November 3, 2016: It was a kinder, gentler time...for a few days

November 3, 2016. 12:47 Eastern Standard Time. Cleveland, Ohio.

It was game seven of the World Series. Cubs pitcher Mike Montgomery delivered his second pitch to Indians hitter Michael Martinez. Martinez hit a slow bouncing ground ball to third baseman Kris Bryant. When his throw reached Anthony Rizzo to record the final out, the Chicago Cubs were champions of the baseball world for the first time in one hundred-eight years.

At that time, I lived a little more than a mile from Wrigley Field. After the post-game activities, I went outside to see what was happening on the street. Cars were honking and people were yelling out in celebration. I was walking toward a bar when a woman grabbed me and gave me a huge hug. I had no idea who she was. I haven’t seen her since then. The partying continued until after 3 am. You can handle a little late-night excessiveness when something like this happens only once a century.

The next morning I decided to take a walk to Wrigley. When I got to about a block away, I could see the immense crowd that had gathered. People were talking, taking photos and there was more hugging. In my decades of being a Cubs fan, I had been part of gatherings like this one, but it was always with fans consoling each other after a brutal, disheartening loss.

As I walked around the park, people were using chalk to write signs on the brick building and the sidewalk. Many of them were making a memorial to relatives and friends that were no longer alive. So many longtime Cubs fans that didn’t make it to see this glorious day.

I stopped at the sidewalk brick that had the name of Joe Tinker, the Cubs shortstop in 1908; he of Tinker to Evers to Chance fame. I remember thinking that Addison Russell, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo were the new Tinker, Evers and Chance. By Tinker’s name, I took my piece of chalk and wrote, “It’s next year. 2016”

It was a wonderful morning. It made up for the agony of 1984 and 2003. It made up for the years of pain that came with being a Cubs fan.

For the next few days, I would wake up and head over to Wrigley. The scene of that first morning kept repeating itself. It was such a joyous time. It was impossible to wipe the smile off your face.

And it was all innocent of what was to come.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Election day in America.

Like the ballgame from a week earlier, the election results snuck into the next day, but then it was decided. Donald Trump was the President-elect of the United States. If there was anything more stunning and shocking than the Cubs winning the World Series, this was it.

When I awoke on the morning of the ninth, I needed something to take me out of my depressed mood. It was time to head back to Wrigley Field. When I reached the park, the crowds that had been gathering for much of the week were gone. The place was empty. The writing on the walls and sidewalks was also gone. A cleaning crew had washed it all away. Unless you had a picture, it was as if it never existed.

It was back to reality…unfortunately.

Today is six years to the day of the Cubs’ championship victory. Almost all the players from that team are no longer Cubs. The joy from that title is not forgotten but it’s now long in the past. No one knows if or when it will be repeated.

We’re five days away from the sixth anniversary of Trump’s victory. Like those Cubs players, Trump is gone, too…at least from the President’s office. But the damage he did lives on and will for a long time to come. In just the last week, we’ve seen the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband and a death threat to the Republican candidate for Governor in Illinois, Darren Bailey.

These are tough, hard times in America, but for one day I’m going to remember and celebrate that night in Cleveland. It truly was a kinder, gentler time.

“A little bouncer slowly toward Bryant. He will glove it and throw to Rizzo. It's in time! And the Chicago Cubs win the World Series! The Cubs come pouring out of the dugout, jumping up and down like a bunch of delirious 10-year-olds. The Cubs have done it!”~Pat Hughes