A Letter To Mom About The Cubs
November 9, 2016 at 5:50 p.m.
By Roger Grossman-
Hey Mom!
I realize that where you are you probably aren’t paying much attention to what is happening here … and that’s a good thing! This election has been hard on everyone, and frankly we’re more divided as a country than ever. It’s getting harder and harder to find the good in it all.
But Mom, I wanted you to know that the Cubs finally did it! They finally went to the World Series and they won it!
It was one of the best World Series ever. The Cubs were down 3-1 in the series but they came back and won the last three games, including the last two in Cleveland.
Yep Mom, Cleveland. They had a bunch of injuries in the middle of the season and everybody sorta gave up on them, but they went on a long winning streak and everyone else just melted away. They had a heck of a season and their fans were really sad when it was over, but they were really proud of the Indians, and they should have been.
But the Cubs, Mom, they were SO much fun to watch all season. They got off to a great start and really only had one rough patch in the middle of the season where they couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. They survived it, and came out after the All-Star Break on fire again.
They hit, they ran the bases, they played defense, they were better than any Cubs team you ever saw in your lifetime, that’s for sure.
Maybe more than that, they had fun playing baseball. Even when things didn’t go right and they weren’t happy about it, the cameras caught them in the dugout talking things over. They didn’t fight with each other. They didn’t even really seem to argue. Everyone seemed to be on the same page and they all wanted the same thing.
And it was fun to watch them play. They seemed to enjoy their work and they had a way of making us fans feel like we were part of it. They smiled a lot, and they encouraged each other.
Yep, Mom, that big first baseman’s name was Anthony Rizzo. He’s a real leader, Mom. When things seemed like they might get too serious, Ol’ Rizzo was over there at first base laughing it up with whoever was close enough to listen. He’s a really good guy, and I am sure glad he’s on our team.
Your favorite part about this year’s Cubs team would have been that you would have remembered most of the players from the year before. Sure, I would have printed you out the roster and brought it to you whenever I came to visit like I did for a long time. But you would have remembered most of them.
It was kinda funny, Mom, when the Cubs beat the Dodgers to win the National League Pennant and get into the World Series, I wrote on Facebook (that’s one of those new-fangled things we didn’t teach you how to do) about how happy you and Dad would have been at the thought of the Cubs making it that far.
Then I started reading what other people were writing, and they were writing about their parents and grandparents and uncles and aunts and siblings who were all Cub fans and how happy they would have been too.
And they posted pictures of all those people – all wearing Cubs hats and shirts – and I could feel through their words that they were feeling the same thing I was. They were relieved that the Cubs had finally won, but they wished that those people who had made them love the Cubs would have been here to enjoy this moment with them.
So when Kris Bryant scooped that little ground ball and through it to Rizzo for the final out of our long-awaited championship moment, we all reacted a little differently. Some of us screamed, some of us hugged people we were with – all of us shed real tears.
Not even so much tears of joy, Mom. They were tears for all the people who lived and loved the Cubs who never got the chance to see Rizzo throw his glove into the air like a 10-year-old kid. They were tears shed for those generations of Cub fans like yours who made us Cubs fans but never saw that pay off. We cried for those who instilled in us a sense of loyalty the way you did me and Bruce and my sisters.
When that last out was recorded, I just stood there in my basement with my wife jumping up and down and hugging her. I was frozen in time, I guess.
Like so many others were wishing at that moment, I was wishing you could have been here to see it for yourself.
I was wishing that I could pick up the phone and call you to see how happy you and Dad were.
But I couldn’t.
But part of you is here with me, and always will be. The part that makes me watch or listen until ‘the last’ no matter what the score or what the team’s record. The part that makes me never want to give up.
I would never want you back from Heaven and I can’t wait to see you there someday. I’m doing well. I am eating more vegetables than ever, and I hardly ever have potato chips anymore.
I just wanted you to know that perseverance really does pay off, and even though you are gone, Mom, our Cubs are World Champions and so are you.
