This thread is for those that didn't get to witness this

[Old Style]

For Ron Santo- Possibly the biggest Cubs fan ever. He was a terrible announcer but god did I love listening to him cheer & groan along with us as Pat told us what was actually happening.

 

For Ernie Banks- The name Mr. Cub says it all.

 

For Jack Brickhouse- The first announcer I heard call a Cubs game.

 

For Harry Caray- The voice of the Cubs for most of my childhood.

 

For our own Fred Hornkohl- I never had the pleasure to meet him but I always loved his posts on the game threads and felt like I got to know him through the posts of many of you here.

 

And for my old man- My dad was right up there with Santo in his love for the Cubs. He was giddy like a little kid when he got to meet his hero Billy Williams and get his picture with him. Then the next year at spring training he actually got Tom Ricketts to get Billy to sign his picture for him. He is the reason I love the Cubs so much. Many times over the years I cursed him for making me a fan but I can't thank him enough now. We spent so many hours bonding while watching games together at home and at Wrigley. This experience is somewhat bittersweet because he's no longer here but I found a way to take him to the World Series with me.

 

http://i.imgur.com/ezGAQhY.jpg

[Aaron_Kennelly]

I was lucky enough to watch the game with my dad last night. He was very happy and said he didn't think he'd ever see this day. My grandfather passed away two years ago, after 90 years of torment from the Cubbies. But my grandmother is still going strong at 93 and still watches every game. My dad said she'd been taking naps during the day last week so she could stay up to watch the games.

[Regular Show]

Old Style wrote:

 

For Ron Santo- Possibly the biggest Cubs fan ever. He was a terrible announcer but god did I love listening to him cheer & groan along with us as Pat told us what was actually happening.

 

Man, I'm not going to lie -- it really really sucks Ron Santo isn't alive to witness this. I miss hearing his voice on the radio and those groans and how genuinely upset he was when the Cubs were playing poorly. He would've loved this team and their hustle and their passion for the game. He really thought that 03' team was the team to break this drought. I think Kris Bryant may end up being the "Ron Santo" for this younger generation of Cubs fans. Ron Santo would adore KB, and how he plays the game. Ron Santo and Ernie Banks and all the great Cubs players who never got a chance to see this ... that really hurts.

 

The good news is if the Cubs go all the way (I think they will) someone needs to make an excellent documentary about this Cubs team and the catharsis it (hopefully) provides to the living family/friends of Ron Santo and Ernie Banks and other Cubs fans who died before they got a chance to witness this glorious day.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/images/players/head_shot/121697.jpg

 

RIP - Ron Santo (I never thought you were a terrible announcer -- you were great)

[mike2482]

My Grandpa Bud, the reason for my love of the Cubbies. He was a man of few words, but you could always get him gabbing about the Cubs. If there was a game on, he was watching from his recliner, or listening to the radio while working in the garage. I am the only family member that carried on the Cub love, and hope that my boys enjoy them together the way we did.

 

I was 16 in, when he passed away, just a few months before Harry. The only thing I kept of his, was his old mesh back Cubs hat. I pulled it out of its safe place for the World Series.

[Andy]

I almost feel bad that I don't personally know anyone that didn't see this. I didn't have Cubdom passed to me. I was an Atlanta fan by virtue of living in the South until moving to Indiana at age 11. As it happened the best friend I made in Indiana was and is a Cubs fan and basically made me watch games with him on summer afternoons until it inevitably sucked me in. Somewhere around age 13/14 I made the full conversion.

 

I thanked him late Saturday night for making me a Cubs fan. Totally worth it.

[cubscott34]

As I posted in other places, I wish my dad had been able to see it. He was born three years after the Cubs last World Series and he passed three years before this one so he never got the chance to experience this at any point. However, I know he's watching from above and is probably hanging out with Ernie and Ron, two of his most favorite players, as they smile down on all of us.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/cubscott/Screenshot_20161023-101304.jpg

[Banedon]

Growing up, my parents didn't really care much about sports at all, But we had some older neighbors, Jim and Laura, that were like grandparents to us kids. They were always out sitting on their porch with the game on the radio, even though the game was on tv. We'd go over and sit on their stoop and listen to the game with them, and Jim was just a huge Cubs fan. He made our whole family Cubs fans. I was definitely thinking of both of them the other night.

[Sammys Boombox]

My grandfather. The first Cubs fan in our family. He passed away when I was one. They lived in Rockford at the time. He is buried there. My family hasn't had ties to the Rockford area since the early 1990s when my grandma moved away. I was interviewed by a Rockford TV station in the stands after the clincher. People who haven't seen me since his funeral in 1989 were messaging my dad on Facebook asking if this late 20s kid with the same name was indeed my dad's son.

