Get Outta My Head! | Jamie Gray November 03, 2016 at 03:27PM

When I was like 6 or 7, I went to my first baseball game…at Wrigley Field, Chicago…1960-something. Fergie Jenkins took the mound at the top of the 1st, and I saw all my heros take their places around the diamond…Banks on first, Beckett on 2nd, Kessinger at Short, Santo on 3rd. Billy Williams ran out to Center Field, as Randy Hundley squatted into place behind the plate to warm up the future Hall of Fame, All Star pitcher.

I know it was a day game…there were no lights at Wrigley yet, so they all were day games. But, I don’t remember much else about who won the game (or even who they played that day) to tell you the truth. I wasn’t there to see the Cubs win, I was just there to see them PLAY.

I listened to every game they played that summer, on a little red AM radio my Aunt Jinnie had given me as a get-well gift (I got hit by a car in kindergarten, and spent a couple days home sick due to the resulting concussion). I had baseball cards with all their players pictures, but most games weren’t on TV yet, and I imagined each game thru the eyes of The Voice on the radio…Harry Carey I think…as I listened to the play-by-play….every afternoon, all summer long. It was everything that I thought about. Baseball. The Cubs.

Then that day arrived, and I was finally there at The Show! Wrigley Field!!

I kept line score in the program, and I’m pretty sure my dad bought me a Cubs Pennant that day, which hung on my bedroom wall for years afterwards. I recall a foul ball coming toward me, so close I thought I almost could grab it…before hitting a nun right in her glasses. I still remember feeling bad that she would have to miss the rest of the game.

Now, I know there’s a lot of folks who have been waiting for a Cubs World Championship for a lot longer than I…more die hard fans than I ever was, I’m sure. And yes, I do tend to to be a bit of a NY Mets fan at times, it’s true. But I’ve seen the Mets win a couple times (and lose a few more), and it was great when they won…but not like this.

Because today, I feel like that little kid again! My Cubbies FINALLY pulled one off! A World Series Championship!! YES!!

Long gone from the diamond are the great Cubbies of my youth, but it doesn’t matter. Because now I see it…I’m not just a Cubs fan. No, because I probably wouldn’t be a baseball fan at all, had it not been for that summer, and those Cubs.

Today, I AM that kid again. And I feel just like I remember feeling, as I walked into Wrigley for the first time that day. That first game…I FINALLY got to go to The Show for the First Time.

Today, Baseball itself and The Chicago Cubs, are One. Just like they were at that day at Wrigley. Just like they should be.

Congratulations, and Thank You 2016 Chicago Cubs!

#jfs #mlb #worldSeries #Cubs #Chicago #WorldChampions2016
. #gomh

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