Generations

by Al on Jul 10, 2006 2:31 PM CDT in News Comment 67 comments

Some people have said that I don't care about the Cubs winning because I love Wrigley Field and its history, and the assumption is that I love that more than I love winning.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I live and die with this team, and mostly die, of course, in seasons like this.

This post isn't going to be about the Cubs and whether or not they should have a new manager and who it should be, or who they should trade by July 31. Those are important, absolutely. But they are topics for other posts and other diaries and other days.

Today, I read this terrific piece by Jayson Stark, in which he reminds all of us -- much as I did myself a year ago with the "Why Are We Here?" post (and if you haven't posted your own story there, you should) -- why we all love this game so much and its history and lore.

Yes, winning is important. Winning is what we all want. The Cubs haven't won, and we all know that. But there are other things about baseball that you and your children can enjoy. Be a child again, as Stark wrote; he was referring specifically to the last day of Tiger Stadium in 1999, but the theme is universal:

... in baseball, that's exactly what these men do. They don't just play games. They pass on a great American tradition, from one generation to the next, to the next.

You don't notice that torch being passed. But then one day, that torch is flickering in front of your eyes, reminding you that what you just witnessed hadn't happened since April 23, 1936, when Goose Goslin did it.

Which is when you turn to your grandfather and ask: "Who was Goose Goslin?" And he knows everything about him worth knowing. Still.

Somehow, that explains why these places where baseball is played aren't mere stadiums. They're national historic landmarks.

They bring our memories back to life. They bring our grandfathers back to life. They connect these games and these players to the plot lines of our own lives.

Maybe that explains why we care so much. Why we care about these games. Why we care about these players. Why we care about these places where all they do is play baseball in front of our eyes.

My dad took me to my first baseball game when I was not quite seven, in the summer of 1963. It sparked a lifelong love affair with the game and with the Cubs. Eleven years later, in 1974, I took my grandfather to a game at Wrigley Field; he had always followed baseball and the Cubs, though not as passionately as I have. He told me then that he hadn't attended a game in person since he lived in New York, at Ebbets Field in 1933. I think that game together meant a lot to him; I know it did to me. I have passed the love of the game and the Cubs to my own son in the very same place I had it passed down to me.

That's why Wrigley Field is important. And that ought to tell you why Wrigley Field isn't the reason the Cubs haven't won.

Get good players and good people behind them. That's what'll win. It really is as simple as that. And WHEN the Cubs win -- in Wrigley Field -- generations of men and women who have passed the game down through their families, will smile and cheer, knowing they have a common thread connecting the generations.

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Wrigley

Back in the late 70's Wrigley Field was a dirty old ballpark in a crappy old neighborhood. Then came the Tribune Company, Dallas Green, WGN Superstation, Harry Carey and thousands upon thousands of young urban professionals into the Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville neighborhoods. And presto. Wrigley became a must-see destination in an attractive and vibrant neighborhood. The Tribune cash registers have been singing ever since. The Wrigley crowds I remember from the late 70's are night and day different than today's crowds. Today Wrigley is filled to the brim with business types (myself included) out with the family or clients, Bob and Betty Baumfaug visiting from Amana Iowa and gobs of 20 and 30 somethings with cell phones. Whether the Cubs win or lose has lost relevance with much of today's Wrigley Field crowd. Sad but true.

by Mike63 on Jul 10, 2006 2:56 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Can the "cell phone" thing die?

Perhaps at one time, say a decade ago or so ago, it was "damning" to point out that people at Wrigley had and used cell phones, even, horror of horrors!, during game time on occassion.

But for god's sake, it is 2006 now folks. How stale (and it has been for some time) is the whole cell-phone thing? Who doesnt have a cell phone? You sound like a Luddite with the whole phone complaint. I mean, the former Comiskey Park is named after a cell phone service provider.

And who cares anyway? Ok, so you keep score faithfully and care about baseball more than the guy or girl next to you. Great. Why incessantly and insufferably tell us about it? We get it, you are a super-fan, I'm just out there enjoying myself. Congrats to you.

NLBallClub

by NLBallClub on Jul 10, 2006 3:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And let's all remind ourselves

that Wrigley has yet to be completelly taken over with the constant over-stimulation of other ballparks.
"Let's play How Much Is Your Soul Worth!"
"Which of our overpaid Corporate employee's toupee is the baseball under?"
"Check out our mascot mauling that young child! Isn't he great folks"
"If you'd please direct your attention to the left field foul pole and notice our owner doing to hula in order to buy your team loyalty"

and of course...

