This Carbon Based Life

By David Glenn Cox

So, you want to be a Cubs Fan? Hold on tight, it isn’t always an easy ride. With Major League Baseball’s expansion there isn’t as much focus on the teams’ legends and lore. The Titanic sank while the Cubs played the Cardinals in Wrigley Field that day. Legend says Babe Ruth pointed to center field in the friendly confines before smacking a home run into the center field bleachers in the World Series.

Lou Gehrig caught the attention of Yankee scouts, while playing for Columbia, after hitting a home run in the friendly confines. Wrigley Field wasn’t designed; it was a metamorphosis over time. The iconic manual scoreboard wasn’t always there. The upper deck wasn’t always there. The Marquee sign wasn’t always there. Yankee Stadium was the house that Ruth built. Wrigley Field is the house that time built.

In Wrigley Field, the bleachers fill before the expensive seats because that’s where the party and the sun are. Stay out of the bleachers if you don’t like rowdiness, comedy and fun. A trip to the bleachers is like fun with a couple of hundred of your best friends. Like Woodstock with a baseball game to watch. Don’t sit in the bleachers if you don’t want to socialize.

When the opposition hits a home run into the bleachers at Wrigley, Cub fans throw the ball back onto the field. Because it is both fun and tradition, but at the same time very serious. Sure, you caught a home run ball, big deal! Now, you get to be a legend and throw it back. A crummy baseball or a magnificent memory? Cub fans hang on every pitch and don’t want YOUR stinking home run ball.

As a young boy of eleven, I walked up those steps to reach the field level, and my eyes were instantly overwhelmed by the sea of emerald green. The blue sky, the scoreboard and the infield. But I was stopped in my tracks and couldn’t move or speak. Right in front of me, not twenty feet away was Ron Santo being interviewed by Jack Brickhouse. A sensory overload for a young boy. A thrill not to ever be exceeded in a lifetime, until number 14 popped out of the dugout. The crowd cheered, and Ernie Banks smiled and waved his glove.

In the John Hughes film, “Uncle Buck” John Candy lived in Wrigleyville and wore an Ernie Banks jersey. Unmistakable clues that you were in Chicago. Bill Veeck planted the Ivy on the walls and then invented the exploding scoreboard across town. The Cubs didn’t need exploding scoreboards.

When Hank Aaron broke the Babe’s home run record, I laughed to myself. Hammerin Hank had crushed a ball to left field in Wrigley, but the wind was blowing in a gale that day. Billy Williams had his back against the Ivy looking up. The ball was obviously gone, until it wasn’t. Then, Williams took a step in and caught the ball on the warning track.

 Wrigley can be a pitcher’s park or a hitter’s park depending on the day. Lake Michigan is the Cub’s tenth man. The gracefully curving outfield walls add to Wrigley’s beauty, but back before the Jumbotrons, a lot more homeruns left the park ending up on Waveland or Sheffield Ave. And the kids would sit on the stoop listening to the radio waiting for a chance at a homerun ball. Wrigley’s rooftop seating across the street points to the level of enthusiasm Cub fans share.

Back before portable radios or television, how could commuters on the el trains know if the Cubs had won that day? Enter the now iconic white W flag. Just a pre mass communication signal to the faithful. Leaving Wrigley in my Cubs hat as I got a block or two away, I was asked repeatedly, “Did they win?” A brotherhood in blue. Where else would Ferris Buhler go, if skipping school? Exactly!

Harry Carey was the perfect broadcaster for the Cubs. He loved the game and his enthusiasm showed. He began the tradition of singing “Take me out to the ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch. That as well, has become iconic. You’d better sing because everybody else will. Cub fans are into the whole experience. It is in fact; a joyous cult. The field, the history and the legends. I saw Ernie Banks get hit by a pitch once and crowd booed for over ten minutes. Oh, no, no, you don’t hit Ernie Banks ever! You can hit someone else, but not Ernie! Not Mr. Cub, not mister, “let’s play two!”

I guess with some teams the lore doesn’t matter as much. But if you’re going to join the cult of the Cubs, you have to learn their Bible. Tinker to Evers to Chance (1910) The goat, Bartman, Dick Selma and the bleacher bums! Rick Sutcliffe sliding across the rain-soaked tarp on opening night. And why did it rain on opening night? Because God was unhappy the Cubs, were playing at night in Wrigley. And why didn’t Wrigley Field have any lights? There were plans to add lights, but after Pearl Harbor. Mr. Wrigley donated them to the military. You just can’t get away from all the history.

I was in the grandstands one day and the guy next to me was keeping the most meticulous scorecard I’ve ever seen in my life. It was like an official document, and I was in awe of his skill. This was his Cub’s game. This is what brought him joy. To sit quietly and fill out his scorecard. This was his Wrigley Field experience. Because Cub fans care and hang on every pitch.

I’ve watched baseball games in parks across America. But for enthusiasm, there is only one Wrigley Field. The new stadiums try to imitate the red bricks and the elevations trying to capture some of that Wrigley Field magic. But it took over a hundred years to build Wrigley Field and they still aren’t finished with it yet.

“As a child I became a Cubs fan. While Police and Social Service agencies sat back and did nothing about it!” – Anonymous