018Abolish ICE\u2019 snowplow unveiled by Mayor Brandon Johnson as winner of annual contest<\/a><\/p>\n

When a Chicago salt truck with a baby blue cab pulled up slowly behind Mayor Brandon Johnson yesterday, the mayor pointed to the newly christened vehicle\u2019s name as evidence that the city stood together.<\/p>\n

Emblazoned on its side: \u201cABOLISH ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WineWine enthusiasts fill Hudson Crossing Park for the Wine on the Fox festival in downtown Oswego in 2024. (Linda Girardi\/for The Beacon-News)
\nCook County population growth is flat due to decreased immigration, while Kendall County leads Illinois, census numbers show<\/a><\/p>\n

Cook County saw little population change in 2025 due to reduced international immigration, new U.S. census numbers show, but Kendall County bucked that nationwide trend with the greatest percentage growth among all counties in Illinois.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Sousanieh rests in a hammock on an unseasonably warm day at Humboldt Park, March 21, 2026, in Chicago. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)
\nExpect severe thunderstorms in Chicago<\/a><\/p>\n

The Chicago area could see a severe thunderstorm today, with risks of large hail and damaging winds.<\/p>\n

Just as the weather was starting to warm up, a cold front is expected to pass through northern Illinois and northwest Indiana this afternoon creating conditions for a severe thunderstorm category three out of five, the National Weather Service said.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago police work in the left field seats after a reported shooting at the White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field on Aug. 25, 2023. (Kaarin Tisue\/Chicago Tribune)
\nLegal squabble over mysterious White Sox shooting winding down as sun rises on another season<\/a><\/p>\n

As another season of baseball begins, the end may be near in the yearslong legal saga stemming from a bizarre shooting in the bleachers during a White Sox home game in August 2023.<\/p>\n

But more than two years after the shooting, the central question remains: Where did the gunfire originate?<\/p>\n

\"WhiteWhite Sox manager Will Venable looks at a schedule as players practice during spring training at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 16, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)
\nChicago White Sox finalize 2026 opening-day roster for Will Venable\u2019s second season as manager<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sox placed outfielder Brooks Baldwin (right elbow sprain) and\u00a0catcher Kyle Teel (right hamstring strain)\u00a0on the 10-day injured list. Pitchers\u00a0Prelander Berroa,\u00a0Drew Thorpe\u00a0and\u00a0Mike Vasil\u00a0were placed on the 15-day IL, each affected by Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Royals’ Maikel Garcia is caught stealing by Cubs second baseman Scott Kingery during a spring training game Feb. 23, 2026, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo\/Charlie Riedel)
\nChicago Cubs finalize opening-day roster: Dylan Carlson and Scott Kingery make it, Justin Steele to 60-day IL<\/a><\/p>\n

Three nonroster invitees earned a spot out of camp as the Cubs added outfielders Michael Conforto and Dylan Carlson and infielder Scott Kingery to their 40-man roster ahead of Thursday\u2019s opener at Wrigley Field, where left-hander Matthew Boyd gets the ball against the Washington Nationals.<\/p>\n

\"RegReg Weaver waves to a crowd of educators after being elected president of the National Education Association, July 3, 2002, in Dallas. (Dawn Dietrich\/AP)
\nReginald \u2018Reg\u2019 Weaver, first Black president of the state\u2019s largest teachers union, dies at 86<\/a><\/p>\n

As a Black youth growing up in the largely segregated schools of downstate Danville, Reg Weaver knew firsthand about educational inequities when he declared years later that there was \u201cno feeling like seeing children\u2019s eyes brighten up as they discover the world of opportunity.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\"AA vendor helps an attendee prep the letter press by Starshaped Press at the Chicago Stationery Fest in Ravenswood on March 15, 2026. (Nate Swanson\/for the Chicago Tribune)
\nMake a note of this: Stationery is booming as we seek out a more analog experiences<\/a><\/p>\n

Stationerycore, as many call the culture, is having its moment, with devotees flocking to events such as the recent Chicago Stationery Festival in Ravenswood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning, Chicago. The Chicago Tribune report on the Cubs\u2019 first home game of the 1876 season noted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2399],"tags":[5,138,24,4245,161,4,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-644487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-cubs","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-cubs","11":"tag-chicagocubs","12":"tag-cubs","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116295512850658506","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644487","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=644487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}