(some) dreams do come true....kinda....

it was hot, no AC in the school....but there i sat all day....just waiting for the last bell of the day to ring...as soon as the bell rang, id be gone, out the door, like a shot! you see, i had to get home cuz the Cubs were on WGN!! for as long as i can remember the (un)official start of my summer was when cubs baseball would start. i guess it was the start of BASEBALL in general, but i didnt care about anything but the cubs as far as baseball was concerned....when we picked our numbers for Little League, i always picked mine based upon which cubs was wearing what number. just for the record, my fave cub, and therefore my fave number was #10, ron santo. this dude should be in the hall of fame, for numerous reasons, but you know, thats a BIG BIG blog for a different day. so that being said, i think every, or at least most boys growing up wants to be a professional athlete...or at least will pretend as they are playing sand lot ball that they are Santo, or Ryno, or Gracie, or any number of cubs. so i played minor league, little league, and senior league, in that order, and it was pretty clear that i would never progress further than city leagues...i wasn't bad, i was pretty good, but i just wasn't THAT good....i pretty much gave up on one of my dreams....to cross the chalk and be on the grass at Wrigley field....for those of you who don't know, that's where the cubs play...the cubs...Chicago cubs?? the friendly confines?? you know that, right?? but its cool, cuz a few years ago i was able to procure seats in the front row, yep....up front....by the visitors bullpen. the thing was when i was there, i was able to lean over the wall and actually touch that dirt along the bullpen. that was enough for me...and if i really leaned i was able to touch the grass...until the usher kindly asked me not to....so there, i was"on the grass" at wrigley...sorta....
cut to 8 or so years ago, i had the great idea to get on the cubs season ticket waiting list...cool...i was a really high number, i dont even know what it was but it was up there....i had a friend who had a connection and he made a call, and i think i got moved pretty high on the list....when i ask him, he just smiles....so that's that....
this year i finally got the call....i was able to purchase cubs seasons tickets!! OMG....i was super pumped!! that was a dream of mine for a long time...but the thing is, i cant afford it alone and not to mention as far as i know, i still have to work.... it was prearranged that i would get a group of 10 ppl and we would each get 8 games( 4 tix per game) and we would split playoff tickets as well....thats funny....
last week, i got an email from the cubs. they are putting on the first Season ticket appreciation day. what this means is that me and i guest will have the chance to check out the press box, and the radio and TV booth, the batting arcade under the bleachers, walk all over the park...go into the cubs club house, and see the locker room....and if the weather is good, walk on the field....
the drive up was pretty rotten, i was supposed to be up at 6, but was late, got up when my buddy walked into my bedroom....it was raining the whole way up there....we finally get to the ball yard and they tell us that the field is too wet, we can only go on the perimeter, from dug out to dugout behind homeplate....thats good enough, i guess....well i go on my merry way, i was happy to be there, and after doing the tour they say we can go on the field....WHAT?!?!!?! ok...im super...i cant even say....i try not to run down the to the field. i walk on the field where the visitors bullpen is, the same place i was able to reach over the wall and touch the grass a few years before.
remember that scene from field of dreams?? when Moonlight Graham is batting and the little girl is choking on a hotdog?? and if he crosses the baseline, he will no longer be moonlight graham but Doc Graham?? do you remember that part?? thats sorta how i felt, but the opposite....if he came off the field, he would change, but for me if i went on the field, I would change....and it did...
now i know it sounds silly, i mean i was just walking on a baseball field...big deal, right? yeah, actually for me, it is a big deal...i stood in the spot that my baseball hero, ron santo stood. i played catch in on the same field that ryne sandberg played so many years for the cubs. i stood in the batters box, the actually spot where babe ruth made the famous "called shot"...my feet were in the same spot as his....same place as the babe!! it was great, a great day, we threw the ball around, and i have to say, it felt pretty darn good....fielded a few grounders and none, NOT ONE got by me....i still got it!! it was a great day and i was able to realize one of my dreams...and just between us, i think the cubs brass had an eye on me...as i left the stadium, the CEO of the Cubs, Tom Ricketts looked at me and gave me a nod, he saw, and he knows...im expecting a call any day now.... haha....