wow...........

I am tired, but happy...very happy

     I went to my first Cubs game when  I was about 10.  My Aunt Betty took me.  I don't remember a lot, just that it was a bunch of fun.  They maybe played the Milwaukee Braves, but I am not sure.
     I've been going to games ever since.
     No, I wasn't a Bleacher Bum.  I haven't even seen the play.
     I was just a kid in love with a game.
     I was also in love with Pam in eighth grade.  We went to a game, the Giants, if I remember correctly.  I have a recollection of Willie McCovey and Juan Marichal pitching that day, but my focus was on Pam.
     Turned out, I had a longer relationship with the Cubs than the girl.
     In 67 I had had finished my freshman year at Northern.  The Cubs were in first place, must have been early July.  They had a crucial series with the Cards.  I bought two box seat tickets and asked a girl I had dated at NIU.  I bought some flowers and went to meet her downtown.  I admit I was confused when she ingtroduced me to a girl friend she had invited along.  Two box seats, three people.
     I bought another ticket and watched the game from some seat halfway behind a pole.
     Adding insult to injury, the Cardinals won.  Their announcer, some guy named Harry, was chanting, "The Cardinals are coming, tra la, tra la."  Over and over and over and over.   But he was right.  The Cubs did their annual swoon and the Cards went on to win.
     They broke my heart in 69.  Kenny Hubbs broke my heart in 62 (?) when he died in spring training....best second baseman, could have been a hall of famer.
     Other memories.  Getting Ernie Banks' autograph while he was sitting in his Cadillac leaving the players parking lot.  Listening to games from the West Coast, with Lloyd Petit, Vince Lloyd, Lou Boudreau, and the golden voice of Jack Quinlan.  Sitting in the bleachers in 68, in September, with less than 1,000 people in the park.  I could hear Kessenger chatting in the infield.  Billy Williams hit three home runs.  His first was to right, I was in left.  I moved to left, he hit his second to right.  I moved to right, he hit his third to left.  Jack Brickhouse.   The Hamm's beer commercials.  Pat Piper and his correct starting lineups for today's ballgame.  Frosty Malts.  Yelling "Right here Harv"  whenever Harvey Keuhn came up to bat.
     There used to be a net that hung from the upper deck to  behind home plate.  A foul ball hit back would hit the net and roll down.  We always did a wooooooop! as it rolled and was caught by the bat boy.
     Pushing Jackie down the street following last year's win over the Cardinals in the playoffs......so much for the shuttle buses running on clinch day!
     When Pat Hughes joined the team, I remember not liking him.  John told me to listen again.  I did.  Hughes is a genius.  The black cat.  Ronnie's hair catching fire in New York.
     My mom's love for those "damn Cubs."   My cousin Sally, always a Cub fan and always wanting to get back home to watch a game.  Jackie's dad, sitting backward on a chair, chomping a cigar, swearing as the boys in blue lost another one.  This comes too late for them.  I'm sure every fan has that story to tell, but it is still painful.
     I've taken my family, although not as often as I should have.  I apologize for that.  We should have gone more when you were youlnger.
     When Dan and I bought six packs years ago, they were a lousy team.  101 losses.  Empty stands.  John joined us, what,  the second year?  My memory isn't always correct.  We've watched the team grow.  We've seen these kids grow up, do well, and win.
     Now it's on to Cleveland.
     Four more wins.
     For me, this is the moment I have wanted for years.
     This is the year!!