Former Cubs warmly welcomed back to Wrigley
One by one the line moved, like lunchtime at a New York deli.
First it was Starlin Castro paraded before the media. Then it was Joe Girardi. Then Aroldis Chapman. And over there it was Adam Warren.
All these ex-Cubs were back at Wrigley Field on Friday, and each shared his feelings on returning as members of the New York Yankees.
Chapman and Warren picked up their World Series rings, as each spent part of last season with the Cubs. Chapman played a huge role as the closer down the stretch and into the postseason.
Girardi, the Yankees manager, is a former Cub, Peoria native and Northwestern grad.
The day belonged to Castro, who missed out on the World Series but was one of the faces of the franchise from 2010-15.
"It feels a little weird, but I feel pretty good to be back here," he said. "It's always going to be memories here because that's the team that gave me the fair opportunity to be a professional baseball player and to be in the big leagues for the first time. I'll always be thankful."
Castro made his Cubs debut on May 7, 2010 in Cincinnati, where he lit things up with a 3-run homer in his first at-bat, followed by a 3-run triple.
He endured a lot of losing until 2015, when the Cubs made it to the National League championship series. With all that, it wasn't all fun for Castro during the year. He lost his shortstop job to Addison Russell and was benched before contributing to the playoff run as the second baseman.
He was traded after that season, but he's not disappointed.
"No. I feel happy for the city," he said. "I feel happy for my ex-teammates. The good thing I can say is right when I left, we made the playoffs for the first time. That's the first time I played in the playoffs, and I feel pretty good when I left because I made the playoffs."
He also eased Russell into his old job without bitterness.
"The team by that time played really good," he said. "I was not hitting well. I was not going to be a negative guy on the team. I told Russell, 'Hey, just play your baseball. I'm not mad at you. That's the business. You play your best. I'm going to be here all the time. Don't worry about anything.'"
Castro's hot start this season has impressed Girardi.
"He's had a lot of big hits for us," Girardi said. "He loves to play the game. Those kinds of things you could see sometimes from afar, but there's a toughness there within Starlin that I've seen that really impresses me.
"He has fun. He laughs. He smiles. He's very personable. And he plays hard. I think that's probably the biggest reason."
It was all smiles for Chapman as he was presented with his World Series ring by team chairman Tom Ricketts, president Theo Epstein, general manager Jed Hoyer and manager Joe Maddon.
Chapman was not always happy with being used for more than one inning at times last season and postseason, but he and Maddon had what looked to be a heartfelt and long hug. Maddon said they could not have won the World Series without Chapman.
"I feel humbled by that comment by Joe Maddon," Chapman said through a translator.
As for Warren, he was traded to the Cubs for Castro and back to the Yankees for Chapman last July. He received his ring in the visitors bullpen.
"They were trying to catch me at the right time," he said. "We did it in the bullpen. It felt appropriate.
"First class. I'm very honored to get it and be a part of that special season. It's an honor. I was kind of speechless when they gave it to me. I just really didn't know what to say."