Chicago Cubs: Real wacky stories that show how much we’ve changed

Some of these Chicago Cubs stories from not so long ago, seem foolish under today’s strict health standards in the ‘new normal’.

We are all learning again, together as Chicago Cubs, as a society. It doesn’t happen too often, but there are specific mechanisms that trigger in life and change how society, whether it is American or international, behaves because of that life-changing event.

Medical threats that travel across borders are the worst, as we are experiencing today. We saw this in the HIV/AIDS epidemic where all life on the planet had to consider ‘safe sex’ or perhaps contract a killer disease. Other times, it’s been military threats that have altered behavior as Pearl Harbor did for those in the Pacific, or the 9/11 terrorist attacks did by changing all of American life.

After 9/11 we became the America of ‘lock your doors’ at night and watch what you put on the internet; we had woken from the sleep of the 80′ and the ’90s to a paranoid new internet-driven cyber revolution and amalgamation of security, conservatism and patriotism led by military strength; which continues today.

The only time we get a break in the digital media universe from the terror-fight is when something more life-altering happens as it did almost two months ago for Americans with COVID-19. Now kids growing up from an age that can spell it or write it, will know and remember COVID-19, just like older folks do with HIV/AIDS.

When there are such drastic societal changes as there are today; things that were a real ‘concern’ before these changes, now look pretty foolish. When I think back to just last year at some of the Chicago Cubs stories that came out and were technically ‘news,’ I can’t help but chuckle at how goofy the premise of these stories would be today. Let’s start with Chicago Cubs pitcher, Yu Darvish, and some problems he had with the neighbors in Evanston.

Chicago Cubs: Mai-Tai Guy needs a mask, gloves and PPE

It was just last season when Chicago Cubs outfielder, Kyle Schwarber hit a walk-off home run that sent fans to social media like they usually do when they feel a wrong has been committed in the Friendly Confines. Last season’s 24-hour villain was the ‘Mai-Tai Guy’ who set Twitter, Facebook and CNN on fire with calls of bad behavior. Once again, no one can bring you the action like me so let me take you back:

The air was thick with drama when Schwarber’s ball landed in one of the over-hanging baskets and a guy with a jersey that read, “Mai Tai Guy” on the back, scooped up the prize. Standing next to “Mai Tai Guy” were a few little kids who couldn’t reach that far down into the basket to retrieve the home run ball. “Mai Tai Guy” snagged up the ball like Anthony Rizzo playing the bunt and gave the fans a quick flash of the jewel before going to celebrate with his friend.

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Cubs fans could not take it. There was a ball available to kids, and this ‘Mai Tai Guy’ stole that memory from those children plain and simple. Needless to say, the ‘Mai Tai Guy’ snuck out of Wrigley Field, and the real story came out later that he had been chasing balls for kids at batting practice the whole morning. He had given away at least a dozen or more balls, so he wasn’t the villain Chicago suspected.

Under the new normal will fans even be that close to each other again as to fight for a ball? Will everyone be in masks and gloves and ‘personal protective equipment’ when they go to games? Under the new normal everyone would have backed off when the first guy or kid got to the ball.

Then let’s not forget giving the ball away. Who would take a ball from a stranger now, especially if you don’t know if they washed their hands or sanitized them? Or would you get the ball and clean it up with a sanitized cloth? These are some of the new scenarios we will encounter and have to consider these days.

Maybe ballparks will hang signs saying, please don’t touch foul balls or any balls that go into the stands because of germs. That one change could have made a difference in the Chicago Cubs Bartman-era alone but understandable in the new normal.

There will be more things to consider in the future, and the truth is, we haven’t thought about them because we haven’t had to consider baseball or even regular life resuming. Yes, we all have a different outlook than just two months ago, and so this event has already changed society. When the virus dies, how much of how we’ve changed, will stay the new normal?