Imrem: Ballplayers not bigger than life, not on this day
Looking down from the Wrigley Field press box on most days, major-league players are imagined to be 10 feet tall.
Not on Memorial Day.
On this day of all days they can't be mistaken for the bigger-than-life men and women serving in our military.
The Cubs and Dodgers wore camouflage caps and numbers to honor the troops who died defending America.
A huge American flag was unfurled in the outfield, a Marine Corps color guard participated in pregame ceremonies and Ben Zobrist's wife, Julianna, sang "America the Beautiful" and the national anthem.
Red, white and blue bunting was hanging around the ballpark and many in the crowd of 41,470 wore the colors, too.
Then at 4:05 p.m. it was time for baseball, still known as the national pastime.
Monday also was a time for boating and softball and picnicking in the park and grilling in the backyard and gardening and eating and drinking and being merry.
Sort of an odd way to remember the fallen who took the ultimate fall for us.
Maybe baseball shouldn't even be played on Memorial Day. Then again, maybe playing baseball is the most appropriate way to honor our war dead.
After all, many members of our military around the world, war after war, get a taste of home by listening to games anywhere they can or by finding scores any way they can.
Does Major League Baseball do enough to support the troops and their families? Does the government? Does the public?
It's almost impossible to do enough for them, but that's an issue for another day.
Joe Maddon mentioned that as he drove to the ballpark Monday he heard "Taps" played intermittently as part of the Memorial Day tribute on Sirius Radio.
"I'm driving down Clark Street," the Cubs manager said, "and I'm watching everybody having a good time because people (served in the military) before us."
Americans fight wars so the rest of us retain the freedom to have fun, but the privilege doesn't come cheaply: It's why we have to schedule a Memorial Day to observe.
Athletes will appear to be 10 feet tall again today for their terrific catches, phenomenal pitching, tape-measure home runs, intimidation techniques and so much more.
Fans can go back to noting how unfair it was that the Dodgers had to play a late Sunday game and arrive in Chicago at an ungodly hour before losing to the Cubs 2-0 on Monday afternoon.
But keep in mind that no inconvenience that occurs in baseball back here compares to the hardship a soldier experiences just by being over there that same day.
The Cubs and Dodgers weren't at war, Wrigley Field wasn't a combat zone, and the players survived to go out for nice meal afterward with their families.
On Memorial Day and every other day, it would be nice if we interrupted our fun for a moment to thank current service members, to remember the ones who didn't make it home alive and to pray for the ones still missing.
Maddon said that several of his relatives served in the military and added, "Retrospectively, that would be the one life experience that I missed out on that I wish I hadn't."
Permission to speak freely, sir: Be careful what you wish for.
Being bigger than life in the military is why we have to observe a Memorial Day.
mimrem@dailyherald.com