Die-hard fan waits 98 years to see his first game at Wrigley, and Cubs win

Die-Hard Cubs fan Rino Stefani is so old that when he was born, his mom was fretting about how it had been two whole years since her beloved Cubs last won a World Series.

Since Stefani's birth on July 1, 1911, Wrigley Field was built, New Mexico became a state, the Titanic hit an iceberg and resurfaced as a blockbuster movie, the Ottoman Empire dissolved, the Soviet Union rose and fell, we won two World Wars and had mixed results in a few others, we survived a Great Depression, the Hindenburg caught fire, Lindbergh and Earhart flew across the Atlantic (not together), we put a man on the moon, Mickey Mouse and penicillin arrived on the scene, we invented computers, microwaves, cell phones and flat-screen TVs, we gave women the vote, elected a black president - but the Cubs are still waiting to win a World Series, and Stefani never made a visit to Wrigley Field.

"It's amazing," the 98-year-old Stefani says Friday afternoon as he finds his way to his seat behind home plate at the ballpark nearly as old as he. "This is the first game I've been at. I can't believe it."

He removes his glasses and wipes tears from his eyes as he motions with his left hand at Wrigley's green grass, the sun-kissed ivy and the throngs of fans. He asks how many people are jammed into the park and the rooftops.

"Forty-one thousand people?" Stefani says in amazement. "That's a state."

Stefani says he is having an "out of this world" experience thanks to his caretakers at Arden Courts of Geneva, who sent the resident to his first Cubs game in a white stretch limo and even got doctor's permission for him to enjoy a beer.

"I can drink a beer without permission," Stefani says, his lips narrowing and his eyes opening as he takes his first sip since he can remember.

"I love these," he adds, hoisting the hot dog delivered by Cyrena Robertson, Arden's program coordinator, who sits next to him. "That's it. Perfect."

That's exactly the point of the Heart's Desire program at Arden, says marketing director Sharon Brazill.

"It can be something daring or something simple, but what makes it special is that it is unique to that particular resident," says Brazill, noting other residents have gone to the Art Institute, taken a carriage ride or just enjoyed a visit with someone special.

A lifelong Cubs fan, a trait he inherited from his mother, Stefani didn't want to take the time or money to go to Wrigley back when he was a working man. And he was always working. As a kid, he used to help run his parents' candy and ice cream shop in DeKalb. Then he was a spy during World War II, parachuting into his parents' homeland of Italy. He read meters and did other work for ComEd, and didn't like forced retirement at age 65. So he sold shoes in a department store until it closed. He pumped gas at a station until it closed. Then he worked in a liquor store.

"He did that until he was 95, and we had to make him quit," says Sharon, the only daughter among his four children. Stefani's wife, Idonna, died eight years ago.

He followed the Cubs all of his life and watched them religiously on TV.

"Every year he says, 'This is the year,' but they never made it," his daughter notes. Neither did her dad. Why didn't he ever get to Wrigley in the last century?

"He is a homebody," Sharon Stefani says. "He always said he could see it better from his living room, sitting in his chair. He didn't want to fight the crowds. He didn't want to spend money."

Fortunately, the Cubs gave him a free goody-bag with a batting helmet, T-shirt, pennant and other souvenirs.

During the seventh inning stretch, Stefani sang also with Robertson. He smiles as fans mistake him for some old Cub legend _ Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown or Gabby Hartnett.

On the day Stefani was born, the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0. In his first visit to Wrigley, the Cubs beat the Reds 6-4.

"He had another beer," Robertson says as they head for the limo, "so I think we're good."

Stefani smiles, and says, "Perfect."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=9&type=video&item=403">Rino Stefani's first Cubs game </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>