By: Daniel Foote
On October 14, 1908, the Chicago Cubs clinched their second consecutive World Series title. A mere 229 days later, George William Penley was born and so was a love affair with the Chicago Cubs. You see, Mr. Penley was my grandfather (we called him “Poppa”, so you’ll forgive me for referring to him as such), and he loved the Cubs. In Poppa’s lifetime, the Cubs went to the World Series seven times (1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938 and 1945). All of them by the time he was 36 ½ years old. From 1945 to 1984, when he passed away, Poppa continued to love his Cubs. He loved them so much, that he passed that love affair to me.
My youngest memory is part of a game from 1968. I was four. It was at Wrigley Field. Chicago Cubs GREATS Fergie Jenkins, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams were all on that team. Poppa taught me young to love the Cubs. He didn’t teach me to be a bandwagon fan like we have with every sport. He taught me that this is a lifetime commitment. Poppa taught me that when you are a Cubs fan, it doesn’t matter if they win or lose, you’re still a fan………………..for your lifetime.
In my lifetime, the Cubs have played in 8,471 games. They’ve only won 4,094 of those games. They have won 81 or more games only 18 seasons in my lifetime. By contrast, they have lost 90 or more games during 14 seasons and they’ve lost more than 100 games TWICE! But this is not a one, two or even three season thing. No, this is a lifetime. Win or lose……….
I remember the meltdown that was the 1969 season. That was the year the Army sent my Dad to Korea and my mother (a Cardinals fan), sister and I moved to Illinois. We lived in the other half of a duplex Grandma and Poppa owned. That year was probably when this lifetime love affair really took hold. Poppa and I watched many Cubs games together that year. When the Cubs had the big lead and then didn’t make it, I was disappointed, as only a little boy can be. Poppa reminded me that we’re not fans for just this season, but for a lifetime……..and there will always be “next year”.
Over the years my love for the Cubs has only grown. When I was in the Army and raising kids, I didn’t have as much time to watch the games. I kept track of how they were doing, in between work, spending time with my lovely bride (who is NOT a baseball fan) and running kids everywhere. As the kids got older, we found time to go to Spring Training. No matter what other team we saw, we ALWAYS saw the Cubs. We watched them win. We watched them lose. It’s a lifetime. The kids grew up and moved away, but the love of the Cubs remains.
In 2013, I finally figured out the Arizona Fall League and went there with my youngest daughter. That was when I met Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Albert Almora and Jorge Soler. And in 2014 I and my daughter met C.J. Edwards (now known as Carl Edwards, Jr). She asked CJ if she could give him a hug. He’s six-foot-forever and she’s about five-foot-nothing. He bent down and gave her a big bear-hug and I could see him grinning from ear-to-ear. That was all it took for him to be her favorite Cub and to earn a soft spot in this lifelong Cubs fan’s heart. During my 2015 Spring Training trip, I met Dexter Fowler, Kyle Schwarber, Randy Bush and Theo Epstein.
At the start of the 2015 season, everyone was excited. All the hype and people were saying that THAT would be the year they went all the way. As a lifelong Cubs fan, and a realist, I told everyone to be patient and that 2015 would be “a fun year, but wait until next year. That’s when they’ll be REALLY good.” In 2015, we saw Kyle Schwarber called up, Jake Arrieta was LIGHTS OUT, the Cubs won 98 regular season games and they went to the NLCS! All things I was NOT expecting. The roller coaster of emotions that is being a Cubs fan continued.
By the time the 2016 season started you could feel the anticipation of what a year this COULD be. Then our hearts were broken by the injury to our young hero, Kyle Schwarber. Yet, the Cubs fought through. They played well, Arrieta was good, but it was Kyle Hendricks’ turn to amaze us. Bryant was Bryant, only better. Javier Baez, was a one-man highlight reel and Addison Russell was impressive. When the Cubs traded for Aroldis Chapman, I was concerned they’d given up too much. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to see him throw those 100+ mph pitches for the Cubs, but to give up Adam Warren, Gleyber Torres, Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford? Add to that, the Cubs traded Starlin Castro to GET Warren. So, Chapman was/is an expensive rental, in my opinion. If the Cubs can get him to sign a multi-year deal, maybe not so bad a trade, until then……………here we go again. The life of being a Cubs fan.
The rest of the season almost felt like a lifetime. As I tracked the games won and lost, it was obvious they were going to get to 100 wins and win the NL Central. Watching the games, it also became obvious that in my lifetime, this was the most talented team the Cubs have had. But was this young talent going to be able to do what hadn’t been done in 108 years? What hadn’t been done in multiple lifetimes? I was believing it could happen.
