On Being a Cubs Fan

I have never seen the Chicago Cubs in person.

Oh, I’ve watched them many times on television.

But to sit in the stands at a stadium somewhere and watch the Northside Nine take the field? Never.

The Cubs are coming to Washington at the end of the month, for a three game series against the Nationals.

I’ve checked online. Tickets are available for all three games.

I like the idea of going to the Friday night game. Take a “mental health day” from work, do the tourist thing in DC during the day, then catch the game that night. That would be awesome.

Yesterday’s Cubs loss to the Brewers? Not so awesome.

I like to say that the Cubs taught me disappointment at an early age. It’s not, strictly speaking, true. I don’t know that I was ever really aware of who the Cubs were until junior high school.

And it was the historical Cubs that interested the most. The era of Three Finger Brown and Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance? Fascinating stuff!

And, I’m even fascinated by the early decades of the White Sox. The 1919 World Series. The Jack O’Keefe short stories by Ring Lardner. Baseball when it was played in the afternoons as nature intended.

I’m going to get that lapse in my Cubs fandom rectified.

I’m going to do it. 🙂