I’m a lifelong Cubs fan. I’ve loved the Cubs since I was a little boy, like 6 years old. Huge Cubs fan. Over the years the Cubs have teased us and have gotten close in dramatic and unimaginable ways, they have been defeated, and then you go through the suffering and hurt, and end up loving them even more. You know what I mean?
I’ll never forget, in my first year as governor, sitting with my daughter, Amy, who at the time was 6, and the Cubs were in the sixth game of the NLCS against the Marlins, up 3-0 with our best pitcher, Mark Prior, on the mound. As a Cubs fan who knows what it’s like to get teased and then see us lose in dramatic form like in 1984, and in 1969, I didn’t want to speak too soon, but I felt like, with five outs to go, I said to my daughter Amy, I said, ‘we’re five outs away from seeing something that very few people sitting in this ballpark have ever seen, and that is the Cubs actually going to the World Series.’ As soon as I said that, Castilla (1) hit that foul ball, Alou (2) goes up to get it, and, it turns out, we learned later his name was Steve Bartman, he interfered with the ball. I was sitting in box seats at the time and, by the way, I paid for those tickets myself.
They asked me about the play (3) after the game and, look, I was a Cubs fan first, and a governor second. I said some stupid things after the game because I was thinking more like a fan. I wasn’t aware that he needed the help of security to get out of the park, and that people wanted to hurt him — I didn’t condone that. The press asked me about the play as we were leaving the park and I said, ‘Let me tell you something about that guy, whoever he is, if he ever commits a crime, he’ll never get a pardon out of me.’
What’s he thinking, we’re five outs away, put your head in the game, we were the home team, that’s why you have home field advantage. The next day I was asked more questions about it, and I stayed on the same theme, but one of the local papers did a cartoon and they had a picture of a goat, and it was Bartman, right, then they had a picture of a jackass and it was me.
Under Hendry and Piniella, the Cubs are a top-tier team. I tried to make the case that the Cubs were doing so good because I was the governor. Look at my record as governor, and look at the Cubs, right? Last year we both got hijacked. I had a worse year than the Cubs. I think circumstances hijacked the Cubs last year, and the Bradley move was counterproductive. Last year’s team was very disappointing, but they weren’t a bad ballclub. Bradley was the wrong decision, but now the fans expect them to win. It’s not enough just to go the playoffs anymore; it’s not enough for them to be loveable losers anymore.
We can take it. We can take it. I think our patience is almost perpetual. But I do believe we expect more success, and Cubs fans might start expressing their displeasure more like a Philadelphia Phillies fan.
The high expectations we have as Cubs fans are in large part due to the success Hendry has had as general manager. I can make a winning argument that he has been the greatest GM in Cubs history. I had a street named for Jim Hendry on the Northwest Side. We used to have lunch when I was governor, and I’d make suggestions for players he should pick up. I miss that.
I think Cubs fans will be a little less optimistic coming into this year. The Cardinals are going to be formidable. But I think Hendry has some ideas — I think we’re a legitimate leadoff hitter and a setup man away from being, you know, a team that could win the division.
People are living longer these days right? Absolutely, the Cubs can win the World Series, we came so close in 2003, right? I don’t know enough about the new owners, but I know this — Hendry and Piniella, as long as those two guys are running the team, I feel like we’re not far.
They’re phonies (4). Durbin is one of those. Durbin likes all three teams, Cardinals, Cubs and Sox. When he’s in Chicago he’s a Cubs fan, but how can you root for all of them? I disagree with Daley and Obama, but I admire that they at least admit that they are Sox fans.
I got in big trouble back in 2005, when the Sox won the World Series, and I wouldn’t put the Sox hat on. I was getting maligned in the media. It would have been hypocritical of me to put the Sox hat on as a loyal Cubs fan. It would have been dishonest. I hope they (5) appreciate my integrity.
Hope springs eternal for Cubs fans, and so there’s always next spring, but it’s a heck of a lot more realistic hope when you come off a team that was in the playoffs, versus a team that just sucked.
There are lessons from baseball. Lessons in leadership. Baseball is a metaphor for life in so many ways. There’s always tomorrow. One day you win, another day you lose.
Next year is going to be a better one for both me and the Cubs. I expect big years from both me and the Cubs in 2010.
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1. Luis
2. Moises
3. Bartman
4. Politicians who change sporting loyalties
5. Cubs fans
