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The Chicago Cubs | Thursday November 3, 2005 |
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KNOWN AS:
Chicago Cubs (1900-present) 
Chicago Orphans (1898-1899)
Chicago Colts (1890-1897)
Chicago White Stockings (1876-1889)
The only city to hold a team continuously since 1876, Chicago began as the "White Stockings," primarily because the best team in baseball, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, were their chief rivals. A clash of colored socks seemed appropriate. Beginning in 1890, some newspapers started to call the team the "Colts" because of all their young players. A similar name was the "Cubs," which also referred to the youth of the team. In 1898, when manager Cap Anson retired, the team was briefly called the "Orphans" before "Cubs" was officially sanctioned in 1900. Die-hard fans affectionately refer to the team as the "Cubbies."
CHAMPIONSHIPS:
1907 1908
-Two World Championships (1907-1908)
-Sixteen Pennants (1876, 1880-1882, 1885-1886, 1906-1908, 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1945)
-Three division titles (1984, 1989, 2003)
FAVORITE PLAYERS:
-All Time Favorite Cub: Ryne Sandburg
-Current Favorite Cub: Aramis Ramirez
MY PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CUBS:
I have no greater love in my life, outside of that of my family, than the Chicago Cubs. My relationship with the team began in 1984 as a child at the ripe age of 8. While visiting my Grandfather after school on weekdays, awaiting for my mother to arrive from work, to pick my brother and I up, I would watch the likes of Ryne Sandburg, Leon Durham, Rick Sutcliff and the rest of the gang on a daily basis. Wrigley had no lights atop its roof back then and the Cubs were forced, while playing at home, to play during the day.
The relationship one has with the Chicago Cubs as a fan is truly a unique one. We patiently await what we consider to be the biggest achievement possible in our lives, (Perhaps overstated, but when you've waited as long as we have, it begins to become more and more important with each passing year that we don't win one) and year after year, never obtained such an accomplishment. Yet as spring approaches, our mantra of "wait till next year" pours through our lips like milk to a baby's mouth.
Baseball though has to be about more than winning. While of course the ultimate goal is one focused on winning, many a life lesson has been taught to me vi sa vie baseball. I have and still consider myself to be a student of the game. More importantly however, baseball and the joys and some pains it brings is something I will share with my children in hopes that they too can feel the same sense of pride that I feel when I see my Cubbies take the field each day. Sooner or later, I am 100% positive that Cub fans everywhere will be rewarded with a World Series championship....and enduring the pains that we have endured over the years, so many close calls and misses (1984, 2003)...will make the taste of victory even more sweet. After all, patience IS a virtue.
A BIT ON WRIGLEY FIELD:
Wrigley Field is baseball's second oldest park and the National League's oldest park. There is something truely magical about this place. Amidst it's very old, and even somewhat crude internal structure, antiquated by most standards and certainly not as comfortable or clean as modern parks, Wrigley ignites a feeling of history and sense of honor by it's unchanged state via it's absolutely stunning playing field. There are no side shows, fireworks, jumbo-trons or anything relating to modern baseball once you enter the field of play. From a baseball purist sense, Wrigley offers to fans what it should...a very beautiful place to watch a baseball game. Among it's emerald green, extremely well kept grass lies a history that one can sense and feel, if they so choose to. While I am not extremely happy with it's reputation as being "the biggest bar in Chicago", there is somethign to be said about the quality of friendly interaction one recieves when at Wrigley Feild. It is the home of my team, and while I think it could use a bit of a pampering in terms of the "guts" of the venue, I am extremely proud and fond of what Wrigley offers to the fans once viewing the game......pure, unadulterated,....baseball.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Through the course of twenty one years of following the Chicago Cubs, the closest I have ever come to seeing a Cubs world series victory is being five outs (FIVE FREAKING OUTS!!) away from winning the pennant in 2003. I await the day, as many a Cub fan does, that the Cubs will be able to finally bring home another world title. Until then.....
Wait till next year!!!
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