Iowan wins Wrigley chance of a lifetime

For 81-year-old Elinore Triner of Palatine, not winning the Ultimate 7th Inning Stretch Competition had its advantages.

"I can yell now!" the elated Cubs fan said Saturday. "If I got picked to sing, I was going to have to worry about not screaming."

Triner instead happily cheered on Guttenberg, Iowa, native Dustin Eglseder, 22, who beat out nine other competitors, including five from suburban Chicago.

Eglseder is the first regular fan to ever get the opportunity, and his rendition of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" would've made storied Cubs announcer Harry Caray proud.

With more than 41,000 sets of eyes directed up at the booth and the Cubs up 7-3, Eglseder channeled Caray, waving the microphone and finishing off the song with the familiar cry for more runs.

Eglseder emerged from a field of 2,700 entries who auditioned at Wrigley Field back in July. He came back as one of 50 semifinalists and sang in front of celebrity judges, including Caray's widow, Dutchie, and Cubs Hall-of-Famers Ernie Banks and Billy Williams, who helped narrow the group down to 10.

The other finalists were Triner, Arlington Heights natives Matt Shepardson and Marci Braun, Carly Butler of Oswego, Peter Mastro of Carol Stream, Lindsey Studnicki of Normal, Dick Wyninger of Urbana, Eric Wollam of Tennessee and Rich Kienzl of Hammond, Ind.

Eglseder's story captured the attention of most Iowans, who made up a good chunk of the more than 150,000 votes cast on the Cubs Web site.

He recently completed six months of chemotherapy treatments for bone cancer and says the Cubs have served as another sort of therapy.

"I don't think I'd be able to do this without the Cubs," he said. "Watching them every single day has been the best thing for me, as important as any medicine."

But Eglseder, who today will appear on "Good Morning America at New York's Times Square," would rather talk about sitting on his grandpa's bed as a kid, eating cookies and watching the games.

"Dustin is what the stretch competition is all about," said Jay Blunk, the Cubs director of marketing and sales. "I'm sure Harry's looking down right now just loving this."

All the finalists stood on the field in a pre-game ceremony, wearing their Cubs jerseys and clutching their autographed game balls and plaques.

"It's magic down there," said Marci Braun, a 30-year-old country music director at US99-FM. "Ryne Sandberg was 10 feet away from me. I couldn't sleep last night and thought I was going to toss my cookies, but this is Christmas in September."

Each share an undying devotion to the team that specializes in heartbreak.

"I was a Cubs fan before I was born," says Braun, whose parents grew up on the North side. "That's just the way it is in my family. I don't know any other way."

Triner's loyalty is also a product of her dad. Surrounded by five of her six children, she points to the right field bleachers, where she and her dad sat when the Cubs dropped the last game of the 1945 World Series to the Detroit Tigers.

As she recalled the game from her complimentary box seats, Triner broke off mid-memory to cheer wildly for Derrek Lee's 2-run homer in the bottom of the first inning.

"Onward to the World Series," says Triner, adding that the finalists all agreed to meet again at the Cubs Convention in January. "I think they're on their way. I really do."

Another person counting on the Cubs playing the last week of October is 11-year-old finalist Carly Butler of Oswego. She wrote in the contest's essay portion that her family roots for the Cubs with the same spirit as Ron Santo, who lives with diabetes like her dad.

"We have to make up for 2003," says Carly.

Saturday's 9-5 victory over the Pirates can help the Cubs get there.