Chicago Cubs: Who are we really cheering for these days?

Chicago Cubs: Baseball is about people, not laundry

One of my favorite comedians of all time has to be Jerry Seinfeld. Anyone who grew up while Seinfeld was on television knows how powerful Seinfeld’s simple observations and messages were for audiences. Seinfeld was famous because he told the truth about life even when it was awkward to do so; those awkward instances usually became the vehicle for many laughs weekly.

One time, I was watching a live taping of Seinfeld on video, and an audience member asked Seinfeld about baseball. Seinfeld is a lifetime New York Mets fan and a crazy baseball fan in general.

For the stand-up joke, Seinfeld said he didn’t like baseball, or he used to like it but no longer followed it because there was no loyalty left in baseball which is one of Seinfeld’s famous observations:

"Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify, because the players are always changing, the team can move to another city. You’re actually rooting for the clothes, when you get right down to it. You know what I mean? You are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Fans will be so in love with a player, but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt; they hate him now. Boo! Different shirt! Boo!"

I can undoubtedly see Seinfeld’s point in just looking back at some recent Cubs history with former Cubs pitcher Aroldis Chapman. Chapman and Rizzo got at each other on the field once when Chapman was in a ‘different shirt’ and pitching against the Cubs.

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Rizzo challenged the entire Cincinnati Reds team to a fight when they laughed at the struggling Cubs. A few years later, Chapman helps the Cubs end a curse and win a championship after 108 years. While there is still some debate amongst Cubs fans to the true extent of Chapman’s contribution to the 2016 team, he nevertheless was part of the team that ultimately won.

What about the Chapman fans in Cincy who bought that $150 Cincinnati Reds Chapman jersey right after they witnessed the cool Chapman wave off Rizzo and nearly incite World War III? Were they later booing that same Chapman that stood on the mound for the Cubs during their championship season?

You bet they were. It becomes like divorcing a family. He was formerly Aroldis Chapman Reds and then became Aroldis Chapman Cubs, a completely different person. So now, fans can boo who they used to cheer for.

So what does this mean for Cubs fans today? Which players might be lifetime Cubs?