Kris
For 108 years the Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series titles. For 71 years the Cubs haven't even been in the World Series. So when we start this season as favorites to win it all there was a lot of talk. Why is this the team that will do what all the others couldn't? Can we make it past the cat and the fan interference and the goat? What makes us so special?
So as the team that's here to end the longest standing sports championship drought we had to take some time to sit down and talk. We were all pretty close to one another but in order to be what they all say we were going to be we needed to be a family.
After taking for a while organize a lock in. No coaches no families and sadly for me no dogs. Just us guys tearing up the Mesa training center and staying up sharing stories and making memories. It's very high school baseball but Joe wants us to to channel those inner kids who played ball in high school where there's no contracts or money, just the love of the game and the love of our team.
So they break out the beer and Jon gets me sparkling grape juice because I don't drink. We build a bon fire and get out some chairs and sit around it. The guys start to tell stories and I felt like a kid listening to their dad.
We had Jason Heyward who came over from the St. Louis Cardinals and was one of the younger ones on the team. He's been around for a while but he started straight out of high school. Now he is a golden glove candidate every season and wise beyond his years. He fits in great with the team and we already looked up to him.
Then there's Ben Zobrist who just won the World Series with the Kansas City Royals a few months ago. But him and his wife grew up in Illinois and would like to come back home for a few seasons and try to make some more history. He was a players player and we all loved him here. You could ask him anything and he knew just what to say.
And we got the toughest guy of all with John Lackey. I would hate to be on his bad side. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little afraid of him. He and Jon were two guys who lived to compete and hated anything that got in their way. I got used to Lester but Lackey... lets just say I'm happy I'm not playing against him.
But the best part was probably Dexter surprising everyone and staying with us one more year. He had us all fooled when someone said he signed with the orioles then showed up the next day at camp and signed with the Cubs. He said he wasn't going anywhere without a ring and I know we can't do it without him. He's our level headed leader who leads up in the lineup and on the field.
All those guys with the young guns such as myself and Schwarbs and Javy and Almora, we were destined to do great things. From top to bottom we were the best team on paper. But now comes the hard part of proving ourselves.
"Can you imagine what would happen if we win this thing" Anthony asks. He had his beer in his hand as he gazed up at the stars.
I just smile as I shake my head. "It's going to be chaos" I admit.
"The city won't sleep for weeks" Jake insists.
"We can shut it all down, the streets and bars and everything else out there. And only we will do that. This team has to be the one to win it all. I look around and I see the power and the passion and the excitement along with the veterans who have been here before. Everything we need to do something that hasn't been done in over a century is right here. It's next to you, it is you. But it's going to take everything all of us have in order to do so" David insists.
"To do something no one else has ever done we're going to have to do what most people won't do. But it'll be worth it. I'll promise you that" Dexter insists.
"I want people to talk about this team for decades after this season. And not about the numbers or being another part of the status quo that has become this organization.
I want them to be able to list off everyone on the team because we all got to make history. I want them to remember this team and say there will be another one like it. We were just 40 brothers who loved this game and loved each other.
No matter where we end up, no matter how much time passes I want us to always have times like this where it's just us. Where we can sit here and talk about this game we love" Anthony claims.
I look around and realize that this was special. Even by baseball standards this team was unlike anything we've seen in a long time. And it's going to take a one in a million team to bring glory to this organization who had been fighting curses and black cats and some poor dude named Steve Bartman who just wanted a baseball.
But those thing have nothing to do with us. We're not here because of that stuff. We're here because fate brought us together and together is the only way we will over come this.
"I wish the season started tomorrow. I'm pumped" I admit.
"Me too" Rossy says as he pats my back. "But at the same time I don't want this season to end" he claims with a sad smile.
He was retiring this year and I know he didn't want to leave. He's only been here a year but he's already a Cub for life. He embodies this organization and the Cubs know it. There is no one else in baseball who could represent this team better than him. And it sucks he wasn't going to be here anymore, I've only known Major League Baseball with him by my side. I followed him everywhere last year. When Serenity was sick he was by my side telling me to take my time. To be with her because baseball will always be here for me and I would kick myself in the ass if I was here instead of with her. Every good thing that happened to me last season he was the first to tell me congratulations and I was going to miss him. More than he knows. But we weren't going to leave without giving him a season to remember.
"You know, with all this hype around the team and these weighing expectations you would think that I would be nervous, but I'm not" Jason claims. He looks around at us as we just smile. "As long as we have each other no matter how good we're doing or how bad we will always have each other. And that's better than any silly old trophy" he claims.
"I still want that trophy though" Jon teases and we laughs.
"Oh, we're getting that trophy" Dexter insists.
We all let out a manly holler in agreement before taking a sip of our drinks. We let out a chuckle as we look around.
Here's to the start of the longest journey of our lives.