Dear Cubbies,
I have never felt this way before. A mixture of pride and accomplishment rushed with sadness and joy. An emotional roller coaster has taken over my body controlling my every move. Will I be happy or excited today? Will I be pumped up or deflated? Will the anxiety that forces my legs to shake and influences the horrible habit of biting my nails make an appearance during the game? All these emotions take a toll on a person, especially when it involves something dear and close to the person affected by it. For me, that something is my Chicago Cubs.
From my first breaths of life, I was Cubs fan. I was encouraged by my father, who was a Cubs fan, to learn the game of baseball and to enjoy the beauty of America’s past time. I was taught by my father to follow all angles of the sport so that there would be no major bias when it came to two teams facing each other during a game. I was taught to see the fairness in the game and if the strike was certainly a strike or if the umpire just made a bad call. My bias, though, could not be contained and I gravitated toward my hometown team. Even though I was biased from the beginning, I chose to root for the Cubs because I always loved the idea of an underdog succeeding.
For those of you who do not know, the Chicago Cubs were formally known as the “lovable losers,” for they had not won a World Series title in 108 years, let alone had played in a World Series game since 1945, which is 71 years ago. Although the Cubbies fought to stay alive throughout the years and saw some light not too long ago, there was bound to be no hope for the Chicago Cubs after they failed to make it further in the 2008 postseason when they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series after they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the same round the previous year.
Superstition was the answer to it all. At this point in baseball history, Chicago Cubs fans began to doubt and believed that the Chicago Cubs would never win a World Series title again due to the Curse of the Billy Goat. Many believed that the Cubs would be jinxed forever. There were even rumors of getting rid of the team as a whole, but the devastation it would leave upon so many fans allowed the team to continue on their route to losing. However, no matter how bad the losing streak was, Cubs fans never gave up on their “lovable losers.”
Holding onto the hope of winning a World Series title one day, the Chicago Cubs decided that something needed to change. It wasn’t until the Chicago Cubs acquired Theo Epstein as president of baseball operations in 2011 and Joe Maddon as manager in 2015 that the Cubs began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Epstein and Maddon worked their magic and helped lead the Cubs to the 2015 National League Championship Series; the furthest that they have gotten in the post-season since 2003. Unfortunately, the curse continued and the Chicago Cubs lost due to a devastating sweep by the New York Mets. The Cubs Nation was crushed yet again.
The 2016 season began with a bang and the atmosphere of Wrigley Field was electric. It was a new season and a new team. They were ready to do it all; they were ready to win. Finishing the regular season in first place throughout both the National League and the American League, the Chicago Cubs were the only team to reach over 100 wins with a record of 103-58. Their successful season led to a promising postseason. However, Cubs fans were all too familiar with the Cubbies luck.
The 2016 postseason was something that I had never seen before. Although I am only 19-years-old, my entire life as a Cubs fan was filled with Cubbie drama. In the past three seasons alone, I had missed only about 30 games due to classes and work. Otherwise, I was at the game or watching it on the television wherever I could get it. This season was different though. I could see it in the eyes of the players, the hearts of the fans and the memory of my father. When it came to the postseason, I nearly had a heart attack. The first series against the San Francisco Giants began and I swore to not miss a game. That meant that I skipped class, didn’t go out to the parties and watched the game in its entirety without interruptions.
When the Cubs defeated the Giants and moved onto the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, I somehow lost my excitement and the real stress began. Instead of being pumped up for the game, I was strangely calm and close to feeling sick. This was it; it was the big games. These games determined who would move on to the World Series. While the Cubs and Dodgers fought neck and neck, the Cleveland Indians from the American League were resting up, for they knew that they would be facing either the Cubs or the Dodgers in the World Series.
The moment that the Chicago Cubs clinched their spot in the World Series, the city of Chicago erupted and tears started to flow from my eyes. It was the Cubs' first appearance in the World Series since 1945. Chicago barely contained themselves and prepared for what will be known as the greatest World Series in baseball history: the series when the Chicago Cubs came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series in Game 7 against the Cleveland Indians.
The Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series. Holy cow! As soon as the ground ball was hit toward third baseman, Kris Bryant and he threw it to first baseman, Anthony Rizzo, Chicago cried tears of joy. My body, controlled by my emotions, jumped up and down until I found myself hugging my aunt and then I completely lost all muscle strength and fell to the ground in tears. I was crying for my Chicago Cubs. They finally did it. The weight and stress from Game 7 was lifted off of our shoulders and we were no longer the “lovable losers.” We are the World Series Champions.
So, as I was trying to say, thank you, Chicago Cubs. Thank you for being the greatest team that I’ve ever witnessed, thank you for having the most faith in our city and thank you for not giving up. I have learned more from watching the Cubs play than I could have ever learned in life. I have learned how to lose, I have learned how to believe, I have learned compassion and loyalty, and I have learned how to love. Thank you Cubbie Nation for including me in our giant family. Thank you Cubbies for a great season and an even greater moment in history. Don’t worry guys; only 101 days until spring training! So for the meantime, let’s play two!
Thank you,
A devoted Cubs fan
