2 friends, both 86 … one a Cubs fan, the other a Sox fan … hope to hit their 100th minor league park this summer
It all began in August 1994, when Major League Baseball players went on strike over a salary cap proposal.
Team owners canceled the rest of the season. For the first time in baseball's history, there would be no World Series.
The strike ended in March 1995, and players returned to the field in April. Fans (mostly, sometimes reluctantly) returned to the parks.
But something had changed, especially for longtime pals and avid baseball enthusiasts Steve Mullins (a Cubs fan) and Ed Chainski (a White Sox fan).
"We just said to ourselves, 'Why should we keep paying this big money when there are minor league teams out there?" Mullins said.
"We wanted to see baseball," Chainski said. "Where they really like baseball. Where they really hustle.
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