⚾ I saw a game at six local minor league ballparks.

Chaotic joy of the post-game marshmallow fight the Schaumburg Boomers hosted in their outfield a few weeks ago. . . [READER]( The Daily Reader The end of August makes me a little batty. After one too many sweltering days, I'm just about ready for autumn, but I also find myself thirsting for the possibility that the first days of summer bring. Inevitably, I try to juggle a lot of activities I wanted to do during the warm months just as this season concludes, but such a mad dash tends to wear me out, which, in turn, makes me pine for the months when hibernating at home is en vogue. I know I'll never accomplish everything on my summer bucket list; I get a lot of joy as the days grow longer because I sense that the possibilities of summer are endless, and restricting my seasonal dreams to a manageable list feels counterintuitive. But recently I did manage to accomplish one seasonal goal that's always felt a little beyond reach: I saw a game at six local minor league ballparks. [I've written about my love of the Chicago Dogs]( the minor league ball club that plays in Rosemont. But my affection isn't confined to a single team or even a league—though the American Association of Independent Baseball has three teams within spitting distance of Chicago, including the Dogs, the Gary Southshore Railcats, and the Kane County Cougars, who play in suburban Geneva. I love the intimacy of a minor league ball game, where you can feel like you're right on the field from almost any seat. It's part of why I find the games a little more exciting than some of the MLB matchups I've been to in recent years. Yes, these are professional matches, but sometimes the players are juuuust sloppy enough that I find myself astounded or perplexed. (I can't recall any time I saw an MLB team get a run off of four straight walks, which happened when I saw the Joliet Slammers play the Gateway Grizzlies last week.) I also love how many teams have figured out the right balance between the serious presentation of professional sports and an irreverent silliness that I can't find in the majors. Yes, some of that has to do with what I grudgingly will refer to as branding—and there's [an emerging marketing company that's found success shaping minor league baseball teams' identities and mascots](. But it's all about how every team builds an identity around those unusual team names and logos, and finds ways to woo potential fans and keep them in their seats for nine innings. And it is fun to cheer on a pro baseball team named after an overloaded weiner while adults dressed as anthropomorphic mustard and ketchup bottles run around a stadium that sits on top of I-294 with clear views of Rosemont's fashion outlets and airplanes descending on O'Hare. I've collected a lot of nice memories from this summer, but few match the chaotic joy of the post-game marshmallow fight the Schaumburg Boomers hosted in their outfield a few weeks ago. And almost as memorable, but not quite as fun, was my meal of [a pile of meat and mac and cheese cosplaying as a sandwich called the Porkasaurus at a Kane County Cougars game]( an experience I found to be mostly OK. But the Boomers game concluded my tour of the six area minor league parks, so once I digested that mess of a dish I could rest easy knowing I achieved this one summertime goal—and I look forward to seeing what I can do next year. Sincerely, ["Scary Cool Goodbye 27,"]( by Meaghan Garvey (Scary Cool Sad Goodbye) ["Lauded trumpeter and composer jaimie branch dies at 39,"]( by Nate Chinen (NPR) ["Record of the Week: Chagall Guevara's 'Halcyon Days,'"]( by David Dark (WNXP) ["What Happens When Drill and the Justice System Clash in the Courtroom?"]( by Victoria Bekiempis (Vulture) Deaton Chris Anthony, [Sid the Kid]( Ava Cherry, [Ripe!!]( Illuminati Congo, [Stupid Fresh Wisdom]( Friendlys, [Very Friendly]( [Enigmatic vocalist and songwriter Diamanda Galás embodies horror and suffering on Broken Gargoyles]( by [Joshua Minsoo Kim]( [Douglass Park forum, jazz, Chicago trivia, Studs and Spikes]( Things to do in Chicago for Wednesday 8/24/2022 by [Micco Caporale]( and [Salem Collo-Julin]( [The play about the baby]( In Things That Are Round, an imaginary child forms the basis for a strange friendship. by [Irene Hsiao]( ☀️ [Summer is for now, but Reader merch is forever]( Check out the classics like our Reader baseball hat and rep your love for us and the city 👇 [Issue of August 18 - 31, 2022 Vol. 51, No.]( [Download Issue]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2022 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616