I am a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan. I grew up in northern Illinois eighty-six miles west of Wrigley Field. As a kid I would listen to Pat Hughes and Ron Santo call Cubs games on Radio 720AM WGN way past my 8:30PM bedtime during west coast night games. Cubs apparel was basically my school uniform. I didn’t think it was weird, but my classmates might have seen it a little differently; in eighth grade a girl I had a crush on once walked up to me and asked, “Are you obsessed with the Cubs?” At 13, it caught me off-guard and I wasn’t sure how to answer. But at 30? I sure as hell am. How else do you explain making a Jake Arrieta reference in my wedding vows in June 2016? And for the record, I married someone way more awesome and accepting of my Cubs fanaticism than my eighth-grade crush.
The peak highlight of my Cubs fandom was being inside Wrigley Field on October 22, 2016, as Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs out-dueled Clayton Kershaw and Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 to clinch the National League Championship Series in six games. My uncle Mike is a season ticket-holder and I was lucky enough to go with him that night. Walking into the stadium in a sea of Cubbie blue, all I could think was “Don’t let your emotions get you yet, the game hasn’t even started.” Seeing the marquee lit up with “Dodgers vs. Cubs | NLCS Game 6 | 7:08PM”, knowing the history the Cubs could make that night, was an intense moment I wish every Cubs fan could have experienced. The Cubs may win more pennants in the future, but none of them can ever top that night in 2016 when the Cubs clinched their first one since 1945.
Being a fan is a lot easier if we think of baseball as just a game. But sometimes there are teams that become intertwined with the biggest moments in our lives and make up part of our identity. For me, that team is the Chicago Cubs. I try not to live and die with every pitch (I only used swear words when Javy Báez swung at sliders two feet off the plate). But this team, even in the middle of long losing streaks, is important to me. I’ve been a Cubs fan my whole life, but I still have a lot to learn about my favorite team. Enter The 368 Project. This is my outlet for research, analysis, and sharing my perspectives on the Northsiders. I’ve never done this kind of work before, but I’m excited about becoming a better, more informed Cubs fan because of The 368 Project.
-Aaron
The 368 Project 