got to thinking after writing Friday's recap as to why Kerry Wood's farewell to baseball meant so much to us as Cubs fans. Beyond the unfulfilled hope for a great career that Kerry represented, why do events like this resonate so much for us?
One reason has to be, unfortunately, that we don't have championships to celebrate. Much as we want them, Cubs fans have had no titles to cheer for in the memory of anyone living today. We've got a handful of winning games in recent memory that happened at Wrigley Field and sent the team to the postseason -- the wild-card tiebreaker game in 1998, the division clinchers in 2003 and 2008 -- but that's about it, as far as recent meaningful events that fans gathered at Wrigley could truly celebrate.
Something that occurred to me late Friday night was this: we have almost never had a chance to say goodbye to our heroes, in the way that happened Friday afternoon.
Over the last 50 years, despite the lack of World Series titles, there have been many great and popular players who have worn Cubs uniforms and been beloved by fans.
But how many times have we been able to say goodbye to them?
Before Friday, only three, by my count, and at least one of them was uncertain.
One reason has to be, unfortunately, that we don't have championships to celebrate. Much as we want them, Cubs fans have had no titles to cheer for in the memory of anyone living today. We've got a handful of winning games in recent memory that happened at Wrigley Field and sent the team to the postseason -- the wild-card tiebreaker game in 1998, the division clinchers in 2003 and 2008 -- but that's about it, as far as recent meaningful events that fans gathered at Wrigley could truly celebrate.
Something that occurred to me late Friday night was this: we have almost never had a chance to say goodbye to our heroes, in the way that happened Friday afternoon.
Over the last 50 years, despite the lack of World Series titles, there have been many great and popular players who have worn Cubs uniforms and been beloved by fans.
But how many times have we been able to say goodbye to them?
Before Friday, only three, by my count, and at least one of them was uncertain.
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