FanPost

I was the Old Style Drinker of the Game, should there be one?

I've been busy so I'm a little late in reporting my good fortune and it's a slow day after an off-day so I wanted to get this up.

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May 14-15 we had our "guys" trip to Wrigley Field a little early. In the bleachers by 11:30 for the 1:20 start I sit close to Al and had my usual pregame visit about all things Cubs related. Bleacher fights were the hot topic that week and we talked about the Cubs promoting drinking like the Old Style Drinker of the Game. Al felt an Old Style Fan of the Game made more sense. I returned to my friends and two of us took off though the main concourse looking for food choices about noon.

A young female intern in a dress walks right up to me while walking and says, "Would you like to be the Old Style drinker of the game?" I asked what I had to do and she said go on the field and get your picture taken and you'll get an Old Style jersey. Of course I immediately said yes! She told me to go to section 16 at 12:20 and she would meet me there. My friend and I sat 10 rows off the field at the end of the Cubs dugout. I did tell her I'm not an Old Style drinker!

The intern was a small college basketball player. I had a nice visit with her and she called me down to go on the field. I told her I wanted my friend to come down too so we could both get on the field. She said she would get a picture of both of us and then one of me, and would mail them to me. She didn’t have to do that but it was a nice touch.

So once I'm on the field they post my name on the center field scoreboard and announce me to the crowd. I gave a big wave to the guys in the bleachers who were giving me a standing ovation! Now the best part. Tom Ricketts, owner of the Cubs and the guy who signs checks for purchases such as the Cubs, is standing there and says congratulations and shakes hands with me. He asked where I was from and I told him the Des Moines area. He said he drove through Des Moines many times from Omaha to Chicago. I probably talked with him for 3 or 4 minutes. He was so nice and down to earth and really spent time talking to me, not trying to get away from me! We ended the conversation with another hand shake and I told him to get this team winning that I've been sitting in the bleachers for 30 years and I wanted to sing today! He guaranteed a win but we lost 2 miserable games to the Pirates instead.

Needless to say I was pretty high after that. Upon my return to some high fives and some teasing I had to tell Al how ironic it was to be chosen for the Old Style Drinker right after we had talked about it. Whether it should happen or not, it made this Cubs fans day pretty special!

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