Wrigley Field the morning after: Fans flock to stadium to honor team
It's a new day at Wrigley Field.
The sun blazed through the pre-dawn clouds and began tickling the tips of the light standards atop the old ballpark. A cool, soft wind whispered through the iconic stadium's ancient eaves.
The players have all come and gone.
But the park is still awake and alive.
Fans wander along the outskirts of the building, stopping to take pictures of themselves in front of the red brick walls that are now mostly taken over by multicolored chalk tributes or just reaching out to touch it to make sure what happened a few hours ago is real.
It was.
"Isn't this beautiful? This is for all these people. Those that can be here and those that couldn't," said MaryLou Jarvis of Naperville.
For a place that has housed so many unfulfilled hopes and wishes for 107 years, all is seemingly forgiven and forgotten. The fresh taste of joy has replaced the stale, sour century of misery.
"We're not the doormats anymore," said Mike Compton of Arlington Heights. "That's what this means."
Though the game was played hundreds of miles away from here, Wrigley called to fans.
When Erin and Steve Weinland were eating breakfast Wednesday morning with their two young sons at their home in Richmond, Virginia, they didn't think about dropping everything and hopping a flight to Cleveland. They came to Chicago.
"We wanted to come here for the game," Steve Weinland said. "It's not crazy. This is what makes you a Cubs fan."
Most of the crowd around the stadium Thursday has slept little to none since Anthony Rizzo recorded the final out just before midnight in Chicago. Their elation hadn't dwindled much, either.
"We couldn't see the marquee last night so we came back this morning," said Rebecca Prekwas of Downers Grove. "We had to get that picture. It didn't happen if you don't have the picture."
A makeshift store along Clark Street that the Cubs had erected to sell playoff merchandise was swarmed with fans grabbing T-shirts and hats emblazoned with the long-awaited words: "World Series Champions."
By 9 a.m. the pickings were getting slim.
"We're almost out," said Luke Purcell, who was restocking the racks as fast as fans were emptying them. "We're going to be getting more soon. At least I hope they're coming."
Many who had celebrated the victory among their fellow fans during and after the game at the park had returned in the morning to take in a more peaceful experience before getting back to their regularly scheduled lives. "I just think this is the greatest to be among this mass pilgrimage," said Michael Sweeney of Mundelein, "but I do gotta get back to work."
It's another morning at Wrigley Field. But it's a new day for Cubs fans.