Hey Mom!
I realize that where you are you probably aren’t paying much attention to what is happening here … and that’s a good thing! This election has been hard on everyone, and frankly we’re more divided as a country than ever. It’s getting harder and harder to find the good in it all.
But Mom, I wanted you to know that the Cubs finally did it! They finally went to the World Series and they won it!
It was one of the best World Series ever. The Cubs were down 3-1 in the series but they came back and won the last three games, including the last two in Cleveland.
Yep Mom, Cleveland. They had a bunch of injuries in the middle of the season and everybody sorta gave up on them, but they went on a long winning streak and everyone else just melted away. They had a heck of a season and their fans were really sad when it was over, but they were really proud of the Indians, and they should have been.
But the Cubs, Mom, they were SO much fun to watch all season. They got off to a great start and really only had one rough patch in the middle of the season where they couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. They survived it, and came out after the All-Star Break on fire again.
They hit, they ran the bases, they played defense, they were better than any Cubs team you ever saw in your lifetime, that’s for sure.
Maybe more than that, they had fun playing baseball. Even when things didn’t go right and they weren’t happy about it, the cameras caught them in the dugout talking things over. They didn’t fight with each other. They didn’t even really seem to argue. Everyone seemed to be on the same page and they all wanted the same thing.
And it was fun to watch them play. They seemed to enjoy their work and they had a way of making us fans feel like we were part of it. They smiled a lot, and they encouraged each other.
Yep, Mom, that big first baseman’s name was Anthony Rizzo. He’s a real leader, Mom. When things seemed like they might get too serious, Ol’ Rizzo was over there at first base laughing it up with whoever was close enough to listen. He’s a really good guy, and I am sure glad he’s on our team.
Your favorite part about this year’s Cubs team would have been that you would have remembered most of the players from the year before. Sure, I would have printed you out the roster and brought it to you whenever I came to visit like I did for a long time. But you would have remembered most of them.
It was kinda funny, Mom, when the Cubs beat the Dodgers to win the National League Pennant and get into the World Series, I wrote on Facebook (that’s one of those new-fangled things we didn’t teach you how to do) about how happy you and Dad would have been at the thought of the Cubs making it that far.
Then I started reading what other people were writing, and they were writing about their parents and grandparents and uncles and aunts and siblings who were all Cub fans and how happy they would have been too.
And they posted pictures of all those people – all wearing Cubs hats and shirts – and I could feel through their words that they were feeling the same thing I was. They were relieved that the Cubs had finally won, but they wished that those people who had made them love the Cubs would have been here to enjoy this moment with them.
So when Kris Bryant scooped that little ground ball and through it to Rizzo for the final out of our long-awaited championship moment, we all reacted a little differently. Some of us screamed, some of us hugged people we were with – all of us shed real tears.
Not even so much tears of joy, Mom. They were tears for all the people who lived and loved the Cubs who never got the chance to see Rizzo throw his glove into the air like a 10-year-old kid. They were tears shed for those generations of Cub fans like yours who made us Cubs fans but never saw that pay off. We cried for those who instilled in us a sense of loyalty the way you did me and Bruce and my sisters.
When that last out was recorded, I just stood there in my basement with my wife jumping up and down and hugging her. I was frozen in time, I guess.
Like so many others were wishing at that moment, I was wishing you could have been here to see it for yourself.
I was wishing that I could pick up the phone and call you to see how happy you and Dad were.
But I couldn’t.
But part of you is here with me, and always will be. The part that makes me watch or listen until ‘the last’ no matter what the score or what the team’s record. The part that makes me never want to give up.
I would never want you back from Heaven and I can’t wait to see you there someday. I’m doing well. I am eating more vegetables than ever, and I hardly ever have potato chips anymore.
I just wanted you to know that perseverance really does pay off, and even though you are gone, Mom, our Cubs are World Champions and so are you.
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