Chicago Cubs: Cubs Convention wraps up after an exciting weekend

After an exciting weekend, the Chicago Cubs wrapped up their 31st annual Cubs Convention yesterday evening and have officially begun counting down the days until they report to training camp in February.

With expectations through the roof, some say that this year’s convention had a different feel to it. Surely, the younger guys such as Addison Russell, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler, and Javier Baez soaked it all in, using this experience as motivation for the 2016 campaign.

Things kicked off on Friday evening around 6 p.m. with Pat Hughes introducing not only faces from Cubbies past but those who helped this club reach the National League Championship Series in 2015.

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And when Schwarber, a 22-year-old first round draft pick during the 2014 draft, was introduced, the first thing he did before greeting legends of this organization and teammates was send a Cubs hat flying into a sea of fans.

Following him was Soler when Hughes highlighted the fact that he reached base nine consecutive times in the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

It was great to see the newest additions in John Lackey, Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist receiving such a warm welcome from what is, in my opinion, the best fanbase in all of sports.

Both Lackey and Heyward, as we all know, were on the losing side of that division series, heading home knowing that other teams were going to be knocking on their doors in hopes of acquiring their services.

Lackey was a workhorse for that St. Louis starting rotation that lost Adam Wainwright early on and Heyward proved his critics wrong by having a great 2015 campaign as well.

Zobrist, on the other hand, had the best success out of them all when he helped the Kansas City Royals reach and win the World Series. He started in nearly every postseason game for Kansas City, so he’s another veteran on the team with a championship ring on display at home.

The goal now is to make sure that this young club and his first big league manager, Joe Maddon, end the year as the team who emerged victorious over the rest of the league.

There’s no doubt when that happens, we’ll flood the streets across the globe, celebrating and soaking in the fact that our beloved Chicago Cubs have finally reached the promise land.

Here’re some more stories and highlights you may have missed regarding the Convention itself:

‘Watch: Fans go nuts during player introductions‘ – CSN Chicago

‘Comfort is the keyword of 31st Cubs Convention‘ – MLB.com

‘Photos from the Cubs Convention‘ – Chicago Tribune

‘Chicago Cubs: 3:05 p.m. Friday starts eliminated‘ – Cubbies Crib

‘Chicago Cubs, Arrieta on-track for a new agreement‘ – Cubbies Crib