A Taylor-Made Life: Baseball season is in the air

The sneak peek of spring weather has my mind daydreaming of the warm days to come. And though I’m not much of a sports fan, it’s hard to think about spring and not picture baseball season.

I was raised a Cubs fan, and I don’t know if I took to that because I like an underdog or if I root for the underdog because I was raised a Cubs fan. As such, the first 22 years of my life were spent rooting for the underdog.

By the time the 2016 season rolled around, we Cubs fans had gotten so used to saying, “There’s always next year,” that we didn’t know what to say when it became the year.

To be fair, I was initially only paying sporadic attention (like I said, I’m not much of a sports fan), but somewhere along the way, I started paying closer attention because – even if they didn’t go all the way – they were doing something that gave their fans something to cheer about.

The weekend before Halloween 2016, I was staying in the city to dog/house sit. Some friends and I went out near Wrigleyville for some holiday celebration.

Walking through the streets near the ballpark, there was a palpable energy as the previously unthinkable was happening – the Cubs were in the World Series! Through a sea of Cubs gear and Halloween costumes, fun was being had all around.

Coming back home was slightly less energetic as they lost that Saturday night, but it certainly wasn’t over yet.

The night of Game 7, I returned back home from the city and watched part of the game with my dad (and our dog, Wrigley). During the rain delay, we decided to go our separate ways to our rooms and finish watching the game solo once it resumed.

Sitting on the laminate floor of my then-bedroom, Wrigley asleep next to me, I watched the “Cubs win!” I leaped in the air in excitement – waking poor Wrigley – and opened the door to excitedly shout to my dad down the hallway.

To witness something that millions of people had waited a collective 108 years for was nothing short of special. Even if it happens again (maybe this is the year), it will never be as magical as that Wednesday night in Cleveland. Go Cubs!