Cubs win! Cubs in!
The Chicago Cubs started Friday night's playoff party in Cincinnati before the sun set and the fans arrived outside Wrigley Field. People in the Wrigleyville neighborhood were still on their way home from work or on their way to local watering holes shortly after 6 p.m. when Cubs slugger Alfonso Soriano homered on the third pitch of the game in Cincinnati.
By the time ace Carlos Zambrano and the bullpen finished the Cubs 6-0 victory over the Reds, the crowd at Hi-Tops across from Wrigley was belting out "Go, Cubs, Go" in full party mode. The dozens of cops on patrol outnumbered the fans outside the ballpark.
The real celebration couldn't begin until 10:03 p.m. That's when the San Diego Padres and pitcher Greg Maddux, the ghost of Cubs' past, beat the second-place Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 to propel the Cubs into the postseason future as Central Division champions and inspire many Wrigleyville encores of "Go, Cubs, Go."
Mired in a dour mood after watching their Cubs sleepwalk through three straight losses in Florida, frustrated Cubs fans clearly were ready to cut loose. Some were drinking booze as if they were downing a shot every time Cubs radio legend Ron Santo showed some emotion.
With the Cubs victory assured, fans too young to recall the Cubs 1984 playoff calamity in San Diego, began cheering "Let's go, Padres" at the TV broadcast of the game 90 miles north of Wrigley.
The second the Brewers lost and the Cubs' title was official, vendor Anthony Pesha cut loose the boxes of Cubs 2007 Central Division Champions T-shirts and hats.
"We didn't want to jinx it. We haven't even looked at them," said a superstitious Pesha/ He's still stinging from the last Cubs playoff appearance, when he snuck a look at the National League championship gear just before a sure thing turned into a historic heartache.
"We did in 2003 and it came back and bit us," Pesha said of his premature peek.
The wait was worth it tonight for Pesha, who, with his brother Lou, now run Chicago Sports and Novelty, which was started by their grandfather, Anthony, and previously run by their dad, Vince. For all those years, the Peshas haven't been able to sell any Cubs World Championship souvenirs. Only 26, Pesha doesn't even remember the 1984 debacle, when the Padres were the enemy, and Steve Garvey's bat and Leon Durham's mitt spelled disaster.
While most aren't old enough to bear the scars of the 1969 pain, young Cubs fans still cheer when the TV highlight show the New York Mets' crucial loss. All Cubs fans know the sad stories of coming up short of a World Series appearance in 1969, 1984, 1989, 1998 and 2003 -- not to mention the 99 years since the Cubs won one. But history can't hinder the enthusiasm for 2007.
Fans cheered the Cubs. They cheered the Padres. They cheered when Cubs manager Lou Piniella got doused with champagne in the Cubs' locker room celebration. They cheered when the Wrigley Field marquee announced the Cubs as division champs. And they especially cheered local 10 p.m. news reports on TV that showed them cheering.
Perhaps drained by the drama of the week, fans outside Wrigley Field seemed jubilant and boisterous, but generally well-behaved as they wait for the next chapter of Cubs history to be written next week.
Of course, the bars around Wrigley would be busier today and Sunday if the Cubs hadn't clinched and fans were still immersed in a fight for a playoff spot with the Brewers.
"Financially, the best thing that could happen is they tie and we get a game Monday," admitted Hi-Tops general manager Tim Webb. "But I'd rather be sure they are going to the playoffs."
The Cubs ARE going to the playoffs. Now all fans need to know is the opponent and for how long their Cubs will be playing.
One reason to be thinking World Series: Big Z is firing, Cubs' big bats are heating up, and fans now know all the words to "Go, Cubs, Go."
One reason to fret: After this year's emotional high, it might be tough for the Cubs to repeat as World Series champs in 2008.