Monday, October 24, 2016

The Cubs Are FINALLY Going to the World Series!

Sometimes you really do have to wait almost a lifetime for something. For myself and other Cubs fans around the country and the world, that day has FINALLY come. In my lifetime, I have lived through ...

*  The great collapse of 1969. A team with several future Hall of Fame members just faded in August and September. Harry Caray was still announcing for the St. Louis Cardinals at that time and was heard to sing and say "The Cardinals are coming, tra la, tra la," but it was the dastardly New York Mets who overtook the Cubbies and eventually won the World Series.

*  In 1984, the Cubs went up two games to none against the San Diego Padres in the five-game National League Championship Series. In game five, first baseman Leon Durham let a ground ball go through his legs, allowing the tying run to score. Disaster followed. The Cubs had this series and blew it. Friggin' Steve Garvey.

* In 1989, the Cubs faced the San Francisco Giants in the Championship Series. The Giants won the series in five games in what I remember as the series of first basemen. Will Clark went 13 for 20 and Mark Grace went 11 for 17. The Cubs had some great players, but the Giants just seemed to be the overall better team.

*  In 2003, the Cubs were within five outs of going to the World Series in game six. It will forever be known as the Bartman Game. The Cubs suffered a bitter losses to the Florida Marlins in that game and game seven. Although the Marlins were arguably the better team (they did win the World Series), the Cubbies should have won the series. No longer did people say "In Dusty, we trusty."

*  In 2007 and 2008, the Cubbies had great teams, yet were swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectfully. Manager Sweet Lou couldn't bat for the feckless Cubs.

*  In 2015, the Cubs got hot as the season wore on and made it to the National League Championship Series, only to be swept by the Mets. My brother, thundering36 and I were at that final game. Although the defeat to the excellent pitching staff of the Mets was sad, it laid hope for the 2016 season.

With the Cubs finally making it to the World Series for the first time since 1945, the feeling is indescribable. The closest thing I can say is it is like Christmas when you were a kid ... times 50!

Unfortunately, a sad note is that the Cubs, like the White Sox in 2005, took too long to get to the Promised Land. My father, a White Sox fan, passed away 14 months before the Sox won the World Series. My mother, a Cubs fan, passed away this past June. Her grandchildren have made the hashtag #winitforgram on Facebook (the more recent posts -- not the ones for the grandmother who is 102 years old!). So I guarantee you, if there is some funky World Series play where the ball takes a weird hop for the Cubs, you can guess that my mother was probably involved from the great beyond.
In the meantime, I am wearing what I call the "Cubs smile" today. The sun is shining, the temperature is fine. Play ball! Or maybe even ...

17 Comments:

Blogger Memphis MOJO said...

Good luck to the Cubbies. Although they are rivals with my Cardinals, I still root for them.

8:26 PM  
Blogger Lucki Duck said...

"Let's play two!" Ernie Banks, no?

9:11 AM  
Anonymous KenP said...

I saw one post season Cubs game in the era of the Wild Thing and had seats near the warmup area. I got them by war dialing on line with my modem. As I recall, the four seats were almost regular price.

For the last game, Standing room tickets went for $300 at the ticket booth. They are talking about seats up to $22,000.

On Black Friday they outlawed poker to save us from ourselves. Maybe they need to outlaw baseball to save baseball fans from loosing a bigger stack. :)

9:35 AM  
Blogger lightning36 said...

@Lucki -- That would be correct, sir. Mr. Cub.

11:06 AM  
Blogger FlushhDraw said...

I am rooting for the Cubs big time. It's almost impossible not to root for a team that never won the World Series. In a lot of ways lightning you and I seem to be kindred spirits in a sports point of view. I'm originally from the Boston area and love and adore my Boston Red Sox and anyone that knows about baseball knows how long the Red Sox had to go from 1918 all the way to 2004 before we won the World Series agaim. We remember the 86 World Series where you spoke of the ball going through the first baseman's legs well that happen with us only his name was Bill Buckner. I see a lot of similarities between the Red Sox and the Cubs and I really firmly believe that's this is your year. Good luck and take it all the way.

2:47 PM  
Blogger Cokeboy99 said...

@flushdraw-- you should learn your history before speaking. The Cubs HAVE won the world series, it's just been 108 years ago. They won in both 1907 and 1908. They haven't been since 1945.

8:01 PM  
Blogger thundering36 said...

So the White Sox fan has jinxed us again. Damn you to the fires of Gehenna!

12:32 AM  
Blogger Onechiquita100 said...

I saw the game last night. If they don't do better, it be another 100 years before they win the World Series...

12:04 PM  
Blogger FlushhDraw said...

My error then.

2:51 PM  
Blogger The Poker Meister said...

Go Cubbies! A win last night and they're looking much better than game 1.

12:13 PM  
Blogger thundering36 said...

Remember when I had the four seats in the bleachers for one of the games of the 2003 World Series at Wrigley? Maybe I could use them this year since we never got to use them. *tears*

1:34 AM  
Blogger thundering36 said...

Hmmm... seems like Trump isn't the only one showing his true colors with his Tweets:

" That is bad news for this depressed White Sox fan."

In reply to Chad W
lightning36 ‏@lightning36

10:06 AM - 30 Oct 2016

4:39 PM  
Blogger thundering36 said...

You'd better not jinx this, you hear?

12:10 AM  
Blogger thundering36 said...

Well, I guess not even you could stop the Cubs this year!

2:45 AM  
Blogger norm said...

Well where is the celebration going tobe?
I expected a POST by now! Must still be in Wrigley celebrating.

10:08 AM  
Blogger lightning36 said...

@thundering36 -- Well, I rooted for the Cubs when they were pretty bad most of those 25 years you were away in Australia. When you came back in 2000, you missed 25 years of the bad stuff. Don't worry - we accept bandwagon fans like you.

10:21 AM  
Blogger Memphis MOJO said...

Hail to the Cubbies! When they were down 3-1, they got tougher and pulled it out - nice.

2:29 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home