Next year not here

Summer refuses to leave, but Wrigley Field's boys of summer are just a memory.

No sooner does anthem-singer Wayne Messmer remind the sweltering Wrigley Field hopeful that we are living in the home of the brave, Arizona Diamondbacks' leadoff hitter Chris Young reminds fans of his game-changing home run in the Cubs' Game 2 loss by homering on the first pitch of the Cubs' 5-1 Game 3 and final loss of 2007.

The fans are barely in their seats and Wham! One pitch and the Cubs' memorable season starts heading for the exit.

"Holy…." swears one angry fan.

"Bring in (Kerry) Wood," barks another.

"C'mon, Richie," a younger, less cynical Cubs fan pleads to doomed starting pitcher Rich Hill.

If memories (misty, water-colored memories) light the corners of fans' minds, the brains of us poor Cubs fans must be better lit than a runway at O'Hare. We pray for a Cubbie blue heaven, and we are damned to a lifetime of hellish memories. We hope for a new ending to a story we've read many times before.

Everything about Saturday's season-ending heartbreak brings back memories of those wonderful winning seasons (and sorry ends) of 1969, 1984, 1989, 1998 and 2003.

Mr. Cub Ernie Banks, wearing a shirt identifying him as Mr. Cub, throws out the first pitch. The greatest Cub never to reach a World Series, Banks tosses a pitch caught by Sean Marshall, a lanky, lefty wisp of pitching promise who qualifies as the greatest Cub left off this year's playoff roster.

Marshall and his dad pose for a photo with Banks. That digital memory fits all Cubs-related memories -- ecstasy tinged with a hint of pain.

Mark Grace, once a poor man's Mr. Cub, has a World Series ring from a year with the Diamondbacks and a Cubs career that reminds Chicago fans of a 1989 playoff run that stopped short of a World Series.

Cub Alfonso Soriano chases a foul ball along the left-field line, but it is caught by a fan, bringing back memories of 2003. "Bartman, Bartman," chant a few fans, who refuse to let that lousy memory die.

The bases-loaded, rally-killling double play in the fifth inning brings back painful memories of the rally-killing double plays in the first and third innings, and foreshadows the one on tap to end the seventh. Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew finishes the scoring with a repeat of his home run from the second game of the series.

"Whether you win or lose, there is something inheritably just about baseball," says the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who knows a bit about losing campaigns and keeping the faith. Jackson, sitting a few rows behind home plate, notes the bases are the same distance apart for everyone; the foul pole and home run fence treat everyone the same.

"You really do have a chance every time," Jackson says.

I know I've had plenty of chances to write this column about the Cubs disappointing fans every time.

"After that first pitch, I knew it was over," admits a somber Derek Kirchner, 12, of Naperville, as he slowly files out of Wrigley Field with his dad, Bill, and 6-year-old brother Jason.

Bill Kirchner has made this sad walk with disappointed sons before.

"I was here for the Bartman game," Kirchner says, explaining how his two older sons, Brian and Kevin, were with him that night in 2003. "We've experienced some of the disappointment before."

A team of 20 Fanfoto photographers took a Wrigley-record 5,400 pictures of Cubs fans at Saturday's season-ending sweep, says Andy Slowinski, a Fanfoto operations manager from Bloomingdale.

"It could have been more," Slowinski says, "but due to the loss…"

I know. We all know. We Cub fans don't need photographic reminders of the memories of painful losses already replaying in the corners of our minds. And yet, we repeat the mantra of "Wait Till Next Year" as if it is part of a religious ritual, which it just might be.

"With faith," concludes the Rev. Jackson, "you bounce back."

See you next year.