Chicago Snowballs cancel opening weekend games because of setbacks due to severe weather
Opening weekend baseball games for the Chicago Snowballs, the city’s newest co-ed baseball team offering a style of play popularized by the Savannah Bananas, have been canceled.
The two games, scheduled for May 2 and 3 at Kerry Wood Cubs Field in Roscoe Village, were called off due to severe weather in recent days that caused the team to miss practice time. Problems with the functionality of the ballpark's scoreboard was also an issue, said Snowballs CEO Cherie Travis.
The thousand or so fans who had tickets to each of the sold-out games are being offered tickets to future games, including the next game in the Chicago area, scheduled for May 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Wintrust Field in Schaumburg.
"We're basically offering people tickets to any other game they want to come to, and if they go to games being held at bigger ballparks, like the ones in Schaumburg, Crestwood, Geneva or Joliet, we're offering two extra free tickets," Travis said. "And, obviously, anyone who just wants a refund, we will give it to them."
Members of her staff have been texting, calling and emailing ticket holders to share news of the cancellations. A few fans were initially suspicious of a phishing scam, and though there was disappointment, most said they were still excited to get to an upcoming game, Travis said.
"We've been trying to accommodate people as best we can, but everyone in Chicago knows we've had terrible weather," Travis said.
"My entertainment director reminded me that sometimes even Broadway shows get pushed back," she said. "But we've been working really hard and we're just so excited to bring our baseball circus, with so many different forms of entertainment, from baseball trick plays to singing and dancing and tumbling and juggling, to the people."
The Snowballs will compete against another team that Travis just formed — the Rocket Squirrels, the crafty, sneaky, mischievous prankster little brother counterpart to the jolly Snowballs.