Chicago Cubs: An emotional day watching Kris Bryant’s return to Wrigley

Chicago Cubs: Nostalgia, new faces and autograph-seekers

Autograph poachers, fans, and just people at the right place at the right time began to gather as we were at the time where players began to arrive to prepare for the game. Some would stop by for a couple signatures and pictures, some would simply waive to the crowd, some would just walk in with their head down. I really couldn’t blame them for that because sometimes these poachers are ruthless and forget these guys are people too. They are just trying to get to work.

One of my favorite encounters involved newly called up Alfonso Rivas. A father of a couple of teenage boys asked him to take a picture with his son, Rivas did without hesitation. As he was walking away and still within earshot, the dad turned to another autograph seeker and said “Who even was that?” Yikes.

While I was sitting there, one of the gentlemen whom I took a picture of at the Marquee came and sat with me for a while. I learned he was from Dallas and he was here with other season ticket holders, returning for the first time in a long time. He said he has always been a Cubs fan because he grew up here, but mostly because when he moved to Dallas, he was able to continue to watch his favorite team on WGN daily.

He and I traded “I miss WGN” remarks. We talked about what the day meant, what the team is now and where we think things are going. When I asked him when he thinks we’ll be competitive again, I smiled when he said “It’s the Cubs, I’ll love them anyways.”

I like to think that as much as I do get upset and vent about frustrations with ownership and executives, I will see things in a similar light some day. I’ll love them anyways, too.