CHICAGO — On one side of Wrigley Field, manager Clint Hurdle and his Colorado Rockies were trying to unravel how Ubaldo Jimenez's attempted pickoff of Ryan Theriot had turned into a balk.

On the other, Theodore Roosevelt Lilly replayed the 1-0 pitch that Garrett Atkins lined into left field.

That seventh-inning single broke up a no-hitter in the Cubs' home opener, played in weather better suited for Mounties than Rough Riders. It spared Lou Piniella from having to make the least popular decision a manager can make — pulling one of his pitchers when he's flirting with history.

But the usual postgame questions and answers rang hollow for many people in both clubhouses Monday.

Harry Kalas, a Hall of Fame broadcaster who used to mimic big-league voices while attending Naperville High School, died in a Washington broadcast booth early in the day. Mark "the Bird" Fidrych was found dead under his pickup truck at his farm outside Boston a few hours later.

Seldom has baseball had a grimmer doubleheader.

"I just saw Harry (on Sunday)," said Hurdle, whose Rockies lost two of three to the Philadelphia Phillies, the defending World Series champions whose exploits had been either dissected or celebrated by Kalas since 1971.

No one at Wrigley could say the same about Fidrych, 54, the eccentric, mop-topped right-hander who talked to baseballs as well as people. Cubs bench coach Alan Trammell played shortstop behind him in 1977-80 and considered him a good friend but hadn't seen him for a few years.

He could see him in his mind's eye, of course — both as the kid who electrified the American League in 1976, winning 19 games and throwing an incredible 24 complete games, and later as the happy 40-something who would stop by Fenway Park to say hi when the Tigers were in town, with Trammell as the manager.

Trammell described Fidrych, nicknamed "the Bird" for his alleged resemblance to Sesame Street character Big Bird, as "genuine" and far more talented a pitcher than most remember him as being.

"He enjoyed himself," Trammell said after the Cubs' 4-0 victory. "He lived life the way he wanted to. He didn't get to live as long as we would have liked, unfortunately."

A torn rotator cuff — thank you, Ralph Houk, who once pitched him for 11 innings in consecutive starts — kept us from getting to know Fidrych better as a pitcher. He made only 27 starts after '76, and as a result he's remembered for his quirky, free-spirited mannerisms, often dropping to his knees to landscape the mound and constantly talking to himself or even the ball.

Don Baylor, the former Cubs manager who now is Colorado's hitting coach, was with Oakland in 1976 when teammate Bill North charged the mound to take on Fidrych.

"Bill thought he was saying something to him, and he went out," said Baylor, who had just learned of Fidrych's death. "People were all over the infield. I remember (Detroit first baseman) Willie Horton saying, 'He's a good kid, he's a good kid.' We thought, 'OK, Willie.' If Willie said he was a good kid, then he's a good kid."

Trammell, drafted by Detroit in 1976, has vivid memories of watching Fidrych pitch to the Boston Red Sox of Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk and Dwight Evans in a 1977 exhibition game in Winter Haven, Fla.

"They had a pretty good lineup," Trammell said, rolling his eyes at his understatement. "I remember Mark pitched, and he broke five bats in three innings. Pretty impressive. He had a heavy sinker, a sharp slider and great control. He threw a heavy ball at 93, 94 m.p.h. He was pretty special."

Trammell wasn't in tears as he talked but admitted that he was in shock about his friend, who was 54.

"I'm sad," he said. "We had a great win out there today, but Harry Kalas, Mark Fidrych in the same day? That's a big blow."

Baylor shared that pain, and maybe a little more.

The American League Most Valuable Player for the Angels in 1979, he had been scheduled to participate in an Angels Hall of Fame ceremony Thursday in Anaheim.

His wife had talked him out of traveling there on a scheduled day off between Phoenix and Denver — no doubt worried about Baylor's own health, as he has been fighting cancer since 2003 — and it turned out that he couldn't have made it if he'd wanted.

The ceremony was canceled as the Angels franchise mourned Nick Adenhart, the 22-year-old pitcher killed by an allegedly drunken driver.

"This is no way to start the season," Baylor said. "We're losing way too many baseball people, and we're losing them way too soon."