 

I don't remember my grandfather, but I know my dad and uncle were having a hard time not being able to talk to him Saturday night. I think I'm going to do the thing where I bring his picture to Game 4 in my ticket lanyard.

 

Go Cubs Go!

[biittner77]

My oldest brother, who had his early childhood dreams shattered in 1969, moved to New York and eventually became a Yankee fan. He always followed the Cubs but over the years became more of a Yankee fan. I'll never forget when the Cubs hired Theo Epstein, he basically said that it wasn't going to do any good and that Theo basically won with what was already there and the usual Yankee fan bitterness about all things Red Sox.

 

He passed away 2 years ago and I'm sorry he's not around to see this. Not to eat his words (that would have come last year) or anything like that but because I think that he'd be very happy that the Cubs finally made it to the series.

[BigbadB]

My grandfather. He served in WWII raised 6 kids (one with cerebral palsy) during the worst economic times this country has ever seen and he worked his ass off to provide for my dad and his brothers and sisters. He couldn't tell you if the Cubs were a baseball team or a basketball team back in those days, which was also the last time the Cubs were in a World Series. In his retirement as a truck driver, he found that the Cubs were about the only worthy daytime tv worth watching. It wasn't until retirement that he finally did something for himself and got a basic cable tv package with WGN. Having them playing during the day with Harry and Steve broadcasting into his living room turned him into a huge Cub fan.

 

I wish he was able to be here to watch this happen. I doubt he'd be able to stay up watching these late games live. A few of my family members are Cardinal fans since we grew up between Chicago and St. Louis, but all should be Cub fans, because that's what Grandpa was.

[Tracer Bullet]

2 of my son's great-grandfathers - my grandpa on my mom's side and my wife's grandpa on her dad's side. They were both about the same age. Both die hard Cubs fans. Moved to the same small town (at different times) where my wife and I were born. My mom and my father-in-law were classmates in high school. Their dads were golfing buddies in retirement. My grandpa was basically deaf and my wife's grandpa never stopped talking so it didn't matter if you could hear him or not.

 

They died within 3 weeks of each other after pitchers and catchers reported in 2014. My wife's grandpa is the kind of guy who could talk anyone into almost anything and you'd be laughing along so much you'd forget why you didn't want to do it in the first place. So I'm guessing he was able to pull whatever strings might have been needed to get Theo's plan to work to perfection.

[OleMissCub]

My father passed away in late May. Ever since he retired back in 2001, he watched every game on the MLB package. It was a daily routine for him and was really the only thing I talked to him about. The last time I ever talked to him, just hours before his death, the extent of our conversation was about Heyward diving headfirst into the wall.

 

He really loved what he got to saw of this team and I really, really wish he were around to see this. He came real close.

[Sammy Sofa]

Well, my living grandmother is a White Sox fan (and was a NY Giants fan in her younger days), her husband was a White Sox fan when he was alive, my other grandmother didn't care about sports at all, and my OTHER grandfather was a Cubs fan, but he basically gave up on them and revealed some primo old man racism during the McGwire/Sosa home run battle. Ended up basically becoming a Braves fan in his final years because Chipper Jones was inexplicably suddenly his favorite baseball player. So, yeah, tough horsefeathers, gramps!

[WrigleyField 22]

Both my grandfathers were Cubs fans, but my mom's dad was really the biggest reason I'm personally a Cubs fan, lots of summer days spent watching WGN and going to pick up baseball cards with him. He passed away a couple years ago now (crazy how it still feels like it wasn't that long ago). But I've definitely thought about him a lot during this post season run.

 

My dad is still with us, and somehow has become a Cubs fan again for the first time since 69 when he gave up on them in 8th grade lol. I wasn't much older for the heaetbreak of 03 and managed to stay committed, so he's much more fairweather than me, but its been fun to have him around watching baseball with me for the first time I can ever remember, especially since my grandpa isn't around to enjoy the games with.

[Old Style]

One more win, ladies & gentlemen! :flythew:

[Splendid Splinter]

I don't know where else to put this, but my great grandpa is smiling somewhere. He started the Cubs fandom. He was born in 1893 and passed away in 2001. I barely knew him cuz I was like 16 when he passed away, but my grandpa is a huge influence on me being a Cubs fan which only happened cuz his dad was one. My grandpa came to my door tonight asking if I can take the day off tomorrow (I work with my dad and he told me I have the rest of the week off) and we watched the game together. IN the past hour after the game was over, my grandpa was telling me stories about my great grandpa who got to see amazing players lIke Christy Mathewson and Oscar Charleston. I asked my grandpa on what his dad would say right now on the last out and he said... "oh horsefeathers".

 

 

So Fred and Howie (great grandpa)... this one for you.