"Here come the cheerleaders!"

she

by Sarah Hope on Jul 10, 2006 4:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

completely agree!

great points. it is wonderful not to have the overstimulation. let me tell everyone a story (not that long).

I went to a giants d'backs game earlier this summer in phoenix and I was surprised at some of the contrasts between chase and wrigley. it was really kind of sad. there were ads on every square inch of the park, including lightboards whose sole purpose is ads.

It made me very happy to go to my next game at wrigley. what a wonderful park.

p.s. I want to learn to keep score for next time.

As a Cubs fan, The 2006 season will be remembered by me as....the first that I could buy Old Style cans with Cubs logos on them....

by coopergillan on Jul 10, 2006 7:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

cellphone usage

While I don't answer my cell phone during games (An act which recently got me in a bit of trouble with my girlfriend) I'm ok with those who do use their phones during games. I just don't like the people who wave at the camera while on their phones. That irks me abit.

AC 00 00 00 - BELIEVE

by mike on Jul 10, 2006 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree that there is...

... a certain cell-phone etiquette that I wish people would follow, my point was that so-called "mis-use/over-use" of cell phones is hardly a "Wrigley Field yuppie thing"...

...it's a train, bus, restaurant, movie-theater, walking-down-the-street, driving in your car, waiting-in-line, every concert, every sporting event (well, I dont know about golf and tennis, truth to tell) thing.

Maybe at one time it was a Wrigley thing, but anyone who thinks cell phones is particular to Wrigley in this day and age hasnt been paying much attention for the past decade, ya know? It's just so tired.

NLBallClub

by NLBallClub on Jul 10, 2006 4:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also

don't be so quick to dismiss "Bob and Betty Baumfaug visiting from Amana Iowa." While Wrigley does draw its share of tourists, there are quite a few of die hard Cubs fans all over the country. When you add up the time off work, planning, travel time, costs of gas, weekend lodging, parking, and trying to get good tickets for one weekend series, an out-of-towner's annual pilgrimmage to Wrigley can take more commitment than the Chicago fan who attends 8 to 10 games a year whenever tickets are available. Demeaning a family that has just poured thousands of dollars into Chicago's coffers doesn't make sense. Be proud that you live in a city and follow a team that other people make tremendous sacrifices just to see once a year, or, in some occasions, once in a lifetime.

by TC Cubby on Jul 10, 2006 4:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I didn't demean anyone

I didn't demean Bob and Betty from Iowa, or Lee and Elenanor from Arlington Heights. I talked about crowd constitution and placed zero value judgment. The crowd at Wrigley has changed a ton since the late 70's. I attend around a dozen games each season and can attest to that fact. A more well heeled crowd, a younger crowd and, on balance, less of a "diehard" crowd.

by Mike63 on Jul 10, 2006 4:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gotcha on the

no value judgment, just making an observation thing. It just sounded really close to the trash-talking I used to so commonly hear from my Sox friends and colleagues regarding cell phone use at Wrigley. Just think it is time to retire that particular critique of Wrigley.

NLBallClub

by NLBallClub on Jul 10, 2006 4:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I watched

the White Sox at Cubs game and there were plenty of White Sox fans on there phones in the stands, I wanted to tape it and show it to a couple of people that tell me the same thing

Whatever

by flyball on Jul 10, 2006 4:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right.

And that isnt an indictment of the White Sox fans either, it's reality in 2006 (and for the past few years).

I mean, you might as well be complaining b/c Cubs fans use computers rather than typewriters. If the cell-phones-in-wrigley thing ever held any validity or was telling in some manner about the type of person a Cubs fan was, those days are long gone.

NLBallClub

by NLBallClub on Jul 10, 2006 4:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wrigley crowds

Crowds definitely have changed... check out the average game attendance at Wrigley from 1970's forward. In fact, as recently as 1997, the average crowd barely 27,000.

Less than ten years later Wrigley essentially is selling out daily.

Still, these types of things are cyclical.

