CHICAGO (CBS) — The game may be at Progressive Field, but there is still a lot going on at the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field.
When the Cubs last won the World Series, Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House. That is why Wrigley Field is very busy Tuesday, as people are coming by hoping to tap into the Cubs mojo.
There is joy in and around Wrigleyville because the Cubs did not strike out this year and fans believe this team will, as advertised, make some day today.
“We just wanted to capture the excitement of the Cubs being in the World Series,” said Jeffrey Martin, Chicago. “Even though the games are not here until Friday, it is still great to be in the neighborhood.”
A neighborhood that will be rocking Tuesday night, despite the fact that Kris Bryant and the rest of the Cubbies will be taking on the Indians hundreds of miles away from the Northside’s Friendly Confines.
“This is a once in a lifetime experience,” said Julie Ausbrook, Chicago. “So we had to get our picture out here.”
Parking restrictions will be in effect outside Wrigleyville bars and extra security will be on hand. But Julie Ausbrook said the fans will be seen and unseen.
“Well my grandmother was a Cubs fan, and she never got the chance to see them win,” Ausbrook said. “That is why I am hoping she can look down and see us win.”
The team that keeps tradition alive has changed that tradition from one of inexorable futility to one of seemingly boundless promise. Just a few years ago seeing the team in the Fall Classic was even more improbable then seeing a woman in pink at the controls of construction equipment.
“My entire backyard is full of Wrigley Field grass,” said Richie Gracia, Bridgeport.
Or as improbable as Richie Gracia’s Southside backyard, lovingly constructed with sod from the Northside’s 102-year-old park. The sod that he picked up about a month ago when Cubs groundskeepers replaced the ballparks grass.
“It’s my own piece of heaven,” Gracia said. “Yesterday since there was no game I had to roll around in it for a little while to get my cub fix.”
And he is not done yet, with his own ‘Little Wrigley.’
“I will be painting the World Series logo on my backyard,” Gracia said.
As is tradition, the flags of the Cubs opponent fly outside Wrigley Field.
That’s why this week you are seeing the colors of the tribe alongside the Cleveland city flag as we prepared to welcome the visitors for at least two games.
Some fans are not waiting for the results of game 1 to fly the ‘W.’ A Bartlett couple, who are live-long Cubs fans, cut a ‘W’ into their front yard and then, spray painted the ‘W.’
The action has received a lot of attention from neighbors.
