Time to catch up on the ball field

Umpires barked "batter up!" and box scores rolled in. Luminaries tossed ceremonial first pitches as professional baseball's opening day, an American ritual, got under way Monday.

For fans of Major League Baseball (MLB), which is also closely watched in Latin America, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan province, hope springs eternal in a game invented for optimists.

Consider the hapless Chicago Cubs, a team that hasn't won a World Series title since 1908: For a century fans have stood by their team, endearingly called the Lovable Losers, and blamed failure on a curse laid in 1945 by a tavern owner who was ejected from the ballpark for bringing along his beloved goat. Still, the Cubs and their devotees doggedly cling to their dreams.