Oh, and this is neither a pro or con statement of the Trib's ownership of the Cubs, but you have to hand it to them in terms of attendance... like night and day.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/cubsatte.shtml

NLBallClub

by NLBallClub on Jul 10, 2006 5:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The 1998 season...

... made the difference -- both in terms of the HR chase between McGwire and Sosa, and the Cubs going for and winning the wild card.

Before that, attendance was really suffering the aftereffects of the 1994 strike. I think you'll see similar increases for nearly all teams starting with the '98 season.

And you're right, it's cyclical. I would expect a pretty large dropoff in Cub attendance in 2007 unless they suddenly become a contender. That's not going to come from season ticket cancellations -- there will be some, of course -- but from a HUGE dropoff in first-day-of-single-game-sales. This year they sold nearly 600,000 tickets on the first day, a record. In 2007 they'll be lucky to do half that.

by Al on Jul 10, 2006 5:16 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Look at the attendance spikes

in 1969, 1984, 1989, 1998 and 2003. Winning games leads to bigger crowds and it looks like they stay around unless something like a strike or a really bad team happens. Imagine what it would do to the crowds at Wrigley if the Cubs won the World Series. You wouldn't be able to get a ticket. After this season I think tickets are going to be a little easier to find next year. Take heart in small victories I guess.

by pageian on Jul 10, 2006 5:56 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That fear right there Al...

Is why I expect the Cubs to make more noise this offseason than they have the last two combined.

The Trib obviously doesn't want to take a big hit on first day tickets, which is probably what they are facing barring a significant second half turnaround.

So I would expect something big this offseason. Not that payroll will be significantly raised, but that some kind of big name player will be pursued in trade in the offseason, someone who can be a big name billing, despite the fact that the team will probably remain the equivalent of a vacuous summertime B-grade action movie.

by winstonwolfe on Jul 10, 2006 8:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Which is yet another reason...

... that pursuing A-Rod makes sense. Want to make a splash? That'd do it.

by Al on Jul 10, 2006 8:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Your trusted...

...source played you and everyone else he told about this A-Rod deal for fools. The Yankees don't drop talent and payroll, they add to it. BTW, there has been no mention in the new york media of this rumor. This Cub organization is polluting the minds of their most gullible to keep interest in their pathetic product.

cubsfan4life

by cubfan4life on Jul 10, 2006 10:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

A Bit Too Early To Be So Judgmental

If the A-Rod trade happens, it wouldn't have been until after the All Star break. Moreover, no one ever said it was a sure thing.

by BeerCub on Jul 10, 2006 10:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is just plain wrong.

First of all, if the deal went down as stated, it would have been about payroll-neutral (Jones/Ramirez for A-Rod). Second, how do you know that the Yankees aren't tired of paying huge amounts of luxury tax?

The accusation that I am "gullible", is, frankly, offensive.

by Al on Jul 11, 2006 4:23 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great post!

My Dad took me to my first game on opening day 1980 and I've never forgot that. My dad wasn't even a huge Cubs fan but he took me because I was. I've been to Wrigley 100's of times since then and I still have a sense of awe walking up the steps to see Wrigley. To me Wrigley and the Cubs are far more then a sport to me, they are part of my Childhood and Adulthood. It's where I met my Wife. It's what summer means to me. Sure this season is a waste and just sucks! But you know there is always next year. As much as it pains me to watch this current team, I'll keep the faith year after year not because I'm blind and stupid, but because I can't help it. Only a True Cubs fan can understand why us Cubs fans love this team so much. When the Cubs finally do win it all I'd rather party with my true Cubs fans that stuck by this team through think and thin and never gave up hope.

by cubbiechris on Jul 10, 2006 3:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

absolutely!

Couldn't agree more with Cubbiechris. I will keep the faith year after year (as I have since the 1950's) because it is more than winning or losing, or this awful season.

wccubfan

by wccubfan on Jul 10, 2006 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Count me in too

I can't wait for Iowa football!!

by sue369 on Jul 10, 2006 4:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's all we can do....

At this point in a season such as this, faith in this year is long gone but the potential in a new season will keep me coming back. I'd never switch teams or stop paying attention. At times I'd like to dump all my Cubs stuff in front of the Tribune and say I've had enough. Yet I couldn't get rid of my 8-8-88 T-shirt that was outgrown many years ago. So I'll wait till next year, again.

by draftday on Jul 10, 2006 6:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

This seaon

has made it impossible for me to be sentimental.