FINALLY, the end of the regular season was here. I was hoping to see the Cubs sweep the Mets (payback for last year’s NLCS), but that wasn’t going to happen this year. That’s ok, the Cubs would just have to play the Giants, who everyone was saying “It’s an even year, so the Giants are going to win it all”. After four games, the Giants went home to watch the NLCS.
The emotions were soaring! BRING ON THE DODGERS!! So the Dodgers were the next up in the NLCS. This series took six games, which I found frustrating. I saw the talent falter a little, but they showed heart. And the Indians sat at home……….watching…………….waiting……………resting.
When the Cubs clinched the NLCS, on October 22nd, I kept thinking it was a dream. And, it was, really. It was a dream that was a lifetime in the making. I counted down all of the outs that game. I wrapped myself in my “W” flag and had photos taken. I waved the flag in the house, until I ran outside and hung up that flag. It flew with pride, for three full days.
On October 25th, the day of the first World Series game the Cubs had been in since 1945, my daughter-in-law was admitted to the hospital at Fort Campbell…………a long way from El Paso, TX. I took this as a good sign! She would soon be having their first child, my sixth grandchild! But then he didn’t come and didn’t come. And then the Cubs lost the first game against the Indians. I wasn’t really concerned (about the Cubs or the grandson). I knew for the Indians to have a chance to win it all, they HAD to win Game 1 (really, they needed Game 2 as well, but that’s another story). The Cubs, on the other hand, I knew really needed to split the first two, making it a “Best of 5” series, with three games at home. Of course, I was confident the Cubs would wrap it up at home, giving Chicago a once in a lifetime party!
At 5:56 the morning of the 26th, I sent my son a message asking if everything was ok, since I hadn’t heard anything from them. Five minutes later, my VERY handsome, grandson was born. THAT had to be a good sign! And that night, the Cubs beat the Indians to even up the series. WOW! My emotions were high and life was GREAT!
A friend of mine (Teresa), posted to Facebook that she was going to Chicago for Game 3. I explained I was envious and wished I could go. Then a co-worker (Darren) informed me he had a family friend that had extra tickets, so he was flying out for Game 4! (More from Darren in a little bit). Now, I was feeling excited for these lifelong Cubs fans, but at the same time, I was wishing I could go.
When I found out Teresa arrived in Chicago with NO ticket to Game 3, I wasn’t as envious. However, I followed her adventures on Facebook, where I got to hear about people threatening each other with bodily harm, people urinating on the sidewalk, or themselves, because they didn’t want to get out of line and lose out on getting tickets. I also got to celebrate her getting to buy $345 (face value) tickets for Game 3! When she posted a video from her seat in right field (up high), I almost burst with excitement for her…………………………and then the Cubs lost.
When Game 4 rolled around, I was feeling pretty good about it. I mean, Darren was there, having a good time. He picked me up a program and sent me a photo of it, so I was STOKED! What could possibly go wrong? Try everything! The Cubs couldn’t seem to get anything going. They lost and I was feeling pretty low…………I hadn’t given up on them, but hey, didn’t I witness them blow the NLCS in 2003? Wasn’t that supposed to be “their year”? Here we go again…………….
I hung in there and tried hard to believe things weren’t as bad as they looked. Unfortunately, all I got to hear was people counting out the Cubs, quoting stats and past history and on and on and I was getting sick to my stomach. I didn’t want to watch Game 5. It seemed like every game I watched (start to finish), didn’t end well and I felt bad. Fortunately, I was running errands and missed a bunch of that game. I checked in often, but wasn’t glued to the TV. And, as in this lifetime there has been hope, the Cubs seemed to have given us life. What joy it was to see this resurgence of Cubs players hitting and fielding so well!
Game 6 was one full of laughter and joy at my house. We cheered every hit and counted the outs. We were excited to see each inning tick by……3…..2…..1…..GOOD, next inning! 3…..2….1…..THE CUBS WIN! “I ain’t afraid of no goat”, cheers went up and we were ready for Game 7 of the World Series!!! At least we thought we were ready. As soon as I got out of work, I ran an errand and went home to complete a project that HAD TO get finished before I could watch the game. Fortunately, I had a radio I could listen to, as the pregame stuff was on and I was working. Unfortunately, the project did not go as I had planned………….such is the life of a Cubs fan.
Game 7 started and I was in the middle of putting up a board, when I heard the call for the lead-off home run, by Dexter Fowler. I was cheering and trying to work faster. By the time I was finished with my project, had everything put away, I was cleaned up and ready to sit down in front of the TV, it was the middle of the 3rd inning. The Cubs were still leading the game 1-0 and all emotions were flying high at my house!
By the end of the fifth inning, the score was 5-3 and we were SOARING. When the Cubs added another run in the sixth, we almost lost it. We were counting the outs and feeling pretty GREAT. I called my 80 year old father, another lifelong Cubs fan. We enjoy a few minutes of conversation, before going back to watching the game.
