My father is a lifelong White Sox fan. I'm not sure why. He isn't a Southsider, but claims that's always been his team.
All four of his children are Cubs fans.
Blame it on WGN and all those day games. We would come home from school and turn on the game. My oldest sister Lin isn't really a Cubs fan, but she is a fan of Wrigley Field and well remembers the days when you could walk up the day of a game and buy bleacher seats for $4. She is morally opposed to the lights at Wrigley and until today managed to escape their shine (overcast skies brought down her streak). She's in town for awhile and it was her birthday this week so we were really happy when my brother and I were both fortunate enough to score tickets for two consecutive days worth of games.
Yesterday we actually had 12 seats - five in the bleachers that my sister had gotten through a fundraiser and another seven behind home plate where we were on TV for the majority of the game. I have to say, I rather enjoyed those seats. We were blessed with decent weather and the wonderful added bonus of fighter jet flyovers after the National Anthem because of Memorial Day weekend. What a rush! My daughter Caitlin came with for the first time in awhile. She usually has her fix met somewhere around the 4th inning, so I'm proud of her for sticking it out till the 8th - especially because the Cubs put forth zero offense. Unfortunately, we left before the Cubs scored their only two runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Sigh.
My brother had Ryan out in the bleacher seats with a couple of friends so my sister, aunt and cousin's son all got the good seats with Caitlin. It's funny how often those beer guys come by the "money seats" - they were coming in for landings more frequently than the 30 second intervals at O'Hare.
Today Lin went back down with my cousin who wasn't able to make it yesterday and got there early with the hopes of allowing Ryan to watch batting practice. It's the only time you're guaranteed to see the Cubs hit home runs. Not only did she get him down there on time but she sweet talked an Ambassador and got him ON THE FIELD to watch the whole practice! He high-fived Darwin Barney and got a baseball signed by Ryan Dempster.
Peanuts and hot dogs and rooting for the Cubbies is a wonderful way to spend an afternoon on a holiday weekend in Chicago. The ivy and the organ and the old fashioned scoreboard (still updated by hand) are just some of the charms that make Wrigley so special. It's a ballpark haven that somehow makes you feel like you're on top of the world.
Even when your team loses.
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