"It's hard to put your finger on it. You have to have a dullness of mind and spirit to play here." --Jim Brosnan

by cubbiejulie on Jul 10, 2006 3:16 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree. Just not in the mood for

a feel good story, despite the 3 game win streak.

by SonnyJ9 on Jul 10, 2006 3:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think

this is when I need to remember the most

Whatever

by flyball on Jul 10, 2006 4:28 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly!

n/t

by Al on Jul 10, 2006 4:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Like my son said recently

We were headed out to the park to see the game. I was complaining because I did not want to see another losing game. My son turned to me and said, "mom, I know the cubs have been losing a lot of games lately, but TODAY they may win and we will be there". I laughed and remembered that same feeling when I was young.

by mgfabc on Jul 10, 2006 3:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

And I...

will be happy for all those generations of people.

I'm the first die-hard Cubs fan in my family. I can't really relate to 'passing the torch'. Maybe if I have kids, but that's very, very far away.

Cubbie Blue will always sPaRkLe in my eyes, but please stop losing. PLEASE!

by sparkles721 on Jul 10, 2006 3:55 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

My favorite Cubs fan to watch

is still my grandmother. She is so adorable and innocent in everything she does, but her fan-dom is too cute for words. She'll say to me, "Oh, Sarah Hope, what are those Cubbies doing???" or "Are you sure you're rooting loud enough?"

During the 2003 playoffs, I would see her at church and ask her if she was going to watch the game that night and she would say, "Oh dear no, I'm just too old and nervous to watch! I might fall over dead!"

Hats off to grandma - over 70 years as a Cubs fan and still kickin'.

she

by Sarah Hope on Jul 10, 2006 4:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Re

One thing that's a concern is that because of how prices have escalated it is becoming increasing harder to pass the game along from generation to generation.

It used to be that a family could take in several games throughout the year, much like going to the movies. These days, unless one is pretty well off, a trip to the ballpark is a once-a-season special event. Between that and all the alternatives now for the entertainment dollar, baseball has its work cut out if it wants to build a new generation of fans who grow up with the game and choose it for their life's passion.

I know some would suggest that sparing the youngins from a life of Cub fandom is actually doing them a service, but I would much rather see generations of regular fans sharing and learning the game than the hordes of corporate ticket holders who attend only because they're not paying for it.

Thankfully, many of us have minor league ball to enjoy, where $9 buys the best seat in the park. Perhaps that's where the next generation of fans will come from.

Visit The Digital Gazette

by Jed Taylor on Jul 10, 2006 4:21 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

family outings

my family and I go to a handfull of games a year, but that is in place of a vacation. It's tough to take a family of four with a day at the ballpark now costing over 200 bucks. I look forward to having a son of my own someday and hope that by then I have moved up in the world enough where I can afford to take him more than a couple times a year.

AC 00 00 00 - BELIEVE

by mike on Jul 10, 2006 4:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm a teacher and my wife is a free-lance writer.

We can afford, AT MOST, 2 games a year. But those 2 games have been worth every penny. And whether or not the Cubs win has NOTHING to to with it. Sure, we want the Cubs to win, but it's the ambiance, man. Maybe we've been lucky, but we've always been surrounded by family's and maybe a FEW rowdys, but mostly everyone is into the game. My sons love the food, the vendors, the roar of the crowd, and the time together with their mom and me. Me too.

by teacher tom on Jul 10, 2006 8:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wrigley Field...

...is a landmark and has so much history. Honestly though, if the Cubs moved to the suburbs I would probably have season tickets. I don't live in Chicago, it takes me less than an hour to get to the outer suburbs and between 2-3 hours to get to Wrigley based on traffic.

The first outfit that I ever put on my son when we left the house was a little Cubs uniform. I have been a Cubs fan as far back as memory serves me.

I absolutely hate losing and not to get a big head but I was a pretty good high school and college athlete. I have never taken losing lightly but I am also a loyal person. Just because the Cubs are losing doesn't mean that I am going to give them less support. If anything it should make us give them more support.

I joined this site because I am deployed and don't get a chance to have these discussions with my cronies back home. To be honest with you I am almost fed up with the bullshit attitudes of a lot of the people on here. If I wanted to put up with the insults I would just start conversations about the Cubs with people over here.

