JAVS Fall 1996

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was, but the fact that we were in the Chicago Symphony convinced them we were legiti mate. We were assigned a game at the end of July 1986 against the Boston Red Sox. While we neither requested nor received money, the White Sox were more than gracious in giving each of us tickets for ourselves and one guest, and in securing a safe room in which to stow our instruments during the game. As luck had it, we played for one of the largest crowds of the season. Roger Clemens, far and away the best pitcher in baseball in 1986, started for the Red Sox, who were on their way to a division championship (and a tragic debacle against the Mets in the World Series). A near-capacity crowd was on hand that night to boo Roger Clemens-and cheer the violas of the Chicago Symphony! We were resplendent in T-shirts made especially for the occasion, featuring an alto clef on the front and our names, surrounded by five asterisks, on the back. (This was an inside-joke: in cso viola parts, we pencil-in

Chicago Symphony Orchestra Viola Section

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Scores at 1986 White Sox Ball Game

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shortly after I joined the viola section of the Chicago Symphony, I discovered the old Comiskey Park, home of the White Sox. While the Cubs' Wrigley Field has always enjoyed more cachet, I found the South Side ambience of Comiskey more congenial and American League baseball more compelling, having grown up with the Tigers in Detroit. Sadly, Comiskey Park has since been torn down and replaced with an utterly charmless monstrosity. I soon determined to step onto the field at Comiskey to play the "Star Spangled Banner" before a game. I envisioned an arrangement for a choir of many violas and enlisted my col leagues in the cso viola section to join me. The public relations department for the White Sox was agreeable to my proposal. They weren't exactly clear on what a viola

Participants in the 1986 appearance and Comiskey Park, pictured left to right: Bill Schoen (assistant princi pal), Richard Ferrin, Dan Strba, Tina Bartholomew, Max Raimi, john Bartholomew, Bob Swan, Tom Wright, Diane Mues, and Izadore Zwerof