A Fan Who Needs A Little Coaching Love The Chicago Cubs
“Rooting for the Cubs is not easy, but the best things in life never are.” – Dennis Farina
It is a sweet and enchanting summer evening, with a light breeze, clear skies, and the energy of 41,000 plus excited fans. The tickets, that are twice as much as they usually are, are well worth it because Mark, Chase, Maryssa, Hannah and I are all smiling, that ear to ear smile. Tonight, where in Chicago would you rather be than at Wrigley Field? It is the Cubs vs. the Marlins and at 7:05 the first pitch will be thrown.
Sitting watching the pitchers warm up in the bullpen, I am grateful to be wearing a Chicago Cubs t-shirt in the mass of fans donning their own official cubbies attire. It helps me to feel like less of an impostor. I am a fan, it’s just that I can only name two of the team players and I really don’t know their win/loss record for this season, or for seasons past, for that matter. But living in Chicagoland I can’t help but love the cubs, even though I don’t follow them religiously, or… semi-religiously. I am a fan who just needs a little coaching.
The guy at the ticket window told us that one of our five seats has an “obstructed view,” so I am sitting behind a giant I-beam running vertically, helping to hold up the stadium and the seated fans above us. I didn’t think “obstructed” would mean not being able to see the batter, the catcher, the 
umpire and first base. Maybe my “obstructed view” is symbolic of my knowledge of the game. I know the basic rules of baseball. But what do all those acronyms and statistics mean? You know OBP, SLG, HR, RBI, and AB. I designate Mark, my husband, as my official cubs coach and ask him. He begins to patiently explain… “OBP” …on base percentage.
Mark tries to get me to change seats with him, but I refuse knowing that the game means more to him than me. Meanwhile the stadium vendors yell out their goods. I don’t know how they manage to climb up and down on the cement stairs all night carrying heavy metal boxes full of the coveted hot dog. And then there are the vendors who are actually selling bags of peanuts, shell and all. I know peanuts are sung about, but who is really willing to crack the shell and eat them? I think I will wait for Crackerjacks. Do they still come with a prize?” Mark again insists we change seats. I refuse again. Plus with my view, or lack of view, I get to lean into him to see and then he leans into me which makes the evening even sweeter.
Baseball moves slowly for me. And I am afraid that my attention span is not as long as nine innings and with that humongous beam smack dab in front of me I may not make it until the 7th inning stretch. I read the “game day” program I bought in an attempt to learn more, but I notice I am distracted by all the ads. Then on the big screen the camera is showing that Vince Vaughn, the actor who is a native Illinoisan, is here. Hannah yells out, “Hey, let’s start making some bad decisions with each other”… a quote from our favorite Vince Vaughn movie “Fred Claus.” Would it solidify my imposter status to let it be known that I would rather meet Vince and get his autograph than get Chris Bryant’s signature? Bryant is the cub’s player who Hannah has a crush on. I don’t think he is married, is he?
Ok, I am now watching the game and keeping track of the count. I am tempted to yell out “hey batter, 
batter…” or “good eye,” but I’m sure that would be frowned upon. I keep tapping my personal cubs coach on the shoulder asking more questions. I didn’t know that each batter had his own bat. I didn’t know that the pitcher on the mound will actually “walk” the batter in front of the pitcher who is the next batter up because pitchers hit so poorly. They have one job, and it is not hitting home runs. Now, there is a call being reviewed from first base. I do remember from my grade school days of playing kick ball that the tie goes to the runner. Boom! How is that for an “obstructed view” fan? The umpire rules against the tie in favor of Rizzo’s catch and the runner is out. Yeah, go cubs!
I can’t really get comfortable in my assigned plastic seat while sitting sideways. I start reading the program again and miss a great play. I don’t know what happened, but I whistle anyway. I can whistle pretty loud and am proud of it. Go Cubbies! I then find myself mesmerized watching how far, fast and accurate the throws from the outfield are, since that is all I can see anyway.
It is now the 7th inning stretch, my favorite time. You can hear the chords of the organ begin playing and we all start swaying as we sing…”Take me out to the ball game.” The ball game….Oh man, I would love it if my grandpa could be here tonight at the ball game with me. My Grandpa, who lived his entire life in Utah, was a big Cub’s fan, thanks to WGN- TV! It was a dream of his to watch the cubs play ball here in Wrigley Field! He would know all the statistics. He could tell us stories about Ernie Banks and Bill Madlock. I remember as a child drinking “grandpa juice,” with him. A concoction he made using orange juice, soda pop and whatever else was in the refrigerator. He would serve my siblings and me the juice in tiny Dixie paper cups. I remember the chair my Grandpa sat into watch the game. I wish now, that as a young girl I had the foresight to sit down by him when he was watching a game and ask 
him what he thought about the season its wins and losses. If he were sitting next to me now, I would ask him about the old scoreboard, the one right here, that they still use! – where they still change the numbers manually. It is so cool! I look out at the old scoreboard, I imagine it on an old black and white television and I see my grandpa smiling shaking his arm the way he did when cheering on the cubs. My grandpa never really talked a lot– but he did talk about the cubs.
Then luck strikes–no pun intended–not for the team, but for us. The people sitting down from us decide to leave the stadium, and we move over into their seats for the last two innings. I can really watch the game now, no excuses. We are winning 5 to 0. Mark explains to me about having a “closer” pitcher. But, Hendricks is doing well and the coach keeps him in for the last inning. The sky is still clear and the breeze is welcomed. The Cubs are having a great night and the game ends 5-0. Cubs win! Cubs win! Hang the “W” flag! The air is full of shouts and singing. I sing along and feel enchanted.
“Go Cubs go, go Cubs go,
Hey Chicago what do you say?
The Cubs are going to win today!”
