Constable: Fans awed by World Series say, 'Wait until Saturday'
Sitting through rain, sleet and even snow for 33 consecutive Opening Day games beginning when her son, Sean, was in grade school, Debby Hruby of Wheaton always dreamed of how her family would be conditioned to cheer the Cubs in Wrigley Field no matter the weather in October as they watched the World Series.
Friday night, Debby, her husband, Mike, and Sean, now 44 and living in Geneva, made that dream into a reality.
“We're at the World Series!” gushed Debby Hruby, who surprised even herself as she erupted in a joyous, almost primal scream after settling into her seat and gazing out at the World Series logos on the video screens and painted into the grass near the on-deck circles. “I'm normally not that kind of person. But we're at the World Series.”
The Cubs, whose offense didn't show up at Friday's Game 3 or the first World Series game in Cleveland, lost 1-0 to fall into a 1-2 hole in the best-of-seven series. But the Hrubys and other Cubs fans remember that the Cubs were shut out two games in the last series and still roared back to win the pennant. Fans at Wrigley Field, which hadn't hosted a World Series in 71 years, needed verbal pinches to remind themselves that the Cubs really were playing the Cleveland Indians to determine a champion of Major League Baseball.
“C'mon! We're at the World Series!” marveled one fan working through the crowded upper-deck aisles at the 102-year-old ballpark as he coaxed a high-five from every willing fan he passed.
When Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks escaped a jam in the first inning by picking a runner off first and striking out the last batter, the crowd roared so loudly fans could feel the vibrations. Every tense situation in what became a 1-0 Cleveland win inspired Wrigley faithful to stand and cheer.
“I could talk about it all week long,” Mike Hruby said of the way he imagined what going to a World Series game with the Cubs might be like. “But now that I'm here …”
It's hard for longtime Cubs fans to grasp, let alone explain.
Fans, many of whom arrived hours before the 7:08 p.m. first pitch, packed the Wrigleyville neighborhood much of the afternoon but made sure to be in their seats to record that first strike on their phones. Wrigley usually has been packed away for the winter by now. The ivy on the outfield wall is mostly brown. But construction workers built an entire new level of auxiliary media booths to accommodate the flood of international media crews from South Korea, Mexico, Panama, Canada and Latin America.
A fan dressed like Frank Chance, the star Cubs player and manager the last time the franchise won a World Series in 1908, mingled outside with fans dressed like actual bears. Celebrity Cubs fan Bill Murray sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” as Daffy Duck during the 7th-inning stretch.
“I only have one answer for everything,” Sean Hruby said of the crowd, the buzz, the circuslike atmosphere, the emotions. “The World Series is at Wrigley.”
If the Hrubys seem as happy as if they won the lottery, they did. Of the 1.9 million fans who entered a lottery for the chance to buy Cubs World Series tickets, Sean Hruby's entry was chosen. His mom followed the online directions while her son was at work.
“This is where you need to be a video game player,” Mike Hruby said.
“Last year was our trial run,” explained Debby Hruby, who knew exactly how to fill out the form quickly this year. With tickets selling on the secondary market for several thousand dollars each, the Hrubys never entertained the thought of reselling them.
“It's the World Series,” Debby Hruby repeats as if she still has to convince herself that her Cubs actually made it for the first time in her lifetime. “Not only are the Cubs here, but we're here.”
Even Cubs Manager Joe Maddon's drive to the ballpark illustrated the difference a World Series brought to Wrigley and the neighborhood.
“How about the excitement throughout the industry, throughout the game, and throughout our city?” Maddon said before the game. “Everybody being engaged in this moment, it's good ...”
“You've got to appreciate the moment and what you're actually going through right now. The sin would be to not do that and have it go so quickly that you don't actually enjoy it ...,” Maddon said. “All this stuff matters, and I'm really going to try not to let it go too quickly.”
Friday night's disappointing loss with the tying and winning runs in scoring position when Javier Baez, one of the Cubs' hottest batters, struck out, doesn't crush Cubs fans. It only means the Cubs can't clinch at home. Maddon, the Cubs and fans are willing to let the loss go quickly. Using the old Cubs' saying with a new World Series twist — Wait 'Til Saturday.