For my fifth of 30 ballparks, I’m back in Chicago with yet another set of free tickets, but this time, it’s on the North Side at the second-oldest ballpark in the MLB. This one is special. (Let me explain.)
I’ve been to two games at Wrigley Field, both pre-Ballparking It and both Cardinals-Cubs. The Cardinals won the first (2016), and the Cubs won the second (2017). I preferred the first. Plus, I’ve watched one game from a rooftop (2012).
This is the first time I’ll be at the Friendly Confines on this 30-ballpark adventure. Wrigley was built in 1914, and the Cubs have won three World Series, including back-to-back titles in 1907 and 1908. (You do the math. Before 2016, no World Series winner had ever called Wrigley Field home.)
Me and the Cubs
I’m a die-hard Cardinals fan.
As any good fan of the Redbirds, I dislike the Cubs almost as much as I love the Cardinals. Some of my favorite historic moments in Cubs history are Steve Bartman in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS and the 1964 Lou Brock trade.
My favorite player to ever wear Cubbie blue is Jim Edmonds. (And the fact that he ever did still makes me slightly queasy.)
My favorite moment of this season so far (and maybe one of my favorite endings to a game ever) happened when Cub-turned-Cardinal Dexter Fowler hit a walk-off homer in the wee hours of the morning in the bottom of the 14th after two rain delays and after the Cubs had taken the lead in the top half of that inning. (The Cardinals had walked it off the day before as well.)
I was sleepy and had almost gone to bed but decided I had come too far and didn’t want to miss a potential comeback. As soon as Fowler hit it, I was bouncing around my living room and laughing uncontrollably. I was suddenly wide awake and full of energy as the clock hit 1 a.m. CT on a work night.
Coming from central Illinois, where the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry is red hot, I’ve seen how fun the rivalry can be. I grew up with Cubs fans. In fact, some of my best friends from grade school through high school were Cubs fans. One of my uncles is a Cubs fan.
Was I happy for any of them when the 2016 World Series rolled around? Absolutely not.
That’s not how rivalries work.
Let me take you back.
It was a dark and stormy night … literally. I sat on my loveseat, alone in my living room, typing away on a writing project I’ve yet to finish nearly two years later.
The only light was the soft glow of my laptop and the flickering of the candles I had lit that evening.
The Cardinals had missed the postseason for the first time since 2010, and when that happens, I don’t watch postseason baseball. (For reference, I didn’t realize who won the 2010 World Series until spring training was about to start the following year.)
This particular night, the unthinkable was about to happen. The Cubs had played their way to Game 7 of the World Series after being down three games to one.
I didn’t dare turn on my TV, and I do not regret that decision one bit.
The game had a rain delay in Cleveland, and I believe I stayed on the phone with my brother from the delay to when the 108-year World Series drought came to a close.
In the aftermath, I did what I typically do when I’m feeling down – listen to sad music. It was a cold, rainy November night, so I ended up listening to “November Rain” (obviously) on repeat, still alone, still in the dark.
I’m dramatic. I get that. (In retrospect, it was maybe a little too on the nose, but I was sitting in the dark with candles, so …)
The next day, I discovered that so many people I never even thought knew the word baseball were apparently Cubs “fans.” How exciting. Yay.
I was told over and over that I should be happy for them and that the moment was historic. Cool. The entire ordeal was pretty nightmarish.
Would I wish any of these feelings on my worst enemies (or in this case, dear friends who happen to be die-hard Cubs fans)? Yes. Every single year.
I hope they were just as angry and dramatic when the Cardinals won in 2006 and 2011 and that they are just as angry and dramatic every time the Cardinals win the World Series from now through eternity. I have to believe they’d want the same for me.
I would never want a Cubs fan hopping on a Cardinals bandwagon, and I believe my Cubs counterparts feel the same.
That’s how rivalries work.
You can be friends, but you also each hope the other ends up feeling a little bit miserable at the end of every season.
Is the rivalry at its most fun when both teams are good? Nope. I had a really fun time all those years the Cubs weren’t in the division race at all.
Again, that’s a rivalry. It’s hoping your team is always great and that your rival is always a bottom-dweller.
Can I still appreciate Wrigley Field? I tend to romanticize old things. I can tell you right now, I don’t have that problem with Wrigley, but I do appreciate it as a ballpark and as a place for me to get my hot dog fix (and I fully intend to get another Chicago-style hot dog at this game).
I realize that for every fan like me, there is probably someone who grew up a die-hard Cubs fans, cheering every time the Cardinals came up short in the NLCS or World Series.
It’s almost fun to think the mirror image of me exists somewhere cheering and hoping for exactly what I’m cheering and hoping against.
For every Cardinals fan who adores Stan Musial or Bob Gibson, there’s probably a Cubs fan who feels the same way about Ernie Banks. Our histories are different (eight World Series rings different to be exact), but maybe (for the long-time fans) our passion is the same.
I’m going to experience Wrigley Field the only way I know how – as a Cardinals fan. There are other teams I dislike but none as much as I dislike the Cubs, so this is the first (and only) ballpark where I can feel this particular way.
I’m sure die-hard Cubs fans feel the same way about Busch Stadium, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Like I said earlier, this ballpark is special. Here’s to being friends but wishing each other miserable baseball seasons for years to come.
Game Preview
Cardinals vs. Cubs
Wrigley Field
Thursday, July 19, 2018
6:05 p.m. CT
Probable starting pitchers: STL Carlos Martinez (RHP) vs. CHC Kyle Hendricks (RHP)
The Cardinals are 7 1/2 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central coming out of the All-Star break and fired manager Mike Matheny last week. My trip to Guaranteed Rate Field was his final win.
Side note, to fact check, I searched for “Cleveland Indians postseason 2016.” I wasn’t about to type that unmentionable event any other way on my laptop.