Edited November 3, 2016 by Splendid Splinter

[Ding Dong Johnson]

My grandpa on my mom's side is the reason I became as big of a fan as I am. My grandparents yard looked out over the town's only baseball diamond so I spent good chunks of my summers either watching the Cubs with him or playing on that diamond, with him in the backyard watching every pitch. He passed away 11 years ago, and I wish like hell I could have shared this night with him. No matter what bad has ever come my way in life, I have always been able to lean on some of the things I learned form him:

1. It's good to smile and laugh even when you don't feel good.

2. Sometimes there's nothing better than to just sit and watch a baseball game and forget the rest of world.

3. Getting shot at by the police can actually be kinda funny in the right context.

 

:flythew:

[OleMissCub]

Not ashamed to admit I had one of the hardest cries in my life tonight. I really, really want to talk to my dad about this, but I can't. My heart is joyous while it is simultaneously aching so hard. He came just a few months from seeing all this.

[doublebubble]

Thank you Grandpa for teaching me about the Cubs when I was 4 years old and visiting your house in Palentine.

Thank you for telling me that Ron Cey was a bum and couldnt hit in the clutch.

Thank you for taking me to a game where Jody Davis beat the Pirates with a home run.

Thank you for teaching me that even though the Cubs do not win, the point in life is to try your best and never quit.

Thank you for setting me straight in 1988 when I tried to root for the Oakland Athletics.

Thank you for teaching me that the National league is where real baseball is played.

Thank you for being with me tonight and I hope you enjoyed something you always wanted to see in your 63 years on this planet.

 

I will never forget you and I cannot thank you enough for this feeling.

 

I love you.

[MarkR]

For my mom. She was a bleacher bum from the 60's and caught Banks' 475th home run on opening day in 69. I bought her and my brother Cubs tickets last year in April for her birthday against the Pirates. Good seats because I didn't want her going into the Upper Deck and the ramps.

 

She called me the next morning and was beside herself apologetic because she just felt really sick and couldn't get to the game. She assured me if she wasn't feeling better the next day, she'd go see the doctor. I got a call the next day from my brother that my mom had passed away.

 

She was a hardcore Cub fan who is no doubt going crazy in heaven right now.

[Old Style]

This One's For All The Cubs Fans Who Didn't Live Long Enough To See It

 

Haven't read this yet because I don't want to cry at work but I wanted to make sure I posted this so I could read it tonight at home.

 

:flythew: :flythew: :flythew: :flythew:

[Proven Veteran]

This One's For All The Cubs Fans Who Didn't Live Long Enough To See It

 

Haven't read this yet because I don't want to cry at work but I wanted to make sure I posted this so I could read it tonight at home.

 

:flythew: :flythew: :flythew: :flythew:

 

Yeah, I'll have to save that one for later.

[evv98]

To my grandfather, who made me a Cub fan. I would spend weeks with my grandparents on their farm during the summer. He ran his own business and always had the games on the radio during the day, hanging on every word that Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau would utter.

 

In the pre-cable days of the mid-70's the only time we could actually watch the Cubs was when the local affiliate would have Cubs games on Sunday afternoon. It was a ritual to sit down after Sunday dinner and suffer with our beloved Cubbies. Many a Sunday afternoon started with him cursing the bums in Cubbie blue, and end with him snoring in "his chair" while the Cubs lose another game, season or decade.

 

He died in 1992 having never seen a title. The last time I saw him I placed my favorite Cubs hat into his hands so he could take it to his eternal resting place.

 

I am not a religious person and do not really believe in heaven and hell, but if I am wrong I know he is smiling and laughing while dancing a jig over this championship.

[WrigleyField 22]

So after my grandpa passed away a couple years ago, my grandmother wanted a new living room chair because she didn't like his. This wasnt exactly "his chair" that I grew up knowing as his, as he had bought it new when they moved out of their house into a senior living place just a few years prior to that. Still, it was his chair and my wife and I inherited the chair as it was a great basement chair as we wete trying to fill up a new house.

 

You better believe I watched 9 innings from that seat last night. Only in the 10th when I had to pace around was i not sitting there. Would have preferred to have him sitting there in the moment, but trying to carry on his memory was the next best thing.

[biittner77]

My oldest brother, who had his early childhood dreams shattered in 1969, moved to New York and eventually became a Yankee fan. He always followed the Cubs but over the years became more of a Yankee fan. I'll never forget when the Cubs hired Theo Epstein, he basically said that it wasn't going to do any good and that Theo basically won with what was already there and the usual Yankee fan bitterness about all things Red Sox.

 

He passed away 2 years ago and I'm sorry he's not around to see this. Not to eat his words (that would have come last year) or anything like that but because I think that he'd be very happy that the Cubs finally made it to the series.

 

Yesterday would have been my brother's birthday.