Well it’s finally here. Opening Day 2008. It seems like decades ago that Ted Lilly was assaulting pitching mounds with his glove and writers were joking about Lou Piniella pulling Carlos Zambrano early from Game 1 of the NLDS so he could be ready for next season. I feel like I can barely even remember Mark Buehrle’s no-hitter or Jim Thome’s 500th home run. Oh, memories.

Spring training seemed equally long and even more bizarre than usual. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, despite receiving a contract extension, said he should be fired if the team does not perform this season … does anyone want to tell him he is in the same division as the Indians and Tigers? Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa had an odd heart issue that required surgery. Then Cubs outfielder Felix Pie was hit with testicular torsion (yes, a man can actually twist his own testicles).

While both Chicago clubs were having “interesting” springs in Arizona, the fans have been patiently waiting for their return through snow, wind and below freezing temperatures.

Baseball, of course, returns Monday with the Cubs facing the Brewers in Chicago and the White Sox going up against the Indians in Cleveland. While these teams will finally be returning from the desert oasis of warm temperatures and sun, the weather will not be following them.

Monday’s weather forecast for Chicago: high of 59 degrees with a 90 percent chance of thunderstorms.

Monday night’s weather forecast in Cleveland: High of 54 with a 40 percent chance of showers and 20-30 mph winds.

The forecast for the rest of the week doesn’t get any better for either of these cities as the temperature will drop back into the low-40s by day and mid-30s by night.

I thought Major League Baseball might have learned something from last year and that maybe having games snowed out (yes, snow) last season would have alerted some people in the scheduling department. Apparently it did not, and MLB decided to screw over the Cubs and White Sox (I’m sure other teams are getting the shaft too, but I feel little pity for the woes of teams I care nothing about).

We all know the month of April – especially in Chicago – can be both beautiful and disastrous. For at least the first week or two, it appears that it’s going to be closer to disastrous.

For the White Sox, 15 of their first 28 games are in Chicago. Plus they have away games at Cleveland, Detroit and Baltimore. That’s 22 potentially weather-altered games in the first month of the season.

For the Cubs, 16 of their first 28 games are in Chicago. Then they have road games at Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Colorado and Washington. This means that every game the Cubs play in the first month is subject to harsh weather situations.

I know baseball players are supposed to be tough, and I’m sure they understand playing in the cold and rain is a part of their job, but Major League Baseball has to be wary of the issues in scheduling games in cold-weather cities.

They have to understand that these players have been in the heat and warmth of Arizona and Florida for the last month, and the game is completely different when the weather swings 30 to 40 degrees colder. Muscles tighten up quicker, pitchers lose their rhythm and the timing for hitters changes. The weather, in essence, changes the game considerably in comparison to other outdoor sports like football or soccer, because it alters the mechanics that players have been working on all spring.

The other issue is the cancellation of games. With all the rescheduling from canceled games, teams could be playing more and more doubleheaders in the heat of the summer or losing valuable off-days down the road to make up games from earlier in the season.

As a Cubs fan, I’m also upset that this front-heavy home schedule means the Cubs will be playing fewer games at home during the summer. In fact, the Cubs will be playing only 10 home games in June and 10 home games in July. Chicago is a great summer city, and MLB is ripping off the Cubs and their fans with only 20 home games in the two warmest months of the summer.

So is there a solution?

By my count – there are a few you could add or subtract from this number – there are 16 out of 30 MLB teams that either play in a covered stadium or in a temperature-friendly city. Why not schedule more home games for these teams in April and September? I’m not saying they should schedule all games in April in these cities, but at least give them more preference.

I’ve heard that the schedules are generated randomly by computers, but it’s time to stop using what’s “fair” and start using common sense.

It’s obviously too late to do anything about this for 2008, so if you’re a Chicago fan, get ready to bundle up.

Kyle Betts is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].