I am more of a "fix the problem" kind of guy, not the bitch about the problem kind of guy. Although none of us on this site are named Jim Hendry or Andy McPhail or Dusty Baker, I thought this would be a place for Cubs FANS to offer ideas for solutions. Saying that this player sucks and that player sucks JUST PLAIN SUCK!!

Al, thank you from deep inside for this wonderful thread. I think that the posts in this thread will bring out the posters true colors. C'mon guys....it's easy to make fun of the Cubs and criticize their flaws.....the hard part is showing some intelligent insight on how you think that they could improve.

Come on home Joe!!!

by santo for prez on Jul 10, 2006 6:30 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

by BeerCub on Jul 10, 2006 10:51 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nice post..

I'd start with an overhaul of the scouting system. Then move to replacing most, if not all of the minor league managers and instructors. I would then trade anyone of value not named Lee or Zambrano (that may not leave much).

I would bring back giveaways at Wrigley for EVERYONE and get rid of these stupid scratch and sniff gimmiks. I'd bring back the Friday 3:05 starts. I'd get rid of those softball looking blue jerseys. I'd bring back the late '60s Cub arm patch. I'd reinstate Ladies day.

I agree, we need more positive posts than all the crying about who is batting where and who is or isn't playing.

by wicubfan on Jul 10, 2006 11:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Unfortunately...

... most of what you say can't happen. Can you imagine the outcry (not to mention lawsuits) if they reinstated Ladies Day?

And, they cannot have 3:05 starts on Fridays (or even 2:20). Those were eliminated by agreement when the Cubs received the right to add night games.

You're right about the blue jerseys and the scratch-&-sniff cards, though.

by Al on Jul 11, 2006 4:25 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Don't understand the problem with the scratch off

cards--I would much rather have a chance at a cool prize than some sort of trinket that will sit on my dresser for three months before I wipe the dust off of it and contribute to my local landfill. Hats, magnet schedules, cool. Wristbands and celebriducks, not so much.

by TC Cubby on Jul 11, 2006 7:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alternates.

I don't really like the alternates either. Maybe on the road with grey pants, but I love the home whites with the pinstripes. I wish they would only wear those.

As a Cubs fan, The 2006 season will be remembered by me as....the first that I could buy Old Style cans with Cubs logos on them....

by coopergillan on Jul 11, 2006 1:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm a traditionalist about that sort of thing too.

White or pinstripes at home, gray on the road. Period.

by Al on Jul 11, 2006 1:44 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I woudl

like to see the Cubs participate in the "turn back the clock" days. Just had one Sunday for the Seattle Pilots, got to hear about that "glorious" year of 1969 all day.

by mike bornemann on Jul 11, 2006 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree.

The Cubs have been pigheaded about this, too, on many occasions refusing to participate in OTHER teams' TBTC days.

The only one I recall was in Philadelphia in 1992, when Mike Morgan started and began the bottom of the first with an old-fashioned windmill windup.

by Al on Jul 11, 2006 5:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

with you

THANK YOU for that post. You said it very well.

wccubfan

by wccubfan on Jul 11, 2006 3:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really enjoy the post Al

You know I came about being a Cub fan that would be considered treasonist is some baseball circles, however not in mind and that is what counts. I grew up in Pennsylvania a Phillies fan and in 1969 when the Phillies traded Johnny Callison to the Cubs for the 1970 season I had to be a Cub fan. I was young and my loyalty to the Phillies was not as strong as it was to Callison. I guess I should of known my fate as a baseball fan with the collaspe of 1964 to the wonderful Cardinals. Then become a Cub fan in 1970 after the Cubs collaspe in 1969 ( or I view it The Mets just played tremendous ball) Either way this is how I came on board. My wife asks, after another frustrating loss this year and says," Root for another team". After a long stare and chuckle, it will never happen.
I can only hope that the rest of this season and the off season, moves are made with patience and vision.
Zito would be No. 1 on my list, tough to out bid the New York Teams, but if I were the Cubs I would do it.
Here is for a 50 win second half.

