KC (& THE SUNSHINE BAND) AT THE BAT

The game finally gets under way again a few minutes after 11 p.m. A couple thousand people, most resembling damp washcloths with legs, remain to see what turns out to be a memorable catastrophe. The absurd final tally is Cubs 26, Rockies 7--and the game, which ends around 1:15 a.m., isn't as close as the score indicates.

Still, the control-roomers do their best to keep the drenched, chilly zealots who stick around for the bitter end reasonably entertained. As one day bleeds into another, Berger allows Dunn to pull out Eric Clapton's "After Midnight" and Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour." "At this point," Dunn says, "you figure that anyone crazy enough to stay around this late deserves to have a little fun. So we're going to get a little goofy."

Later, JD even puts his mirror-ball graphic on the board, and as KC & the Sunshine Band groove their way into an encore, quite a few stragglers who've stuck around for the entire show actually get up and dance. The McWilliams brothers lean back in their chairs, quietly satisfied.