When you live in the middle of Illinois, there’s a great divide in baseball. For the most part, you’re either a Cubs fan or a Cardinals fan, and you have reasons for your allegiance. For me, since birth, I’ve been bleeding Cubbie blue through and through. I could list a million reasons trying to convince you to do the same, but instead I’m going to highlight my favorites and share why it’s so damn fun being a Cubs fan.
1. Tradition: Every single year, winning or losing team, fans travel from all corners of the country to watch the Cubs play a game in the historic Wrigley Field. Generations of families pass down the love of the Cubs and show up decked out in red and blue to spend a day or night at the ballpark. Each year, I practically beg my dad to take me up to Wrigley, because there is nothing like the park or the surrounding neighborhood, Wrigleyville. In addition to physically being in Wrigley, there’s a personal attachment to being a diehard Cubs fan. When I was a baby, my dad would rock me to sleep and sing “Take Me Out To the Ballgame” because listening to Harry Caray was my form of a lullaby. As I grew older, Ron Santo and Pat Hughes were the voices of my summer and to this day, I still prefer listening to the radio version of games over the television.
2.Energy: As I mentioned before, the atmosphere of Wrigley Field is one of a kind, but so is the energy throughout the games. For a while now, the Cubs have been on a winding road towards winning seas5 Reaons. It takes hard work and dedication to improve, and it most certainly doesn’t come easily or immediately. Although we haven’t been number one in a while, we fans know that if we are patient, that our team will come through. We don’t give up, and we put as much passion into cheering on the Cubs now as we did years ago, if not even more so.
3.Wrigley Field: The minute you step into the Friendly Confines, you’re immediately welcomed like a friend. That’s exactly what Cubs fans are—friends who have come together to celebrate a common team. Right in the middle of a neighborhood, Wrigley is part of the community. There are bars, restaurants, and shops surrounding it, all thriving off of baseball season. When you enter the stadium itself, it’s a shrine to all of the tremendous history that the Cubs organization is filled with. Banners fill the walkways with pictures of highlighted players, and near the foul ball posts in the outfield, the Cubs pay tribute to all of their Hall of Fame inducted players. Let’s not forget, the magnificent centerpiece of the stadium: the beautiful green scoreboard which towers above center field. I have a million photos in front of the magnificent red welcoming sign in the front and have often dreamed of growing ivy on my home to match the outfield. It may be a bit run down, but man, it’s a fun place to be. To many, Wrigley is just another place where ball games are played, but to Cubs fans and baseball fans alike, it is an iconic facility.
4. Next year: There’s a common saying at the end of each season with us Cubs fans, and although it may be repetitive, we sure do believe it this time: “There’s always next year.” (Side note—My very first car had license plates that read “Next Yr”, so it’s safe to say I stick with my beliefs in this team.) The Cubs are going to be the team to watch, because we are building a team of up and coming rockstars. This summer alone, we have introduced Javier Baez and Jorge Soler to our roster, alongside Arismendy Alcantara and Kyle Hendricks. Alongside our “veterans” Starlin Castro and my main man Anthony Rizzo, there is great promise showing in this team.
5. Two people to look out for: Addison Russell and Kris Bryant.
My past with this team has been nothing but memorable, and my present has only grown from these great memories, which makes the future as a fan look incredibly bright. I mean, come on, you can’t doubt a smile like this one:
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