"Just not getting any breaks" Johnnie Baker

by Johnny Callison was a Cub on Jul 10, 2006 8:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Lots of memories

First game at Wrigley: 1959 against the Giants, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, George Altman; I have no idea who pitched, but because the Cubs won 20 to 9. probably just about everyone on the roster.
Many June games throughout the sixties, because I had a friend whose Dad took him and two friends for his birthday every year. The seventies when I was in graduate school in Chicago, a college buddy lived a block or so away from Wrigley, I'd park in front of his house, eat breakfast, read the papers and head over to the bleachers for batting practice. I don't remember how much bleacher seats cost then, but they were cheap and plentiful. I've been in Nebraska for twenty-three years, but get back every few summers for a game. I suffer with all of you because of the incompetence and the silly strategies, but I still have my "Die Hard Cub Fan" card, and I still remember what someone said about Jack Brickhouse: If you are locked in a barn full of manure; look for the pony"

Hoping to goodnes is not theologically sound. --Linus

by moldyfolky on Jul 10, 2006 9:42 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Where at in NE?

by Bleed Husker Red on Jul 10, 2006 9:53 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Die-hard Cub fan club

Rats - I lost my card ages ago. I remember I was a charter member, number 4,096.

I used to carry that card around everywhere with me back in 1983/84. It eventually broke and then got lost.

by danimal15 on Jul 11, 2006 12:06 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

my first game at wrigley....

was back in about '96 and was against the Giants also, though the Giants of Barry Bonds of course. I actually don't remember much about the game, but it was wonderful.

As a Cubs fan, The 2006 season will be remembered by me as....the first that I could buy Old Style cans with Cubs logos on them....

by coopergillan on Jul 11, 2006 1:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yaaaawwwwnnnn

Ur boring, a die hard teenager with a short attention span. Need more baseball talk.

Ronny Cedeno the future of Shortstops

by DaCubbies R myLife on Jul 10, 2006 10:08 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Easy big fella

It is the all-star break, history of the game, and experiences at the ballpark never hurt a soul.

"Just not getting any breaks" Johnnie Baker

by Johnny Callison was a Cub on Jul 11, 2006 8:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lincoln

I've been at the university for a long time. I joined in the protest, many years ago, when what was then Cablevision in Lincoln tried to drop WGN. Many of us old Cub fans came out of the woodwork. Where are you?

Hoping to goodness is not theologically sound. --Linus

by moldyfolky on Jul 10, 2006 10:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Lincoln

I'm a senior here at UNL getting ready for grad school in the spring or fall of '07

by Bleed Husker Red on Jul 10, 2006 10:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Al's post

Great work, Al. Made me nostalgic. My first MLB game was in St. Louis at Busch Stadium. My grandfather took me. I was 6 years old. I've been in love with baseball ever since. Thanks for reminding us what it's all about.

"That would be a home run, if it were in a phone booth!" -Harry Caray

by riggs on Jul 10, 2006 10:22 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Passing the torch

I grew up in the middle of nowhere Kansas. Eight hours from the Royals and several years away from the Rockies existing. My love of baseball came via the Chicago Cubs, Harry Carey and WGN, which televised a lot more then than they do now.

I was in awe during the summer of 1988 when I visited family in California and my uncle took me to my first and second baseball games, in Candlestick and the Coliseum.

A few years ago, after I'd moved to California, a friend of mine called me and offered me his Giants-Cubs tickets on the day before my grandfather's birthday. I picked him up in Lodi and drove him to Pac Bell, which he'd never seen. He marched straight up to the Willie Mays statue and told me he that was a player, that Willie Mays.

The Cubs brought Tom Gordon in with a three-run lead in the ninth, and "Papa" wanted to get a jump on traffic so we left early. At exactly midnight, on the way back to Lodi, the first minute of his birthday, we were driving through Rio Vista, the town he'd spent decades in and raised my mother.

I will never forget the look on his face upon seeing that statue of Willie Mays.

by Seamer on Jul 11, 2006 1:27 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

"my golden retriever named Wrigley"

Wrigley just happend to be sitting in the epicenter of an area that has seen one of the biggest realestate booms in the city's history. If not for that and all the moneygrubber bar owners who took advantage of that after running junkie shithole bars for years and years then changed them into drunken fratboy bars (redundant) that place would have been whacked long ago, and all you guys would be going to games in Des Plaines, or some boring suburb (also redundant)like that. So spare me all the "my Grandpa", "my Father took me", "I remember" bullshit. You're all part of the "my golden retriever named Wrigley" mentality. "In Dusty we trusty" then Baker's the problem. Then you'd all kiss Sosa's ass on State and Madison, then it's "I always knew he was on the juice, I never like him". "Kid K, we got Wood", "Calfzilla" and now "Z" jumping around like the same type of no class idiot Sosa was and still is. Of course you guys all bought into Harry Cary's bullshit too. He brought that tired act from St. Louis to the Southside. You guys got sloppy thirds. You guys think he loved you and the
Cubs? He didn't. He loved himself. So go take that picture of you standing next to the statue and keep fillin' that park. The Trib loves you...(and that's bullshit too).

