10 years ago, south Florida ran in to some problems with hurricanes, first with Hurricane Frances, which caused the Marlins to have to cancel an entire series against the Cubs, and then with Hurricane Ivan, just as the Expos were due to roll in to town.  Rather than cancel another series, the Marlins moved the first two games to, of all places, Chicago.  10 years ago today, I went to US Cellular Field, home of the White Sox, to see the Marlins battle the Expos.

With general admission ticket prices set at $15, 5 of which went to a hurricane defense fund, I headed down to the second of the 2 games the teams played in town.  The Marlins, playing the part of the home team, brought their own public address announcer, their own mascot, and their own graphics to be used on the center field scoreboard.  Southpaw, the mascot of the host White Sox, palled around with Billy Marlin.  The games marked the first time that a National League game was played in an American League stadium since 1946, when the Braves had to play the Phillies at Fenway Park due to painted seats that hadn’t yet dried.

For the Expos, it was just another strange trip in a season full of them.  This was their last season in existence, when they played a portion of their home schedule in Puerto Rico.  The travel for this series should have been nothing, since the team was already in town to play the Cubs the weekend before.  However, a previously booked convention kicked them out of their hotel downtown, forcing them to move out to Arlington Heights, which is not an exactly convenient locale when playing on the South Side.

The Marlins managed to win both games of the series before they were able to head back to Florida and continue the season as planned.  The Expos played out the last 20 or so games of their existence before moving to Washington and becoming the Nationals.