At that’s when it happened…….we were 4 outs from the Cubs being World Series Champs. But, of course stopping there, wouldn’t make for a good story. With two outs, Jose Ramirez comes to bat. Unfortunately, he hits a single. Maddon then pulls Lester and brings in (overused) Chapman. Chapman gives up a double to Brandon Guyer and then Rajai Davis homers and the game is now tied at 6. The wind is out of the sails at our house and we are just…………………..devastated. Here we go again. Another Cubs meltdown and letdown, that has been part of a lifetime of being a Cubs fan. I could feel my chest tightening and I couldn’t get comfortable. I was having an anxiety attack. I just moved from one place to another on the couch. I sat back, then sat up. I even walked around a bit. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.
The ninth inning brought no runs for either team and so we prepared for the 10th inning. When a rain delay was called, I almost cried. I could not believe this was happening. It’s already late (for me) and I have to get up at 4 a.m.! No, I cannot call in sick or otherwise. (No one would believe me).
After what was only a few minutes, but felt like forever, the players returned to the field and prepared for the tenth inning. I knew I had to stay up for the end of the game, if nothing else, then to send a text to my friend, who is an Indians fan. I was NOT looking forward to it, but that’s what friends do. It didn’t take long and I was close to hyperventilating. Schwarber led off with a single! Almora came in to pinch run for him. Bryant flew out and Almora advanced to second (That kid is FAST!!). Rizzo took an intentional walk and then came Ben Zobrist. His double scored Almora!!
I am up, walking and trying to breathe, as they intentionally walk Russell, loading the bases. I have no clue what they’re thinking, but I’m not complaining. Montero singled to score Rizzo, leaving the bases loaded with Heyward coming up. At this point, I’m thinking EVERYONE can come up and hit a single, to pile on and make me feel better. I’m forcing myself to not get too hyped up, because I remember the heartbreak of the eighth inning and of a lifetime. So I am disappointed when Heyward strikes out and Baez flew out. On the other hand, the Cubs were up!
CJ is in to pitch! We are excited to see him, my daughter is once again pumped. He quickly strikes out Napoli and gets Ramirez to groundout. Guyer walked and to our disappointment Maddon pulled CJ. Mike Montgomery is called on to close things out and was able to get Michael Martinez to hit a ground ball to Bryant. We are on our feet. Bryant fields the ball (big grin on his face) and we are starting to get excited. Bryant throws the ball to Rizzo and the weight of a lifetime is being lifted. Rizzo catches the ball and Martinez is called out! We are screaming. I snatch the “W” flag and promptly hung it up.
I was now experiencing such a mix of emotions I don’t really know how to describe it. I was SO excited about a lifetime of dreams coming to reality. I was sad I couldn’t watch this game with my 80 year old father, who lives in Florida. I really missed my Poppa. I was thrilled my daughter saw this win with me. All the time, I kept wondering did this REALLY happen? Did I just dream this? WOW! I wanted to scream and cry and laugh all at the same time. As I felt emotion after emotion flood over me, I watched the presentation of the trophy and the MVP.
When I got up, I double checked that the Cubs did, in fact, win the World Series. Once again, I felt the emotions start to come over me. At work people came by to talk to me about the win. I worked on this post and the hours just flew, as I relived the lifetime of being a Cubs fan. The highlight of the day came when Darren arrived. You remember him, he’s the one who went to game 4. Darren came to deliver the program from game 4. Excitement just washed over me. After a bit of conversation, I am now alone and I dare to take the program out of the plastic bag it came in and that is when I see it…………..a ticket from game four! I quickly take the ticket back to Darren’s office (excited to be able to even touch a ticket from a Cubs World Series), but he’s not there. So I have a brief conversation with another lifelong Cubs fan, before going back to work.
Later, Darren came and explained the ticket in the program was not his, but a friend of his, who was at the game and does not live in the U.S. Therefore, he says, the ticket is mine to keep. So, not only do I own a Chicago Cubs World Series game 4 program, but I also own a ticket to Game 4 of the 2016 World Series. At this point, I almost cry. Again, so many emotions flooding over me.
It took a lifetime, but the Cubs are once again World Series Champions.
It took a lifetime, but fans the world over can say the team they love are the World Series Champions.
It took a lifetime, but a “curse” is ended.
It took a lifetime, but we can look forward to next year not only with hope, but also with pride.
It took a lifetime, and a bunch of talented men playing a game we love, to make grown men cry.
It took a lifetime to make me – no, to make US – feel this way.
It took a lifetime, and all we can do is pray it doesn’t take another lifetime, to see our beloved Cubs win the World Series.
It took a lifetime!