by mjc on Jul 11, 2006 8:33 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

and

if the White Sox had kept Old Comiskey, the city had torn down the projects earlier and the Southside had the real estate boom that Wrigleyville did you'd be the one waxing poetic about the scoreboard with the lolipops and how the WS had one of the best places to see a game.

I've been to quite a few ballparks and the nostalgics aren't only going on at games on the Northside, don't hate the player hate the game

Whatever

by flyball on Jul 11, 2006 8:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Excerpt from the top...

..."This post isn't going to be about the Cubs and whether or not they should have a new manager and who it should be, or who they should trade by July 31. Those are important, absolutely. But they are topics for other posts and other diaries and other days."

C'mon guys, there is enough bitching, ridiculing, and disgrace on the other threads...Read the thread and try to show some respect for the other people here.

Come on home Joe!!!

by santo for prez on Jul 11, 2006 9:46 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Guess What?

We can say f- you right back at ya.

by BeerCub on Jul 11, 2006 8:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Get it right--It's a border collie...

and his name is "Dawson."

(I hope your little diatribe/thread crap made you feel better.)

by bison on Jul 11, 2006 11:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Heh..

Pretty well put-together post, enjoyable reading if I'm anything but a Cubs fan. The details can be cleverly changed to fit whatever team you want, however. It kind of reads like a Mad-Libs thing!!

by Floyd on Jul 12, 2006 11:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ladies Day?

Forget lawsuits, Al. It would never reach that point. The Trib, a company that sets the price of Cub tickets and then sells them at even higher prices, is going to give away something for free? Not bloody likely.

by TR on Jul 11, 2006 9:14 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

this sums it all up...

From "Teacher Tom" above...

"We can afford, AT MOST, 2 games a year. But those 2 games have been worth every penny. And whether or not the Cubs win has NOTHING to to with it. Sure, we want the Cubs to win, but it's the ambiance, man."

this is why the Cubs can get away with 100 years of garbage produce.

Harry loves you "Tom"...NOT!

by mjc on Jul 11, 2006 9:39 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

mjc

Still jealous? Your team won the World Series and you still troll Cubs boards because you can't get over your inferiority complex. There is something seriously wrong with you mullet-tards. You and the rest of your ilk would make a psychiatrist a fortune trying to work through your emotional problems.

And how can you give anyone grief over announcers with the worst broadcaster this side of Joe Morgan. Hack `He Gone' Harrelson. Give me a flippin' break.

by kessinger on Jul 11, 2006 9:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Mullet-tards?

"We still have our dignity!" -- unidentified semi-drunk Cub fan, walking up the stairs in the LF bleachers during the 15-11 win over the White Sox on July 2...and WE belong in a shrink's office?

Some of the hillrod Sox fans may still have mullets, but they don't wear Birkenstocks and bicycle pants like the "men" up there. Don't drop your wallet "Kess"

Harrelson and Jackson Do suck supreme. I'm with you there.

by mjc on Jul 11, 2006 3:16 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Drunken

comments are no cause for a mental health examination. Being obsessed with the Cubs and their fans like you and your ilk are does. Follow your team. Enjoy their success. Quit trolling Cubs sites. Get a life.

by kessinger on Jul 11, 2006 3:47 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

MJC's ChiSox History

Apparently, began last year.
Here's a golden oldie for him:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/1970.shtml

And that attendence! They needed one turnstyle that season.

So enjoy the atmosphere of the closed Spiegel's catalogue building just down 35th Street. That's pretty damn lovely, isn't it? And that Archer Avenue...boy, if you haven't traveled THAT boulevard, you haven't seen Chicago. It's on all the tourist guides, you know.

But that's a front-runner for you. Have fun.

by Smooth Jazz Man San Diego on Jul 11, 2006 9:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs